Newspaper Page Text
. / Many of onr readers will be iw-
prised to learn that Nevada has lost
about one -third of its voting population
during the last eight years. This is due
mainly to the exhaustion of the cele
brated silver mines at Virgin laxity.
Though the dentil rate is four or fivo
moro to the thousand in cities than in
the country, the marked difference bo-
tween the rates in different citios indi
cates that improved plumbing nnd
other sanitnry precautions havo modi
fied tho CT’U of ry r crowding.
When the Eagl&h took possession «f
tho Island of Ojrprus, it was annually
ravaged by grasshoppers to such a de
gree that its crops were hardly wortli
consideration. In five years, and at a
cost of only some $300,000, tho insects
wero almost destroyed, and it now costs
but $8000 a year to keep tho land free
from ravages.
Canon Taylor, of the Protestant
Episcopal church, lately producod an
estimate before the London Church
Congross that it would take ovor 300, *
000 yenrs at the present rate of progress
to convert tho world, even if tho popu
lation remained stationary and tho con
verts steadfast.
The Njw York San says that sinc3
the government of tho Uaitod S ates
was established th ro have been only
three presidents who failed to invite to
the cabinet n citizen of Nj w York. These
wero John Adam?, Thomas Jefferson
and Zichary Taylor, and in two out of
tlio threo cases tho vice president at the
time was a N:w Yorker.
Prince Bismarck is deeply interested
in tlio promotion of civilization in Af
rica. In this behalf ho has secured the
sid of all European governments oxccpt
Portugal lor the suppression of tho
slave trade. This action was mainly
taken to protect German colonists at
Zanzibar. Tho blockade which Bis
marck proposes to establish will make
it hard for tho Arab slave traders to
dispose of their unhappy victims, after
they have procured them in tho interior
of tbo continent.
Advertisements, no whit loss than
tile stage, “hold the mirror up to nn
ture.” It would be impossible to de
scribe or comment upon tho social lifo
of a modern epoch, accurately or intel
ligently, without a study of tho adver
tising columns of the journals of that
epoch. Those who undertake such a
study for the purpose of having some
thing to say about advertising are soon
forcibly struck with tho strong and
penetrating light that advertisements
throw upon contemporary life, “itemiz
ing,” as Addison puts it, “the news of
the iittla world.’’^>4 ^
Bone idea may be had of tha nagni-
V»d* o* the London and Koythweetsrn
Tha new Texas capitol, built by
Chicago men, has been turned ovor to
tho State and accepted. Three mil
lion acres of land wore given for this
building, the last installment of 310,-
000 seres having beon handed over to
Col. Abner Taylor on Saturday. Tho
building cost, as shown by actual
vouchers, $8,000,000, which makes tho
cost of the land per acre to the Chica
go syndicate $1.
KOUANG-TONG.
China’s Largest and Richest, but
Least Known Province.
Its Immense Population, Lead
ing Products, Etc.
Now Orleans ladies are contemplating
tho organization of a committoe of 100
of their sex whoso duty it will be to
look, in a large and practical way, after
tho interests of womon, as to how they
are treated in stores, asylums, prisons,
station-houses, etc. They have no de
sire to bo “antagonistic to necessary
business methods,” but to organizo
themselves into a force that will com
mand respect and be of service to the
weak and unprotected. They hope in
time to make it a State leagui.
In tlio remarkable rcsu.ts it has
reached, Belgium is an excellent ex
ample of what courage nnd perseverance
can accomplish ia tho face of vory dis
couraging circumstances—verily a
model of thrift and industry that might
be profitably I olio wo 1 by the other
European countries, oven the largest.
Nowhere else on the continent are tho
benefits derivablo from industrial de
velopment and closo attention to busi
ness, joined to steady conduct and
economical habit?, so conspicuous as in
this little kingdom. It is a lesson
given to the world at large.
system of rhiiroad in England from tho
fact that it has a working capital of
532,000,000; that its annual revenue is
$52,000,000; that it carries annually
57,000,000 passengers and 35,000,000
tons of freight, and that it employs
$60,000 people. The Pennsylvania sys
tem of this country carried last year
35,785,769 passengers and 50,033 296
tons of freight. While tho London and
Northwestern has a larger income than
any railrond in America, it operates only
2555 miles of road.
