The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX. No. 1008, April 22, 1899 — John Shaqi
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX. No. 1008, April 22, 1899Various
General
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX. No. 1008, April 22, 1899
Various
Children's literature -- Periodicals
We give here our notes on questions 25-48 inclusive, so that
competitors may check their own answers and see in some cases what they
might have replied had they been fortunate enough to find out. General
remarks on the competition, as we said last month, will follow when we
come to intimate who the painstaking girls are who have won prizes and
certificates.
* * * * *
=25. Who was the monarch who once attended the rehearsal of his own
funeral?=
The monarch we had in view in framing this question was Charles V.,
Emperor of Germany and King of Spain. After his abdication in 1555-56
he retired to the monastery of St. Juste in the north of Estremadura,
and here he resolved to celebrate his own obsequies. His domestics
marched to the chapel of the monastery in funeral procession with
black tapers in their hands, and he himself followed in his shroud.
He was laid in his coffin with much solemnity. “The service for the
dead was chanted, and Charles joined in the prayers which were offered
up for the repose of his soul, mingling his tears with those which
his attendants shed, as if they had been celebrating a real funeral.”
Judging by the numbers who failed to answer, this was one of our
difficult questions.
=26. What is the largest palace in the world used as a residence?=
Three palaces were prominent in the answers given—the Vatican at Rome,
the Winter Palace at St. Petersburg, and the Palace of Versailles in
the neighbourhood of Paris. The last-named, however, was mentioned
by error, as it is now not a residence, but little more than a
showplace. But it is huge enough, for in the heyday of its prosperity
it accommodated about ten thousand persons—courtiers, dependents,
etc. To the Vatican, the residence of the Pope, apparently belongs the
credit of being of all palaces that on the largest scale. It is said
to contain no fewer than seven thousand rooms. It became the fixed
residence of the Popes in 1377. The Winter Palace at St. Petersburg
is also an enormous structure, in which six thousand persons have
frequently had a habitation.
=27. What is the exercise most conducive to physical beauty?=
The answers to this query were as varied as could be. Dancing, fencing,
cycling, swimming, golfing, dumb-bell drill, and many other forms of
exercise all had their advocates. Some girls said, “Housekeeping for
ever!” and recommended constant devotion to sweeping and dusting; but
others remarked that that was too narrow a view, and that we ought to
move about in the open air as well. Most, however, held that the right
form of exercise was walking, the cheapest, safest, and best of all.
“And see,” says one competitor, “that you persevere in it and do it in
all weathers, but the very worst, and particularly in winter.”
=28. What was the first street ever lit by gas?=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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