Newspaper Page Text
The proportion of tho populace ■who
can neither read nor ■write is gradually
decreasing in tho United States.
Henry G orge, tho author of *(Pro-
grcs3 and Poverty,” says that landlord
ism is getting ns great a bugbear in
America ns it is'in England.
With an averngo of 18 suicides a
month in tho German ar:r.y, remarks
the Now York Graphic, Franco nmy
count upon getting ia her rovengo if
she only has tho patiouce to wait long
enough.
The Astorinn states that since tho
passage of the exclusion act the Chinoso
servants in Astoria, Oregon, havo be
come wonderfully indopondont, and
“won’t even think of working at tho
former rate of wages.’’
Tho Suitjii o'. Turkey has experienced
an attack of patriotism. Knowing that
hi3 fleet ought to bo stronger, and
knowing also that tho national excheq
uer is empty, lie has resolved to build
a new iron-clad and pay for it out of
his own private'purse.
Robert Turner of Ghent county, Ky.,
died a short timo ago. In 1850 ho
bought two slaves at auction and rnado
§1800 by tho transaction, and now liis
will directs that that amount bo di
vided from lm estate among tho four
A rican churches in Ghent
One of U.o features of the educational
system of Mexico i< tho introduction of
schools of mechanical training for
women. Girls nro taught carpentry,
weaving, and carving just as they aro
instructed in drawing, painting, and
mustc. Tho theory of agiiculturo is an
Optional study.
Shaw university (colored) of Raleigh,
N. C\, is thorou’hiy self-supporting,has
more than 400 pupils now enrolled, and
is upon the point of enlarging its build
ing and facilities for higher education.
It has. been largely endowed by north
ern philanthropist*, and is still domin
ated by their ideas.
Tho subject of changing the Jewish
Sabbath (Saturday) ,-to Sunday is agi
tated. Tuo N.'W York Hebrew Stand-
idv*?.-.;i■ h Tiding*
favor clfti change. Thu latter paper
says: “'Viewed in the proper light tho
(question can receivo but oao decision—
the change must come."
English statesmen nil agree ia the
Option that the French republic is in a
bat! fix, and its downfall is imminent.
These di cournging views all appear to
be based upon tho fact that Boulanger
is growing more popular every day. It
is possible that “the little god of tho
mude halls” will yet piny a Napoleonic
part.
Fiance has now a national league for
the promotion of physical education,
designed to lit her citizens to bo sol-
dies. Tho programme which hns been
ccinploted includes out-door games
throughout tho land, for which tho
local authorities will set apart a “green,”
whereon the children shall regularly
“P-ay. ’ _
According to tho Atlanta Constitu
tion, f r fifty years our government
paid 8800 a year for guarding tho
“crypf” constructed for Washington’s
remains in the national capitol. Tho
fact that Washington lied been interred
at Mount Vernon did not interfere with
this little job until a provincial Con
gressman objected and smashed it.
Twenty-soVon miles an hour, with no
heated journals nor break downs, is a
good record for tho trial trip of any
steamer, yet that is tho rate the now
United States dynamite cruisor Vesu
vius made ia a twenty-aino minutos
trip recently. A fleet of such vessels,
hard to hit on account of tho cclority
with which they cm change their posi
tion and of their comparatively small
size, would bo a forinidablo defence for
American harbors.
Tho now Italian ponal codo provides
that such an assertion as that the pope
hns a right to Romo as lm seat of gov
ernment is punishnblo as 4 crime.
Almost ovary man of energy loads
himsolf up, if ho has tho opportunity
and moans, with more businoss and
projects and attempts than his brains
can hold. So that wo oithor aro fools
or mako ourselves such.
A thousand Indians, who have boon
Christianized and civilized under tho
labors of a layman, Dr. Duncan, for
merly a missionary of tho Church Mis
sionary Society of England, havo left
Metla Kr.tlali and moved into Alaska
uador American control. They are said
to bo a very peaceful, industrious peo
ple. Thoy loft British Columbia be-
enuso of disagreements with tho peoplo
of that province.
