Newspaper Page Text
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other
States, are moving in the matter of
improving the country roads.
It is estimated that the postage
stamps of half the nations of the world
are. engraved and printed in Mew
Yo: k.
There - said to be enough reclaimed
swamp land in Florida to produce half
the entire Quantify of sugar consumed
in this country.
Ti appears that of the* immigrants
coming into this country more Italians
go bacK to their native land than any
other nationality.
v outh of the Gulf of Mexico and
the Rio Grande there arc 50,000.000
of people, who consume annuaby
$47.7,0( t’j'OOO of merchandise.
The m, verrput in Mexico for an
amendment to the constitution which
shall permit the re-election of President
Diaz is gaining ground, and there is
good reason for supposing that it will
be carried.
Bismarck savs that the Socialists
should neither be threatened nor
coaxed, lie believes that a g
meat should be strong and energetic
enough to deal with them the moment
they step, over the line.
Edward Atkinson, tlie Boston statis¬
tician. declares that the annual pro¬
duction of egg s in this country equals
in money value the country’s animal
production of iron. 'J'iie eggs are
eaten n>■ last as produced, while the
iron stay*- by the owners, and is sub¬
ject to taxation as it accumulates from
year to year.
The Chicago Herald jeers at the legal
profession in this way: “Seven of the
supposed-to-be-sharpest and wisest
lawyers ft; die country have made
wills, passed away, and the said wills
have been broken all to flinter? by heirs
and other lawyers. An ignorant Mis¬
souri farmer wrote his will in four
lines on si s.ate, and it stood three law¬
suits and ten 1 m«u-is."
It is a noteworthy fact, thinks the
New York Commercial Adveitiser,
that one of tlie four States recently ad¬
mitted to the Union, namely "Washing¬
ton. is second in the extent of its
steamboat mail routes, being tanked
by Mary and only. Mary and has
l’?5( miles in such routes, and mail
steamer? piv annually 400,000 miUsin
it- waters, while Washington has 907.
"While all Europe is talking of
J’rin e Bismarck, few know liow (lie
grea* Chancellor and his ancestors got
their name. Bismarck is the name of
one of those ancient castles a short
distance from Stendal, on the road
from Cologne to Berlin, in the centre
of the old Marquisate of Brandenburg.
'J’iie castle had this name because it
defended the “Marca,” or the line
where the River Biese formed a
boundary in former times, or mark
of defence against intruders, lienee
the name Bismarck.
Irir Peter Edlin, in his charge to the
grand jury at the opening of the Lon¬
don county sessions, declared that
there was no diminution of crime in
England, and that, on the contrary,
the average of the last ten years had
beet: maintained. It had been ob¬
served. in connection with this sub¬
ject. that money was always forthcom¬
ing for the defence of criminals
against whom there were long records
of previous convicions. Hardened
c Headers were seldom left without
legal assistance. It was for the court
to observe that the law was not
bought off.
The INew York Experiment Station,
upon t he question of comparative
profits in present ana past farming in
this Stat< . arrives at this result: Tak¬
ing five ] rincipal crops—corn, wheat,
oats, potatoes and hay—aggregating
in value ninety-two per cent, of all the
leading crops, the average yield since
tire period from 1802 to 1870 has
fallen off 8.8 per cent., while the
market value of these crops has fallen
to about 07 1-2 per cent, of the value
them Yet the labor to produce these
crops costs just as much now as it did
that, while selling for about two-
liurdt as much.
Texa- has a larger school fund than
any oiher State; it amounts to $70,-
000,000, and can be increased to
$100,000,000 by the time its land is all
sold.
It is suggested that the President he
given twenty appointments to West
Point each' year, and that the ap¬
pointees be sons of regular or of vol¬
unteer officers of the army.
A Canton (China) paper estimates
that 750,000 people die every year in
China by fire and flood, bat it adds:
i i The great need of China is tlie sud¬
den removal of 2,000,000 or 3,000,-
000 inhabitants to make elbow-room
for those who are left.”
Ice trusts seem to be the order of
the day in the principal cities of the
country, observes the Louisville
Courier-Joarnal, and consumers are
protesting vigorously against the
prices which owners of tlie precious
crystals propose to charge.
Says the Xew York Tribune: “The
statement is made that at least seventy
letters a day miscarry because of the
similarity in the names of Oswego and
Owego. Uyr this reason each town
wants the oilier town to change its
name, but of course neither town will
do so.
Isaac 11. Vincent, Alabama’s default¬
ing state tica-urcr, has been elected
treasurer by the cdmvicts at the Pratt
coal mines, where lie is serving a 15-
years’ sentence. The sum of $5,001)
has been placed in his hands, He re-
ceives a small commission for taking
charge of the money.
