// Returns the index of the smallest element in v or -1 if none exist
	private static int  getSmallest(Vector  v)  {
		if  (v==null  ||  v.size()==0)
			return -1;
		int k;		// Index of next element to examine; all elements at 
				//       positions less than k have been examined already.
		int small;	// Index of smallest element examined so far
		k  =  1;
		small  =  0;
		while  (k!=v.size())  {
			String current  =  (String)  v.elementAt(k);
			String  smallest  =  (String)  v.elementAt(small);
			if  (current.compareTo(smallest)<0)
				small  =  k;
			k++;
		}
		// k==v.size()
		return small;
	}