MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND FIGURES. 



6*8 



Vaudeville. The name Vaudeville is a 

 corruption of Vaux de Vire, the name of two 

 picturesque valleys in the Bocage of Normandy, 

 and was originally applied to a song with words 

 relating to some story of the day. These songs 

 were first composed by one Oliver Basselin; a 

 fuller in Vire ; they were very popular, and 

 spread all over France, and were called by the 

 name of their native place (Les Vaux de Vire). 

 As the origin of the term was soon lost sight 

 of, it at last took its present form. The word 

 is now used to signify a play in which dialogue 

 is interspersed with songs incidentally intro- 

 duced, but forming an important part of the 

 drama. 



The Single Tax. This idea was first 

 formulated by Mr. Henry George, in his book, 

 "Progress and Poverty," in 1879, and has 

 grown steadily in favor. Single tax men assert, 

 as a fundamental principle, that all men are 

 equally entitled to the use of the earth ; there- 

 fore, no one should be allowed to hold valuable 

 land without paying to the community the 

 value of the privilege. They hold that this is 

 the only rightful source of public revenue, and 

 they would, therefore, abolish all taxation, 

 local, state, and national, except a tax upon the 

 rental value of land, exclusive of its improve- 

 ments, the revenue thus raised to be divided 

 among local, state, and general governments, 

 as the revenue from certain direct taxes is now 

 divided between local and state governments. 



The single tax would not fall on allland,but 

 only on valuable land, and on that in propor- 

 tion to its value. It'would thus be a tax, not 

 on use or improvements, but on ownership of 

 land, taking what would otherwise go to the 

 .landlord as owner. 



In accordance with the principle that all 

 men are eqlially entitled to the use of the earth, 

 they would solve the transportation problem 

 by public ownership, and control of all high- 

 ways, including the roadbeds of railroads, leav- 

 ing their use equally free to all. 



The single tax system would : 



1. Dispense with a horde of taxgatherers, 

 simplify government, and greatly reduce its 

 cost. 



2. Give us with all the world that absolute 

 free trade which now exists between the states 

 of the Union. 



3. Give us free trade in finance by abolish- 

 ing all taxes on private issues of money. 



4. Take the weight of taxation from agri- 

 cultural districts, where land has little or no 

 value apart from improvements, and put it 

 upon valuable land, such as city lots and min- 

 eral deposits. 



5. Call upon men to contribute for public 

 expenses in proportion to the natural opportu- 



nities they monopolize, and compel them to pay 

 just as much for holding the land idle as for 

 putting it to its fullest use. 



6. Make it unprofitable for speculators to 

 hold land unused or only partly used, and, by 

 thus opening to labor unlimited fields of em- 

 ployment, solve the labor problem, raise wages 

 in all occupations, and abolish involuntary 

 poverty. 



Printer's Devil. The origin of this 

 term is ascribed to the fact that in the early 

 days of printing the apprentice's duties in- 

 cluded the inking of the forms with bags con- 

 taining ink or besmeared with it. In the 

 performance of this work his face and hands 

 became so daubed with the ink that in appear- 

 ance he suggested the devil. Hence the name. 



Bastille. The famous French prison 

 known by this name was originally the Castle 

 of Paris, and was built by order of Charles V., 

 between 1370 and 1383, as a defense against 

 the English. When it came to be used as a 

 state prison it was provided with vast bulwarks 

 and ditches. The Bastille had four towers, of 

 five stories each, on each of its larger sides, 

 and it was partly in these towers and partly in 

 underground cellars that the prisons were sit- 

 uated. It was capable of containing seventy 

 to eighty prisoners, a number frequently 

 reached during the reigns of Louis XIV. and 

 Louis XV., the majority of them being per- 

 sons of the higher ranks. The Bastille was 

 destroyed by a mob on the 15th of July, 1789, 

 and the governor and a number of his officers 

 were killed. On its site now stands the Column 

 of July, erected in memory of the patriots of 

 1789 and 1830. 



White House Weddings. The first 

 wedding to occur in the White House was that 

 of Miss Todd, a relative by marriage of Presi- 

 dent Madison. Then, in their order, came the 

 weddings of Elizabeth Tyler, a daughter of 

 President Tyler ; John Quincy Adams, Jr. ; 

 Miss Easten and Miss Lewis, both during Gen- 

 eral Jackson's administration ; Martha Mon- 

 roe ; Nellie Grant ; Emily Platt, a niece of 

 President Hayes; and last, President Cleve- 

 land. 



Dying Sayings of Famous People. 



Addison. "See how a Christian dies!" or "See in 

 what peace a Christian can die ! " 



Anaxagoras. " Give the boys a holiday." 



Arria. "MyPsetus, it is not painful." 



Augustus. " Vos Plaudite." (After asking how he 

 had acted his part in life.) 



Beaufort (Cardinal Henry). "I pray you all, pray 

 for me." 



Berry (Mme. de). " Is not this dying with courage 

 and true greatness? " 



Bronte (father of the authoress). " While there il 

 life there is will." (He died standing.) 



Byron. " I must sleep now." 



Caesar (Julius). " Et tu, Brute !" (To Brutus, when he 

 stabbed him.) 



