Answers to Questions

World facts as they were in 1926.

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Q. Is cheese ever made from reindeer milk? -- E.J.G.

A. In Norway and Sweden the milk of the reindeer is sometimes used for cheese-making.

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Q. Is there really a town called Santaclas? -- R.H.

A. There is a town by this name in Spencer County, Indiana. In 1920 it had a population of 100.

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Q. Has a President of the United States ever visited Canada? -- J.T.G.

A. The visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, of the late President Harding, was the first and only time an American President has been in the Dominion during his term of office. It was shortly after he left Vancouver that Mr. Harding suffered an attack of ptomaine poisoning which marked the beginning of his fatal illness.

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Q. How many different causes of death are there? L.K.

A.  Fifteen principal causes of death are list by statisticians, as follows:  pneumonia, consumption, heart disease, diarrhoeal diseases, kidney disease, apoplexy, cancer, old age, bronchitis, cholera infantum, debility, inflammation of the brain and meninx, diphtheria, typhoid, and premature birth.

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Q. How can nuts be cracked so that the meat will come out whole? -- C.R.T.

A. Putting the nuts i boiling water for three to five minutes makes it possible to crack them when cool and remove the meat whole. 

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Q. What are mestizos? -- T.A.

A. Mestizos are half breeds; those of mixed blood, especially those descended from Indian and Spanish or Indian and Portuguese. 

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Q. What was Sarah Bernhardt's religion? -- G.L.C.

A. She was born a Jewess, but was converted to the Catholic faith.

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Q. Who discovered that fleas could be trained? -- J.H.

A. Training fleas is the hobby of Prof. J.C. Ruhl of New York. Fleas can be trained to dance, draw chariots, throw objects many times their own weight, etc. The first trained fleas were exhibited by Prof. Ruhl's grandfather in 1821.

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Q. Who and what are the Melungeons? -- T.V.S.

A. They are a distinct race of people living in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee. They are about the color of mulattoes, but have straight hair. They are supposed to be descendants of some ancient Phoenicians, who removed from Carthage and settled in Morocco. They have no admixture of negro blood. From Morocco, a colony crossed the atlantic and settled in South Carolina. From that locality, they moved to Hancock County Tennessee. The Melungeons are to a considerable extent illiterate, and for the most part and are engaged in farming. 

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Q. How large an amount of money may be sent by money order? -- J.H.

A. The maximum amount of a money order is $100, but as money $100 money orders can be issued to an individual as desired.

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Q. Is tripe a kind of fish? -- N.I.

A. Tripe is the stomach of any ruminant animal.

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Q. When are hams at their best? -- G.C.

A. A well cured ham is usually in perfection when one year old. 

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Q. What do oysters eat? -- R.M.S.

A. The food of oysters consists of microscopic plants or diatoms which water currents take to them.

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Q. How much does it cost to teach a single public school pupil? -- G.E.Q.

A. The amount of money required to teach a pupil in the elementary grades has been estimated at $37.12 for one year. For public high school it is estimated at $145.25 per year. 

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Q. Why do some people call whiskey hootch? -- W.H.O.

A. Hoochino--or Kootznahoo--was a spirituous liquor concocted by natives of Alaska. It was named after an Indian tribe and the word contracted into hooch. The term was afterwards used as a synonym for ardent spirits. 

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Q. Why is whiskey called John Barleycorn? -- G.W.Mc.

A. The name John Barleycorn, used as a personification of malt liquor is derived from an English tract of old date entitled The Arraigning and Indicting of Sir John Barleycorn Knt. printed for Timothy Tosspot. Sir John Barleycorn appears as a person in a number of similar ballads by John Burns.

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Q. When in Ireland some time ago I noticed certain people wore a gold ring on their dresses. What does this mean? -- N.E.S.

A. This is to show that they spoke Irish and wished to be addressed in the Irish language. The action of the Dail Eireann in making Irish the official language of their first meeting--nothing else being spoken on that day--gave it a great impetus in popular estimation.