Bassett's Scrap Book, Vol 2, No 11

Articles in this issue

• NEW SCRAPS FOR A NEW YEAR.

  The editor's New Year leader for January 1905, surveying how different peoples (Chinese, Persians, Egyptians, Jews, Greeks, Romans) fixed the start of the year and noting England's adoption of January 1 under the New Style of 1752.
• " THERE WAS A SOUND OF REVELRY BY NIGHT."

  An historical account of the Duchess of Richmond's Waterloo ball of June 15, 1815 that inspired Byron's lines, including Sir William Fraser's investigation locating the ballroom in a Brussels coach-builder's warehouse on the Rue de la Blanchisserie.
• THE FOOLISH DICTIONARY.

  Humorous mock-dictionary definitions excerpted from a gift book "The Foolish Dictionary," with comic entries such as Scorcher, Temper, Optimism and Tailor.
• WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNGER.

  A collection of historical anecdotes on slow communication and travel, citing Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Trevithick and the York mail coach to contrast past conditions with modern conveniences.
• ANSWERS.

  The magazine's question-and-answer column replying to readers' queries on topics such as rifle trajectories, the size and distance of the sun, Lady Jane Grey, the Finsen rays, Jane Addams and Hull House, and the three Napoleons.
• THE WANTS OF MAN.

  Reprint of John Quincy Adams' poem "The Wants of Man," with a note that he wrote it in June 1840 at age 74 at the request of young ladies in General Ogle's district.
• ANNUAL ELECTION.

  Official tally of votes for Representatives to the L.A.W. National Assembly across New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and grouped states, certified by George L. Cooke and secretary Abbot Bassett.