Please decide whether President Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday, and settle a dispute.
Contestant.
Answer.—President Lincoln was assassinated on Friday, April 14, 1865, which was Good Friday.
THE DISCOVERY OF MEXICO.
Crab Orchard, Ill.
Who discovered Mexico?
Felix M. Burdett.
Answer.—The first knowledge of Mexico that reached the Spaniards otherwise than by vague and uncertain stories of natives of the West Indies came through two expeditions fitted out by Diego Velasquez, who made the first European settlements in Cuba. The first of these, under the command of Cordova, sailed from St. Jago de Cuba, Feb. 8, 1517, and landed on the shores of Yucatan and Campeachy. The second, commanded by Grijalvo, landed at various places on the coast, but returned without penetrating into the interior or making a settlement. It carried back such reports of the high civilization and great wealth of Mexico, learned through the natives, as served to intensify the determination of Velasquez to explore, and, if possible, conquer the country. He fitted up a fleet of eleven small vessels and placed them in command of Fernando Cortez, who set sail from Cuba, Feb. 10, 1519; landed near the present city of Vera Cruz, on March 4, and became the first actual explorer of the country, and the founder of the Spanish dominion in Mexico.