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TOM SCOTT’S" SCHEME.
■ VvJ ■ r j • \ i ' ’l| /
«om« or the Milk in the St. Loiiu Cot**.
nnt.
An interesting move on the politico
railway chess board has just been un
earthed, of which the following is the
^substance: Preparations have been mak
ing during the last three months for a
grand national convention at St. Louis,
of all parties favoring the coprtructioft
of another line of railroad to the Pacific.
All the governors, boards of trade, and
other public bodies throughout the Un
ion, have been invited to attend or send . ^
delegates. Until recently the affair has and this dog was attacked in the street
borne the appearance of « JiainUri'eateu ~7 .another. The respective proprietors
and public-spirited effort to aid the j while attempting to-neparate them came
southern Pacific road. Within a fewi *? lugh. worus, “and at last to blows,
days, however, it has leaked out that it
is to he run wholly in Tom Scott’s inter
est. The Atlantic apd Pacific, Missouri
Pacific, and Texas Pacific enterprises
have been pushed as far as the goodlands
•of their land grant extend, ana are now
willing to exchange the remainder of
their land grants, which consist princi
pally of arid and worthless lands, for a
government guarantee of interest on the
■cost of construction, estimated at about
$40,00 per mile.
A letter from a prominent citizen of
St. Louis to friend in this city.says:
The national railway convention called
forjthis city is a convention of citizens in
favor 6f the Texas Pacific railway, and
is being engineered by the Pennsylvania
company (Col. Scott), through Isaac H.
Sturgeon, Collector of Internal Revenue
here, an old-time friend of Cok Scott.
St. Louis people are, of course, nearly all
in favor or the Texas Pacific railway. An
attempt is to Be made to incite popular
sentiment in favor of a competing, anti-
monopoly route to the Pacific.
Another letter from a resident of
southern Illinois says:
The proceedings against the Atlantic
and Southern Pacific road in the United
States court in the eastern district of
Missouri to have a receiver appointed',
bring to the surface what I had partially
-dug out of the last report of the Secre
tary of the Interior—a state of things
indicating anything but a good financial
status. The prima facie case was that
•the road had thus far cost over $100,000
per mile. It is completed to the limit,
•or nearly so, of the good lands, and the
remainder of the land grant will be
worth but little.
The circular calling tho convention at
St. Louis indicates that the road is com
pleted to about northwest-Texas; that
the immense amount of 30,000,000 acres
•of arid land will be given -up, and that
the government shall guarantee interest
•on further bonds. The proceedings in
court yesterday may dampen the zeal of
that convention, but it is evident that
there is to be a grand attempt to influ
ence public opinion.—-N. Y, Sun.
Story of a French Convict.
A French correspondent writes: “The
old saying that truth is stranger than
fiction has rarely received a more strik
ing illustration than in a case which has
just 'been brought before one of the
French tribunals. Thirteen years ago
a soldier named Jean Lastier was sen
tenced to five years’ penal servitude and
ten years’ surveillance by the police for
having insulted one of his superior of
ficers and stolen a few shirts. He was
sent to Africa to undergo his sentence,
and his conduct was so exemplary that
ho was employed as bookkeeper in the
prison. At the expiration of his sentence
he was ordered by the police to reside in
a smalt town in the south, but as every
body knew he was a returned convict, it
was with the utmost difficulty that he
could obtain any kind of employment.
