Newspaper Page Text
A. writer in the Jforum estimates the
total wealth of this country at about
$00,000,000,003, and moro -than one-
half of this amount is sai l to be in the
hands of less than 25,000 persons.
The Osago tribo of Indians is said to
be the richest nation in the world. They
havo in the United Statos Treasury $7,-
758,694, drawing 5 per cent, interest,
and bcsidoi this they hold 1,470,000
acres of land, which is equal to 1000
acres apiece. Rich Indian is estimated
to bo worth $15, 171.
Once more it. is reported from China
that the celestial authorities intend to
expel all Americans now employed
within Chineso territory, and that this
will be dono in retaliation for our immi
gration laws. No moro importanco is
attached to this intelligence now than
at nay other time, and the Commercial
Adveit'ser considers it highly improba
ble that China will ever act in tho way
indicated. The Americans in China
are, «3 a rule, a distinct benefit to that
country, but the case is the reverse with
the Chinese in the United States.
It is announced that a contract has
just been lot to a contractor of Kansas
City for building a cans', at a cost of
$4,000,000, from Bear Lake, in Idaho,
• southward 150 miles, to Ogden. It is
to be ten feet deep and forty wide, and
its flow will be 17,530 gnllons a second.
In its course it will irrigate half a mil.
lion acres. Besides this it will supply
the water-works for Ogdon and all tho
smaller towns in its coil se. Bear Lake
is thirty miles long by seven wide, and
is so fed by tho snows and springs of
the mountains that it i3 practically in.
exhaustible.
The population of Mexico is roughly
estimated at 2 000,000 Indians semi-
civ. lized, 3,000,0000 civilized Indians,
5,000.000 Mestizoes or mixed breeds,
and 51)0,000 Spaniards or Creoles. All
the latter are not full Caucasians, and
there is a good element ot Aztec blood
even among those who c aim puro
Castilian ancestry. But aside from this
r majority of tho people are a mixed
race, Mestizoes, who are rapidly swal
lowing up both Indian and Castilian.
They already constitute a majority of
tho population, and tho New Orleans
Times-Democrat. concludes that in
another century tho people of Mexico
will be a homogeneous race of mixed
tilohd, part Indian, part whi'e.
The brave Helvetians, tho only exist
ing people who havo made a succo33 of
Republican institutions in Europo, were
not going to stand any nonsense from a
country like Prance, which, says Frank
Leslies, is never quite sure what kind of
government it will have to-morrow
morning. So they have built an Eiffel
Tower of their own, and, as it Is sixty-
three metres higher abovo the level of
the sea than the one in the Champ de
Mars, Madame Paris is left very much
behind. It is true that the Swiss tower,
which is on tho Eschenberg, a small
elevation in the neighborhood of Win
terthur, is only 109 feet high, sinco the
Eschenberg is ilsalf 595 metres abovo
tho sea level. That is where these
mountainous countries have the pull
over the flat ones.
Children, says an English medical
journal, should not,if it can bo avoid
ed, be given spco.lacle3 to wear. These
do not always sit straight on the re
trousse nose of youth. The patient
looks over them or under them, or
through one glass only, ull of which
things tend to aggravate rather than re
lieve disoaso of tho «ye. Where it is
possible at all, alts nlion should be giv
en first to resting and then to strength
ening the sight. A certificate of visual
defect should bo enough to give any
Child the right to escape from any task
involving special strain on tho eyes, and
in 8ucli casos school-books printed in
•extra largo type might be provided.
rBimultancously with these preventive
Mneasprcs attention should be giveu to
'.Wrengtiicniug tho sight by training tho
child to look at and observe things at a
distance. The proverbially long sight
of sailers is due to their constant excr-
ciso ot the utmost powers of vision.
A i.liildless old lady of Stoddardsvillc,
'Penn., years ago set apart a small room
for spiders to make their webs in, and no
broom lias ever disturbed it. The
spiders dwell together in harmony, as a
rule, although the lady says they some
times have regular cat-and-dog tights.
TUk Dominion Oovernmont has decided to
subsidize a lino of steamships between Hali
fax or St. John and the West Indies.
The Emperor of China has had a
court astrologer beheaded for making a
false prediction. Tho Emperor is very
progressive.
