THE

AMERICAN MANUAL

OF

USEFUL, INTERESTING, AND INSTRUCTIVE INFORMATION,

EMBRACING OVER SIXTY DIFFERENT SUBJECTS;

AMONG WHICH ARE

LAW, FINANCE, POLITICS, WEIGHTS, MEASURES, CAPACITIES, DISTANCES,
CHEMISTRY, ASTRONOMY, METEOROLOGY, SYNONYMS.

POPULATIONS, FOREIGN STATISTICS, ETC.

BY

WILLIAM H. STARKEY.

KG 8486

HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

50*12

ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1882, BY WILLIAM H. STARKEY.

IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D. C.

PREFACE.

While the utility of a reliable book of this nature is undoubted, very few have any adequate idea of the difficulties encountered or the time consumed by the publisher in its compilation.

The uses of such a book are manifold. For the student reading, the business man in times of doubt, the politician in case of argument, and the lawyer for quick reference, it is ever ready in time of need; while five minutes devoted to it a day would improve the mind and memory of many who now think themselves well posted.

In the preparation of the AMERICAN MANUAL it has also been the aim to steadily keep in view the information constantly needed by all classes of people, so as to enable them to refer quickly, instead of wading through whole libraries to find that which is here presented.

It is often the case that a person wishing to draw up some legal paper, as a bill of sale, a contract, or a lease, hesitates to do so for fear he may omit some small word or technical term which might invalidate the instrument, and so is obliged to go to the expense of employing a lawyer to do it for him. These are only a few specimen cases in which this department will be found useful. To know how to draw up a note, a draft or a receipt, should be learnt by every one. It will save them much time, avoid confusion, and prevent them from giving written papers which can be construed to mean entirely contrary from what it was intended they should. The Homestead Laws of the State whereof one is a resident should be known, as well as of those of the States adjacent.

In loaning or borrowing money, the interest laws will come into play; while of the interest tables themselves it would be superfluous to speak, seeing that nearly all banks and large business houses make use of them in their daily transactions. Per cent. being a subject so imperfectly understood, we have added a valuable table, by means of which the per cent. on any article can be easily determined. The wages table for employers, and the foreign money table for merchants doing an export or import business will also be found handy.

The statistical department has been prepared to meet the wants and wishes of all classes, whether it be a politician, a statistician or a student of history. These tables have been prepared with great care, and those relating to the government and populations have been compiled entirely from official sources; so that though perhaps a few errors may have crept in, they will be found very few, and the work can be relied upon as being as free from such as any publi cation of a similar nature that has ever been published.