The commissaire of police, knowing how
well he had behaved while in prison, in
terested himself on his behalf, and in
duced a tradesman of the town to em
ploy him as a messenger. He fulfilled
his duties so zealousy that the trades
man promoted him to the post of cashier,
and in course of time the returned con
vict married his daughter atul entered
into partnership. Three months after his
marriage the war broke out, and Law-
tier, anxious to rehabilitate mmseu com
pletely, volunteered his services, and
joined a regiment of the line. He was
taken prisoner at Gravelotte, but man
aging to esefipe he rejoined his corps in
time to take part in the battle around
Orleans. From thence he passed into
the army of the East under Bourbaki,
and received no less than eight weunds
At the end of the campaign he had be
come a sub-lieutenant, and had received
the military medal, which had been
W UJBU uwiudj uuu inav |IV U1U TV C*I
Jean Lastier, who naturally took his
friend’s- part, was, with the other two
arrested by the police, and was of course
compelled to show his * papers,’ etc. His
antecedents being known, the Paris po
lice finding that lie had left the place of
residence assigned to him before the ex-
E iration of the ten years, had no choice
ut to proceed against him, and being
brought before the correctional tribunal
of the Seine, he has just been condemned
to two months’ imprisonment for breach
of regulations. This is unfortunately
the law, but it is not justice, and your
readers will, I am sure, be glad to learn
that an Englishman who happens to be
acquainted with the facts of the case has
brought the matter before Marshal Mac-
Mahon, and'has reason to hope that the
poor fellow will receive the free pardon
to which he is so fuily entitled.”
’-
t'TIIE PUBLIC DEBT.
Regular
The ' national public
onlhly Stntement-
November #1*0,078.
debt statement
given him- on the battlefield. He was panydownto 1874 give* the following
almost a hero in his regiment, and when results: In the class of teetotalers the
He returned to his father-in-laws house actual death rifle fell short of the ex-
nearly all the town turned out to meet pected rate a fraction over 89 per. cent,
him. Soon afterwards his father-in-law. On the other band, ainong the tempqrate
died, and Lastier, with his wife and two drinkers, the actual death rate fell short
children, determined.to reside in Paris, of the expected rate, but to the extent
His term ofisurveillance had not expired, only of one-tenth of one per cent. While
but the:local-police Jiad ceased to .treat believing that,the temperate use of alco-
the sub-lieutenant as a returned convict, holic drinks- is not productive of any
and placed no obstacle in his way. He evil results* and that teetotalism does
had lived quietly at Paris for nearly a not furnish the true rule of living, still,
year, a few weeks am he wasai^Imya Dr. Harrison, these figures challenge
company ing a friend to the Orleans railway examination, and it behooves us to coq-
ouiiioii. The latter had anlog with him; jsitWwhftT, nimwer yre nro TO mflfo to an
amiment baw^ on siieb ^ f — \
~r. T ri—iii v. m tl.I**..—• *.*•■
menciature is largely responsible for the
blindness of people in general respecting
the abuse in the use of intoxicating
liquors. The fact to* little insisted on is
that these agents are narcotics as well as
Stimulants, and nine times out of ten the
man who Hatters himself that he is stim
ulated is presenting the symptoms of in
cipient narcosis. Fortunately the in
struments of precision’with which the
physiologist of to-day is armed, enable
him to read far clearer than of old the
phenomena that are the subjects of his
observation. With the thermometer to
tell him ®f a lowered temperature, with
a sphygmograph by which the heat may
trace the .unmistakable evidence of its
own growing importance, there is no
need to wait for so coarse a manifesta
tion as drunkenness to indicate the per-,
nicious influence of alcohol. Long be
fore the cerobro-spinal system snows
signs of succumbing 1»y tho uncertainty
of the legs and a jabbering of the tongue,
the sympathetic nervous system shows
unmistakable-signs of paralysis, and the
flushed face and the quickened pulse,
the lowered temperature, the diminished
blood pressure, gives painful evidence of
a profound disorder in the machinery of
* The Passions.
The Popular Science Monthly contains
a valuable article, by Professor B. W.
Richardson, upon “Induced.disease from
the Influence of the- Passions,” printed
from advance sheets of a new work en
titled “The Diseases of Modern Life.”
Anger, fear, hatred and grief are the pas
sions that act most severely upon the
physical life. Of these, anger is the
most injurious. “He is a man Very rich
indeed in physical power,” says this
author, “who can aflord to be angry.”
The effect of rage upon-the heart is to
produce a permanent disordered and ir
regular motion, as is well known. This
sometimes is so severe as to cause instant
death, and is more to be avoided than al
most nnythingelse by persons having or
ganic diseases of the heart. An inter
esting sentence in Professor Richardson’s
paper is the following: “It (the reel of
the passions) is stirred up by some fanat
ical manifestations for the regeneration
of tho world, which are well meant, but
which, missing the mark, produce degen
eration instead.” Probably few people
who encourage or take part in what are
known as revivals have any idea of tho
cerebral disorders produced by these
seasons of unnatural mental excitement
The revivalist being generally a man o
strong physical organization, passes
through the ordeal unharmed, but heart-
disease of some sort, hysteria, all kinds
of nervous diseases, and even insanity,
too often follow in his wake. Particu
larly is this the case among children,,
whose sensitive nerves are excited to the
highest pitch by the vivid pictures of
eternal misery or bliss pointed by the
skillfvil preacher.
State Granges will meet as follows:
Alabama, November 30. Kentucky,
has just been issued, of which the follow
ing is a recapitulation:
Bonds at 6 per cent $ 1,033,886,550 00
Bonds at 5 per cent 660,384,750 00
Total $ 1,694,251,300 00
DEBT BEARING INTEREST IN LAWFUL MONEY.
Lawful money debt. 14,000,000 00
Matured debt 22,430,870 00
DEBT BEARING NO INTEREST.
Legal tender notes 372,541,479 00
Certificates of deposit.,..*.:.. 42,610,000 00
Fractional currency..:......... 42,356,105 00
Coin certificates 12,796,500 00
Total without interest $ 477,304,084 00
Total debt $ 2,207,986,254 00
Total interest. 34,904,516 00
CASH IN THE TREASURY.
Coin $ 70,404,676 00
Currency........ *12,014,962 00
Special deposit held for re
demption of certificates
of deposit as provided by >
law...T. 42,610,000 00
Total in Treasurv $ 125,029,638 00
DEBT LES8 CASH IN THE TREASUBY.
Debt less cosh in the Treas
ury $ 2,117,917,132 00
Decrease of the debt during
the past month 480,078 00
Decrease of the debt since
June 30,1875 10,771,593 00
BONDS ISSUED TO PACIFIC RAILROAD COM
PANIES—INTEREST Payable in lawful
MONEY*
Principle outstanding debt..$ 64,623,512 00
Interest accrued and not yet
paid 1,615,587 00
Interest paid by the Uuited
States, 28,202,807 00
Interest repaid by transpor
tation of mails, etc......... 6,575,854 00
Balance of interest paid by
the United States 21,626,953 00
Whisky and Life Insurance.
Dr. W. T. Harrison, jr., of Baltimore,
submitted an interesting paper to the
American Health Association' last week
on “ Alcohol in Relation to Life In
surance.” The doctor adopted the cold,
practical, unscientific view which men
of business of the drinking habits of
other men, leaving to others the con
sideration of the effects, moral and physi
cal, upon the individual and upofi so
ciety, of indulgence in alcoholic drinks.
It appears that thirty-four, years ago
“ The United Kingdom Temperance , and
General Provident Insiiiuliou ” wan of-
aranized in London, with the intention of
f**trictitig its business entirely to teeto
talers. The company learned, however,
after an ertcuded trial, that the number
of this class was not sufficiently large to
reduce to the desired limit the cost of in
surance, and they were either Forced to
extend their line or to retire from bus
iness. They chose the former alterna
tive, and while still excluding applicants
of intemperate habits, they accepted
those whose use of alcohol was called
temperate. The two classes, however—
teetotalers and temperate drinkers—were
kept distinct. The statistics of the com-
souri, December 14. Illinois, December
14. Louisiana, December 14. Maine,
December 14. Maryland, December 14.
Massachusetts, December 14. Michigan,
December 14. Minnesota, December 14.
Mississippi, December 14. New Jersey,
December 14. Pennsylvania, December
14. Vermont, December 1. Nebraska,
December 21. New Hampshire* De
cember 24. Wisconsin, January 4.
Texas, January 10. New York, January
11. Arkansas, January 24. North Car
olina, Febuary 15. Tennessee, Febuary
16. Ohio,-March 14.
A .negro suddenly finding himself
under fire during a skirmish in the late
war, prayed. This is what he prayed:
“Oh, Lordv. if you’re cber gwinetb do
anything for dis old nigger, now’s your
time.”