It has been remarked by all travelers
in foroiga pnrts that moro English is
spoken on tho European continent this
year than over before. Tho language
that carries a bagful of dollars behind it
is the one that overcomes all others in
the long run.
A Cincinnati doctor seems to have
traced the cause of rheumatism to
microbes, and the source of these lie
declares to be vegetation, or such parts
of it as are decaying. There is always
about such plants as aro usually kept in
houses, he says, ample decaying mutter
to support these microbes, and in his
own case, lie being along sufferer from
rheumatism, ho says the disease ceased
to trouble him as soon ns he removed
the flowers from bis house.
Tho Sin Frau Cisco Chronicle, in a re
cent issue, devotes several pages to an
exhaustive article on tho subject of irri
gation, taking for a text the work now
being done by tho arid-lauds committee
of the United States Senate. The
Chronicle claims to have demonstrated
that “it is entirely practicable for the
government to make millions of acres
of land cultivable which are now only
barreu wastes.” The recent rush to
Oklahoma aud the possible repetition of
grab methods when the great Sioux
lauds are thrown open for settlement in
the near future are, in the opinion of
the Chicago Fetes, “reminders that the
areas of really agricultural lands in the
United Slates have their limits. Tho
Senate arid-lands committee, in becom
ing familiar with the cost and expe li-
eucy of artificial irrigation in the West,
is not a single step in advance of tho
nation. There is much to be learned as
to the cheapest and best methods of re
deeming arid lands, but when the neces
sity becomes more pressing than it is to
day the very highest scientific talent
will be thought to bear upon it.”
The Commercial Conference held at
San Fiancisco called upon the Fifty-
first Congress to establish additional
navy yaids <n the North Pacific coast,
to put tho Mare Island yard in full
working order, and to erect adequate
defences on Puget Sound, Columbia
River, Coos and Yaquiina Bays, and
Humboldt, Sin Francisco, San Pedro
find San Diego harbors. The New York
.Hun considers that “this proper demand
is likely to be satisfied. Indeed, pro
visions for a part of tho programme are
already made. A board of ofiicors has
already recommended a site on Puget
Sound.for a navy yard, in accordance
with an act passed by the last Congress,
and its recommendation is almost sure
to be followed. The Marc Island ynrd
has received an outfit of ship-building
appliances, costing about $100,000, and
will, no doubt, soon have an order for
extensive work, possibly including the
7500-ton armored cruiier. Finally, the
Pacific ports will presumably have their
full share of the big 10-inch nnd 12-
inch guus, the forgings for which havo
already been contracted for, while dy
namite guns will bo in position at San
Francisco next spring.”
A dispatch from Rome states that tho
military authorities there have b®eu ex
perimenting very successful y with
smokeless powder. This, according to
tho Washington Star, is not the first
test of the kind made by European
governments. Tho inventor of the pow
der was a French general named Lcbel,
and his government very promptly took
it up, but kept the secret of its manu
facture closely gua rded. A country
chemist in Austria, one Falkenstein,
made a journey to Paris on purpose to
find out how the powder was made.
He could not get a specimen, but hap
pening to possess himself of a few ex
ploded cartridges, found enough there
to make u basis of experiment, and
finally turned out a quantity of the ma
terial, which he carried to the minister
of war at Viennu. The minister sneered
at tho whole idea, on no better ground
then that ho “could not picture to him
self a battlefield without smoke.” Falk
enstein then went to Berlin with his de
vice, which Count von Moltke positive
ly snapped at. It is estimated that the
slaughter wrought by this powder on
tho field will be four hundred per cent
greater than heretofore. If it is adopt
ed by France, Italy and Germany, the
next genoral European war will have
the clearest and cleanest battlefields
known to history..
CHINESE TAILORS.
A Visit to a Mongolian Clothing
House in New York.
Suits that Cost frotVi Ten Dol
lars to Two Hundred Each.
There are many Chineso tailor shops
in New York. Mott street is filled with
them. They arc in cellars, where pig
tailed Mongolians sit and watch on
three-legged stools, and a password or
a detective is needed to pass a stranger
from tho street. They arc in the rear
of first-floor shops and some are in up
per stories, through long, winding halls
that smell of dried fish and frying pig’s
tails. The clothes aro kept on dingy
shelves and in boxes under dark count
ers, and only form part of the general
stock, liko nails in a hardware shop.
