A. D. Battles of the American Revolution. 1889 Brazil became a Republic. MEMORABLE DATES—Continued. 1889 Johnstown, Pa., flood, May 31. 1893 World's Fair at Chicago. 1893 Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii deposed, Jan. 16. 1894 Chinese-Japanese War began. 1894 Hawaii made a Republic, July 4. 1894 Battle of Yalu, Sept. 17. 1894 Capt. Dreyfus degraded, Dec. 23; restored to rank, July 12, 1996. 1895 Roentgen Ray discovered by W. K. Roentgen, a German physicist. 1895 Cuban Revolution began, Feb. 20. 1896 "Greater New York" bill signed, May 11, 1897 The Turkish-Greek War. 1898 U. S. Battleship Maine blown up in harbor of Havana, Cuba, Feb. 15. 1898 War began between Spain and the United States, April 21. 1898 Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, May 1. 1898 The Spanish-American War. 1898 Battles of San Juan and El Caney, July 1-3. 1898 Battle of Santiago de Cuba, July 3. 1898 Peace protocol signed between the United States and Spain, Aug. 12. 1898 Peace treaty signed by American and Spanish delegates at Paris, Dec. 10. 1898 Battle of Omdurman, Sept. 2. 1899 Universal Peace Conference. 1899 The South African War began. 1899 Philippine-American War began, Feb. 4. 1899 Windsor Hotel fire (N. Y.), Mar. 17, 45 lives lost. 1900 Paris Exposition. 1900 Boxer Insurrection in China. 1900 Hoboken docks and ships fire, June 30, 145 lives lost. 1900 The Galveston tornado, Sept. 8. 1901 Death of Queen Victoria. 1901 Aguinaldo captured by Gen. Funston, Mar. 23. 1901 Pan-American Exposition, May 1-Nov, 2. 1901 Assassination of President McKinley, Sept. 6. 1901 Marconi signalled letter "S" across Atlantic from England to Newfoundland, Dec. 12. First message sent in Dec., 1902. 1902. Martinique destroyed by volcano. 1902 Pennsylvania coal strike. 1902 Cuban Republic inaugurated, May 20. 1902 Edward VII. crowned King of Great Britain, Aug. 9. 1903 Kishinev massacre. 1903 Republic of Panama established. 1901 The Great Fire in Baltimore, Feb. 7. 1904 The Russo-Japanese War began. 1904 St. Louis Exposition opened, April 30. 1904 Steamboat General Slocum burned, June 15. 1905 Battle of Mukden, Feb. 20-Mar. 15. 1905 Battle of Sea of Japan, May 27-28. A. D. 1905 Norway dissolved union with Sweden. 1906 Eruption of Vesuvius, April 5-12. 1906 San Francisco earthquake and conflagration, April 18-19. 1908 Great earthquake in Southern Italy. 1908 American battleship fleet nearly circumnavigated the globe. 1908 Chelsea (Mass.) fire, April 12. 1911 Postal Banks established in United States, Jan. 3. 1911 President Diaz of Mexico resigned. 1911 The South Pole discovered, Dec. 14. 1911 China proclaimed a Republic. 1912 Balkan War began. 1912 Equitable Building burned, Jan. 9, 6 lives lost. 1912 Steamship Titanic wrecked. April 14. 1913 Ohio and Indiana floods, March 25-27. 1913 Peace Palace at Hague dedicated. 1913 Steamer Volturno disaster, Oct. 91914 General European war. 1914 S.S. Empress of Ireland sunk, May 29. 1914 Great fire in Salem, June 25. 1914 Archduke Francis of Austria assassinated at Sarajevo, June 28. 1914 Germany invaded Belgium, Aug. 2. 1914 Panama Canal opened, Aug. 15. 1914 Cape Cod Canal opened. 1914 Japan declared war on Germany, Aug. 23. 1914 Austria declared war on Japan, Aug. 25. 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition opened, Feb. 20. 1915 Steamship Lusitania sunk, May 7. 1915 Excursion steamer Eastland disaster, July 24, 1915 Wireless communication between Japan and United States established, July 27. 1915 Steamship Arabic sunk, Aug. 19. 1915 Italian liner Ancona sunk, Nov. 9. 1915 China restored as a Monarchy. 1916 Teutonic Peace Proposal made. 1916 Black Tom Dock explosion and fire, Jersey City, July 30, $33,000,000 loss. 1917 Czar Nicholas of Russia abdicated throne, March 15. 1917 United States declared a state of war existed with Germany, April 6; with Austria, Dec. 7. 1917 King Constantine of Greece abdicated, June 12. 1917 Pope Benedict made public his peace proposal, Aug. 1, which America and the Allies rejected. 1917 Halifax disaster, Dec. 6. 1917 Jerusalem surrenders to British, Dec. 8. 1918 Czar Nicholas of Russia shot by Bolshevik orders, July 12. Dates. 19th April, 4775 17th June, 1775 12th Aug. 1776 28th Oct., 1776 25th Dec., 1776 3d Jan. 1777 16th Aug., 1777 11th Sept., 1777 17th Oct., 1777 25th June, 1778 20th Aug., 177S 30th Mar., 1779 15th July, 1779 16th Aug., 1780 17th Jan., 1781. 15th Mar.. 1781 Sth Sept., 1781 19th Oct., 1781 American Loss. Prescott. Wayne. Gates. Morgan. Greene. 84 Pitcairn. 453 Howe. 2,000 Howe. 300 Howe. 9 Rahl 100 Mawhood 100 Baum.. 1,200 Howe. 350 Burgoyne. 2301Clinton. 211 Pigott.. 300 Prevost. 100 Johnson.. 720 Cornwallis 72 Tarlton. 400 Cornwallis. 