Answer.—Martin Luther was born of poor parents, at Eisleben, in 1483. After studying at Erfurt and being confirmed priest, Luther accepted a professorship at the University of Wittemberg in 1508. In 1510 he was sent on a mission to Rome, where he had an insight into the corruptions of the papacy, and upon his return he immediately entered upon his work of reform, especially attacking the sale of indulgences. One of his first acts was to nail on the door of Wittemberg Church ninety-five theses, in which he denied the power of the Pope to forgive sins. Great excitement followed, and Luther was summoned by Pope Leo X. to appear at Rome. The university and electors interfered, and a legate from Rome came to Germany to hear Luther’s defense. Soon Luther’s books and papers gained a wide circulation, and in 1520 came a papal bull of excommunication, which Luther burned in the gate of Wittemberg in the presence of a large company. The next year Charles V. convened the Diet of Worms, which ordered the destruction of Luther’s books and the arrest of the heretic. He was now imprisoned by friends in the Castle of Wartburg for his protection, and soon after his release married the gifted Katharine Von Bora, a nun whom he had converted to Protestantism. His later life was spent in writing and controversy, though, on the whole, very quiet. He died in 1546.
FALL OF WESTERN RIVERS.
1. What is the elevation of Rock Island, St. Louis, and Cairo above the Gulf of Mexico? 2. What is the fall per mile required to give a river a current of two miles an hour? 3. State average fall of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
J. H. Rhodes.
Answer.—1. Rock Island is about 536 feet, St. Louis 408 feet, and Cairo about 322 feet above tide-water. 2. The number of inches fall per mile required to give a current of two miles depends very greatly upon the volume of the stream, the character of the bed, and the directness of the channel. The same stream is sluggish at low water and a rushing torrent at high flood. The current of the Lower Mississippi, with a fall of nearly three inches per mile, has an annual average of three miles an hour in midstream. 3. The slope of rivers falling into the Mississippi from the west is about six inches per mile, and that of those from the east is about three inches per mile, except in the case of the Ohio River, whose mean descent from Pittsburg to Cairo, including the falls and rapids at Louisville, is about 5⅙ inches. The mean descent of the Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to the gulf is a little over 2⅘ inches a mile. Between Lake Itasca and the mouth of the Ohio the descent of the Mississippi is much more rapid. From its source to the Falls of Pecogama, 270 miles, the total descent is 324 feet; thence to Pine River, 200 miles, the fall is 165 feet; thence to Crow Wing, 47 miles, it is 49 feet. Below this are the Sauk Rapids, then the Rapids and Falls of St. Anthony, 18 feet at a leap and 66 feet in a single mile; then the Rock Island Rapids, 22 feet; and the Des Moines Rapids, 24 feet. The total descent between Lake Itasca and the mouth of the Ohio is 1,285 feet.
PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF THE REBELLION.
York, Neb.
Please give the dates of the principal battles of the rebellion, who commanded in each, and the number killed on both sides.