But there is only one sw.ell Chinese
tailor in Now York city, nnd he is
known to the business public as Mei Lee
Wn and Co., and is familiarly called
Mr. Mei by those who havo tho honor
of his personal acquaintance. His place
of business is in the Bowery, where he
occupies tho first floor nnd tho basement
of one of the largest buildings.
The tailor shop looks as little liko the
customary clothing store as a Chinese
laundry does liko a fashionable drawing
room. It is a largo room fillo l with
tables piled high with goods, and cloth
ing seems to be about the only thing
that is not offered for sale. At the
door, behind a small counter, generally
.sit two men. One is short, stout,
shrcwd-eyel and smiling. Ha wears
American clothes, with Ills pigtail care
fully coiled out of sight under a fashion
able straw hat. He is the head sales
man, and a capablo one, too, if
appearances count for anything. The
other is slender and melancholy. He
affects the sombre in attire, and wears a
black felt hat of tho prevailing under
taker style. He spends his time finger -
iug a kindergarten counting machine
aud making up accounts with a piece of
India ink or a paint brush on the long
pages of a brown paper note book. He
is the bookkeeper, and is said to be one
ol the most expert hieroglyphic makers
in tlie Chinese quarter.
The under salesman is aldermanio in
form and drosses very much ns an Amer
ican docs in hot yyeathur, with lii^ coat
off and the sleeves of his whito shirt
rolled up to tho clbow3. His knowledge
of English is confined by strictly com
mercial limits, but his winning smile is
broad enough to cover any linguistic
deficiencies he may possoss.
A casual caller might fancy at the
door that Mr. Mei kept a tea store.
Before he had gone twenty feet he
would credit him with keeping a crock
ery store. Another half dozen paces
would change his opinion again, with
another change in the appearanco of
the store. On the first row of tables
are kept Chinese wares of all styles anl
at all prices, from common crockery sots
worth $5 each to a superb red vase
worth $1000. On tho next row are
glassware and square boxes holding teas
aud spicei herbs. Behind glass casos,
against the wall, are knick-knacks in
ivory and gilt, worth a week’s wages
for every square inch of surface. Far
ther back in the store arc laundry goods
and the various utensils used by the
frugal Mongoliaus for their housekeep
ing.
Against the rear wall, which con-^
coals from tho barbarian world tho liv
ing apartments of Mr. Mei and pretty
Mrs. Mei, is kept tho clothing. It is
all made in China and imported in bulk.
Here are clothes enough to deck out the
8000 Chinsmen of New York in holiday
attire and keep them in their Sunday
clothes for a year.
A Chinaman's every day outfit is
beautiful in its simplicity. It consists
of a pair of short loose trousers, an
undershirt, a short coat that is callod
Chan Sa Tien, or something that sounds
•ike that, and an overcoat known to tho
initiated as a Foo Soi Sam. The boots,
called Tien San Hi, together with the
hat and hosiery, complete the ward
robe.
The undershirt does not differ ma
terially from that worn by native New
Yorkers, and is usually mado of pongee
silk. Chineso dude3 when not working
m their laundries wear finer .grades of
silk. The long coat is only worn on
festal occasions by tho common classes
of Chinese. The workingmen usually
content themselves with tho short coat.
The long garinont costs from $10 to
a —
$15, depending upon the wealth and Brain Buttons in the Regular Army,
rank of the wearer. The lowest prloed
article is mode of coarse silk and is
usually blue or black in color. The
The present brass bnttons are by no
means the same as those that have been
, , . .. , Annn , , always worn in the United States army
short coat sometimes cost $200, but the or t tf e other branches of tho service,
variety usually seen on tho streets can ! Up to 1777 the army buttons were of
bo bought for from $5 to $8. It is
made of silk and is often given a water
proof glos3 and does double service as
coat, and umbrella.
Tho sandal-shaped boots aro made of
cloth nnd havo solos an inch thick.
These soles arc fashionel of layers oi
cotton pressed together, and are as im
pervious to moisture as sole leather. The
tops of tho shoes aro embroidered and
they sell at from $1.50 to $50 a pair.
As none of tho coats have sleeves the
selection of a suit of Chinese clothes is
both simple and satisfactory. The cus.
torner simply fits the garment around
his neck and takes care to select one
that is not too long for him and the
task is dono.