555 Stewart. Cornwallis. This table is made independent of numerous skirmishes and battles of less importance. A treaty of peace was signed and the independence of the country recognized by England September 13, 1783, provisional articles having been signed November 30, 1782. The British sailed from New York November 25, 1763, leaving the whole country east of the Mississippi and south of Canada in possession of the republie. 78 The French Revolutionary Era. ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 1819. JAMES MONROE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. GEORGE III. WAS KING OF ENGLAND, THE ACTUAL GOVERNMENT BEING UNDER THE PRINCE OF WALES (AFTERWARDS GEORGE IV.) AS REGENT. KING OF FRANCE-LOUIS XVIII. EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA-FRANCIS I. KING OF PRUSSIA-FREDERICK WILLIAM III. EMPEROR OF RUSSIA-ALEXANDER I. KING OF SPAIN-FERDINAND VII. KING OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY-CHARLES XIV. SULTAN OF TURKEY-MAHMUD VI, KING OF DENMARK-FREDERICK VI. KING OF NAPLES AND SICILY-FERDINAND I. January 19-Centre College incorporated at Danville, Ky. January 19-The United States and Great Britain sign a joint agreement for the occupation of the territory of Oregon. January 24-The first church at Buffalo is completed and used for worship. February 5-Hannah Goes Van Buren, wife of President Martin Van Buren, dies. February 22-The Sabine River is agreed on as a boundary between the United States and the Spanish possessions in North America. February 22-Spain cedes to the United States, by treaty, the territories of East and West Florida, receiving $5.000,000. March 2-The Government of the United States donates to Alabama 902,774 acres of public lands, the proceeds to be devoted to public schools. March 2-The 2-The Congress of the United States separates the territory of Arkansas from Missouri. March 3-The Congress of the United. States passes an act authorizing the employment of the navy for the suppression of the African slave trade. March 24-Southwark Bridge, over the Thames River, London, England, opens for traffic. April 2-The pioneer agricultural periodical in the United States, The American American Farmer, begins publication at Baltimore. April 10-The steamship Savannah, the first steamcraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean, leaves the city of New York for Savannah, Ga., on the first leg of her historic voyage. She was of 380 tons burden. April 13-The Secret Society of the Carbonari is established at the city of Naples, in Sicily, for the purpose of driving out foreigners, and especially the French, and establishing civil and religious liberty. This organization grew to 65,000 by 1820; thence spread to France, fomenting the revolutions of 1830 and 1848. April 26-The first American lodge of the Secret Order of Odd Fellows, known as Washington Lodge No. 1, is founded at Baltimore. May 4-The vessels Hecla and Griper start on their voyage to try to discover a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. May 24-Queen Victoria of Great Britain born. May 26-The transatlantic steamship Savannah leaves the city of Savannah bound for Liverpool, England. May 28-The steamboat Independence, pioneer steam craft on the Missouri River, goes up that stream as far as Franklin. June 2-The steamboat Harriet, a pioneer steam craft on the Mississippi River, arrives at St. Louis from New Orleans, after a trip of 27 days. June 15-Over 5,000 acres in the Fen districts, England, deluged by storms. June 16-An earthquake causes the Kutch District in India to sink, smothering up over 2,000 persons. June 19-The Legislature of Massachusetts separates from that State the territory of Maine. June 20-The American steamship arrives at Liverpool, England. Savannah July 6-Mme. Blanchard is killed by the burning of a gas balloon by which she was making an ascension at Tivoli. July 12-The first United States Custom House in Philadelphia is opened on Second Street, near Dock Street. August 1-The Congress of Carlsbad, Germany opens. This was a gathering for the purpose of repressing the liberty of the press. August 16-The "Peterloo" political riots occur at Manchester, England. Eleven persons are killed and 600 injured. August 23-Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, of the Ünited States Navy, dies in the West Indies of yellow fever. September 21-Over 200 ships lost in hurricane in Leeward Islands, West Indies. September 22-The first steamship on Lake Erie begins its trips. October 11-A convention in Maine appoints a committee to draw up a State Constitution. October 15-Carlile, an English book publisher, is put to trial at London, England, on a charge of treason, in having published Tom Paine's "Age of Reason." December 6-Gen. W. S. Rosecrans of the Union Army born. December 31-Fifteen