A Philadelphia paper assorts that
marrying for beauty is getting as popu
lar in this country as it has long been
among Englishmen. Within a few
years the number of men of wealth and
established position svho have married
store girls, factory girls and others,
poor in circumstances, but avilh boauty
to rccominond them, has boon extraor
dinary. Roccntiy a largo manufacturer
in Nro Brunswick, N. J., died and loft
a largo fortune to his widow, who a
few days ago worked in his factory.
Oao of the largest manufacturers of
Philadelphia is similarly married to a
girl taken from the loom.
Though the. police of London do not
shine in tho task that the Whitechapel
fiend has been giving them, there aro
several things that they do which are
strango to Americans. They aro trained
to servo tho people. They answer all
questions civilly, citheu|jU))ect or tako
strangers to wlyUffiffiffi ,WAft to go,
wnke Up hciuscrtlfao rs along their'boats
to catch early morning trains, tako
chargo of houses or shops loft vacant
for a few momonts, or actually live ia
houses vacated for the summer or tho
winter. All this seems part of a very
paternal sort of government, but it has
its advantages for tho public.
ODD INDUSTRIES.
Queer Wooden Products of the
Forests of Maine.
Making Toothpicks, Thread,
Spools, Shoe Pegs, Etc.
It i3 very ovidont that America is fast
bos lining a nation of writers. From
statistics iurnlshod by tho Po3t Oflico
Department it is fi ;ured out that last
yoar tho postal service carried thirty
lottcrs for every man, woman and child
in tho country, to say nothing of postal
cards, newspapers and packages of va
rious kinds. This is a showing that is
truly remarkable, and greatly exceeds
that of any other country.
The Brooklyn E iglo recently de
clared that its city had tho eighth won
der of tho world in the person of an
Irishman who has lived thero for twen
ty years, and who refuses to register
and vole, because, ho says, ho is a
foreigner and has no right to interforo
in American politics. Since then tho
Eagle has received a letter from a
man who signs himself “An English
man in his eighty-eighth year,” and
who says: “The writer of this has
lived ia America fifty-six years, and has
never voted, being of tho opinion that
it would bo for the interest of foreign
ers, a3 well as natives, if the voting
was left entirely to the latjtcr.”
Tho Army and Navy Journal is urg
ing tho measures being put forward by
Adjutant-General Drum for tho increaso
of tho pay of non-commissioncd officers.
They don’t average as good salaries as
tho New York polico force, and their
maintenance of a superior social stand
ing is, as tho Adjutant-General urges,
part of tho discipline of tho army.
Talking of the army, tho Army Sword
and Shield is urging tho establishment
of nmmemont roomi at p-sts and tho
prohibition of groggories on tho borders
of military reservations and is calling
upon tho religious press of tho country
to help it press the point upon Con
gress.
According to tho Louisvillo Post
General Harrison has two brothers liv
ing. Oao, Captain Cartor B. Harrison,
lives at Murfreesboro, Tone., oa a largo
cotton plantation. His family consists
of wife, two sons aad a daughter. One
of tho sons is married, and is an em
ploye of Armour Bros.’ banking-houso
in Kansas City. The other brother,
John Scott Harrison, is a prominent
lawyer in Kansas Cily. lie married
Sophia Lyttle of Murfroosboro, Tonn.
and has throe sons and one daughter.
Both he and William Harrison ol
Chicago, as soon as they had voted,
started for Indianapolis to pay thoir
distinguished and successful relative a
friendly visit.
Fifty years ago tho United States was
tho homo of a large number of peculiar
wild animals. Unless a national pre
serve comes to tho rescue very soon,
another dccado will see them nearly all
extinct. Tho grizzlies are disappearing
from tho Rockies. A live buffalo is
now worth from $500 to $1000, which
throe yoars ago cost scarcely one-fifth
that amount, and they aro found nl-
most nowhero but in tho corner of
Texas and Yollowstono Park. The
caribou has boon hunted almost out of
existouce. Tho mountain sheep, tho
moose, tho beaver, tho nntolopo, are all
disappearing. If wo aro to know any
thing in tho futuro about our American
wild animals, wo must arrange light
speodily a “zoo.”
