TOPICS OP THE DAY.
The male inhabitants of New South
Wales appear to be in a sad condition.
A great number of tl em find it to be
physically impossible to prooure wives.
According to a report recently issued
on the population of that colony, no
less than 79,000 women are required to
equalize the sexes. The other Austra
lian colonies require about the same
number in proportion to their popula
tion.
The rather of his country is to have
another monument on George's hill,
Fairmount park, Philadelphia, where
the great iron tower stood during the
centennial exposition. It is to take the
form of an equestrian statue, of finest
bronze, upon a granite pedestal, tho
whole to be about sixty feet high. It
will be erected by the Society of the
Cincinnati, which has raised a fund of
$220,000 for the purpose, and made
with Professor Seimering, a Berlin
sculptor, a contract, by the terms of
whioh he is to have the entire work
oompleted by the fall of 1891.
A remarkable collection of surgical
instruments has been discovered at
Pompeii and removed to the Naples
museum. It evidently belonged to one
practitioner or establishment, and is as
large an eqnipment as the modem sur
geon is usually supplied with. One of
the most interesting instruments is a
long rod with a metallio|plate fixed at
one end at an angle of thirty-five de
grees. It was at first thought to be a
cautery for internal operations, but its
remarkable resemblance to the modern
laryngeal mirror suggests the possi
bility that it was employed in a similar
manner.
The American vines whioh have been
set out in France in place of those
whioh the phylloxera has destroyed are
said to be oausing much disappoint
ment by their susceptibility to mildew,
a disease which they brought with
them, and whioh has been hitherto an.
known in France. It is said to have
worked havoc already in the south
wertern part of the oountry, and to be
spreading everywhere among French
vineyards. It is impossible to say how
muoh truth there is in this statement.
There are as many conflicting reports
ftbout the French vineyards as ever were
oircnlated about a Delaware peaoh
crop.
A Philadelphia beer garden has for
one of its waiters a genuine prince, the
son of Prinoe Veronna de Farrara, who
fought as a general with Garibaldi at
Solferiao. The young man was reared
in the luxury of a Modena villa, and in
his youth became the victim of indo
lence and luxurious extravaganoe. Ho
broke his mother's heart, wasted his
fortune in gaming, and then lived for
several years upon the indulgence of
friends of better days. He married an
American who was thought to be an
heiress, but who was penniless. He
deserted her, joined a pirate crew, was
caught, esoaped, and fled to New
Orleans. Then he tended bar in a
wine house; went to Philadelphia
during the centennial, and has remained
there ever sinoe.
One who knew General Skobeleff in
timately describes him as of a hasty tem
per but of singularly benignant dispo
sition. What faults he had were more
than redeemed by the immensity of his
repentance. His acts came from heart
impulse. Even in military affairs he
was led rather by his spirit and feelings
than by intellect and judgment*
Though not luxurious, he was nice and
delicate as a refined woman, and hated
coarse linen and material grossness.
The tall figure had so muoh lithe grace
that one did not observe its strength.
In dressing he paid minute attention to
his toilet, but after that was careless
about his appearance. When young
he was a hard drinker, but shook off
wholly the bibnlous passion. His love
of cold baths was exoessive, and he was
the best swimmer in the army. His
sympathy with the poor was tender and
active.
The international btirean of tele
graphic statistics at Berne, Switzer
land, reports that the total length of
telegraphic lines at the present time is:
Bnsaia, 59,090 miles; Germany, 14,265
miles; Franoe, 43,650 miles ; Austria
Hungary, 81,015 miles ; Great Britain,
26,465 miles ; Italy, 16,430 miles ; Swe
den and Norway, 12,625 miles; Swit
zerland, 4,090 miles, and Belgium,
8,505. Germany, however, occupies
the first place in regard to the length
of the wires, having a total of 159,910
miles, while Russia oomes second
with 184,465 miles, followed by
Franoe (125,265 miles), Great
Britain (121,720 miles), Austria-Hun
gary (89,960 miles), Italy (68,692 miles).