Mr. Mui’s clerks fbllow an adinirablo
system in selling their clothing by tho
wholesale. They have a number of lit
tle wooden manikins, whifch are dressed
in the various costumes offered for sale.
These are the samples and from them
the choice is made. The higher grades
of clothing arc not offered for salo in-‘
discriminntely. They are tho marks of
rank and can only he worn by those en-
titled to the honor.
While there arc a number of Chinese
clothing stores in New York there is no
Chinese tailor. All clothing is ready
made. Thanks to the Celes:ial style of
coals,every one from a giant toa hunch
backed dwarf can he fitted with equal
ease, nnd, as to trousers, all that is ever
seen of them by the public is the bot
toms, which to be in stylo must flap
against the ankles at every step.—Mail
and Express.
Chinese Floating Gardens.
In a recent number of the China Re
white metal, but in the ast mentioned
i year Washington ordered that the regu-
j ration costume was to comist of “a dark
i blue or b aek coat reaching to the knee,
j unci full trimmed, tho lapels fastened
i back, with ten open-worked buttnn-liole3
; in ye low silk on tho breast of eabh lapeT
and ten large regimental yellow buttons
at equal distances on eaoli side, three
lnrge yellow regimental buttons on each
cuff, nnd alike number <n each pocket
flap. Tho navy officers were also or
dered to wear yellow buttons, • the ofli-
ceis’ uniforms, with these buttons, blue
ooats with red facings, red waistcoats
and blue breeches, being a very gay
aud attractive affair. On the other
hand, the marine officers wore a green
coat with white facings, whito breeches
edged with green, white vests, silver
epau’ets, black gaiters and white but
tons.
j In 1779 tho uniform of the army was
I changed again. The coat was ordered
to be blue, the facings whito, buff ox
red, while the cavalry had white bnt
tons. In 1782 tho infantry also were
put into white buttons, the rest of the
uniform being of blue ground with red
faoings and whito liniugs. In 1796 the
infantry still wore white buttons, with
dark blue coats reaching to the knee,
and full trimmed, scarlet hipols, cuffs
and standing capes, white trimmings,
whi'e underdress, b’aelc stocks and
cocked hats with white binding. A
number < f changes in tho uniform of
| the army was made in 1810, by one of
| which officers of the general staff wore
cooked hats without feathers, vests aud
breeches or pantaloons, white or buff,
higlim litary boots and gi t spurs, and
singlebreasted blue coats with ten gilt
buttons. When the civil war broke out
I in 1881, some of the volunteer troops
1 were dressed in gray with white but
tons, but as tho confedeiates adopted
tho same color for their regulars, the
United States troops were c ad in blue
with yellow buttons in much tho same
fashion as they wear them to-day. The
regu ations concerning the arrange
ment or grouping of buttons as indica
tions of rank are, however, of much
more ro eut date. — [San Francisco
Chronicle.
view Dr. Macgowan describes the man
ner in which floating fields and gardens
are formed in Cuius. In the month of
April a bamboo raft 10 feet to 12 feet
long and ahout half as broad, is pre
pared. The po’.C3 are lashed together
with interstices of an inch between
each. Over this a layer of straw an
inch thick is spread, and then a coating
two inches thick of adhesive mud, taken
from the bottom of a canal or pond,
which receives tho seed. The raft is
Physiology.
A young student of physiology stated
in course of nn examination, that “whet
food is swallowed it passes through the
wind pipe;” and ■ that the “the chyb
flows up the middle'of the backbone ana
ri aches the heart, where it meets the
oxygen nnd is purified.” Another de
clared, “The work of the heart is to re
pair the different organs in about half s
minute.” A third observer, “YVe have
an upper and a lower skin; the lower
suin moves at its will, and the upper
skin moves when we do.” /
moored to the bank in still water, and
requires no further attention. The
straw soon gives way and tho soil also,
the roots drawing support from the
water alone. In about twenty days the
raft becomes covered with the creeper,
and its stems and roots aro gathered for
cooking. In autumn its small white
petals and yellow stamens, nestling
among tho round leaves, present a very
pretty ‘ appearance. In some places
marshy land is profitably cultivated in
this manner. Besides these floacing
vegetable gardens there are also flouting
rice fields. Upon rafts constructed as
above weeds and adherent mud were
placed as a flooring, and when the rice
shoots were ready for transplanting
they were placed in the floating soil,
which being adhesive and held in place
by weed roots, the plants were main
tained in position throughout the sea
son. The rico thus planted ripened in
from 60 to 70 in place of 100 days.
