THE FILIPINO CONGRESS. Uru'rlpliun of Ha Opening by th* ft*'uiu<>ti• Icinurifenl Lflldt'r, Atsuinulilo. At last, to the sound of the national march, the delegates moved in a body to the door and then back again, di vided, and then Aguinaldo, looking very undersized and very insignificant, came marching down, bearing an ivory stick with gold head and gold cord and tassels, says Harper's Weekly. A group of tall, fine-looking generals and one or two dignitaries in black accom panied him, and half surrounded him as they walked along. Mounting the chancel steps, Aguinaldo took the mid dle seat behind the table, the acting secretary of the interior took the place on his right, and a general occupied the carved chair on his left. Without any formal calling to order, the secretary lose and read the list of delegates, and sat down again. Then Aguinaldo stood BRIGHAM H. ROBERTS. This gentleman has recently been elected to congress from the state of Utah. His political and personal opponents assert that he Is not only a powerful polyg amist partisan, nut also one of the most successful missionaries of the Mormon church. Resides having been electtd to the house of representatives, Mr. Roberts and his friends have captured the state legislature and will send two United States senators to tight for the interests ol polygamy in Washington. The republicans will contest Mr. Roberts' election in the house. up, and after the feeble vivas had ceased, took a paper from his pocket, ai.d in a low voice, without gestures and without emphasis, and in the hesi tating manner of a schoolboy, read Ins message in the Tagalog language Only once was he interrupted by vivas, and that was when he alluded to the three great free nations—England. Franc-*, and America—as worthy models for imitation. He next read a purported translation in Spanish with even more dittic-jlty, and when he had finished here was quite a round of cheers, pro posed and led by the veteran general, P.uencamino, for the president, the re public, and victorious army, and lor the town of Malolos. Then Aguinaldo arose and declared the meeting ad journed until it should reassemble pre pared to elect officers and to organize in the regular manner. Soma Knulinh Immigrant*. Up till now. if the inhabitant oJ a Norfolk village emigrates, it is gen STATUE OF JOAN OF ARC, BY PROSPER D'EPINAY. \ „■/ : :-:x- < -: > , M This piece of work, which is now to be seen In Paris, represents 20 years of spe cial study by the greatest living French ? culptor. One sees in the statue the In stinct of the horse scenting danger, while the self-possession of soul of Jeanne la shown In her attitude of prayer—it being the moment before battle. The exclusive aristocratic set of l J aris has already paid homage to the author of th- statue, and it is to be presumed that the mob will echo the sentiments of praise expressed by the leaders of society. erally to America, says a writer in Longman's Magazine, and very often he does nol like America when iie gets there. I remember a blacksmith with whom I was well acquainted going there, but in a couple of years or s.< he was to be seen working at the old forge in his native village. 1 asked him why he had come back, and he told me that he earned plenty of money out there, but he "didn't like it." When 1 WHS in New York a tailor came to see me who had been an apprentice here in Bungay. He told me the same story. Plenty of money, especially at times, but he "meant tc get back as soon as he could." Also I had a .••onversation with an Eng lish coachman whose tale was much the same, llis wages were large, but "there weien't no society for such as him:" >n the state* they were all "gents or n _ger»." POLITENESS FOR NOTHING. The tin limit Action of n Man Hrlutfi Only Humiliation at the lliiiitl* of u I'rooil Woman. A stylishly attired woman was seen walking down Washington street the other day, attracting considerable at tention by her line figure and graceful ferriage. Men turned to glance after J.cr and women managed to see the uweep of her skirt and the cut of her Coat behind out of the corners of their tyes without turning around at all, a habit most women have. At all events ♦he woman was (tunning and a young nitist, turning to obtain a third look at t cr, saw to his delight that she dropped her purse. Hurriedly he ran tow hers th<= object lay and stooped down to get it. At the same instant a ragged Italian woman made a grab at it, says the Chi cago Chronicle. The