Newspaper Page Text
Statistics seem to show that in most
countries insanity is on the increase.
The Russian Czar's repugnance to
parliaments is said to be lessening.
The Xew York Commercial Adver¬
tiser announces that several of the
Southern states, notably Virginia,
Florida and Arkansas, are develo dug
good school systems.
One of the results of the invention
of smokeless gunpowder, which prob¬
ably was not anticipated, is the neces-
sity for making the uniform of soldiers
in the field less conspicuous than at
’
present.
----------------------------- -----
lt appears, states the New York
"World, that thehard pineof the South,
for which there is an increasing de-
mand is in danger of exhaustion much
more rapidly than was sujiposed pos¬
sible ten years ago.
The New York Tribune thinks that
the expectation that ice is g<^ig to be
uncommonly costly this summer ought
to be extremely gratifying to advocates
of the theory that ice-water is more
deadly than firewater.
The civil commissioner of Johannes¬
burg, South Africa, has ordered that
only the Dutch language shall be talked
in his court, an:l that the English, who
compose the hulk of the population,
when they appear before him must
talk Dutch or hire an interpreter.
The question of whether or not it is
cruel to dishorn cows is now before
the Scotch courts, the defense being
that it is necessary to cut off the horns
of Insh and Canadian cattle to keep
them from goring each other in the
feeding courts used in Scotland dur¬
ing the winter.
According to the New York Trib une,
“the Rev. Mr. Stagg, the famous base
ball pitcher of Yale, is pretty sick of
the thread-bare remark made to him
about a dozen times a day by cheerful
idiots to the effect that if his delivery
of seimons is as good as his delivery'
in base ball he is all right.”
Most amazing things are told with
an air of truth about the young Ger¬
man Kaiser’s new attitude toward
France. He is said now to have set
his heart on so behaving that before a
year elapses he may be received in
Paris as the guest of President Carnet
with wild, popular acclamation.
I lie Albany (N. H.) Journal pro¬
pounds the following conundrum to
the railroad builders of the continent;
YYhich will be first constructed, the
through line which shall connect with
the north and south roads of South
America, or the Alaska lino from the
Canadian Pacific to connect by a short
water route with the proposed Siberian
line across Northeastern Asia?
Since 1868 there has grown up in
Key West, Fla., a very enterprising
and successful manufacture of cigars
from Havana tobacco. From a very
small beginning, and against great
difficulties, it has made its way; it
turns out about 100,000,000 cigars an-
nually, pays §5,000,000 a year in
wages, and supports 25,000 people. It
is strictly and necessarily an American
industry.
Says the Atlanta Constitution:
“Cheap, flashy novels and cheap,
flashy newspapers are running over
the country like a flood. There never
was a time when so much worthless
trash was published and read. Some
of our reputable writers, in order to
fill their pockets, are turning out stufi
which they will be ashamed to see their
names connected with a few years
later. The Ned Buntline Bohemians
of forty years ago weie scholars and
gentlemen compared with some of the
popular novelists of the present day.”
In the estimation of the National
Dairyman “the ice problem is a hard
one for dairymen to solve this summer,
especially those who have been making
butter with the various systems of
There is nothing left for those dairy-
use
freely before hot weather sets in, which
iust now it looks very much as though
they would do ”
barons, counts and other noblemei
who have run out of funds, er wh<
have left their native lands on aeeoun
of domestic trials. They live quietly
and affiliate with socialists and anarch
ists. They make their living mostly
by teaching music, and they spent
their spare time waiting for the lettei
that never comes.
Rev. T. L. Cuvier of Brooklyn
w! o preached the last sermon of t
30 years’ pastorate recently, and whe
lias the record of having written 3,200
newspaper and magazine articles,
gives three short rules which have en-
ablcd him to preserve his vigor ant
accomplish all that he has. “1. Take
plenty of sleep, 2. Use no stimu-
lants or tobacco. 3. Never touch a
sermon on Saturday night.”
A fortune awaits the man who can
make a watch spring that won’t break
Every now and then some one comet
to the front with the claim that he lias
made the discovery, but all have so fai
failed. The breaking of watch
springs is largely due to electrical in¬
fluences. After a watch spring ha*
been demagnetized it is less liable tc
break, of course. But to say that a
watch spring will not break or that
some Avill break is nonsense.