According to the Chicago Herald the
Japanese do not flourish in California,
being too commonly confounded with
the Chinese, and most of them being
young men who would not do well
even in their own country, Even
those who arc fairly successful lead a
hard life.
M. Holland, an eminent French en¬
gineer, recently read a paper before
the Academy of Sciences, in which he
insists on the necessity of constructing
a railway across the Sahara. The
siiiiicipoliii from which ho rcgHTds me
project is the part which France will
have to make up her mind she is going
to play in the economic conquest of
the interior of Africa.
The sheep killed in Tennessee in one
year by dogs were valued at $90,000,
asserts ihe Detroit Free Press, and the
work was done by about 200 dogs,
who-e combined value, taking every
merit into account, would not average
$1 apiece. “And yet,” marvels that
journal, had one of those dogs beeii
killed after killing the sheep, his own¬
er would have had someone's blood.”
Leprosy has of late assumed such
large dimensions in the Baltic provin¬
ces, especially in the province of Est-
land, that it has been found necessary
to take steps toward building an asy¬
lum for those unfortunate people. The
first institution of this kind will be
founded at Dorpat. Subscriptions,
concerts and lotteries are now being
got up for tliis'objeet in different parts
of Russia.
A line statue was unveiled recently
a’ Coloina of Marshall, the discoverer
of gold in California. The San Fran¬
cisco correspondent of the Xew York
Tribune describes it as representing
the old pioneer in a prospector’s cos¬
tume pointing toward the spot whore
he made the memorable discovery that
exercised so powerful an influence on
the destinies of tlie Pacific coast. The
statue overlooks tlie historic mill-race
where the first gold was found more
than forty years ago.
President Gompcrs of the Federa¬
tion of Labor, has said that it has been
repeatedly demonstrated that men
who work six days in the week and
rest on the seventh can do more and
bettor work : n the course of the year
than men who are compelled to work
the whole seven days. He maintains
that the principle applies in practice
to the hours of the day. He would
divide the twenty-four hours “natur¬
ally” into three parts—eight hours for
labor, eight hours for recreation and
eight hours for sleep, and insists that
larger results can be obtained by this
division than by robbing the hours of
recreation and sleep to increase those
for labor.
COURTS-MARTIAL.
rilEY orilfUXATED IN THE DAYS
Ok' CHIVALRY.
--
Early English Customs—Methods of
Procedure in this Country.
The naval court-martial of today has
its origin away back in the days of
•hivalrv, although the many customs
and formalities that at present obtain
do not go ba k quite so far. Our
methods are based largely upon those
of the English Navy, and it was not
until the Long Parliament in 1045
passed an ordinance in relation ro mar-
tial law for the navv that written
records of the proceedings were re-
quired.
The military punishments in the
time of Charles II. were inflicted very
sparingly, hut so quickly that public
notice was not attracted. About this
time a code of laws was framed by
which crimes and offences were sped-
tied, and were directed to be inquired
into and punished by courts-martial
held for the purpose. Provision was
aho made for a judge a lvocate, who
was empowered io administer oaths,
examine witnesses, etc. It was only
a few years later that an amendment
was added to a bill assigning death or
such other punishment as a court-mar¬
tial should adjudge, for desertion or
mutiny, to the cftec’ that no sentence
of death rhould be passed, except be¬
tween the hour-of 0 in the morning
and 1 in the afternoon. This, accord¬
ing to Macaulay, was because dinner
was early, and hard drinking being
one of the qualifications of a gentle¬
man, it was not supposed that any
member of a court-martial, after din¬
ing. would be in a state in which he
couhl safely be trusted with the lives
of his fellow-creatures.
In _ 1< ,___ <8 the first - law for .
governing
was passed . by . Congress, ,, and ,
our navy
it referred to penalties for the losing
of „ a man-of-war ..... through negligence
or misconduct. , During ihe following
vear a Board of Admiralty was estab- ,
hshetl, having, other , things, ..
among
the , of ordering courts-martial, ,
power
and , it . was recommended , , to the execu-
tive auinorities of different States to
compel the attendance of witnesses
before courts-martial. A Secretary of
Marine was authorized a vear or so
. later, . and , , he was vested with authority
, to order , courts-martial . ,-ii and was or-
dered to transmit to Congress the pro-
cecdmgs of o any court , recommending t
a capital sentence. Captains of ves-
sols were authorized lo appoint courts
for nil but commissioned officers, a
power that they slid hold, but the
proceedings of these summary courts,
as liter are called, are to be approved
by the senior officer present after revi-
sion by the Captain, excepting in cases
where men are sentenced to loss of
pay, which are always submitted to
the Secretarv of the Navv.