young artist got it and the wom an got it, and both were determined to retain his hold. After some words on the subject, during which the artist felt like a fool, he conquered and rushed frantically down the street, where th« stunning woman could still be seen. Hi *vas breathless when he overtook her but, lifting his hat politely, he said: "i saw you drop your purse, madam, r.na lake pleasure in returning it to you." Haughtily the woman looked at inm. "Really, sir, you are very kind, but I have my purse," and she extended toward him a brand new article that lutd certainly just been taken from its paper wrapping. "I changed my money ill this one," she continued, "and threw the old one away. You inay have it if you like." Tariff on Lkulls. A Swiss anthropologist, on his return from Patagonia, brought hoaie with him a complete collection of Patagonian skulls, and when the custom house pro posed to tax them on the basis of ani mals' bones imported as manure he pro- t< sted that this was an insult to hu manity. To his surprise his objection was listened to, and ne received a re ceipt for the duty charged upon a high er scale, with the skulls entered as "re turned emigrants' worn effects." Knrlli'H liutti'Nl lleit lon. The hottest region on the earth is on she southwestern coast of Persia, where l'trsia borders the gulf of the same name. For 40 consecutive days In July and August the thermometer has not lnllen 1 wer than 100 degrees, night or I day, and ol'ten mounted as high as 128 degrees. I.nttrrlr* In Montreal. It is estimated by the police of Mon treal that the people of thai city spend over $2,500,000 a year on lotteries. The number of policy tickets bought <uv nualij is about 0,000,000. CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER Tsi 1898. THE DREYFUS CASE. Wife of the Devil's Island Victim OD the Situation. Site Point* Oat n Number of Ilennoni for Hellevli»« Iter II iimlhi 11 <1 Inno cent of (lie Terrible Crime of Treason. The London correspondent of the New York Journal has just secured from Mine. Dreyfus a statement iu which she demonstrates the innocence of her husband, the exiled French mili tary officer. Mine. Dreyfus declares without reserve that the bordereau wis the work of Esterhazy. She signs the following: First —Men of honor do not betrav their country. My husband was a man of honor. All who know him admit that. Second —I can conceive of no motive to induce him to commit such an act of treason, lie dearly loves France He had a splendid future in prospect. He was not in need of money. lie was a man of independent means, lie has always guarded with jealous care the fair name of his family. He has even given orders that all his fortune be ex pended in rehabilitating that name. Third—My husband constantly and in the most solemn manner professes his innocence. Fourth —France imitates the example of Russia in her blind prejudice against the Jews. This is the reason why it has been so difficult to let the light shine upon my husband's innocence. Fifth —Most of the intellectual per rons of France believe in the inno cence of Capt. Dreyfus. His well-reg ulated life and his rapid military ad vancement induced them to look into his case. The leading newspapers in Paris hold that he is innocent. Sixth—lie was condemned upon evi dence which was never shown to liim nor to his counsel. The irregularity and the illegality of his condemnation are no longer denied. The laws of evi dence did mot govern the trial of Capt. Dre3'fus. Seventh —The character of the men who are mos* bitterly opposed to my J f&z IjL CAPT. DREYFUS. (From a Picture Taken After Ilia Degrada tion.) husband is such that it establishes a strong presumption in favor of hLs in nocence. Take the chief specimens— Marquis de Mores, the most violent Jew baiter of his time; Col. Sandherr, who died in a madhouse; Commandant di! Patty de Clam, who fears to face the charge of forgery; Col. llenry, the con fessed forger and suicide; and lister liazy. the unspeakable. Eighth—Of the experts who exam ined the bordereau, upon which he was condemned, three declared that it was rot in my husband's handwriting. Everybody knows now that the bor dereau was the work of Esterhazy. Ninth —Henry's forgery is in itself sufficient evidence that in the judgment of the men who opposed Capt. Dreyfus his condemnation needed propping up. This forgery was "la preuve absolue," which M. Cavaignac, when minister of war, recently read out to wildly en thusiastic