Spooking of the fuel question, as
connected with railroads, the Railway
Age says the Southern Pacific Company
is tho only big railroading organization
in this country which has not a single
coal train on its lues. Coal costs the
Southern Pacific from $8 to $10 per
too, while the cost to Eastern roads is
only from $1 to $2. It expended a
million and a half dollars more last year
for fuel than did the largo Santa Fa
system. It has triod using petroleum,
but returned to coal, which it obtains
from Australia, England and British
Columbia.
In 1864 the mineral resources of New
M xico wero first cxplorod, and in spite
of immense diffi mlties a gr*at deal of
ore has been obtninod. Tie U-.itod
States geological survey report says that
in New M xico coal is found in seven
counties in beds from ono to fourteen
feet thick. The quality ranges through
all varieties from brown to anthracite.
Tho most important fields are open in
Colfax county, embracing a area of
600,030 acyro*. The report say* of the
Lo%Ce^lJos br^s: ^ “Ths co l is Jurd,
dense and of a brilliant lustre, and ia
said to be, so far its all practical pur
poses are concerned, fully cquil to the
best anthracite.’’ The total production
for 18S6 was 271,285 tons. Tho averago
prico of this coal is quoted at $5 per
ton.
In China it is the majesty of the law
which goes in for brutality. Tha official
organ of the government, the Pekin
Gazette, gives in tho calmest way an
account of two men being tortured to
death on a trumped-up charge. A
Chinese draper in tho Kungan district
was robbed, and he determined to fix
tho crime upon a responsible person in
order to recover his property. With
•the connivance of a magistrate, a pros
perous dealer and his son were arrested
and tortured to make them confess what
they knew nothing about. They would
not, and their boatmen were tortured
in their turn until they confessed what
they were askod to—namely, that their
master had committed tho crime.
Thereupon father nnd son wore again
brought before tho magistrate and sub
mitted to torture. They drcliacd to
confess, and both did under the or
deal. The law, however, did not refuse
redress to fhe widow and mother, who
brought suit against all the persons
concerned. The magistrate is to bo
banished, but the others go free. Just
Tho New York Observer says: “If
there is any class of public institutions
in the country that, moro than any
other, ought to be beyond tlio reach of
factional influonc3, of ignorant, vac
illating and demagogic whims and
scheme?, it is our jails, prisons and
penitentiaries. Tho direction and
general minagement of those institu
tions demand the best thought and ef
fort of tho best men of our time. Too
often havo they received quite tho re-
verso of this. There is no problem be
fore tho world today more serious than
that of the proper treatment ol crimi
nals. It is a problem of vital concorn
to tho welfaro of cur religious, social
and political institutions. To dally
with it, to treat it from the standpoint
of ignorance uud selfishnoss as we have
been doing, is to invito upoa tho
country un increasing burden of evils
aud miseries, the ultimate consequences
of which can only bo dimly and darkly
outlinod.”
The Baltimore American declares that
tree cu.ture requires that the owner of
land should look not only a your, but
20 years ahead; in fact, ho should look
beyond his own immediate interests to
thosoof the parsons who are to be his
successors. It would bo difficult to
educate som‘, if not a great many, up
to this stand point, and laws nro ncccs
sary to givj the proper impetus to the
movement. Every stuto should pa3S
statutes regulating tho matter, or at
least requiring the owners of land to
plant a certain number of treos annually.