Thero is an industry which gives em
ployment to hundreds of people in this
section of tho stato which owes its ori
gin to a whittler, writes a Pittsburg
Dispatch correspondent from Maine.
This is tho making of wooden tooth
picks. Thero is a factory in thi3 town
which turns them out at tho rate of I
know not how many thousand per day,
and there are similar factories in a
number of neighboring villages. Asido
from tho men and boys directly em
ployed in tho production of thoso use
ful little articlos, many others aro ben
efited by tho industry. Tao farmer
who owns the trees, tho woodsman
who chopi them down aad tho team
ster who hnuls tho timber to tho fac
tory, oach comes in for a share of the
money paid out bj tho toothpick man
ufacturers.
Tho wood sells for $3 to $4.50 por
cord at the fuctory, and as each fac
tory takc3 from 600 to 1500 cords per
year, quite a respectable amount is
paid out for raw material alone. Tho
wood used is whito birch aud poplar,
and must bo straight-graiacd and
without knots, so there is necessarily
a good deal of waste. It is estimated
that enough toothpicks aro nvido ia
M tine each year to load a freight train
of 50 cars. In round uumbors the tooth
picks number 5,000,000,000, or about
77 picks for each man, woman and
child ia tho United States. That would
scarcely bo enough; but the toothpick
consumers need not bo alarmed, for
thero aro scverol factories devoted to
this industry outsiio of Maine.
The inventor of the wooden tooth
pick is still living and still making
toothpicks. He was in South America
whon I10 raado the first box, and got
the idea from the natives, who seem
also to havo a penchant for whittling.
"Well, ho employed his leisure timo in
whittling out a box of picks, which he
sent home to his wife. Sho gave a part
of them a hotel kcepor, and his
guests liked them so ’well that ho at
once orderod a largo quantity. Tho
man in South America smiled whon he
got the letter, but at once ongagod a
number of natives and set them to
whittling.
Next ho returned to his native town
in Maine, and went to inventing. In
duo time ho had a machine that would
mako picks about 10,000 timas as fast
as tho swiftest South American whit-
tlor, and since 1860 he has been doing
his best to supply tho world with tooth
picks. Ho has so perfected his ma
chine that ono operative can mako 15,-
000 picks a minute. His business rivals
aro numerous, aud toothpicks are
cheap, ia spite of tho fact that thero is
said to be a sort of toothpick trust con
trolling tho production.
Another peculiar industry which
flourishes in western Maine it tho mak
ing of thread spools. Thoy are cut
from smooth, whito birch timber,
wood which works easily, by various
kinds of improved machines. Thoro
aro numerous mills throughout
tho lumbering rogiou whore tho birch
is sawod into strips about four foot
long, and from ono to two inches
width and thickness. Those strips
then go to tho spool factories to be con
verted into spools. Tho processes are
numerous, but with one exception, not
particularly interesting. The method
of polishing the spools is novel and
original. A barrel is filled nearly full of
them, and then revolved by moans of
machinery and belting, until the spools
are worn smooth by rubbing one against
another. Spool manufacturing is tho
most important industry in several of
the villagos of Oxford county, and will
doubtless continue so until the supply
of birch timber gives out.
I can remember the timo when Yan
kee shoemakers cut thoir pegs them-
solvcs. They would saw off a white
| birch log, louving it smooth and oven,
| then plough littlo furrows across it in
two directions, with an instrument
; which I believe they called a peg cut-
j tor. Then enough of tho wood was
1 sawed off to mako tho pogs tho right
j longth and the block was split up into
1 pegs by using a knife. I don’t suppose
anybody makes pogs that way now.
Thoy aro cut by machinery from whito
birch and maplo and New England
1 supplies tho whole country. Pegs are
worth from 35 to 05 cents a bushel' at
the factories,
j Up in Bangor thero is a firm styling
I itself a “compress company,” and its
business is—baling sawdust ! Sawdust,
shavings, etc., are taken from the saw
mills and pinning mills in tram cars to
the compressing mill and there squeezed
until converted into an nlmost improg-
nablo mass. Largo quantities are mad
by various manufacturers for different
purposos.