deputies as putting the guilt of my husband beyond yea or may. Tenth—The seven officers who con stituted the court-martial would not have condemned him were it not that, after their deliberations had been con cluded, Gen. Mercier flourished before their excited eyes documents which he said were proofs of my husband's guilt. These documents were not examined, and were forgeries. Eleventh —M. Ooeb«M*t, the best Hv irg authority on graphology, says that the bordereau is not "u the handwriting cf Capt. Dreyfus. Twelfth —It is n.ow clear that the war department has broken down in its ef forts to sustain a case against my hus band. Thirteenth —The four journal istswho led the newspaper campaign against uiy husband are paljKibly unworthy of credence. Druinont, of the Libre I'arole, praises Luehend, the murderer of the empress of Austria; Deroulede it crazy upon the Jew question; Mille voye, of the Patrle. blundiered before in 'he Norton forgery, and a bete noiri* the breath of his nostrils to Kocliefort rf the Intransigeant. Fourteenth —The specific accusations made by Zola in his famous letter, "I accuse," are turning out to be wonder fully accurate. Fifteenth—The conductors of the campaign against my husband have he-sitated at no eryne. Forgery, rogu i»iy, conspiracy, duplicity, lying, and perhaps murder have been resorted to to keep my husband in chains. Moupli on t!»e Prlo«(. Tt used to lie the custom when the chief priest of one of the Congo tribes showed symptoms of illness to kill him forthwith, either by strangling o» by the aid of n club, the natives be lieving innt if he were allowed to die by disease all tne rest of the world would perish. SUNNY SIBERIA. All of the 1.11 ml la Mot lllrnk nnd Deso late ua lienerally Huiipoaed— Yeitetutlun la Luiurluut. Thomas G. Allen, Jr., who, some 5 ears ago made a tour of the world awheel, has written an article on"The Hoys of Siberia" for St. Nicholas. Air. Allen says: "'As dreary and cold as Siberia' is an expression that has come to be almost a proverb. The very name bas always conjured up a scene of deso lation and perpetual winter, enlivened, perhaps, by a band of criminal exiles plodding along some lonely highway or practically buried alive in some gloomy mine pit. In imagination we have even l.eard the clanking of prison chains, the moaning of suffering men, and 'he sobs of distressed women. And yet, however displeasing the picture which the name of Siberia never fails to con- RABBI GUSTAV GOTTHIEL, D. D. This famous Jewish preacher has just finished a quarter 0 f a century of suc cessful labor as spiritual head of the famous temple Emanuel, at New York. Kabbl Gotthell is to the Israelites of the United States what Cardinal Gibbons is to the Catholic church and Rishop Potter to the Episcopalians The rabbi was born at Pinne, Prussia, May 30, 1827. He receive a splendid education at the best schools of Europe, served as rabbi of the congregation at Manchester, England, for 13 years, and then came to the United States. His labors in New York have been char acterized by wonderful success. vey. its mysterious and melancholy as sociations have ever exerted a strange fascination. I must confess that I have been no exception to the general rule. At a very early age 1 developed the de sire to visit this mysterious country, and to discover for myself, if possible, some of its terrible hidden secrets. "It has been my good fortune, on two recent occasions, to gratify this way ward ambition; and from what I saw and experienced I can assure my youth ful reader that his general gloomy no tion about the 'land of snow and exiles' Is. in the main, incorrect —that there is another and a very bright side to the Siberian picture. "Not raising the question of the de plorable Siberian exile system I would impress upon the reader that Siberia itself, in its southern portion at least, is a region where the vegetation is as varied and luxuriant, where the birds warble just as sweetly where the chil dren play and the people laugh and A MUSICAL FOR A COBRA. An English woman residing In India one recent evening found, to her horror, that a huge cobra had colled itself about her veranda rail, near which she sat playing the violin. She was too near the reptile to run away, so she continued playing while she gradually edged away. The snake was fascinated by the music, and re sponded to every change in line Finally the lady gradually worked herself far ther and farther, and then i-.ade a sudden