Sweeden and Norway (28,446 miles),
Belgium (16,845 miles), and Switzer
land (10,010 miles). The length of
wires in Russia is, therefore, muoh less
in proportion to the length of lines
than in most other oountnes, notably in
England, where there are on the average
four and one-half miles of wire to every
mile of line. The total number of mes
sages sent daring the past year is
classed BB follows : England, 29,820,-
445; France, 19,882 028 ; Germany,
16,312 457; Anstraia-Hungary, 8,729,-
321; Russia, 7,298,422; Italy, 6.511,-
497; Holland, 3,109,230, and Sweden
and Norway, 2,028,905.
A lato census bulletin gives some in
teresting facts as to the sugar-cane pro
duction of the United States in 1879.
The production of sugar reached 189,000
hogsheads, and of molasses nearly 17,-
000,000 gallons. This is a remarkable
increase over tho amount reported in
1870, when 87,000 hogsheads of sugar
and 6,000,000 gallons of molasses were
produced; but tho present yield does
not compare so favorably with that re
turned by the census of 1860, which
was 231,000 hogsheads of sugar and
15,000,000 gallons of molasses. The
bulk, both of sugar and molasses, is the
production of Louisiana. In the pres
ent census returns that State is credited
with nearly 11,000,000 gallons of molas
ses and more than 181,500 hogsheads of
sugar. Its production of the former
article has nearly trebled since 1870,
and of the latter more than doubled.
Miss Creiger snappod a corset steel
at a pionio. Mr. Barnes heard it, and
begged to be allowed to make her a
pair that would not break. She con
sented. Being a skillful mechanio, he
invented and constructed an improved
kind, and she was for three years sup
plied with them, at the end of which
time they married. The question has
been before the United States supreme
court whether the wearing of the in
vention by Miss Creiger was such a
"public usage allowed by the inventor"
as will prevent Barnes from obtaining a
patent. The court decided against
Barnes, bnt Justice Miller dissented.
"If the little spring," he says, "in
serted in a single pair of corsets, and
used by only one woman ooveredby her
outer clothing, and in a position with
held from public observation, is a pub
lio use of that piece of steel, I am at a
loss to know the line botween a publio
and a private use."
"A sensation was recently caused,"
says the Troy Times, 'by the announce
ment that a Vermont girl had gone to
California in response to a matrimonial
advertisement, and had found her paos
pective husband a heimit living in a
secluded gorge. The hermit now turns
out to be Frederick Moulton Shaw, of
Los Angeles, who was born in Rutland
and educated at Castleton, Vt., where
he is well known. He went to Califor
nia and projected a sanitarium at Los
Angeles on a large scale, with water
works, manufactories and steamship
lines. He secured the co-operation and
lost the money of the leading men of
the place. Shaw then retired to a small
ranoh, where he lived in a semi-civilized
state, often sleeping in trees. To the
surprise of all, the young lady who cor
responded with him married him on
reaching California, and, though the
couple still live a semi-nomadic life, the
wife has gained an influence over her
husband which is leading him back to
the customs of civilization."
Pompeii.
One of the most interesting features
of the excavations in this buried city is
the discovery of many homely domestic
articles of which we have counterparts.
It is astonishing how many things in
common use now were in use then. Ton
will see almost every kitchen utensil,
portable cooking stcves, pots, kettles,
crocks, dishes, oups and eauoera,
spoons, knives and forks, dippers, sauce
pans, frying pans, flesh hooks, braziers
for charcoal. Pretty muoh every kitchen
dining-room or chamber article found
in modern use entered into Roman
daily life. All the artioles of a lady's
toilet, including jewelry of all kinds,
gold and silver ornaments, corals and
precious stones, were found in the
houses of Pompeii. Taken from the
retail shops were steelyards, balances,
weights and measures. From a doctor's
oflioe was reoovered a full set of surgi
cal instruments, inoluding " pulikins "
for extracting teeth. There is any
number of shoemaker, tailor, carpenter
and blaoksmith tools, and, indeed, im
plements of almost every present me
chanical operation.
The Farmer and the Maiden.
Beneath the apple tree just back of
the house. Farmer grinding bis scythe,
small boy doing the oiroular work at
the grindstone orank. Sudden flutter
of starched skirts around the corner of
the house.
"Oh, good-morning sir!" from a
bright-eyed young lady. "Would you
kindly allow us to piok a few bunobes
of those daisies in the lot yonder 7 They
are so lovely."
"Tes'm. Ton can piok 'em; the
hull on 'em if you like. And if you'll
tear the pesky things up by the root
and rid the place of 'em I'll give you
board and olothes for all summer."