It is now believed that the mammoth
abounded to as great an extent upon
the east as upon the west coast oi
Behring Sea. In fact, mammoths have
already been discovered in Alaska, and
news comes that a syndicate has been
formed for the purpose of procuring
their ivory tusks, which are now ol
great value and which will unboubtedly
continue to become more valuable, as
tbe elephant is being exterminated.
For about a thousand rears northern
Siberia has exported a large amount ol
ivory to Russia, And a‘, present it is
estimated that not less than a hundred
pairs of tusks are found every twelve
months and shipped to the czar’s com¬
mercial centres.
It appears that the Detroit breweries
which were purchased by an English
syndicate last spring have not been
successful under the new ownership.
The reason given for the falling off in
business is that Ihe patriotic people of
Michigan refuse to buy their beer of a
foreign corporation. “This,” com-
ments the New York Star,.,“is a return
to first principles with a . vengeance.
It is only a little over a ecntnrv since
our ancestors refused to drink import¬
ed English tea, or to wear clothing
made from English imported goods.
Perhaps it is, after all, less patriotism
than practical business that is at the
bottom of this condition of affairs.
The American managers, formerly
owners of these establishments, may be
engaged in a little game of freeze-out.”
The mania for building railroads
readied its minimum of intensity dur¬
ing 1889, avers the New York Herald.
It has raged with such violence during
the last few years that nearly every
State in the North has suffered from
lack of dividends. The speculators
thought at one time that hamlets,
towns and cities would grow up any¬
where on the line of a road like mush¬
rooms, in a night, but the disenchant¬
ment has come and a more conserva-
live view of tbe situation prevails.
There are roads enough for the present
needs of the country. The South, of
course, lias an open field and a large
opportunity, but the North and AVesl
arc at least a generation ahead of time.
Speculation in that direction has re¬
ceived a sharp but wholesome check,
and the policy for the next twenty
years will be to improve the rolling
stock and to build as little as possible.
A Curious Case.
At the Vienna general hospital tht
medical officers are at present watch¬
ing a curious case. The patient is a
man of about fifty-four years of age,
who was a navvy up till last year
when he hurt the forefinger of his lefl
hand. The finger had to be amputa¬
ted. Since then the left hand has al¬
ways been in motion, and now the
nervous affection has spread over the
whole body and tbe patient is obliged
always to turn to the left side. YVhen
lying in bed lie gives sudden jumps
into the air like a fish when lying on
dry ground. A similar case attracted,
recently, the attention of medical mer
at Paris.
A SUBMERGED RAILWAY.
THE IKSE310US SCHEME FOR
LOADING SHIPS
A Valuable Mine Very Inexpensively
Worked.
Hie mines of Onton, near Bilbao,
North Spain, have long been celebrated
for their richness in the yield of iron
ores suitable for the manufacture of
steel, but great trouble has heretofore
been experienced in the shipment of
the mineral on account of the difficulty
of placing it on board of the ships.
J.ngiand and the Continent are the
great markets for this product. The
coast adjacent to these mines is high
and rocky, exposed to the full force of
the sea, there being no harbors in the
immediate vicinity. At the foot of
the rocks there is a sloping shore
which extends out to a considerable
distance, with an even grade. It is
upon this incline that the remarkable
railway we are about to describe has
been constructed.
J lie roadbed of the railway has a
length of about 650 feet and a width
of 20 feet, upon which two sets of
parallel tracks, each 3 1-4 feet wide,
are placed, constituting a four-rail
railway. The grade is five feet to the
hundred. The car which traverses this
railway, upon which the ore is con-
veyed from tno cliffs to the ships, con-
sists of a high metallic tower made in
the form of a pyramid having a wide
triangular base. The tower is mounted
on wheels, which run upon the quad¬
ruple, railway track before mentioned.
Hie platform of the tower upon which
the load of mineral is placed is about
70 feet high from the track, a height
which is sufficient to rise above the
S ° f or(,inai T vessels when the
!° Wer 16 run alo, 1 g side thereof; and
from the platform the discharge of the
ore is made directly into the hold of
the vessels. This great rolling tower
is operated automatically, It is con-
nected to the shore by means of a
strong wire cable, which passes over
pulleys fastened to Hie rocks. At tne
land end of the cable there are attached
some weighted cars that move up and
down upon an incline. These form a
counterbalancing weight for pulling
the tower, when empty, in toward the
shore.
I he mineral to be loaded upon the
vessels brjught from the mines, which
are not far distant from the coast, up¬
on rope railways mounted upon posts.