bolt into her room and banged the door, leavliic the cobra to wander disconsolately to Its lair In the fields. King just as cheerfully, as in our own country. In fact, that portion of Si beria which is now reached by the new Trans-Siberian railway might very just ly be called the northern 'promised land of milk and honey;' for in its teeming soil, genial summer climate, and iab ulous mineral wealth it is second to none in the world." Carlnff for Hindoo Dead. The Hindoos consider their dead as *acred and do not allow them to be han dled by alien hands, the nearest male relative —sot.. father or brother —pre- paring the body for burial, and if there U none of these relatives a son is adopted by the family for the purpose. The <lueeiß°n Footmen. Queen Victoria's footmen wear wigs, which have eiffht rows of curls, whereas those of the prince of Wales are allowed •even tows, unci those of the lord mayor o< Loudon are given six town. THE BANANA PLANTER. In Honduras He la « Crenture Wlioati Philosophic Culm la Never Disturbed. "The small banana planter of Hon duras is the happiest creature on earth," said a local shipper, reports the New Orleans Times-Democrat, "and nothing ever removes him from hia philosophic calm. The frightful hur ricane which raged along the Ilondu rian coast on the Ist of the month ab solute'y destroyed scores of planta tions. Thfe trees were plucked out of the earth like blades of grass, the fragile buildings were blown into kind ling wood, and nothing whatever left to tell the tale. Happening anywhere else, such a disaster would have bten a tragedy of the first order, and meant incalculable suffering, but nature is very kind to her children on the banana coast. All that is necessary to rehabili tate the ravaged plantations is to stick a few clippings in the ground and wait for them to take root and bear. The work is usually divided between the plantei and his wife —she sets out the clippings and he does the waiting. Some time during the year, if he is not too tired, he may rebuild his residence. This is done by tying a native rope around four suitable trees and laying cane stalks crossways over the top. Other cane stalks are now and then used for sides, but they are really un necessary. as the Honduranian concep tion of privacy is very vague, and there is never anything to steal. So, as a matter of fact, the hurricane was much less calamitous than it appeared to those who are unfamiliar with native conditions. The principal loss which it entailed was in damage to the present banana crop, and the fruit grows with such rapidity that three months ought to completely repair it. Meantime, the planter does quantities of resting and is happy." Feather* for FONIIIOII. Manufacturers of artificial birds buy directly from the fm mers and make up their stock with no particular regard for the accurate representation of a species. Just at present the birds in fashion for mourning hats are small black parrots, and there art no such birds in nature. A fashion is in vogue to match t he costume in the plumage of the bird trimmings, and manufacturers i. pe their best art to supply the demand. Sooner or later this fashion will be the means of establishing regular farms for < he production of feathers for millinery purposes. Hi* 11 M Worn by <>lr!a. In the eighteenth century Polish ladies obliged their daughters to wear little bells in order to proclaim wher* they were all the tiiu*. POPULATION OF EUROPE. DlfKjult'tlnß Sfatlntlcn Which I >1 finy I'rec»n<-elv<*>l \olionN of lli« Old Countries. It lias popularly been supposed tliat the population of the monarchies and unstable republics of Europe was de clining-, or if not declining, increasing at a ratio so small as to be almost im perceptible. For nearly half a century there has been a steady stream of emi gration from European countries to the I'nited States, South America and Aus tralia, and no increase of population in any European country from immigra tion from other countries than Europe. The devastating wars which, theoreti cally, at least, reduce the population of all military countries abroad, have Operated to the disadvantage of many lands, and especially those which have maintained colonies the pacification of which requires military operations. Again, the decrease of the birth rate in some European countries has been the subject, of abstruse controversy among physicians and men of science, and yet it appears from oflicial figures at hand that the