‘ *
1 he earlier law stated that general e
courts were to be composed of “ot
more than I<‘> members nor less than
live, . and , the , Judge , , Advocate
was
at that time (he onlv one bound bv
-
oath not to disclose the vote or opinion 1
of . member , of „ the , court, unless
anv ’
obliged ,• so to do , in . due , course of law; ,
whereas , now all „ of „ the , members , are
obliged ,.. , to , add that clause , to their . .
oaths, . “to well ..... and trulv trv the , case
now depending.” . Bv T , *, the sami aiti- .
'
cles. . courts were empowered , to im-
prison in cases of contempt of court
or refusal to give evidence.
The conception of courts-martial as
courts of honor as well as courts of
justice is acknowledged by the great
limitation ....... given by Ihe expression . “or
such other punishment as a court-mar-
tial may direct,” which is found so
frequently as an alternative for penal¬
ties prescribed for certain offenses.
Sentences extending to loss of life re¬
quire the concurrence of two-thirds of
the members present, whereas less
severe sci.tc.ieo. require only a majori-
ty of the votes. Sentences of death,
as well as those of dismissal of a com-
missioned or warrant officer, must be
approved by the President.
When all of the evidence for the
prosecution and the defense had been
Mibiuittcil. ami .lie accused I,as made
any statement he may care to make,
the court is cleared for deliberation,
and then the members arc ready, the
voting is taken on the specification of
ti e lir-t charge, each member writing
ki- opinion as to whether < r not the
specification is proved, proved in part
or not proved. The votes are recorded
by the Judge Advocate, who au¬
nounces the result, and the voting on
{he charge is then proceeded with as
to whether the accused is guilty, not
guilty, or guilty in a le<s degree than
chaiged, and so on through all the
charges and specifications.
Should guilt or partial guilt be
proved, then each member writes
down what he considers an adequate
punishment, and when each one has
submitted liis opinion they are all care-
fully read over and the voting is taken
on the mildest penalty first. The
opinion of the junior is first taken,
then the next in rank, and so on
through the list, aiul it a majority be
declared in favor of that sentence it
stands as the punishment awarded; if
not, the next mildest is taken up and
the same proceeding gone through
with until a sentence approved by the
majority is agreed upon. This custom
of having the junior vote before the
others originated in France, and the
reason for it was that (ho junior in
rank was presumably the youngest
member of the court, and in order that
his vote should be independent and
uninfluenced by the maturer opinions
of his seniors he was obliged to be the
first to vote.— [Xew York Times.
Razor Lore.
“Yes,” said a Pearl street barber as
lie was shaving me the other day, “we
often have amateur shavers bring us
their razors to be fixed up. Almost
any man with a steady hand can shave
himself, but not one in fifty e.ut keep
his razor in decent condition. The
first reason is that amateurs wear all
the temper out of their razors by ex¬
cessive strapping, and the better the
steel the easier it is affected in this
way. The only remedy is to let it
alone. Put away the razor that
scrapes and cuts the skin and give it a
good rest. Then use it again, ? and in
all ,, probability , , will be . good
it in
,,
“Some of the modern shaving ° sets
have there , are days ,
as many razors as
in . the week, , ’ and on the handle of ca r, h
is . engraved the name of , a dav. If the
. kept . little sharpen-
rotation is up verv
'
. . needed. , , T I have . known
mg is men
toU ... \° pot ' azors wluch , . , ,he - v have
lbitl C \ CI ' 1 ,l v <v<1 so
-
•' oais ’ i^hey would let those lie b\
or a w ' vou ^ a ' u ' ( 01ne
: •
improvement. The second cause of
the trouble is bearing n on the razor
' rh,ls “■‘“Honing it, You never want
to attempt 11 to put on an edge ° before
•
shavl " s: ' " “on you are lliraugh . no
,ho Wade a fow lilucs n * ht ’y °" “
1 » lahl lca,llcr slra P- wl ' iul * neod llot
cost abovc a *l" ar,el '» “'"I ‘ben put
! TIm! oW boilh 'S “'«er err at is
cx P lodcd " ow - a,ld l‘ro*n«lonals do
»’ ood work " i" 1 cold " ak ' r as
bob [-Ylbanj Atgus.
,
j Onyx ta Supplant Marble.
“You can say good-by to Carrara
I marble, , , „ ’ said ., one of e, the largest house
decorators . . in . v Xew .. i ork , to . a repre-
j of the Star of that eitv. ‘ “It
i was all ,, very wed up to a lew vears
I . , but , the developments . . ... ot
i I since, our own
j , land , and , of c Mexico . . have driven . . it to
i the wall. ,, Its most , formidable , . , , , toe is
the Mexican . onvx. r This, .„ . although , , , it .
looks , , soft and ... hard
creatin', is as as
steel, . , and , when . once polished is almost
indestructible. . . ^ , At . used
present it is
. small ,, quantities, ... and , chief!v , . ,
m is
*
known . , from its white .. and , yellow ,
*
varieties. ... T It . obtains . . in twenty other
styles, which are equally beautiful.