From the mineral dumps upon the
i oeky heights the mineral is conveyed
part way down the cliff - to a chute, the
end of which projects beyond the cliff,
and when the empty tower is drawn to
shore by the cars before mentioned, it
automatically opens an end gate in the
chute and allows the mineral to drop
upon the platform in a continuous
stream until a weight of ore sufficient
to overcome that of the counter¬
balancing weight or weighted cars
lias fallen upon the platform, and
when this takes place, the tower by
its own gravity begins to move down
the inclined railway, and the gate of
the chute automatically doses. The
tower continues to glide down the in¬
clined way through the water until it
reaches the side of the ship, which is
anchored fore and aft. and then by the
throw of a lever, the platform of the
tower being inclined, the whole load
upon the platform is almost instantly
deposited upon the ship, going down
through suitable slides into the hold
thereof.
As soon as the discharge of the load
tu':cs place, the counterbalancing cars
begin to draw the tower inward again
toward the shore, and thus the opera-
tun. of moving the tower back and
orth automatically,, and automatically
loading and discharging itself, is car-
ned on with the greatest success.
It is said this railway operates even
when ihe tea is extremely rough. It
certainly is a bold endertaking, and
reflects the greatest credit upon its
constructor, Air. D. M. Alberto de
Palacio. The platform carries for its
load 100 tons of ore. It is said that
0 ,000 tons of ore per day can be put
on shipboard by means of this appara-
tu6, the total cost $18,000.—Panama
Mar and Herald.
A neat hat for a miss is pok(
shaped leghorn with silk crown and
, - . , . .
'
wreathe
Old Gabriel.
Old Gabriel was one of the most re¬
markable characters on the coast. So
far as can be learned by tradition, he
was born about 1740; though there is
no record of his birth, and even in the
early days when California was still the
roving ground of the Mission Indians,
around whom so many romances have
been built. Gabriel was too aged for
the old men of the time to remember
his childhood. A.s a venerable chief,
who died a few years ago at the age
of 115, put it, “Gabriel was an old
man when the Indians of his age were
still boys.”
The storv of the old fellow’s life is
interesting, chiefly on account of the
length of years it covered, and not by
reason of valorous deeds or relentless
warfare. He was on the whole a
peaceable creature’ ignorant and faith¬
ful.
The story of his life has been hand¬
ed down among the Franciscan mis¬
sionaries, who came into California
more than a century ago, and when
Father Junipero arrived in M nferey
in 1769 Gabriel, then a grandfather,
was among the little band who receiv¬
ed him. The missionary took an in¬
terest in the man, who was at the time
a strapping fellow of six feet and not
long after baptized him and guided
him into the Catholic faith, He
worked for the Church, conscientiously
continuing his devotions until a few
years since, and one of tiic few things
which during his last days brought
back the old light in Gabriel’s dim
eyes was the mention of Father Juni-
pero’s name.
It drew out from him in broken
Spanish the story of Father Junipero’s
first mass under a tree, : nd the build-
ing of the Carmelo mission of adobe,
its obliteration, and i*s reconstruction
in stone, much of which was cut by
old Gabriel’s own hands. His services
were also demanded during the build¬
ing of the Soledad and San Antonio
missions in 1791.
From that time on his life seems to
have been unusually quiet, and though
Father Sorrentine made a search of
the records and gathered together all
the current stories of tiie remarkable
fellow, little of a sensational nature
ever came to light, though his great
age was clearly established. Gabriel
lived in Monterey for years, but toward
the close of his career he was a familiar
figure on the streets of Salinas, well-
known for his love of bright colors,
with which his clothes were patched
from shoulder to sire.
His personal habits were worthy a
cultured white man, and to them no
doubt, was due his long life. His
food was of the simplest character
and his practises a model of regularity.
He paid particular attention to bathing,
and, as old age and circumstances de¬
prived him of the means of attending
to this custom, in lieu of his bath he
scraped his skin with an old knife,
thus keeping the pores open. There
are some old residents of the county
who well remember the sweatliouse
that old Gabriel had on the bank of a
creek where he lived many years ago
and the persistency with which it was
used.
His memory up to about five or six
years ago was very good and and was
equal to what it had been for the fifty
years preceding; but since that, and
more particularly during the last two
years, it gradually failed, as did his
speech.
The Indians all attribute Gabriel’s
longevity to his having been the first
to 6ubmit to the pviest > s baptism
They looked upon him with great rev-
erence, and even to white men he was
a remarkable character, for had George
Washington lived he would have been
scarcely older, and in all modern his-
tory there arc few such cases as that
of the old, ignorant Mission Indian
Gabriel.-San Francisco Chronicle.