increase in the total population of Europe during the past ten years has been nearly ten percent., a statement which, published in tin" Kevue Francaise de l'E't ranger, of Paris, has obtained corroboration in other countries, and the correctness of which is proved by the records of countries in which there have been censuses re cently. At the beginning of the present cen tury the population of Europe was put by Levaseeur at 175,000,000. In 1830 it was 220,000,000. In 1800 it was 290,000,- 000, and in IS9O it was 350,000,000. It is now 380,000,000, and the continuance of the present rate of increase will make it 355,000,000 in 1900, ten per cent, in crease over what it w as in 1890, The yearly emigration from Europe is about 500,000 at present, or 5,000,000 in a decade. In the absence of newcom ers to make up this decrease and in view of the backward and unprogres sive condition of many European coun tries, it might be supposed that there would be no vast gain of population, but the contrary of this is shown. The number of inhabitants is increasing all the time, although the means of main taining them are not increasing in like ratio. These are the figures given of the increases in European countries during the' past ten years: Russia, 14.5 per cent.; Germany, 11.5; Austria-Hun gary, 9.0; England, 3.5; Italy, 4.5; France, 0.8. At this rate in 100 years Russia would have 228/100,000 inhab itants, Germany, 100,000,000; Austria. 79,000,000; England, 05,000,000; Italy, 41,000,000, and France, 40j000,000. The modest estimate which this French statistician makes of the growth of population in his own coun try may, perhaps, disarm tire answer ing' criticism of the German statistician whose profound ethical treatment of "ratios" in population lias already out run many volumes of Leipsic. lieriin and Dresden publications, but the Eng lish and Scotch statisticians are not. thus easily satisfied, and the Scotch statisticians especially are obdurate when asked to revise, correct, amend, or in any way modify their conclusions, as to the population ot' other countries, al though in respect of the population of Scotland they are less steadfast. I'os sibly this is due to the fact that the. population of Scotland varies compara tively little, though there has been a. remarkable growth in late years of the population of its chief cities. The pres ent population of Glasgow is in excess of 700,000, Edinburgh has ri00„000, and Aberdeen 125,000. —N. Y.Sun. GROUND IS THEIR TELEPHONE. Amazon Itivrr Natives Talk from Camp to Camp I>y Mean* of u Novel Invention. There are many claimants to the honor of having been the first to in vent the. telephone, and the fact is that few people really know who was the Inventor. It is generally attributed to Edison, but it seems that that sorcerer had nothing whatever to do with it. At any rate, it seems that it is anything but a modern idea. Travelers in tlie district of the Ama zon tell u» that the Catuquinaru In dians, since time immemorial, have been accustomed to correspond from one camp to another by means of u little device that recalls to one the small toy parchment telephones we used to play with in the days of our childhood. They bury a hollow wooden eylindet in the earth, filling it half full of sand, fragments of bone, and pulverized mica. The upper part remains empty, and is closed by a piece of leather, wood or indiarubber. This instrument is called a "cambarysu." In the next camp, perhaps 1,600 yards away, is another similar instrument. When one camp wishes to correspond with the other, they strike violently with a mallet on the cambarysu, and the sound is transmitted by the earth, to the cambarysu of the other camp. As soon as the inhabitants hear the signal they answer by a similar one, and then two individuals, putting their ears near the apparatus, can converse as easily as we can at a London tele phone. A traveler who has investi gated this primitive telephone says that he is inclined to think that the nature of the soil has something to do with the wonderful transmission of sound. —London Chronicle. Courage of Ignorance. Manager—Your play is marvelously good. Its one fault is that it is be yond the abilities of my company. Tankpleigh—Then how can 1 get it produced'? "You can easily get an amateur com pany to undertake it."— Roxbury Ga zette. Flr»t Ma«le liy MonUn. Champagne was Prst made by monks In the seventeenth century.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers