Answer.—The true name of this celebrated dwarf was Charles Heywood Stratton. He was born in Bridgeport, Conn., Jan. 4, 1838, and died at his residence, Middleboro, Mass., July 15, 1883, of apoplexy. The attention of P. T. Barnum, the showman, was first drawn to Stratton in November, 1842, when the midget was about 4 years old. He was then less than 2 feet high, weighed less than 16 pounds, was beautifully formed, a blonde, with ruddy cheeks and mirthful eyes. Barnum introduced him to the public Dec. 8, 1842, by the name of General Tom Thumb; now known the world over. He paid him $3 a week and expenses for himself and his mother for the first four weeks, after which he engaged him for a year at $7 a week, but, as the boy proved a great attraction, he soon raised the wages to $25 a week. In January, 1846, under a contract of $50 a week, Mr. Barnum took him to Europe, where he made a profitable tour through England, France, and Germany. He was presented to Queen Victoria, Louis Phillipe, King William of Prussia (now the German Emperor), and other rulers, who treated him with marked kindness. The next year he returned to Europe for three months. On his return home he proved a greater attraction than ever, and Mr. Barnum says that in twelve days in Philadelphia he received $5,504.91; and in one day at Providence he took in $976.98. In 1857 he took Tom Thumb and Cordelia Howard, famous as little Eva in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” to Europe, where these children appeared in humorous characters, creating a furore and gathering a golden harvest. In 1862 Mr. Barnum introduced the two sister midgets, Lavinia and Minnie Warren, to the public, the former of whom young Stratton married before the end of that year. True to his chief instinct Barnum desired to turn the courting and the marriage ceremony to pecuniary account, offering $15,000 to postpone the wedding for a month, and then have it take place in the Academy of Music as an exhibition at so much a seat. To the credit of the bride and groom, they repelled this offer with just indignation, and were married in Grace Church, New York. The public reception at the Metropolitan Hotel, immediately following, was a notable affair. After this, for week after week, the three tiny folks drew crowds of admirers at Barnum’s old museum on the corner where the New York Herald office now stands, the receipts sometimes being over $3,000 a day. Mr. and Mrs. Stratton had a pleasant home at Middleboro, where they spent a large part of their time when not on the stage. They had one child, who died at the age of 2 years and 6 months. Both of them have been noted for sprightly intelligence, and have hosts of friends in all circles of society.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
Urbana, Ill.
Will you please to give a short biography of Napoleon Bonaparte?
Nettie Ayers.
Answer.—He was born at Ajaccio, Corsica, Aug. 15, 1769. His mother, a strong and cultured, but severe woman, ruled her household with a rod of iron, and to her the son owed his indomitable will. At ten years of age he was sent to a military school at Brienne, France, and six years later entered the army. In 1792, having taken an active part in the defection in Ajaccio, he was expelled, with the rest of his family, from the city. After several years of brilliant military service Napoleon was made commander of the campaign in Italy, which closed with the treaty of Campo Formio. On the eve of his departure he was married to the beautiful and accomplished Mme. Josephine Beauharnais. The year after the close of the Italian campaign (1797) Napoleon set out for Egypt, designing to investigate its wealth, art treasures and other antiquities, but the expedition proved disastrous and he soon returned to meet a critical state of affairs in France, leaving the army under the command of General Kleber. On Aug. 2, 1802, the French people made Bonaparte First Consul for life, and in the same year received at his hands the famous Code Napoleon, the product of the best legal talent of the nation, and undoubtedly one of the noblest monuments of his administration. It still forms the great body of French law. Two years later, he was proclaimed Emperor. After a remarkable career in war and peace, he sacrificed his heart and highest manhood to his ambition by divorcing his faithful Josephine to form a royal alliance with Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor of Austria. The decline of his power soon followed, like a pursuing Nemesis; beginning with the fearful disasters succeeding the burning of Moscow and the ensuing retreat in the midst of a Russian winter, and ending with the disastrous battle of Leipsic, the fall of Paris, his first abdication, and his exile (1814) to the little island of Elba. He escaped to France ten months later; raised another army, and hastened to meet the allies—English, Germans, and Netherlanders—in Belgium, on the fatal field of Waterloo. A few months later and he was a prisoner for life on the desolate island of St. Helena, in custody of Great Britain, where he died of cancer of the stomach May 5, 1821. By almost universal concession he is regarded as the greatest military commander that ever lived. Had his diplomacy been equal to his military genius it is probable that he would have remained to his death, as he was for a period of more than six years, the virtual master of nearly all the civilized States of Continental Europe. In 1840 his mortal remains were carried to France and buried in Paris, the scene of his greatest triumphs as of his final downfall.
WEIGHT OF LUMBER.
Decatur, Ill.