342 EVENTS OF 1885. (DECEMBER.) 



EXPLOSIVES. 



27. A treaty between the United States and Siam 

 concerning the importation of spirits is ratified. A 

 convention of cattle-breeders in St. Louis demands 

 the sale of the Indian reservations. Prince Alexan- 

 der enters Servia at the head of his army. The Lib- 

 eral Sagasta ministry formed in Spain. Eight Indi- 

 ans connected with the Kiel rebellion are hanged at 

 Battleford. 



28. A monster political trial is begun in Warsaw. 

 Alexander of Bulgaria is compelled by the threats of 

 Austria to accept an armistice. Debate in the Ger- 

 man Parliament upon the exclusion of Catholic mis- 

 sionaries from German colonies. 



30. King Thebaw surrenders to General Prender- 

 gast. Germany takes possession of the Marshall Isl- 

 ands. 



December 1. The Caroline Islands Convention is 

 signed. Prince Bismarck delivers a message of the 

 King of Prussia, protesting against the discussion of 

 the expulsion of Poles by the Reichstag. 



2. Albert A. Wilson succeeds McMichael in the 

 post of Marshal of the District of Columbia. Repub- 

 lican prohibitionists in Kansas propose to found a 

 separate party. A National Farmers' Convention 

 meets in Indianapolis. An official declaration of the 

 Russian Government commends the Bulgarian con- 

 duct of the war. Grabova, in Gortz, is destroyed by 

 an earth-slide. Gen. Iglesias surrenders to the victori- 

 ous Gen. Caceres, who takes over the government of 

 Peru. 



4. The prohibition of the manufacture and sale of 

 artificial butter is declared constitutional in Penn- 

 sylvania. An explosion of natural gas in Pittsburg 

 causes serious damage. 



5. Launching of "the steel- armored "Chicago" at 

 Chester, Pa. Massowa is annexed by Italy. 



6. Storms and prairie-fires in the West. Turkey re- 

 frains : under pressure from the powers, from dispatch- 

 ing Djevdet Pasha as Governor-General to Eastern 

 Roumelia. 



7. The first session of the Forty -ninth Congress is 

 opened ; Sherman elected temporary President of the 

 Senate, and Carlisle Speaker of the House. The 

 sending of a battery of United States artillery to Salt 

 Lake City causes a sensation. The truce between 

 Bulgaria and Servia is prolonged to Jan. 13. A revo- 

 lution breaks out in the Mexican State of Nuevo Leon. 



8. President Cleveland lays his annual messaore 

 before Congress. Death of William H. Vanderbift. 

 End of the coal-miners' strike in the Monongahela 

 valley, Pennsylvania. Gen. de Courcy is superseded 

 by Gen. Negrier as commander-in-chief in Tonquin. 



9. Fight between Federal troops and Indians in 

 New Mexico. 



10. Numerous cases of trichinosis in Pennsylvania. 

 Disturbances in the Pennsylvania coal-regions. The 

 German Bundesrath approves the project of a North 

 Sea Canal. The elections in Great Britain give Con- 

 servatives and Parnellites together a slight maioritv 

 over the Liberals. 



12. Decision of the Supreme Court of Ohio in favor 

 of the Democratic candidates for the Legislature in 

 the Cincinnati contested election cases. 



14. The United States Supreme Court makes a rul- 

 ing defining polygamy in the Mormon question. The 

 appointment of a commission to fix the boundary be- 

 tween Servia and Bulgaria is decided upon. The 

 Hungarian Lower House decides in favor of leno-then- 

 mg the legislative period from three to five years. 



15. The Virginia Legislature elects John W. Dan- 

 iel, Democrat, to the United States Senate in Mahone's 



Bace. Death of Robert Toombs, of Georgia. Dr. 

 eucher is chosen President of the Swiss Confedera- 

 tion. Conflict between the French ministry and the 

 clergy. 



16. A dynamite conspiracy is discovered in San 

 Francisco. 



17. The Atlanta prohibition law is judicially de- 

 clared to be valid. The Caroline Islands Convention 

 is formally signed in Rome. Excitement in England 



Sinking 



over Gladstone's conversion to home rule, 

 of the Pont Neuf in Paris. 



18. Congress votes a pension of $5,000 a year to the 

 widow of Gen. Grant. The House of Representa- 

 tives adopts the order of business elaborated by Mor- 

 rison. 



19. Failure of the City Bank in Houston, Texas. A 

 squadron of cavalry defeated by Indians in New Mex- 

 ico. Archbishop Krementz makes his entry into Co- 



). The Duke of Seville arrested for dishonorable 

 expressions against the Queen-Regent of Spain. 



21. Congress adjourns for the holidays until Jan. 5, 

 1886. The monster trial in Warsaw ends with the 

 conviction of the accused. 



22. Peace concluded between France and Mada- 

 gascar. 



23. The cholera appears in the province of Venice. 



24. The French Chamber votes the Tonquin credit 

 by a majority of 274 to 270 ; Brisson tenders his res- 

 ignation. Failure of the Austro-Hungarian tariff con- 

 ference. 



26. A quarrel in a Polish Roman Catholic church 

 in Detroit leads to a riot. John Bigelow declines the 

 appointment of United States sub-Treasurer in New 

 York. Triumphant entry of Prince Alexander into 

 his capital. 



28. The mine-owners of the Monongahela valley 

 refuse to submit their dispute with the miners to ar- 

 bitration. Gre'vy re-elected President of France. 



29. The President makes important changes in the 

 civil-service rules in accordance with recommendations 

 of the Civil-Service Commissioners. The Treasury 

 calls in $10,000,000 of bonds. The creditors of the 

 King of Bavaria threaten to levy on the Royal Palace. 



30. The Mormon saint, Brignam Young Hampton, 

 is condemned to a year's imprisonment for offenses 

 against morality. English victory over the Arabs at 

 Kosheh. 



81. Judge Yates, of Peoria, 111., flees to Canada on 

 account or the embezzlement of trust funds. Frey- 

 cinet intrusted with the formation of a ministry. 

 Great Britain announces the annexation of Burmah. 



See DISASTERS OF 1885. 



EXPLOSIVES. Substances either solid, as gun- 

 powder or nitrogen iodide; liquid, as nitro-gly- 

 cerin or nitrogen chloride ; or gaseous, as elec- 

 trolytic gas, that by any disturbing cause, such 

 as heat, agitation, contact, or surface action, 

 can be made to increase largely and rapidly in 

 volume so as to produce a shock, are called ex- 

 plosives. The force developed during this con- 

 version depends upon the material used. Like- 

 wise the combustion is progressive, as in gun- 

 powder, or almost instantaneous, as in nitro -gly- 

 cerin. The two varieties of explosives, called 

 respectively "disintegrating" compounds and 

 " shattering" compounds, can not be separated 

 by any sharp line of division ; a great variety 

 of explosives, slightly differing from one an- 

 other, are included between the limits of each 

 class. " Burning " is the term given to com- 

 bustions in which the action is progressive. 

 *' Detonation " is the name applied to those ex- 

 plosives in which the development is almost 

 instantaneous. Much work, and that very care- 

 fully performed, has marked the progress of 

 the theoretical discussion of this subject during 

 the past few years. Eminent specialists in this 

 country, in England, and in France, have de- 

 voted years to patient toil for the purpose of 

 shedding light on the true nature of explosions. 

 The theory that seems most in accord with 



