MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND FIGURES. 



603 



miles ; William Humphrey, Nevada, thirty 

 miles ; Nelson & Son, Nevada, twenty-two 

 miles; Kennebec Ranch, Nebraska, from 20,- 

 iOOO to 50,000 acres. 



Largest Islands in the World. 



Area. Popula- 

 Sq. miles. tion. 



'New Guinea 325,000 690,000 



Borneo 290,000 1,846,000 



Madagascar 228,570 3,000,000 



Sumatra 168,000 5,000,000 



GreatBritain 83,826 29,710,000 



Celebes 66,750 4,000,000 



Java 50,260 17,500,000 



Saghalieii (used as a penal settlement 



only)...: 47,500 13,500 



New "Zealand, North Island 44,750) K7 n nnn 



South Island 55.224 } 57U ' OOU 



Cuba 45,700 2,000,000 



Niphon (Japan) 42,000 27,250,000 



Newfoundland 40,200 180,000 



Luzon (Philippines) 40,000 4,500,000 



Iceland 40,000 72,438 



Jesso 35,000 163,355 



Ireland 31,874 5,174,836 



Hay ti or San Domingo 29,830 393,200 



Tasmania 26,215 130,641 



Ceylon 25,635 3,000,000 



Tierra del Fuego 21,260 2,000 



Government Salary List. The salary 

 of the president of the United States is $50,000 

 a year ; the vice-president, $8,000 ; cabinet offi- 

 cers, $8,000. Senators receive $5,000 and 

 mileage. Congressmen, $5,000 and mileage. 

 The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court re- 

 ceives $10,500; Associate Justices, $10,000. 

 The diplomats get good pay : Ministers to 

 'Germany, Great Britain, France, and Russia, 

 ; $17,500 ; Ministers to Brazil, China, Austro- 

 Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Japan, and Spain, 

 ;$12,000 ; Ministers to Chile, Peru, and Central 

 America, $10,000 ; Ministers to the Argen- 

 tine Confederation, Belgium, Hayti, Colom- 

 bia, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, and 

 Venezuela, $7,500 ; Ministers to Switzerland, 

 Denmark, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Portugal, 

 $5,000; Ministers to Liberia, $4,000. The 

 Iheads of the government departments receive : 

 Superintendent of Bureau of Engraving and 

 Printing, $4,500 ; Public Printer, $4,500 ; Su- 

 perintendent of Census, $5,000 ; Superinten- 

 dent of Naval Observatory, $5,000 ; Superin- 

 tendent of the Signal Service, $4,000 ; Director 

 >of Geological Surveys, $6,000 ; Director of the 

 Mint, $4,500 ; Commissioner of General Land 

 Office, $4,000 ; Commissioner of Pensions, $3,- 

 '600 ; Commissioner of Agriculture, $3,000; 

 Commissioner of Indian Affairs, $3,000 ; Com- 

 missioner of Education, $3,000 ; Commander 

 of Marine Corps, $3,500 ; Superintendent of 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey, $6,000. 



In 1893 the Ministers to GreatBritain, Ger- 

 many, and France, were made Ambassadors 

 without increase of pay. 



The pay of army officers is fixed as follows : 

 General, $13,500 ; lieutenant general, $11,000 ; 

 major general, $7,500 ; brigadier general, $5,- 



500 ; colonel, $3,500 ; lieutenant colonel, 

 $3,000 ; major, $2,500 ; captain, mounted, 

 $2,000; captain, not mounted, $1,800; regi- 

 mental adjutant, $1,800; regimental quarter- 

 master, $1,800; first lieutenant, mounted, 

 $1,600 ; first lieutenant, not mounted, $1,500 ; 

 second lieutenant, mounted, $1,500; second 

 lieutenant, not mounted, $1 ,400 ; chaplain, 

 $1,500. Th e navy salaries are : Admiral, $13,- 

 000 ; vice-admiral, $9,000 ; rear admiral, $6,- 

 000; commodore, $5,000; captain, $4,500; 

 commander, $3,500; lieutenant commander, 

 $2,800; lieutenant, $2,400; master, $1,800; 

 ensign, $1,200; midshipman, $1,000; cadet 

 midshipman, $500 ; mate, $900 ; medical and 

 pay director, and medical and pay inspector, 

 and chief engineer, $4,400 ; fleet surgeon, fleet 

 paymaster, and fleet engineer, $4,400 ; sur- 

 geon and pay master, $2,800; chaplain, $2,500. 



The White House. The residence of 

 the president of the United States is officially 

 known as the Executive Mansion, which means 

 that it is the residence of the head of the 

 executive branch of the government ; but it is 

 seldom called, in ordinary talk, either by those 

 who live in it, or by the American people in 

 general, anything but the White House. This 

 is a very unpretentious title, and it is interest- 

 ing to note how the residence of the president, 

 in a country which is full of white houses, 

 came to bear this simple name as its special 

 property. 



The explanation is easily found. The first 

 Executive Mansion at Washington was occu- 

 pied in 1800. It was built of freestone, and 

 was unpainted ; but in 1814 the British army 

 occupied Washington, and burned, with other 

 public buildings, the president's house, leav- 

 ing it a blackened, ruin. 



The house was rebuilt on the same site, and 

 the same walls were used in its construction ; 

 but they were so discolored by smoke that, on 

 the suggestion of General Jackson, they were 

 painted white, not only to improve their ap- 

 pearance, but in token of the successful defiance 

 of British fire by the American Republic. 



The mansion soon became the "White 

 House" in the mouths of the people, on ac- 

 count of its dazzling color, and from that day 

 to this it ha? been repainted white every ten 

 years. Its name commemorates a patriotic feel- 

 ing, therefore, as well as serves to describe the 

 appearance of the mansion, for the original 

 coat of white paint was a sort of protest against 

 the vandalism of the British, and every subse- 

 quent coat has served to perpetuate the protest. 



Eagle as an Emblem. In ancient my- 

 thology the eagle was believed to carry the 

 souls of the dying to their abode on Mount 

 Olympus, and was called the Bird of Jove., 