It is for tins purpose that tho forestry
associatioas were organizsd. They
havo undertaken a work of the first im
portance, nnd should receive thorough
encouragement and support. The sys
tem of tree planting once established all
over the country on a sound basis, will
go clearly demonstrate its advantages
that farmora and land owners will need
Ivouang-Tong, which is the largest
and richest province in the Chinese
Empire, is also the least known. It is
situated in tho southern part of the Em
pire along the seacoast, and includes
the city of Canton and all. the excellent
harbors along that coast, and has a
population of $0,000,000 people. Ac
cording to the French Consul at Can
ton, who has taken the trouble to in
vestigate carefully the characteristics
of this exclusive people, the inhabitants
consist of throe races, the Pounti, Hoklo
and Hukkas. Tho Pounti are the most
numerous, and form the class of mer
chants, aristocrats and rulers. Tho
Hoklos live almost entirely in their
beats, and constitute that vast fleet of
watermen which crowds tho river at
Canton, and spreads by tons of thousands
ovor every portion of the dolta. Tho
Hokkas comprise tho agricultural peo
ple of tho province, and hare retired
to tha Northeast of. Kouang-Tong and
to the island of Harwan. They are
said to represent tho Chinese race,
properly speaking, and the dialect is
very different from tho Pounti and
Hoklo races.
This province contains the busiest
manufacturing mart in China. Ono of
its principal products » silk cloth,
which forms so largo a stnplo export of
the Chinese Empiro. In Kouang-Tong
it is carried to its most elaborate pbint,
and tho production of all qualitios of
silk in 1887 was 2,000,000 kilograms.
Tho native consumption is very large,
and there is no means of getting at tho
exact statistics. The great tea-produc-
ing region of China is locatod in this
province. E lormous quantities are ex
ported each year, but the Government
is said to bo lovying so much tax upon
the farmers at the prosent timo that the
cultivation of tea is diminishing. Con
sumption has fallen off 6,500,000
pounds within tho past five months and
the competition of India, Ceylon end
Java is resulting in disaster both to the
Chinese farmers and tho merchants.
Sugar cane grows in almost every
fart of Kouang-Topg, and three kinds
of ailgtr are iMtely manufactured; tho
rad, white ana?candied varieties. It is
estimated that the value of the sugar
raised in this province annually exceeds
that of any other singlo product of tho
country. Chinese cinnamon, cereals of
all kinds, including immense areas of
rice, ginger, tobacco and medical plants
and drugs, also flourish as natural
products of this Tich territory and add
to its wealth as a producing area. Tho
consumption of tobacco, it is curious to
note, is vory general, and of 100 mon
and women it i3 said that seventy or
eighty are inveterate smokers.
Besides all those natural products the
people of Kouang-Tong have the great
est ingenuity in the manufacturing of
innumerable little articles of bric-a-
brnc, and it is said that they almost
supply the entire marlcot in the United
States for firecrackers and fireworks of
tho common varieties. They are vory
expert at this, and at Canton, Tong-
Kouan and Houang-Kong they make all
sorts of pyrotochnic?, firecrackers largo
and small, skyrockets, fuses for burning
on the water, Roman candles and arti
ficial contrivances of all sort?. It is
said that tho annual value of these ex
ports to this country aro 4,000,000
franc?. It seems rather astonishing,
however, that tho prices which the
writer gives as current in China should
be so high compared with this country.
He says: “The actual pricos of fire
crackers at the markets of Canton nrc:
For a pack of sixty-four firecrackers, 63
cents; for a pack of seventy-two fire
crackers, 69 cents; for a pack of eighty-
firecrackers, 76 cents."
Perhaps, however, they are extra
largo size, of tho kind the boys call
“cannons," and which cost from 5 to
10 cents apiece hero.
And all this is contained within only
ono-of the provinces of the Chinese Em
pire, tho complete resources of which will
probably not bo known to the outsido
world for many years yet to come.
There is certainly a field for extending
our foreign trade which is not equallod
in any other quarter of the globe. Why
should we not be the first to take ad
vantage of it?—[New York Graphic.
Christening of Oar Ship*.