" Why, don't you admire daisies ?"
And the farmer laughod a most un
resthetio, ringing laugh, that made the
young lady feel as though she had
struck something uncongenial.
How the Rugged Charcoal-Burners
of England Lire.
Oaptain Mayne Reid writes: Of the
three oallings which form the subject
of this letter, that of the obarooal
burner is the most exolusive as regards
the men who follow it. They are few
in numbers, but have rarely any other
bnsiness, since charooal-burning gives
employment at all seasons of the year ;
and, though apparently a simple thing,
it is not so, calling for both knowledge
and skill. The material they have to
deal with is the " lop and top " of the
trees, for cordwood, and their modus
operandi is as follows : A floor or "pit"
is prepared by clearing the rubbish off
the ground, and then hollowing out a
oircular space some six or eight inches
in depth, but of no fixed diameter;
this being dependent upon the quan
tity of wood to be "cbarked" in that
particular pit lying conveniently near
for carriage to it. In the center of the
floor four or fivo short, stoutish billets
are plaoed with ends touching, so as
themselves to inclose a oircular space of
a fool or eighteen inches diameter, and
on three the ends of the charking sticks
are rested slantingly and radiating like
the spokes of a wheel. On the outer
rim of this first layer a second is placed
in similar manner; and so on, till the
pile is complete, when it shows the form
of an obtuse cone or hemisphere.
Around the central axis, however, is a
hollow space or chimney, which has been
left open for the fire; and this, first
kindled at its bottom, by dropping
down some burning faggots, in due
time permeates the whole mass. But
bo'ore any flames show on the surface
the pile is carefully covered over with
a stratum of sods, and so kept, not an
air-hole being left open. Were the
wood allowed to blaze up, there would
be no oharooal, only ashes. And just
to prevent this is the ' 'charker's" busi
ness—a thing of the night as well as
the day. It needs two men at least to
undertake the task, who in turn sit up
all night to watch the fires of the dif
ferent pits—for there will bo several on
the burn at the same time—going the
rounds from one to another, and patch
ing with a fresh sod or shovelful of
earth any spot where flames may
threaten an outburst. In fine, when the
fires burn themselves out the charooal
is a made thing, and only needs sep
arating from the asbes and earthy mat
ter which have got mixed with it from
the superimposed Boda.
The "charkers" are paid for their work
by measure of the quantity of charcoal
produced, the standard of measurement
being a large oblong basket holding
about three bushels. The exact amount
of their earnings is not easily fixed, but
certainly they do not make fortunes by
"charking," any more than they could
by bark-stripping or the fabrication of
hurdles. These men stay nearly all
their time in the woods, never return
ing home, even at night, for weeks or
months together. They dwell in huts
erected by themselves—quaint affairs
of conical form made of poles set
sloping against one another, gathered
in at the top, and thatched with a coat
ing of turf, just as are their charking
fires. Many of these huts are made long
enough to hold half a dozen men,
though rarely ocoupied by more than
two or three, when there will be a like
number of rude beds in them, with a
full paraphernalia of cocking utensils,
Some of the baohelor "charkers," who
have no ambition to pay house-rent,
stiok to these sylvan abodes throughout
the year, whether they be at work or
not.
Writing a Dictionary.
It is no "child's play" to make a
dictionary. A writer in Wide Aicala,
after setting down the calculation (or
its yonng readers that at the rate ol
ten pages a day it would take twenty
years to write the amonnt of matter in
the whole of Webster's Dictionary, adds
the following :
After I had written these words, I
took ap Mr. Scudder's interesting book
about Noah Webster, and found that it
actually took him just twenty years to
write it. He was forty-eight years old
when he began it, and sixty-eight when
he finished it in 1826. He says of. the
completion of the work :
" When I had finished my copy I was
Bitting at my table in Cambridge, Eng
Dnd. When I arrived at the last word-
I was seized with a tremor that made it
difficult to proceed. I, however, sum
moned up strength to complete the work,
and then walking about the room I
soon reoovered."
" Ob, Harold," said she, as she clung
oloser to his arm, " how very quiet and
restful the sea seems to be this even
ing." " Jnst as I should like a wife to
be," was the response. "And would
you, as a husband, lie the quiet, restfu
complement of suoh a wife?" He'
thought „he oonld, and the launch
into the sea of matrimonial difficulties
was thus quietly made. There's sure to
be a gale, however.