More remarkable than the onyx is the
petrified wood of Arizona and New
Mexico. It comes in all colors and is
superior in beauty and elegance to
,„ ost Ul0 „, 059 lm , wood
agates used in jewelry. It takes a
magnificent polish and is not so costly
but that it can be used for mantel¬
pieces, bar fronts, wash stands ash re¬
ceivers, table tops and bureau slabs.
The supply is inexhaustible, aiul when
the railroads of the Southwest are ex-
, wi|1 s „ flice f#r cven , ib|a
demand.”
The Zebra Becoming Extinct.
There seems to be good reason for
1 fearing that the zebra is rapidly be¬
coming extinct. Sportsmen and trav-
c,lcrii concl "' 1,1 r 'l wr,i “* " iat "■»
! zebra of South Africa is now more and
j more difficult to find, and is like the
aboriginal races of primitive lands,
; disappearing before the march of
civilization. And, unlike “the noble
savage.” the agile zjbra has ever re-
solufily refused to he tamed.
SCIENTIFIC SCUM'S,
The stomach contains 5-,0f>(> on*
glands by which the gastric juico i$
secreted.
French army and navy Surgeon*
have been forbidden to practice hypua,
tism on their patients.
Leprosy is really increasing hi part*
of India, in South Africa, and in
some of the "West Indian colonic*.
A Berlin photographer not only se .
cures exposures but rapidly prim*
positives by the magnesium flash light.
The most common form of ruin,
gauge consists of a copper funnel, the
area of the mouth of which is aecu-
lately known.
The experiment of treating typhoid
fever by prolonged in mersion of the
patient in water has been tried with
gratifying success.
Codfish folloxv the ice of an iceberg
down until they reach the water under
it, which place affords them an excel-
len feeding ground.
The kangaroo has at last been accli¬
matized in England, by simply turning
loose in the woods, and twenty-eight
or thirty native specimens of several
species are now to be seen in Tring
Park.
An addition of two per cent of
cocaine to the ordinary cocoa butter
pencils converts the latter into a cos¬
metic remedy, which gives almost in¬
stant relief when rubbed over the irri¬
tated spot.
A new German water-pipe is made
of glass covered with a coating of
asphalt and fine gravel. The advan¬
tages claimed are resistance to ground
moisture and acids and alkalies, ami
impermeability to gases.
The frequency of the pulse in the
new-born is 150; in infants of one
year, 110; at two years, 95; at seven
to foe rteen years, 85 ; in the adult man,
72; women, 80. The respirations are
one-fourth as rapid as the pulse.
That peculiar echinoid, the sea-ur¬
chin, has five teeth in five jaws, one
in each jaw. all the five immediately
surrounding the stomach. The jaws
have a peculiar centralized motion, all
turning inward arid downward, so that
they also act as feeders.
An Englishman who insulated his
bedstead by placing underneath each
post a broken oft’ bottle says he had
not been free from rheumatism or
gout for fifteen years, and that Ire be¬
gan to improve immediately after the
application of the insulators.
Some beautiful specimens of artific¬
ial malachite, well adapted for orna¬
mental work, have been produced by
Professor de Scliulten, of the Univer¬
sity of Helsingfors. The process is
said to consist in evaporating a eola¬
tion of carbonate of copper in carbon¬
ate of ammonia.
A sculptor in Paris named Fred¬
erick Beer has discovered a process
for making marble fluid and moulding'
it as metal is moulded. The new
product, called beryt, costs but little
more than plaster, and is especially
well adapted to the ornamentation of
houses and the construction of floors-
baths, etc.
A Curious Ocean Race.
One of the most curious ocean races
ever known recently came to an end
at Suez. Leaving Melbourne three
hours after the English steamer Oriza¬
ba. the French Messagiires steamer
Salazie arrived at the same time as her
competitor at Albany. Up to that
point their route had been the same,
but as from there to Egypt their itin-
erary was not the same, heavy bets
were laid in Australia for the arrival
of the Orizaba at Suez 12 hours ahead
of the French steamship. Conse¬
quently people at Suez, were on the
lookout, and on the day when both
ships were due they saw the French
steamer ahead and the Englishman
making desperate efforts to gain on
her, but in vain. "When the goal was
reached the Frenchman was one hun¬
dred amd sixty or seventy yards ahead
of one of the swiftest merchant
steamers in the English service.— [Chi-
cago Herald.
He Didn’t Know.
Xewwed—How long does a man
have to be married before his wife
agrees with him in everything?
Oklwed (mournfully)—You’ll have
to ask somebody else, my boy; T v «
only been married forty years.-"
[Epoch.