Almost every conceivable combina
tion of letters has been employed in
naming the 25,000 steam and tailing
vessels comprising the merchant marine
of the United States, The demand for
proper designations has far cxcoeded
the supply, and romance, pootry, fic
tion, ancient mythology, history, geog
raphy, the stage and even ancient lan
guage havo beon called upon to furnish
names. By usage as strange as it is in
explicable ships of all classos have beon
claimed by the feminine gendor, and as
a result most of their names aro those
appropriated by ths fair sex. Next in
prepoi»dorance, after fancy and com
mon-place names, perhaps, aro those of
tho owners of the vessels, to whom the
builders have given tho special privilege
of honoring their wives or daughter*,
themselves or tome friends. The own
ers are susceptible to the pleasing faci-
nation of having their names carried
from the small villages in which thoy
live, perhaps, to distant parts, and
their ships are made to perform this
service. If of an economic turn of
mind, howevor, tho owner will lay
side his desire for glory, and will bo-
stow the name of a closo friend upon
his vessel, tho consideration usually be
ing a handsome and valuable set of
colors. Prominent men, too, are res
pected by mariners, and they do thorn
further honor by engraving their names
upon tho stern of their ships, and us a
consequence, every statesman or presi
dent of the last century has ono or more
white?winged or steum vossels plough
ing the ocean to-Jay bearing his full
name. As is well known, tho vessel is
baptized at hor launch as the sparkling
champagne dashes over her prow from
a bottlo broken by a fair maiden attired
in a tight-fitting dross proparod espe
cially for tho occasion. Whiskey is
used ia tho seaport villages whore
champagne is not easily obtained, and
wator, no doubt, would servo tho pur
pose very well.—[Baltimore Sun.
A, Ufo-LMMWi
There) little girl, don’t cry t
They have broken your doll, I know#
And your tea-set blue;
Aud your play-house, too,
Are thtags of the long ago;
But childish tr oubles will soon pass by.
There! little girl, don’t cryl
There! little girl, don’t cry!
They have broken your slate, I know:
And the glad, wild ways
Of your sohool-girl days
Are things of the long ago;
But life and love will soon come by.
There! little girl, don’t cryl
There! little girl, don’t ery;
They have broken your heart, I know;
And the rainbow gleams
Of your youthful dreams
Are the things of the long ago;
But heaven holds all for which you sigh.
There! little girl, don’t cryl
—[James Whitcomb Riley.
HUMOROUS.
no further prodding to induce them to
how the legal Chinese man works these i consuU thoir own interests and those of
things out it is difficult to imigiae. posterity.
Animalcule which escaps the eys,
and which almost eludo the microscop?,
cannot escape tho all-searching power
of tho electric 11 vh.
The Baleful Codling Moth.
Tho codling moth is supposed to be
a native of Europe, but is mors com
mon in all parts of tho world whero the
apple is cultivated. It is found in
South Africa, Australia, Tasmania and
New Z aland, and within the last four
or five years has appeared in the or
chards of C diforala. The grape
phylloxera is believed to bo a native of
the United States, and while it is only
slightly injurious to iur indigenous
grapes, it is vary destructive to the lor- >
eign species, and has destroyed many
thousands of acros of vineyards in
France and other European countries.
The plum curculio is also a native of
this country, and while it has not been
so widely disseminated as the codling
moth, still it has bocomo quite abund
ant in all of the Statos east of the
Rocky Mountains, and wo do not know
of any good reason why it should not
iimrish in California. It may be that
tho moist climate and cool nights in
Oregon and Washington Territory may
ue uncongoni il conditions, but as a
rule, wherever any kind of plant
tkrivo«, thoro also will its natural ene
mies live aud multiply. Wo are in
clined to think that, the plum curculio
will appear at no distant date in tho
plum and apricot orchards on tha Pa
cific coast, and while it may not flour
ish and become as destructive in Ore
gon as in the okl r States in the East,
still it may prove somewhat trouble
some,—[Now York Sun.
Co-operative Novel Writing.
Eisvard Everett Halo says ho has
gone into a practical experience in co
operation. Joaquin Miller, tho poot of
the Sierra?, is prosy enough toentor the
Bchome, and so is Gonoral Low Wallace.
According to tho present outlook five
works of fiction aro to be written by a
sort of literary trust. Each author is to
contribute a novel and tho profits of the
publication are to bo equally divided.