The rafts arc cabled to the shore, float
ing on lakes, pools, or sluggish streams.
These floating fields served to avert
famines, whether by drought or flood.
When other fields were submerged and
their crops sodden or rotten these
floated and flourished, and when a
drought prevailed they subsided with
the falling water, and while the soil
around was arid advanced to maturity.
Agricultural treatises contain plates rep
resenting rows of extensive rice fields
moored to sturdy trees on the banks of
rivers or lakes which existed formerly
in tho lacustrine regions of the Lower
Yang-tsze and Yellow River.
Subsisting on Dried Coca Leaves.
The dried leaves of tho coea plant,
which is cultivated on the slopes of tho
Andes, form an important article of in
ternal trndo among the various native
tribes. It is estimated that not les3
than 3,000,000 pounds are consumed
annually. Alter tho morning meal
men aud women alike tako a mouthful
of the leaves mixed with a little lime:
fresh leaves are added throughout the
day, and without any additional food
tho consumer is enabled to do a hard
day’s work.
The teif-made man is frequently ex
ceedingly proud of a very poor job.
We need to cultivate our judgment to
gain an insight into the rout of things,
comparing tho present standard with
universal laws, treating with re.-pectful
consideration that which has been hon
ored by time, and giving heart and hand
to the new forces at work in our civiliz
ation.
Listen—a song of rejoicing.
Hearts that were heavy aro glad.
Women, look up and bo hopeful,
There’s help and ther ’s health to be had.
Take courage, O weak ones despondent.
And drive back the tee that you fear
With the weapon that never will i all you.
O, be of good cheer,
for when you suffer from any o' the weak
nesses “irregularities” and "functional de
rangements, "peculiar to your sex, by the use
of Ur. i ierce’s Favorite Prescription you can
put tuo one >.y of ill-hoalth and happiness to
rout. It is the only medicine for women, Bold
by drug-Uts, under a positive guarantee ot
satisfaction in every case, or money refunded.
See bottle-wrapper.
For all deran .einents of the. llvor, stomach
and bowels ta.o Ur. Pierce’s Pellets. One a
duse.
Some men aro called sagacious, merely on
account of their avarice; whereas, a child can
clench its fist the moment it is born.
“Lucy llinton.”
Hark ! the sound of manv voicos,
Jubi ant in gladdest song,
And full many a heart rejoices
As tlie chorus floats along:
“Hail tlie Queen of all Tobicoos!”
H >w tho happy voices blend,
“Finest and pnroit among her follows—
Man’s staunch and true friend."
Oregon, tlie I’nrndlso ol Fnriner*.
Mild, equable climate, eerlain and abundant)
crops. Host fruit, grain, grass nnd stock coun
try in tho world. Full information free. Ad
dress Oreg. Im’lgva’tnBoard, Portland, Ore.
If afflicted with sore eyes use Ur. Isaac Thomp-.
son’s Eye-Water. Druggists sell at Stic per bottle
Many Imitate, none equal, “Tansill’s Punch"
America’s finest fic. Cigar.
Catarrh
Is a complaint which affoets nearly everybody more
or less. It originates in a cold, or succession of
golds, combined with impure blood. Disagreeable
flow from tho nose, tickling in the throat, offensive
breath, pain over and between the eyes, ringing and
bursting noises In the ears, sre the more common
symptoms. Catarrh la cured by Hood’s Sarsaparilla,
which strikes directly at its cause by removing aU
impurities from tho blood, building up tho diseased
tissues and giving healthy tone to the whole system.
Hood’s Sarsaparilla
Bold by all druggists. *1; six for *!t. Prepared only
by C. I. HOOD & CO.. Apothecarloa. Lowell, Mass.
LOO Poses One Do liar
OPIUM iniej^ CURE in IheWorid! Ibr!
. STEPHENS, Lebanon, O
I prescribe and folly en
dorse Big G as tho only
specific (or the certain cure
of this disease.
U. U.INGKAII AM, M. D.,
Amsterdam, N. Y.
Wo havo sold Big G tor
many years, and It lma
? liven the best of aatla-
notion.
D. H. DYOHE A CO..
Chicago, 111.
krklSl.OO. Sold by Druggists.