MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND FIGURES. 



615 



New York Elevated Railways. In 



1868 an elevated railroad extending a half- 

 mile was constructed on Greenwich street, New 

 York, as an experiment. Three years later 

 the West Side Elevated Railroad Company ob- 

 tained a charter, but shortly afterward sold its 

 right to the New York Elevated Railroad 

 Company. The new organization proceeded 

 rapidly to erect its roads, and in December, 

 1879, its rolling stock consisted of 131 loco- 

 motives, 292 passenger cars, and 8 service cars. 

 In May, 1879, the road was leased to the Man- 

 hattan Railway Company. The Metropolitan 

 Elevated Railroad was first called the Gilbert 

 Elevated Railroad, in honor of its projector, 

 Dr. Rufus H. Gilbert. Although the com- 

 pany obtained its charter in 1872, work was 

 not commenced until March, 1876. In two 

 years it expended $10,300,000 in constructing 

 its lines. In 1879 the road with its rolling- 

 stock, consisted of 56 locomotives, 180 passen- 

 ger cars, and 2 freight cars, was leased to the 

 Manhattan Elevated Railroad Company, which 

 now controls and manages the entire elevated 

 railroad system of New York. 



The Famous Connecticut Blue 

 Laws. These laws, enacted by the people 

 of the " Dominion of New Haven," became 

 known as the blue laws because they were 

 printed on blue paper. They were as fol- 

 lows : 



The governor and magistrates convened in 

 general assembly are the supreme power, un- 

 der God, of the independent dominion. From 

 the determination of the assembly no appeal 

 shall be made. 



No one shall be a freeman or have a vote 

 unless he is converted and a member of one of 

 the churches allowed in the dominion. 

 ^ Each freeman shall swear by the blessed 

 God to bear true allegiance to this dominion 

 and that Jesus is the only king. 



No dissenter from the essential worship of 

 this dominion shall be allowed to give a vote 

 for electing of magistrates or any officer. 



No food or lodging shall be offered to a 

 heretic. 



No one shall cross a river on the Sabbath 

 but authorized clergymen. 



No one shall travel, cook victuals, make 

 beds, sweep houses, cut hair, or shave on the 

 Sabbath Day. 



No one shall kiss his or her children on the 

 Sabbath or feasting days. 



The Sabbath Day shall begin at sunset Sat- 

 urday. 



Whoever wears clothes trimmed with gold, 

 silver, or bone lace above one shilling per yard 

 shall be presented by the grand jurors and the 

 selectmen shall tax the estate 300. 



Whoever brings cards or dice into the domin- 

 ion shall pay a fine of 5. 



No one shall eat mince pies, dance, play 

 cards, or play any instrument of music except 

 the drum, trumpet, or jewsharp. 



No gospel minister shall join people in mar- 

 riage. The magistrate may join them, as he 

 may do it with less scandal to Christ's church. 



When parents refuse their children con- 

 venient marriages, the magistrate shall deter- 

 mine the point. 



A man who strikes his wife shall be fined 

 10. 



A woman who strikes her husband shall be 

 punished as the law directs. 



No man shall court a maid in person or by 

 letter without obtaining the consent of her 

 parents ; 5 penalty for the first offense ; 10 

 for the second, and for the third imprisonment 

 during the pleasure of the court. 



Perpetual Motion. Perpetual motion 

 is a movement which is not only self-active 

 but also self-creative. A machine which when 

 set in motion would continue to move without 

 the aid of external force and without the loss 

 of momentum until its parts were all worn 

 out, might be said to have solved the perpetual 

 motion problem. But even more is expected" 

 of this invention should it ever become practi- 

 cable, that it shall go on doing work without 

 drawing on any external source of energy, 

 or shall by its movement continually create 

 power. The impossibility of constructing such 

 a machine has long been demonstrated, but 

 still ignorant and ambitious inventors continue 

 to try for it. As early as the year 1775, the 

 Parisian Academy of Sciences refused to re- 

 ceive any further schemes for perpetual motion, 

 regarding it as an impossibility. There was a 

 time when the perpetual motion problem was 

 worthy the attention of a philosopher, just as 

 there was a time when a man might have been 

 justified in doubting whether the earth was a 

 globe. 



Grangers, or Patrons of Husbandry, as 

 they are properly called, were organized De- 

 cember 4, 1867, by Mr. O. H. Kelley and Mr. 

 William M. Saunders, both of the Department 

 of Agriculture at Washington. Mr. Kelley 

 was commissioned by President Johnson, in 

 1866, to travel through the Southern States, 

 and report upon their agricultural and mineral 

 resources. He discovered agriculture in a state 

 of great depression, consequent upon the 

 changes made by the Civil War. There was 

 also at the time serious dissatisfaction among 

 the farmers of the West and Northwest in re- 

 gard to the alleged heavy rate and unjust dis- 

 criminations made by railroad companies in 

 their transportation of farmers' products. 1$ 



