Three palaces were prominent in the answers given—the Vatican at Rome, the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg, and the Palace of Versailles in the neighbourhood of Paris. The last-named, however, was mentioned by error, as it is now not a residence, but little more than a showplace. But it is huge enough, for in the heyday of its prosperity it accommodated about ten thousand persons—courtiers, dependents, etc. To the Vatican, the residence of the Pope, apparently belongs the credit of being of all palaces that on the largest scale. It is said to contain no fewer than seven thousand rooms. It became the fixed residence of the Popes in 1377. The Winter Palace at St. Petersburg is also an enormous structure, in which six thousand persons have frequently had a habitation.
27. What is the exercise most conducive to physical beauty?
The answers to this query were as varied as could be. Dancing, fencing, cycling, swimming, golfing, dumb-bell drill, and many other forms of exercise all had their advocates. Some girls said, “Housekeeping for ever!” and recommended constant devotion to sweeping and dusting; but others remarked that that was too narrow a view, and that we ought to move about in the open air as well. Most, however, held that the right form of exercise was walking, the cheapest, safest, and best of all. “And see,” says one competitor, “that you persevere in it and do it in all weathers, but the very worst, and particularly in winter.”
28. What was the first street ever lit by gas?
This was Pall Mall in London, which was first lit by gas on the 28th of January, 1807. The introduction of gas-lighting into London is due to the zeal and unwearied patience of a German named Winsor. He managed to gain some supporters, “and,” says a writer in Chambers’s Book of Days, “the long line between St. James’s Palace and Cockspur Street blazed out in a burst of gas-lamps on the night in question to the no small admiration of the public.” Westminster Bridge was lit with gas for the first time on the last night of 1812. Two years later in other parts of the metropolis gas was introduced on the streets, and from that time the new mode of lighting gradually made its way all over the world.
29. How fast can one read when reading silently?
Most competitors gave an answer to this question; but why did not all? It was easy enough, because the best answer a girl could make was to record the result of experimenting on herself. It was pointed out by many with much truth that the rate of reading varies greatly with different individuals and also with the kind of book read. We cannot, for instance, read philosophy as rapidly as history, or history as fast as a work of fiction. Poetry also, says a sensible competitor, must be read slowly in order to appreciate the style and rhythm. A moderately rapid reader, says this same competitor, will read history at the rate of about 600 words in five minutes, fiction at about 2,000 words in the same time, and poetry at about 700 words. The 600 and 700 words here given appear slow compared with the 2,000; but there is all the difference in the world between reading to remember and criticise and reading merely for a pastime.
30. What famous philanthropist was known as the “Nightingale of the House of Commons?”
When a girl shoots a bow at a venture she may hit the mark, but more often she does not. Here are some of the random shots at this answer—the Earl of Shaftesbury, John Bright, Mr. Gladstone, Sir Henry Fawcett, Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Lord Coleridge, the Earl of Chatham, and William Pitt. No, it was none of these—it was William Wilberforce, who will always be associated with the abolition of the slave trade. His remarkably sweet voice, so often used on behalf of those unable to plead for themselves, obtained for him the name to which we have referred in our question.
31. How many hours a day should we give to sleep?