Willis Hollings, Albany, Ill.—Greenwich, situated upon the right bank of the Thames, six miles southeast of London Bridge, is a favorite suburb of Londoners, on account of its fine parks and picturesque views. Its meridian was selected as the one from which to reckon standard time because from it navigators generally, the world over, are in the practice of reckoning time and longitude.
G. H. S., McLean, Ill.—Snow-shoes consist of a flat wooden frame, of lanceolate form, from four to seven feet long, and from eight to fourteen inches in width at the broadest part. This frame is filled with wicker-work or thongs, and furnished with straps upon the upper side, for the feet. The sole may be wholly of wood. By the extreme length and breadth the shoe is prevented from sinking in the snow.
S. S. H., Smith Center, Kan.:—“The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim” was composed by Mr. F. E. Jerome, and first published in the Smith County Pioneer in 1878, and refers to a claim one mile from Smith Center.
John Stuart, Lyneville, Wis.—The ordinary expenditures of the United States Government for the year 1881 amounted to $178,204,146.41.
Constant Reader, Chicago—The first negro slave owned in Chicago, it is believed, was Black Jim, the property of John H. Kinzie, brought here by him in 1804.