families settle at Indianapolis, Ind. December 31-A revolution begins in Spain. THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY ERA. IN September, 1793. the convention decreed that the common era should be abolished in all civil affairs, and that the new French era should begin on September 22, 1792, the day of the true autumnal equinox, and that each succeeding year should begin at the midnight of the day on which the true autumnal equinox falls. The year was divided into twelve months of thirty days each. In ordinary years there were five extra days, from the 17th to the 21st of our September, and at the end of every fourth year was a sixth complimentary day. This reckoning was first used on November 22, 1793, and was continued until December 31, 1805, when it was discontinued, and the Gregorian calendar, used throughout the rest of Europe, was resumed. The following were the dates for the year 1804, the last complete year of this style of reckoning: The months were divided into three decades of ten days each, but to make up the 365 five were added at the end of September: Primidi, dedicated to Virtue; Duodi, to Genius; Tridi, to Labor; Quartidi, to Opinion, and Quintidi, to Rewards. To Leap Year, called Olympic, a sixth day, September 22 or 23, Sextidi, "the day of the Revolution," was added. To each tenth day, thirty-six in all, were assigned thirty-six "Fetes Decadaires, decreed by the National Convention on the eighteenth Prairlal, in honor of the Supreme Being and Nature, the Human Race, the French People, Benefactors of Humanity, Martyrs for Liberty. Liberty and Equality, the Republic, Liberty of the World, Love of Country, Hatred of Tyrants and Traitors, Truth, Justice, Modesty, Glory and Immortality, Friendship, Frugality, Courage, Good Faith, Heroism, Disinterestedness, Stoicism, Love, Conjugal Fidelity, Paternal Love, Maternal Tenderness, Filial Piety, Infancy, Childhood, Manhood, Old Age, Sickness, Agriculture, Industry, Our Ancestors, Our Posterity, Goodness. Coast Line of the United States. WEATHER FLAGS OF THE WEATHER BUREAU, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 79 THE Weather Bureau furnishes, when practicable, for the benefit of all interests dependent upon weather conditions, the "Forecasts" which are prepared daily at the Central Office in Washington, D. C., and certain designated stations. These forecasts are telegraphed to stations of the Weather Bureau, railway officials, postmasters, and many others, to be communicated to the public by telegraph, telephone, "wireless" and mail or by means of flags or steam whistles. The flags adopted for this purpose are five in number, and of the forms and colors indicated below: Local rain or snow. Temperature. Cold wave. When number 4 is placed above number 1,2 or 3, it indicates warmer; when below, colder; when not displayed, the temperature is expected to remain about stationary. WHISTLE SIGNALS. After A warning blast of from fifteen to twenty seconds' duration is sounded to attract attention. this warning the longer blasts (of from four to six seconds' duration) refer to weather, and shorter blasts (of from one to three seconds' duration) refer to temperature; those for weather are sounded first. By repeating each combination a few times, with intervals of ten seconds, liability to error in reading the signals may be avoided. In no As far as practicable, the forecast messages are telegraphed at the expense of the Weather Bureau; but if this is impracticable they are furnished at the regular commercial rates and sent "collect.' case are the forecasts sent to a second address in any place, except at the expense of the applicant. Persons desiring to display the flags or sound the whistle signals for the benent of the public should communicate with the Weather Bureau officials in charge of the central stations of their respective States, which are as follows: LENGTHS, IN STATUTE MILES, OF THE GENERAL COAST LINE AND TIDAL SHORE LINE OF THE UNITED STATES AND OUTLYING TERRITORIES. LOCALITY. United States: Atlantic Coast. Gulf Coast.. Pacific Coast. Total... Alaska.. Philippine Islands. Porto Rico.. Guam... Hawaiian Islands. Panama Canal Zone. United States Samoan Islands TIDAL SHORE LINE, UNIT 4.170 Tidal Shore Line, Unit Measure 3 Statute Miles.-The figures under this heading give the length in statuto miles of the shore line on tidaLwaters to points where such waters narrow to a width of 3 statute miles. Tidal Shore Line, Unit Measure 1 Statute Mile.