In five centuries France had 826
years of war and only 174 years of
peaoo. Daring these years of war over
200 bloody battles were fought.
CLIPPINGS FOR THE CURIOUS.
Eggs will hatch at 104 degrees in the
shade.
The semi-diameter of the earth is
20,922,100 feet.
Turnpike roads were established in
the reign of Quen Anne.
A temperature of over 218 degrees is
required to boil salt water.
The best Turkey carpets are made by
women with rude utensils.
The metals which retain heat the
longest are brass and copper.
Linen rags were not used in the man
facture of paper until 1200 A. O.
Some of the public baths in ancient
Rome would accommodate 1,800 per
sons at onc6.
The French speak in the nose, the
Germans in the throat and the English
through the teeth.
Rapid speakers pronounce from 7,000
to 7,500 words per hour, or about two
words per second.
It is said that 1,000,000 good im
pressions may be taken from an en
graving on a hard steel plate.
Dr. Foote's Health Monthly says that
in India the physician practicing mid
wifery gets liberally paid if he assists at
the birth of a boy, but is paid nothing
if it happens to be a girl.
It is estimated that the gold dollar is
used by 80,000,000 of people, the
British sovereign by 35,000,000, the
French franc by 77,000.000, the silver
dollar of all countries by about 552,-
000,000.
The Ohinese, it is said, have long
been in the habit of printing " sleeve
editions" of the classics to assist candi
dates at the competitive examinations!
whose memories are not sufficiently re
tentive.
Machines are now made which will
cut from a roll of wire pieces of the
right length, head them, point them,
polish them, sort them out with their
points all one way and stick them into
papers or rolls faster than one can
count
Upward of 13,000,000 letters and
postcards are postod daily in the world;
3,418,000,000 letters are annually dis
tributed in Europe, 1,246,000,000 in
Amerioa, 76,000,000 in Asia, 36,000,000
in Australia and 11,000,000 in Africa.
Frightened.
The well-known safeguard against
smallpox, the honor of the discovery
of which is linked with the name of
Dr. Edward Jenner, has proved its
value by constant use through the
greater part of a century. The enter
prising doctor was the first to prove
and establish vaccination as a "prophy
lactic " of such wonderful benefit, but
it was a far more ignorant man who
applied it, and furnished the hint on
which the learned physician acted. A
medical writer in the Boston Herald
Bays:
"It is generally supposed that Dr.
Jenner was the first person who at
tempted to perform the operation of
vaccination, and it is true that he inves
tigated the matter and brought it before
the public. Vaccination was, however,
performed by a farmer in England some
fifteen years before Dr. Jenner at.
tempted it. This man—who had the
temerity to vaccinate his children with
virus taken directly from the cow—is
stated to have been an able and dis
creet person ordinarily, but this
rashness of his came very near
oosting him his life. The pop
ular feeling was so strong against him
that he was obliged to leave the section
of the country in which he lived, and
his ohildren were carefully guarded, as
it was expected they would exhibit
some of the characteristics of the ani
mals from whioh they had been vac
cinated. It was expeoted that horns
would appear upon their heads and hair
upon their bodies, but, of course, noth
ing happened to the children, and they
received no injury from the vaocinatioD.
It was this faot whioh probably first
called the attention of Jenner to the
subjeot of vaccination."— Youth's Com
panion.
Fasting iu Acute Rheumatism.
Dr. Wood, professor of chemistry in
the medioal department of Bishop's
oollege, Montreal, reports in the Canada
Mtdical Record a number of eases in
which aente artionlar rheumatism was
cured by fasting, usually from four to
eight days. In no case was it necessary
to fast more than ten days. Lass posi
tive results were obtained in oases of
ohronio rheumatism. The patients
were allowed to drink freely of cold
water or lemonade in moderate quanti
ties if they preferred. No medicines
were given. Dr. Wood says that from
the quiok and almost invariably good
results obtained by simple abstinence
from food in more than forty oases in
his own praotioe he is inolined to be
lieve that rheumatism is, after all, only
a phase of indigestion, to be oared by
giving complete and continued rest to
all the viscera.
