Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2019 September 19

= September 19 =

Readers' poll Rolling Stone
How do readers actually vote for a top 10, 25, 50, etc ...? They must tick the names of bands and / or artists present on the site, or they can write them directly, but where? And then, how are the votes assembled, added together? Thank you so much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.100.198 (talk) 14:11, 20 September 2019 (UTC)
 * They appear to be open-ended polls. Here is one example of a poll by Rolling Stone, which I picked at random.  It says "You can vote here in the comments, on facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter with the #weekendrock hashtag."  Thus, readers simply write in their choices, and the staff must compile them for their final lists.  That example is several years old, but looking at other random polls, they all seem to run that way.  -- Jayron 32 15:22, 20 September 2019 (UTC)

"Second greatest man in Egypt"
According to the page on Thomas Cook, his son John Mason Cook brought much tourism to Egypt and was called "the second greatest man in Egypt" for his success. Who was the greatest man? It feels like this was a joke at the time I'm missing. 165.225.80.120 (talk) 15:26, 20 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Undoubtedly the Pasha, being Abbas II of Egypt at the time. -- Jayron 32 15:51, 20 September 2019 (UTC)
 * I rather think Kitchener would have been the greatest man in Egypt. Evelyn Baring was ahead of the Pasha too. DuncanHill (talk) 10:07, 22 September 2019 (UTC)
 * We need to know when he was called "the second greatest man in Egypt", if early enough then Gordon's a candidate for greatest too. DuncanHill (talk) 10:23, 22 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Right, after looking at hundreds of pages which reproduce more-or-less exactly what our article said (it has since been edited by another), I have tracked down what appears to be the original claim. It is in The Business of Travel: Fifty Years' Record of Progress by W. Fraser Rae, and published by Thomas Cook and Son. It occurs in a speech by Major General Sir Francis Grenfell at a banquet celebrating 50 years since the first excursion. John Mason Cook was in the chair. The relevant bit - "I have always taken the greatest interest in the education of the natives, and the last time when I visited the school at Assouan I asked the pupils various questions. One of those questions was, "Who was the greatest man in Egypt?" and they all said "The Khedive." Then I asked, " Who is the second greatest man in Egypt?" and unanimously the reply came, " Mr. John Cook." (Cheers and laughter.) That, gentlemen, I can assure you, is the belief of all the natives, at any rate of the riverain population, who use Mr. John Cook's boats in going backwards and forwards from Cairo to Assouan, and from Assouan to Wady Haifa". The book is on Archive.org, and Sir Francis's speech appears here. DuncanHill (talk) 10:39, 22 September 2019 (UTC)
 * The Khedive referred to was of course Tewfik Pasha. DuncanHill (talk) 10:55, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

War horses
Are war/battle horses likely to be stallions, geldings, or mares? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 16:59, 19 September 2019 (UTC)
 * 82.44.143.26, this is a better place for your question. Drmies (talk) 15:29, 20 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Drmies - you can see my logic - the people editing the 'horses in warfare' page are the most likely to know the answer. 82.44.143.26 (talk) 15:40, 20 September 2019 (UTC)
 * You can peruse the List of historical military horses to see which is more common (I only checked a few, but they seem to be mostly stallions). The War horse article doesn't specify preference, but suggests type varies with specific role. 2606:A000:1126:28D:304D:E8A1:FEED:60B5 (talk) 03:36, 22 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Our Gelding article notes that:"The Scythians are thought to have been the first people to geld their horses. They valued geldings as war horses because they were quiet, lacked mating urges, were less prone to call out to other horses, were easier to keep in groups, and were less likely to fight with one another". Alansplodge (talk) 11:51, 22 September 2019 (UTC)
 * The Bedouin who rode Arabian horses preferred mares as they were said to be less vocal than stallions and more hardy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.48.15.246 (talk) 13:39, 23 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Ancient China?
 * So - generally with historical fiction, unless otherwise specified, a warhorse can be referred to as 'he' (and whether 'entire' or not left unmentioned unless necessary). 82.44.143.26 (talk) 17:35, 23 September 2019 (UTC)