Pasteur’s Claims to Fame.
It i3 not generally known in this
country that Pasteur’s claim to fame
rests upon a moro substantial founda
tion than tho discovery of tho method
of preventing hydrophobia by inocu
lation. “If it had not been for Pas
teur,” said a well-known physician who
recently met Pasteur in his laboratory,
“wo would not today be drinking tho
sparkling wines of France, and tho
wine-making industry would havo boon
ruined. A blight had come upon the
wine. Some insidious agent that could
not bo detected wa.s at work ia tl.o
wine, and affected it so Hint it would
not keep. Tho exportod wine bccamo
acid and bitter, and the domestic lost
its flavor and value. Tho largo wine
makers wore i:i despair, and know that
if something was not dono their busi
ness would corns to nn end, and this
meant destitution ill thousands of hap
py French homes that depended upon
this industry for support. Pasteur at
tacked tho evil. Ho found that tlio
deteriorations in tho wiaos were cauiod
by organic germs, which could bo de
stroyed by a low degroo of heat, with-
out affecting tho quality of the wine.
Tho remedy was applied immediately
on a largo scalo to all tho wines which
had undergone acid fermentation, aud
they were made sweet and pure. An
other industry was al3o paralyzed. It
wa? silk culluro. A plaguo called
pobrino attacked tho silk-worms, ia-
liictiag a loss of $30,000,000 in ono
year. Myriads of worms wero de
stroyed, and thoso that wero left only
turned out a small quantity of silk.
Pasteur traced tho disease to its origin
and found it to be the work of a living
organism or parasite. Tho germ was
picked up by tho worm from tho loaf
upon which it fed, and spoedily got
iato tho sack which containd the mate
rial from which tho worm spun its
cocoon, and increased so rapidly that
tho worm was killed, or its silk-pro
ducing power was dostroyod. Pasteur
discovered tho time which the poison
ous) germ' could be ikillodc.- and the
method of doing it. and again savd l the
commercial prosperity of tho Fronch.
This investigation took mauy ycurs,
during which Pasteur was profoundly
abused by mon of science, but thoy
all wore silenced whon he finally killed
the bugs.”—[Now York Tribune.
Tho Tongno.
"The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
Can crush and kill,” declarod the Greek.
“The tonguo destroys a greater horde,”
Tho Turk asserts, "than does the sword."
Tho Persian proverb wisely saith,
“A lengthy tongue—nn early death.”
Or sometimes tulles this form instead,
“Don’t let your tongue cut oil your head.”
"The tongue can speak a word whoso speed,”
Bays tho Chinese, “outstrips the steed.”
While Arab sages this impart,
“Tho tongue’s great storehouse is tho heart”
From Hobrew wit tho nmxim sprung,
“Though feet should slip ne’er let the
tongue.”
Tho sacred writer crowns the whole.'
“Who keeps his tongue doth keep his soul.”
—[Ualveston News.
HUMOROUS.
Warranted to wash—A laundress.
Tho fashionable hangings—Lambre
quins.
Takes tho will for tlio deed—The sur
rogate.
A full stop—Asleep oa tho sidewalk
at 1 a. m.
Tho dancing master should bo quick
at figures.
Usually soon on lm last logs—The
kangaroo.
Always turning over a new leaf—
Librarians.
Motto of real cstato men—“Deeds,
not words.”
Applicants for loans generally adopt
a borrow-tone.
Thero is nothing like a bolt for break
ing a dead-lock.
Tho wind now whistling through the
corn-fields has a hu3ky tone.
A hew and cry usually follow tho
small boy’s acquisition of a pocket-
knife.
A rock salt bod has been found in
Michigan, but most men prefer a liair
mattress for real comfort.
Goods in the hands of a merchant
who doos not advertise aro like row
boats. They have no salo. .
The car stovo is back from its sum
mer vacation and will soon bo heard
from in railway accidonts.