What is oalled authentio Chinese his
tory dates baok 8,000 years. The le
gendary and fabulous history of the em
pire dates baok 80,000 years and over.
Lincoln's Vision.
In the course of an articlo on the late
Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, the New York
Heratf^^ya: Nothing of moment oc
curred \nterrupt the tranquillity of
her marm*d existence until the Repub
lican convention at Chicago, in June,
1860. After an exciting battle between
the two candidates, Governor Seward
and Mr. Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln had the
profound gratification of seeing her
propheoy of being the wife of a Presi
dent on a fair way to verification. The
nomination of her husband was de
clared unanimous, and the evening of
the day was indeed an eventful one in
Springfield. Crowds of excited people
thronged to Mr. Lincoln's house and
warmly congratulated his wife. Just
after the election a singular oircum
stance occurred which once more
brought out the gift of prophecy which
Mrs. Lincoln possessed. Mr. Lincoln
described it in the following language:
"It was after my election, when the
news had been coming in thick and fast
all day, and there had been a great
'hurra, boys,' so that I was well tired
out, and went home to rest, throwing
myself upon a lounge in my chamber.
Opposite to where I lay was a bureau
with a swinging glass upon it, and,
looking in that glass, I saw myself re"
fleeted nearly at full length; but my
face, I noticed, had two separate and
distinct images, the tip of the nose of
one being about three inches from the
tip of the other. I was a little both
ered, perhaps startled. I got up and
looked in the glass, but the illusion
vanished. On lying down again I saw
it a second time, plainer, if possible,
than before; and then I notioed that
one of the faces was paler than the
other. I got up, and the thing melted
away, and I went off, and in the excite
ment of the hour forgot all about it—
nearly, but not quite; for the thing
would once in a while come up and give
me a little pang, as though something
uncomfortable had happened. When
I came home I told my wife about
it, and a few days after I
tried the experiment again,
when, sure enough, the thing came
back again ; but I never succeeded in
bringing the ghoet back after that,
thongh I once tried very industriously
to show it to my wife, who was worried
about it somewhat. She thought it was
•a sign* that I was to be elected to a
second term of offiae, and that the
paleness of one of the faces was an
omen that I should not see life through
the second term." Mr. Lincoln re
garded the vision as an optical delusion,
caused by nervousness. His wife's
prophetic interpretation of the circum
stances, viewed in the light of subse
quent events, seems certainly most ex
traordinary.
PEARLS OF THOUGHT,
111 fortune never crushed that man
whony*>d fortune deceived not.
eai er to suppress the first de
sire thaO^J'satisfy all that follow.
Do your business promptly, and bore
not a business man with long visits.
Falsehood and fraud shoot up in
every soil, the product of all climes.
Experience is a trophy composed of
all the weapons we have been wounded
with.
Learning without thought is labor
lost; thought without learning is peril
ous.
The whole of our life depends upon
the persons with whom we live famil
liarly.
A want of cleanliness injures not only
the purity of the body, but that of the
soul itself.
Happiness consists not in possessing
muoh, but in being content with what
we possess.
Systematize your business, and keep
an eye on little expenses. Small leaks
sink great ships.
Not the perversities of others, not
their sins of commission or omission,
but his own misdeeds and negligence
should a sage take notioe of.
By rousing himself, by earnestness,
by restraint and oontrol, the wise man
may make for himself an island which
no flood can overwhelm.
Politeness.
' I called on Mrs. Bangerhar this
afternoon," said Mrs. Yeast to her hus
band, at supper the other evening.
"Didn't find her in, I suppose t" sug
gested Yeast, a little sarcastically.
" Oh, yea, I did," replied Mrs. Yeast,
pleasantly; " and len joyed my call very
much."
"She asked you to oall again,
didn't she T' continued the head of the
house.
"Why, yes, Mr. Yeast, to be sure she
did. That was no more than politeness
would prompt her to do; and theßang
erhar family, you know very well, are
famous for their politeness."
"Politeness ?" exclaimed Yeast, swal
lowing the last clam with some difficul
ty; " well, I should say so I Why, I
never yet sent my offloe boy to oolleot a
bill of old Bangerhar but that he asked
him to oall again. Politeness 1 well I
should remark I"— Statetman.
How to Treat Hnnstroke.