-The figures under this heading give the length in statute miles of the shore line on tidal waters to points where such waters narrow to a width of one statute mile, and include the shore line of those bodies of tidal waters more than 1 mile wide which lie close to the main waters, even though the entrance width is less than the unit measure. Alaska, the Philippine Islands, and United States Samoan Islands were not measured with a unit measure of 1 statute mile, as large areas are unsurveyed, and such a measurement would be very approximate, If not misleading. 80 RED SMALL CRAFT, STORM AND HURRICANE WARNINGS Storm. Hurricane. Small Craft Warning-A red pennant Indicates that moderately strong winds are expected. Storm Warning-A red flag with a black centre indicates that a storm of marked violence is expected. The pennants displayed with the flags indicate the direction of the wind: white, westerly; red, easterly. The pennant above the flag indicates that the wind is expected to blow from the northerly quadrants; below, from the southerly quadrants. By night a red light indicates casterly winds, and a white light below a red light westerly winds. Hurricane Warning-Two red flags with black centres, displayed one above the other, indicate the expected approach of a tropical hurricane, and also one of those extremely severe and dangerous storms which occasionally move across the Lakes and Northern Atlantic Coast. Neither small craft nor hurricane warnings described above are displayed at night. The following new system of night storm-warning displays on the Great Lakes only became effective October 15, 1916: Small Craft Warning-A red pennant indicates that moderately strong winds that will interfere with the safe operation of small craft are expected. No night display of small craft warnings is made. Northeast Storm Warning-A red pennant above a square red flag with black centre displayed by day, or two red lanterns, one above the other, displayed by night, indicate the approach of a storm of marked violence with winds beginning from the northeast. Southeast Storm Warning—A `red pennant below a square_red flag with black centre displayed by day, or one red lantern displayed by night, indicates the approach of a storm of marked violence with winds beginaing from the southeast. Southwest Storm Warning—A white pennant below a square red flag with black centre displayed by day, or a white lantern below a red lantern displayed by night, indicates the approach of a storm of marked violence with winds beginning from the southwest. Northwest Storm Warning-A white pennant above a square red flag with black centre displayed by day, or a white lantern abone a red lantern displayed by night, indicates the approach of a storm marked violence with winds beginning from the northwest. Hurricane, or Whole Galę Warning—Two square flags, red with black centres, one above the other, displayed by day, or two red lanterns, with a white lantern between, displayed by night, indicate the approach of a tropical hurricane, or of one of the extremely severe and dangerous storms which occasionally move across the Great Lakes. VELOCITY OF WINDS IN THE UNITED STATES. AVERAGE hourly velocity of the wind at selected stations of the United States Weather Bureau, also the highest velocity ever reported for a period of five minutes. (Prepared by Chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau, and revised to January 1, 1918, for THE WORLD ALMANAC.) Hourly Velocity. Average Hourly Ever Reported Mi. 10 10 10 10 8 11 10 7 Boise, Idaho. 5 Boston, Mass. 11 8 78 74 93 70 Philadelphia, Pa. 78 72 75 St. Paul, Minn Buffalo, N. Y 60 St. Vincent, Minn.* 72 Charlotte, N. C. Chattanooga, Tenn. Chicago, Ill. 74 San Francisco, Cal. 10 64 Cincinnati, Ohio. 63 Santa Fe, N. M. Custer, Mont.* Spokane, Wash Denver, Col. 75 Toledo, Ohio, Detroit, Mich. Vicksburg, Miss. Dodge City, Kan Dubuque, Iowa. 96 Wilmington, N. C. Duluth, Minn. 66 Eastport, Me... 60 Temperature and Rainfall of Foreign Cities. MEAN HUMIDITY OF PLACES IN UNITED STATES IN PERCENTAGES. 81 FROM a table prepared by the United States Weather Bureau, showing the monthly and annual values of relative humidity at regular Weather Bureau stations in the United States, based upon observations made at 8 A.M. and 8 P.M. respectively, 75th meridian time and covering a period of about 25 years of record. Jan. Feb. Mar. | Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. ¡Nov. Dec.] Ann'l· 78 74 69 82 82 80 78 66 76 66 66 72 80 78 81 82 80 72 62 66 69 74 64 65 69 70 72 Cherrapongee, in Southwestern Assam, is the wettest place in the world. In 1861 the rainfall there reached 905 inches. Mean annual temperature of the globe is about 59° Fahr. The average annual rainfall in the world has been estimated at 30 to 60 inches. The highest temperatures occur in Northern Africa, in the interlor of Australia, in Southwestern Asia, and in Southwestern North America. The lowest temperature recorded in the Antarctic by Shackleton was 57° on August 14, 1908 (U. S. Weather Bureau), |