This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, KS, USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS -1895



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Grammar (Time, one hour)







1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.





2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.





3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.





4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of lie, play and run.





5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.





6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.





7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)







1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.





2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?





3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?





4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?





5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.





6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.





7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?





8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.





9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?





10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)







1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.





2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.





3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.





4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.





5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.





6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.





7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?





8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Orthography (Time, one hour)







1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?





2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?





3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?





4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'





5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.





6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.





7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.





8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.





9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.





10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Geography (Time, one hour)







1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?





2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?





3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?





4. Describe the mountains of North America.





5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.





6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.





7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.





8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?





9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.





10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Gives the saying:

"He only had an 8th grade education"

a whole new meaning, doesn't it?



By the way, orthography is the study or science of spelling. I had to look it up in the dictionary.

--------------------------------------------

Today is Sunday, April 11th

The 102nd day of 2004.

There are 264 days left in the year.

Today is Easter Sunday



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Today's Highlight in History:



On April 11, 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



On this date:



In 1415, All ships in English ports are detained for service with Henry V, King of England.



In 1506, The foundation stone of the new St. Peter's Basilica was laid under the patronage of Julius II. (The church was not completed, however, until 1626.)



In 1689, William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.



In 1803, A twin-screw propeller steamboat was patented by John Stevens. The boat was 25-feet-long and four-feet wide.



In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated (the first time) as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba.



In 1876, The stenotype was patented by John C. Zachos of New York City.



In 1876, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks is organized



In 1890, Ellis Island is designated as an immigration station



In 1898, President McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.



In 1899, The treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect.



In 1906, Einstein introduces his Theory of Relativity



In 1921, Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax.



In 1921, KDKA broadcast the 1st radio sporting event, a boxing match (Ray-Dundee).



In 1934, At the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, winds gust to 231 miles per hour, the strongest ever recorded on earth.



In 1941, Germany bombers blitzed Conventry, England.



In 1945, U.S. troops reached the Elbe River in Germany.



In 1950, US B-29 bomber shot down above Latvia.



In 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East.



In 1951, The Stone of Scone was recovered after a 107-day hunt after it had been stolen from Westminster Abbey by Scottish Nationalists who wanted it returned to Scotland.



In 1953, Oveta Culp Hobby became the first Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.



In 1960, 1st weather satellite launched (Tiros 1)



In 1965, 40 tornadoes strike US midwest killing 272 & injuring 5,000.



In 1966, NBC broadcasted the last episode of "Hulabaloo."



In 1968, President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.



In 1968, President Johnson ordered 24,500 military reservists called up, half of them for duty in Vietnam.



In 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on its ill-fated mission to the moon.



In 1974, The Judiciary committee subpoenas U.S. President Richard Nixon to produce tapes for impeachment inquiry.



In 1979, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.



In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House from the hospital after recovering from an assassination attempt.



In 1981, Valerie Bertinelli marries Eddie Van Halen.



In 1983, Harold Washington was elected the first black mayor of Chicago.



In 1984, Chinese troops invade Vietnam.



In 1985, The 100th episode of "Hill Street Blues" aired.



In 1986, Kellogg's of Battle Creek, MI stopped its 80-year tradition of tours of the breakfast food plant on this day, saying that company secrets were at risk with spies from other cereal manufacturers.



In 1986, Dodge Morgan completes nonstop sail solo around the world in 150 days



In 1991, U.N. Security Council issued a formal cease-fire with Iraq.



In 1992, Euro-Disney opens near Paris France



In 1996, Israel began a 17-day bombardment of Lebanon under the name "Operation Grapes of Wrath."



In 1996, Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff, who'd hoped to become the youngest person to fly cross-country, was killed along with her father and flight instructor when her plane crashed after takeoff from Cheyenne, Wyoming.



In 1997, The Air Force announced that despite an intensive nine-day search, it couldn't find a bomb-laden A-10 warplane that had disappeared with its pilot during a training mission over Arizona. (The plane's wreckage was later found in a Colorado mountainside.)



In 2001, Ending a tense 11-day standoff, China agreed to free the 24 crew members of an American spy plane after U.S. President George W. Bush said he was "very sorry" for the death of a Chinese fighter pilot whose plane had collided with the American aircraft.



Ten years ago (1994):



The White House disclosed that President and Mrs. Clinton had failed to report $6,498 in income that the first lady made in commodities trading in 1980; the couple wrote checks totaling $14,615 in back taxes and interest.



Five years ago (1999):



The Justice Department reported that more than a third of the women in state prisons and jails said they were physically or sexually abused as children.



Jose Maria Olazabal won the Masters by two shots over Davis Love III.



One year ago (2003):



Ten of the main suspects in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole escaped from prison in Yemen.



American troops took the northern Iraqi city of Mosul without a fight.



The U.S. military issed a most-wanted list of 55 regime leaders that "must be captured or killed."



In Cuba, three men convicted of hijacking a passenger ferry the previous week were executed by firing squad, a swift response by Fidel Castro's government to a recent string of hijackings to the United States.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Today's Birthdays:



"Brenda Starr" creator Dale Messick is 98.



Fashion designer Oleg Cassini is 91.



Former New York State Governor Hugh Carey is 85.



Ethel Kennedy is 76.



Actor Johnny Sheffield is 73.



Actor Joel Grey is 72.



Actress Louise Lasser is 65.



Syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman is 63.



Movie writer-director John Milius is 60.



Actor Peter Riegert is 57.



Actor Meshach Taylor is 57.



Actor Bill Irwin is 54.



Country singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale is 47.



Songwriter-producer Daryl Simmons is 47.



Actor Lucky Vanous is 43.



Country singer Steve Azar is 40.



Singer Lisa Stansfield is 38.



Rock musician Dylan Keefe (Marcy Playground) is 34.



Singer Joss Stone is 17.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Thought for Today:

"We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." -

- Jonathan Swift, English satirist (1667-1745).

----------------------------------------------