A distinction of immense practioal
importance exists betwoen heat-ex
haustion and heat-stroke, or conp de
soleil. It is much to be feared that
this difference too often passes unre
garded, to the serious detriment of the
patient. Heat-exhaustion, as the term
implies, means a sudden anaemia pro
duced by work or muscular exercise in
a high temperature. Heat-stroke,
or sun-stroke, signifies the sudden
access of unconsciousness with high
febrile heat. In the former the
body is cool, the skin moist or wet
with perspiration, the pulse small,
feeble and low in tension, the muscular
pyatem relaxed, the pupil dilated, and
the mind feeble, but consciousness is
not lost or is restored after a syncopal
state of brief duration. In the latter
there is profound unconsciousness, con
tracted pupil, injected conjunctiva), the
skin is hot and usually dry, the tern
perature high, the pulse rapid, and
the muscular system often convulsed
and tending rather to rigidity. If the
case be one of heat-exhaustion
the patient will probably be
able to swallow. Repose in the shade
in the recumbent position, and a few
drops of laudanum in a tableepoonful
of whisky or brandy will quickly bring
about restoration. In the case of true
heat-stroke the patient should be at
once removod to as cool a spot as prac
ticable, and should have oold water
thrown on him, be rubbed with pieces
of ice, and have ice applied to the head
and spine. Other medical remedies,
morphine, quinine and chloroform, are
recommended.— Medical News.
THE FAMILY DOCTOR.
A grain or two of salt snuffed up into
the nose when that useful organ is
" stuffed up" will afford relief.
By using syrup or molasses for mus
tard plaster, it will keep soft and
flexible, and not dry up and become
hard as when mixed with water. A thin
paper or fine cloth should come between
the plaster and the skin. The strength
of the plaster is varied by the addition
of more or less flour.
The New York Journal of Commercn
says of the "Sun Cholera Mixture:'*
We have seen it in oonstant use for
nearly two score years and found it to
be the best remedy for looseness of the
bowels ever yet devised. No one who
has this by him and takes it in time
will ever have the cholera. We com
mend it to all our friends. Even when
no cholera is anticipated it is an excel
lent remedy for ordinary summer com
plaints—colic, diarrhea, dysentery, etc.
Take equal parts of the tincture of
cayenne pepper, tincture of opium,
tincture of rhubarb, essence of pepper
mint and spirits of camphor. Mix well.
Dose, fifteen to thirty drops in a little
cold water, acoording to age and
violence of symptoms, repeated every
fifteen or twenty minutes until relief is
obtained.
The Color or Water.
Two theories are advanced to explain
the bine color of water when seen in
large masses, one, held by Professor
Tyndall, being that small solid particles
suspended in the water do not reflect
the lower or red rayß of the spectrum.
According to the other theory, the oolor
is dne to the absorbent aotion of the
water itself on the white light before
and after reflection by these particles.
The results of experiments made by Mr.
John Aitken, anl presented to the
Royal soeiety, England, show that the
latter theory is probably the more
correct one. The greater the nam'
ber of white reflecting particles
the greener the water appears
to be, and hence the gradual deepening
of the green to bine as the shore is left
The waters of Lake Oomo owe their
darkness to the absence of reflecting
particles, as Mr. Aitxen ingeniously
proved by scattering finely-divided
chalk in the center of that lake, there
by producing a very brilliant blue. The
brilliancy depends on the color of the
particleß. Among coral reefs, which
are generally strewn with white sand,
the water also takes a very brilliant
blue or green. The dull tinge of Eng
lish waters is due to the dingy char
acter of the suspended silt; but springs
have often a bright color, owing to the
whiteness of the chalk suspended in
them.
A President's Lesson.
The following not of politeness on
the pert of John Qainsy Adams, while
he was President, is told by one who
remembers the fine ooortesy of the old
gentleman : Mr. Adams was an early
riser, and was in the habit of walking
before breakfast One morning, before
sunrise, he was indulging in his cus
tomary walk, when he met one of the
foreign ministers issuing from a low
gambling house. Mr. Adams gave no
sign of reoognition, but passed him as
though he were a perfect stranger,
whioh, said the foreign minister, "was
to me a great relief." When the book
on etiquette at the White House is
written this aneodote should be incor
porated, so that the Presidents to come
may know what to do under
circumstances.— Washington iMttr.