Nature is just with compensation for
losses. Tho toothless man is not apt to
bito off moro than hijJEaa cjicw. V ,
“I like Paris," said ^Irs. Mulfiomy,
“them Two lures and Boys de Bologna
and Champs Elizas is immense."
Tho girl with a six-foot sweetheart
said that sho wouldn’t tell a story, but
sho couldn’t help but “draw a long
beau."
Sights in Copenhagen.
Copenhagen is an old city too littlo
visited by tho hurry-skurry class of
tourists who tako Europs in ono ency
clopaedic gulp aad think “one summer"
quito sufficient for its digestion. It is
a t:uo Votiico of tho Vikings—quaint,
high -colored, channelled and cauallod
by threads of glittering wator, full of
an architecture all its own, and tingling
with a life, provincial if you choose to
call it so, but nono the less charming
and individual on that account. The
bright Danish faces, scoured like the
surfaces of an old Dutch knocker, have
a Fronch airiness; tho women aro de
cidedly pretty, thero is an indefinable
“stylo” in the midst of their very pro
vincialism; and tho streets prosont a
panorama of sights and sounds that
doos not easily leave tho memory.
Perhaps it is the water that glitters in
the mind; tho perpetual,fresh,bustling,
scampering Baltic; the playful canals
full of tall-masted boats; the profiles of
Swedish mountains looming across tho
sea; tho showers mingled with shine
that giva the climate of Denmark in
summer its undine-liko charm. It is
the land (paradoxically enough) of
water—of water spritos, of nixie and
mirage, of dissolving humidity and
broken sunshino; in short, not so much
the “lost turquoise” which Balzac found
again in a lovely Savoyard lake as a
pearl of groat price unknown as yet to
travelers, waiting ready to be discov
ered in its great Gothic mussel-shell on
the edges of the Baltic.
Crab Farms.
The Mobile (Ala.) Register incites
the people thereabout to set up crab
farms efe a sourco of revenue, and shows
that it is both possiblo and profitable
by reference to tho animal’s history.
Four timos in tho yoar does hashed his
shell to grow a jigger one, and whilo
th,o now ono is hardening ho is that
finorsel for gourmets, tho soft shell. Tho
plnn is to inclose reaches of sand beach
with a tight fonco higher than high
tide. They will put into this all crabs
when caught, and market them whon
just at tho light season.
A Clergyman who marriod.n couple of
deaf mutes in Brooklyn tho othor day
made a bad break when ho wished
them “unspeakable bliss.”
Tho only thing that can down true
genius and curb genuine inspiration is
a pen that catches ia the paper and exe
cutes a design in splatter-work at every
third stroke.
A wealthy young lawyer spent two
days and a night over ono case, aad at
tho end of that time could not tell
which sido ho was on. It was a caso
of champagne.
First amateur Nimrod—“It is getting
late, and we haven't killed anything
yet.” Second Amateur Nimrod—
l “Woll, lot us miss a couplo moro rab
bits and thou go home.”
A young redskin schoolboy was asked
tho other day what is tho highest form
of animal life. “Tho giraffe,” was the
prompt roply of the lad, who had evi
dently been taking in the circus of the
pale face.
A lady having remarked in company
that she thought there should be a tax
on the single state— “Yes, madam, ’’ re
joined a most notable specimen of the
uncompromising old bachelor who wu
present, “as on other luxuries."
Miss Floy Trappe (whoso mouth is
undeniably large) —Nellie, Will Dew
said last night that my mouth had a
sweet expression. Do you suppose he
meant that for sarcasm? Miss Prunella
Prism—I am afraid so, doar; with an
accent on tho chasm 1
Wife (at breakfast table)—George,
dear, why do all tho defaulting bank
cashiers from the far West go to Can
ada? Husband (who is Emeritus pro
fessor of geography)—Because, my
dear, though thero is less longitudo
thoro is moro latitude.
“Gontlcmen,” said an indignant
passenger on a South Sido cable car
yesterday, “will none of you get up and
givo this old lady a seat?” “I'll thank
you sir,” snapped tho lady, “to attend
to your own affairs. I am not as old as
you aro by twenty years, if I’m any
judge of a person's agou"