A
Wool Growing in California
The San Francisco Bulletin publishes
a table showing the quantity and value
of the wool annually exported from that
port from 1854 down to the present time.
Beginning with. .175,000 lbs. the first
named year, the progress has been con
tinuous and very rapid, until the ship
ments, in 1874, reached the enormous
quantity of 36,088,701 lbs., which is
nearly*three times as much as in 1869,
ohly five years ago, and five times as
much os in 1867.
In another point of view the table is
of interest, although we find no refer
ence to it in our contemporary. From
the statement oi yokes, *it seems that
the average wool eAporteu lit 1854, wan
worth eight bents per pound. In i860 it
had risen to 13 cents a pound, odd—pass
ing over the fluctuating values, during
the war—in 1870, It reached 19 cents a
S und, and in 1874 about 22} cents.
iis seems to show that the wool of to
day is of better quality, and in far better
condition than that of twenty years ago.
The Bulletin thinks that the sheep hus
bandry of California will continue to
grow in the future, and adds:
The material and bulk of wool has been
greatly increased of late by largo
purchases of thoroughbred sheep, by
which flocks haTe beten graded up to a
high standard. California is one of the
best markets open for the sale of high-
priced , thoroughbred sheep. Some of
the more wealthy wool-growers are not
red at any price if they find thor-
red sheep to suit them. They
stagger
oughbr
probab!
probably find their account in these pur
chases, or they would not make them.-
If a wool grower can increase his fleece
on each of ten thousand sheep half a
pound a year, he knows well enough that
the thousand dollars which he pays for a
single thoroughbred sheep will all come
back to him. . »
The wool interest is to be largely in
creased hereafter by the remarkable suc
cess of alfalfa, which will enable holders
of small tracts to make them more avail
able for wool-growing thnn many of the
rough areas of much greater dimensions
now directed to sheep rans. None of
the great sheep ranches will he aban
doned; but. a great many persons will
elect to take the smaller tracts nearer to
towns, and bring^them up to the capacity
of the large ranges for wool-growing pur
poses. The raising of thoroughbred sheep
alone is becoming an important industry .
in California.
Fruit in Ceylon.—A Ceylon corres
pondent of the Boston Transcript writes:
“All vegetable life seems to flourish here
most luxuriantly. The cocoa palm we
see everywhere along the coast, and it,
with the bread-fruit tree, the yak tree,
or a cottonwood tree, make up a great
part of the woody growth. I forgot to
add the areca palm, from which the betel
nut is obtained. This is a little smaller
than the cocoa palm, but neai'y as high,
and always perfectly straight. ’The nuts
grow in large bunches, ana are about the
Bize of a lemon before the outside skin is.
taken off. The bread-fruit is about tho
size of two fists. It has a green, rough,
skin, and when cooked tastes like a sweet
potato, but not so sweet. The mango is
about the size of an orange; has a green,
thick skin, and a large stone in the cen
ter. The flowers are very beautiful and
in great variety. The cocoanut tree seems
to be even more usefiil to these people
than the bamboo is to the Japanese. The
nut is used for food and drink, the shells
for dishes. The outside envelope is put
into water and rotted; then dried, pound
ed, and the strong fibre woven into ropes
and matting. Tne meat is pressed for
the oil. The leaves of the tree ore used
for roofs, fences, and to mako rough bas
kets. Tne sap affords * toddy' and sugar.
The wood also serves good purposes. The
palm-leaf is used to protect tho cocoanuts
from thieves. It is held vertically against
the trunk, and the ends of the leaflets
are tied together on the other side of the
trunk. Inis is done before the nuts are
ripe; it afterward becomes dry, and if
any one attempts to climb the tree be can
net avoid rattling this crisp leaf, which
warns the owner. The hansna Is twelve
or fifteen feet high. It bears one bunch,
and is then replaced by a new Bhoot.
Sometimes a stone is seen hanging from
the end of the bunch of bananas, which
is said to draw the sap into them and
make them develop more fully. The.
pine-apples are not so good as those we
had at Singapore, as. they grow wild.”
?'
-^Eleven of Brigham Young’s sweet-
scented missionaries have gone to lay
siege to the female heart in Australia.,