The original members besides Miller
and Halo wero Maurice Thompson,
A cultivated ear—A i oar of corn.
Goes round on tick—The clock;
The cobbler’s motto—“Nevsr too
late to mend.’’
It takes a strong moa to hold hia own
on a sea voyage.
Never travels with more than one
trunk—The elophant.
Everybody sticks out his tongue at
it—Tho postage stamp.
A picture in your imagination is of
Course, enclosed in a frame of mind.
A candidate may be scratched with
out being cured from tho itch for of
fice.
“What do you do ia school now,
Willie?” “Wish I was out of it, most
of the time.”
The Washington market poultry-
raisors contemplate the formation of a
Cochin club;
When corn peps, it gets ghostly
white. It is much the same way with
bashful young men.
An old salt who saw an incubator
work for the first time, said it was tho
most wonderful hatchway that he ever
saw.
There is a difference between tho lips
of a young man and tho lips of a young
woman, but sometimes it is a very
small one.
Twiffkins—What’s tho reason thoy
always have rocky passes and all that
Kind of thing in Irish plays? Bleffkins
—Because nothing could be more ap
propriate for Ireland than sham-rocks.
^Ransom—I thou g)it you jmi.d you wore
going to move your house, Smith?
Smith—Well, I did think of it, but
came to the conclusion it couldn’t be
done. Ransom—Why not? Smith—
Tho mortgago would break tho jacks.
Miss Shadysido—“How bored that
poor Mr. Jonesy looks with that frivo
lous young thing he is with. I can al
ways tell when a gentleman is bored.”
Mr. Tired todeath (with a guilty
start)—“Bless my soul, you don’t say
so!"
“George, dear, what a beautiful dia-
rqpnd butterfly! It looks ready to fly."
“Idon’ts.e why it wants to fly,’’
growled George. “Heaven knows it’s
high enough now. The roll plate
counter is at the other end of the store.
Come on.”
Barnum retires from tho circus; but
the red lemonade and peanuts remain,
together with tho grand concert im
mediately after the close of tho per
formance, tickets to which may be ob
tained of tho young gcntlomen who will
pass around the tent.
It
that
only
this
and
Franklin Filo and Will Cirlcton.
has been discovered, however,
Carloton has a contract to writo
for IIarpor3. He understood that
agreement related io pootry only,
he now finds that it covers prose as
woll. His placo is likeiy to bo taken
by General Wullaco. A letter.has been
received from Joaquin Miller written at
his home ia California. Ho says he is
writing with “tho glorious sunlit bay
of San Francisco in sight,” and that
tho scone is being used in his story.
Tho tale will bo ono of early California
days. Halo will locate his story in
New England. Thompson has found
in Bay St. Louis a place repleto with
romance and before-tlie- war characteri
zation. Mr. Filo will got his porsons
and plot in New York City.—[Sm
Francisco Chronicle.
Queer System of Bookkeeping.
A little man who runs a prosperous
drug store on Cottage avenue has a sys
tem of bookkeeping that is probably
without a duplicate from one end of the
city to the other. His distinguishing
trait is an inability to remember names.
He hus a scoro of customers whom ha
has traded with for years and whom he
knows by sight as well a3 he
does his own brother, but whose
names he couldn’t call off to
save himself from hanging. The con
sequence is that when threo or four of
these customers have called in one
evening and havo made small pur
chases which they wishod chalked up,
his little book contains entries some
thing like this: “Man with tho
Black Whiskers, cigars, 25c.; “The
Short-necked Man, Paregoric, 10c.; ‘‘The
Handsome Min with tho Gray Dill-
dads, 00c. worth of Jamaica Ginger,’
and so on. This is tho only set of books
that the little drug-store man indulges
in and ho says his creditors aro all good
and never lot him lose money by it.
But it would be interesting to know
how he’d ad dross his envolopos if any
of his debtors let their accounts run long
enough to necessitate the sending out
of bills.—[Chicago Journal.
