58 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



criminality, mutual dislike, jealousy, incom- 

 patibility of temperament, or too much lo- 

 quacity on the part of the wife. 



Among the Tartars, if the wife is ill-treated, 

 she complains to the magistrate, who, attended 

 by the principal people, accompanies her to 

 the house and pronounces a divorce. 



Books were originally made of boards, or 

 the inner bark of trees ; afterwards of skins 

 and parchment. Papyrus, an indigenous 

 plant, was adopted in Egypt. Books with 

 leaves of vellum were invented by Attalus, 

 king of Pergamus, about 198 B. C., at which 

 time books were in volumes or rolls. The 

 MSS. in Herculaneum consists of papyrus, 

 rolled and charred and matted together by the 

 fire, and are about nine inches long, and one, 

 two, or three inches in diameter, each 

 being a separate treatise. The first printed 

 books were printed on one side only, the 

 leaves being pasted back to back. 



Title pages to printed books in England 

 were not introduced until shortly before 1490 ; 

 they were used by Wynkyn de Worde, but 

 not by Caxton in the fifteenth century. 



The prices of ancient books were enormous. 

 Jerome (who died 420 A. D.) states that he 

 had ruined himself by buying a copy of the 

 works of Origen. A large estate was given 

 by Alfred the Great for a book on cosmogra- 

 phy, about 872. The Roman de la Rose was 

 sold for about 30 ; and a homily was 

 exchanged for 200 sheep and five quarters of 



4 wheat. Books frequently brought double or 

 treble their weight in gold. In 1400 they 

 sold at prices varying from 10 to 40 each. 



Bookbinding is supposed to have begun 

 about 650 A. D., the earliest to be bound 

 being the book of St. Cuthbert. A Latin 

 Psalter was bound in oak boards in the ninth 

 century. Velvet was the covering in the four- 

 teenth century, and silk soon after. Vellum 

 was introduced early in the fifteenth century ; 

 and leather came into use about the same time. 



Minimum AVeiglits of Produce. 

 The following are minimum weights of certain 

 articles of produce, according to the laws of 

 the United States : 



Wheat, 



Corn, in the ear, 



Corn, shelled, 



Rye. 



Buckwheat, 



Barley, 



Oats, 



Pease, 



White Beans, 



Castor Beans, 



White Potatoes, 



Sweet Potatoes, 



Onions, 



Turnips, 



Dried Peaches, 



Salt. Weight per bushel as adopted by dif- 

 ferent states ranges from 50 to 80 pounds. 

 Coarse salt in Pennsylvania is reckoned at 80 

 pounds, and in Illinois at 50 pounds per bushel. 

 Fine salt in Pennsylvania is reckoned at 62 

 pounds, in Kentucky and Illinois at 55 pounds 

 per bushel. 



Railroad Statistics for Year Ending 19O1. 



Mileage of Railroads 



Second Tracks and Sidings... 



Total Track 



Steel Rails in Track 



Iron Rails in Track 



Locomotive Engines, Number . 

 Cars, Passenger 



" Baggage, Mail, etc 



" Freight 



Total Cars... 



192,161.93 

 65,691.29 



257,853.22 



239,629.13 



18,224.09 



38,065 



26,786 



8,209 



1,350,258 



1,385,253 



LIABILITIES. 



Capital Stock $5,804,346,250 



Bonded Debt 5,758,592,754 



Unfunded Debt 328,963,335 



Current Accounts 422,262,823 



Sinking and Other Funds 114,800,860 



Total Liabilities $12,428,966,022 



ASSETS. 



Cost of Railroad and Equipment $10,484,430,907 



Other Investments 1,766,493,090 



Sundry Assets ; 328,994,626 



Current Accounts 188,992,213 



Total Assets $12/768^910,837 



Excess of Assets over Liabilities $339,944,815 



Miles of Railroad Operated 191,86:1 .96 



Passenger Train Mileage "373^226,581 



Freight <' " 513,667,388 



Mixed " " 20,702,172 



Total 907,596,141 



Passengers Carried 584.695,935 



Passenger Mileage 16,313,284,471 



JTons of Freight Moved 1,071,431,919 



Freight Mileage 141,162,109,413 



TRAFFIC EARNINGS. 



Passengers $331,402,816 



Freight 1,052,835,811 



Miscellaneous 117,456,751 



Total Traffic Revenue $1^601,695,378 



Net Earnings $483,247,526 



Receipts from Other Sources t;7. 772.1)34 



Total Available Revenue $551,020,460 



PAYMENTS. 



Interest on Bonds $214,199,502 



Other Interest 6,315,028 



Dividends on Stock 119,2x8,879 



Miscellaneous 46,153,433 



Rentals Interest 30,248,304 



Dividends 21,054,774 



Miscellaneous 21,200,651 



Total Payments $468.460,571 



Surplus $92,669,889 



