Source:Worlds-questions/content
The World of Sunday publishes an installment of fifty answers to its hundred Christmas questions. Pending the contest it says it received 3,953 answers, which were examined and tested by the World man assigned for this duty. His obituary has not yet been printed. It is now dealing in Easter questions, and we would suggest a series of patriotic queries for the Fourth of July, bearing exclusively on points of American history. The World has struck a new feature, away out of the rut of common place journalism, and it is both instructive and amusing, especially the criticisms on its own answers. As it accepts the replies, it endorses them as its own, and as many of the auswers [sic] were opinions quite as much as facts, there is a fine field opened up for "notes and queries" at the World's expense. The Evening Post has already devoted a column to the question, "when do we first hear of the pibroch in the history of North America?" We believe the correspondent of the Post claimed from a Highland regiment at Wolf's attack on Quebec. The World answers it in this way:
The first mention of the pibroch during this contest on the continent appears to be in an account of the expedition under Brigadier General Forbes against Fort Du Quesne. In the course of that expedition Major Grant, of Montgomerie's Highlanders, was sent forward imprudently with 400 of his men and 500 provincials on a reconnoissance [sic]. The Highlanders, with the disdainful spirit which had worked their clans such deadly harm at Culloden, insisted on advancing with drums beating and the pipes pouring out the pibroch. The enemy thus warned fell upon them, and after a desperate conflict sent the column reeling back, shattered and cut to pieces. Only 150 Highlanders reached Loyal Henning. (Loyalhanna.) In the battle of the Plains of Abraham, a year later, the pibroch worked a different work. There it rallied a breaking Highland regiment and sent them back charging victoriously upon the foe with such fury and determination that their bering on that day is one of the few incidents of the battle which may be accepted as established facts of history.
The battle the World refers to was fought about where the Allegheny county Court House now stands, on Grant street, Grant Hill, so named after the British Major. It is a great wonder the name has been spared, and that our wise councilmen have not renamed the street 111th or something of that sort. The Damphools of that body of worthies, erased from the city map a score or two of historic names of streets, a few years ago, (Marbury, Pitt, Hay, St. Clair, Wayne, Irwin, etc.) and rechristened the streets by numbers. We have always thought a statue of the gifted author of this nonsense, whoever he may be, should be put in the vacant niche of our magnificent City Hall, decorated with a fools' cap and ass' ears. We have only three sets of numbers applied to street naming in Pittsburgh. We have South-side numbers, and avenue numbers, and street numbers in the old city.