Art Medal for a Store,
The latest recipient at the court of
Constantinople of the Turkish “medal
for «*” and of the Mejidich Order is
mason who lately put up a Russian
stove in the sultan's balace. The Sul-
tan had fallen in love with the stove
at the Russian consulate at Constanti-
nople, and had a similar structure of
brick and tiles ordered from Odessa.
fhe Russian laborer who was sent
xi itli it to put it up was a simple mou-
jlk, but the sultan was so delighted
a
,2S# ’ he C< “
The Difference.
A smiling dame,
* Unknown to fame,
Yet saucy, sweet and and fair,
Stood chattering to a girlhood's “flames, 5 ’
Mow gray, in beard and hair.
He urged some plan. a
And eager ran k ■v
The gamut of its pleasures;
As oft before, they scan
A day of brimming measures. h i
“If can go, . \
we
Pray, let me know,”
She said, “the hour of starting!'
“How can I—let you—let you—let y«a
know?”
( lUit/t hat in hand ) at parting,
A rising sigh,
A kindling eye;
Vexation. ( though she hid it—')
“When we were young”—she made reply,
“You never asked—you did it!”
HlMOROrS.
Hearts are never really broken, but
many a one has been fired with a
• i bang.”
Mepliisto (behind flic scenes)—Ha!
what do I sec? Only four wreaths
thrown on the siage, and I paid for
five.
A Paris milliner has made a ten-
strike by teaching her parrot to say
every time a fair client enters, “Oh,
ain’t you just lovely!”
Guest (helping himself pretty freely
to the Cognac)—It is very peculiar. I
never feel an appetite for dinner un-
less I take a glass of Cognac after¬
wards.
Husband—Can nothing dissuade you
from your determination to go on the
stage ?
Wife—Nothing. 1 have already filed
mv divorce papers,
i * Well, I’m sure,” said Miss Passee
as her poem was returned to her, “l
don’t see why the editor returned it.”
“Because you 6ent a stamped and
directed envelope, my dear.”
Mrs. Timothy Seed—I know that
speckled hen is laying eggs every' day
by the way she cackles, but I can’t find
tbe nest.
Air. Timothy Seed—Perhaps she has
mislaid her eggs.
Friend—Were you ever in Switzer¬
land, lieutenant?
Pompous Lieutenant—I never have
been there. If the people of Switzer¬
land really went to see me, let them
come to Berlin.
“Say, waiter, I reckon you’ve taken
my order all wrong, I ordered a
spring chicken and a bottle of ’71
claret. Here you’ve gone and brought
me a 71 chicken and a bottle of spring
claret.—Racket.
Quite Tasteful—“Oh, Sophy! I hear
you kissed Mr. Rondo, the poet, in the
conservatory last night?” “Um-m-
m!” “Tell me. What was it like?”
,‘YV ell, lie has a very pronounced liter¬
ary taste.—Punch.
Weighed and Wanting.—Will—“I
believe editors weigh carefully all
manuscripts sent to them.” Bill (an
author) “A es, in order to ascertain
the amount of return postage neecs-
gary.”—Yankee Blade.
A Delicate Hint.—“Return my best
thanks to your master, John, and tell
him I am much flattered by his kind
present of the game.” “ Y'essir—an’
supposin’ master arsks what you guv
me for myself—what’ll I tell him, sir?”
- Pick Ale Up.
Student (to his friend)—See, yon-
der comes old Air. N , who has
helped to dry so many a tear.
“ I lie dear, kind-hearted gentleman!
And pray tell me how?”
“He is a manufacturer of pocket-
handkerchiefs.”
Luring Him On.—Servant (at sweet
gill s boudoir)—“Air. Xicefellow is in
the parlor, miss.” Sweet girl (throw¬
ing down a novel)—“Horrors! And
my hair is all down! Tell him he’ll
li.ne to wait a little as I'm in the
iitchen helping mother.”—Life.
Hussle Pullman of Chicago had an
oidcr for a parlor car the other day to
le done in 48 hours, and he got it out.
AVhat do you think of that?
I iash Friend o’ mine in New York
had 10 minutes to make a traiu in yes¬
terday, and he made it.
Still at It.
Dr. Brown-Sequard is still working
away at his elixir of life, and he says
that he will experiment until even the
cynical American newspapers will ad¬
mit that he can take an old man of 7d
and return him to y nth and bc*uty.
W« shall all hope to be there.