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' ‘ The prison population of England has fallen oil so much of late years, that out of 113 prisons, fifty-seven have been al¬ together closed. The new Constitution ot Brazil is, in its general outlines, modeled after the Constitution of the United States. It establishes a Federal Republic, and places power in the hands of the people. An English syndicate nas Deen pricing one of Philadelphia’s vast chemical works of international repute, and is said to have been staggered by the price named —reported to be $20,000,000. Never¬ theless, the syndicate is still negotiating. It is remarked as a curious fact that a certificate representing one of our silver dollars if carried into Mexico can be sold at a premium of more than twenty per cent, over the Mexican silver dollar, which contains more silver than our own. I Bix hundred million uouars would complete the Panama Canal by the year 1010, estimates the New York Sun. Be¬ fore the year 1000 the cuts already wrought upon that isthmus will not have left so much as a scar. Festoons of vines, well-grown trees, a matted jungle, fiocks of noisy parakeets and troops of monkeys will be the visible scene where France’s millions have vanished as one of its own exhalations. The Mail and Express thinks that “Uncle Sam’s new plan of allowing the soldiers of the regular army to buy their discharge if they get dissatisfied, and also of allowing them to quit the ranks at the end of three years, if they so elect, instead of five, ought to work well in lessening desertions, The new pro- vision that $4 per month shall be de- ducted from the soldier’s pay lor the first v.ar, and held as security against his desertion, would seem to be a strong ad¬ ditional safeguard against his taking French leave of the colors.” The Musical World, announces the in¬ vention of three new and appalling in- struments. Thc first is a bass fiddle fourteen and one-half feet high and eight and one-half wide. “The performer takes his stand on a set of steps, and skips up and down as the passages to be played may require.” Secondly, we have a steam trombone, “which can be distinctly heard at a distance of four miles.” Thirdly, an Italian has devised what lie calls a “Nasi-flauto,” which the performer plays with his nose, his mouth being thus left free to smoke, sing, cat or drink. The Bank of England's doors are now so firmly balanced that the clerk, by pressing a knob under his desk, can close the outer doors instantly, and they cannot be opened again except by spe¬ cial process. This is done to prevent the daring and ingenious unimployed of the great metropolis from robbing this famous institution. The bullion departments of this and other great English banking es¬ tablishments are nightly submerged in several feet of water by the action ol machinery. In some of the London banks the bullion departments are con¬ nected with the manager’s sleeping rooms, and an entrance cannot be ef¬ fected without setting off an alarm near that person’s head. If a dishonest offi¬ cial, during cither day or night, should take even as much as one from a pile of a thousand sovereigns, the whole pile would instantly sink and and a pool ot water takes its place, beside letting every person in the establishment know of the theft. The correspondent of the London Telegraph supplies the latest pen picture of Bismarck: “Let me try to describe the outward seeming of my illustrious host, as he strode firmly along through the leafy paths and umbrageous winding ways of Friedrichsruh Park, manifestly as sound in ‘wind and limb’ as the tough est of his foresters or the hardiest of his keepers. lie wore a soft, broad-brimmed bat, a thick wide neckerchief knotted in front, a long, dark, loose coat buttoned up to the throat, gray trousers and strong, double-soled boots. In his right hand, ungloved, he carried a black stick with a slightly curved handle, upon which he rarely leaned while walking on level ground. His mustache no longer over- bangs his whole mouth, as of yore, but has been trimmed comparatively short so as to show the under lip. He bears him¬ self in his old martial fashion, with head erect and shoulders well thrown back. The incipient corpulence which made kim appear somewhat over-bulky about fen years ago has entirely vanished.” MEXICAN COOKERY. The Dishes Are Appetizing, Cut Too Highly Spiced. Primitive Way of Making Tor¬ tillas, the National Bread. Every Mexican’s yard almost lias an oven, built out of earth and rock, half under and half over the ground; here they bake their meats and some kind of cakes, but their own breed is tortil¬ las. These are made by an interesting and peculiar process. The Indian-corn is boiled whole in water, into which a little unslacked lime is thrown, until the grain is tender. It is then taken out, washed, put into clear cold water, and allowed to soak all night. In the morning it is drained dry and crushed into flour between two stones—the bottom one like a three-cornered tray on legs of uneven height, so that it Blopes downward; the upper, like a rolling pin. They place the tray upon the floor, and kneeling, they mash and roll the grain until it becomes a beautiful, white, starchy flour, That is then mixed with water into a paste, next kneaded and flattened ont between the hands into broad, very thin cakes. In the mean time the mosquito fire in the corner of the jacal has burned into a grand bed of coals; on this is thrown a flat sheet of iron, which is soon hot. Here the cakes are placed, and brown instantaneously; they are turned, and in a minute are ready to be eaten. They are good, too, but need salt, for the Mexican mixes none of his bread. The Mexican of the lower class uses neither fork nor spoon, but rolls a tortilla into a scoop, and so eats his. chile con carne, f rijoles, etc. "When too much softened bv the gravy to take up the food, he eats his improvised spoon, takes another tor¬ tilla, and proceeds as before. They sit on the floor to eat, putting the dish of food in the middle of the circle, and not in one house out of six of the lower order is there a table. They are hospitable in the extreme, welcom¬ ing a perfect stranger to their homes and offering him of their best. The Mexican cooking, though Amer¬ icans have a prejudice against it, is exceedingly appetizing, but for most palates too highly peppered, chile en¬ tering largely into the composition of every dish. Y r et it is a rare good feast one can have by ordering the following bill of fare: Sopa dc Fiileo. Gallina con Chile. Tamales. Frijoles Jlejicana. Enchiladas. Chile con Carne. Tortillas. Salza de Chile. Pastel de Liraon. (ir.inadas de China. Cafe. Out in the street, on the sidewalk at night, one finds here and there about the town blazing fires, aim over them set great three-cornered pieces of iron sheeting supported on legs. These sheets have round places cut out of them,and over these holes are tin cans, theiv contents boiling merrily. Tamales are cooking here, and the Mexican woman who is tending them looks like one of the witches in Mac¬ beth, as she moves about in her short red skirt with her black shawl about her wrinkled brown face, while the fire-light falls upon her in fitful gleams, now throwing her figure into broad relief, then leaving it in shadow. Behind her the open door cf the jacal shows a blazing fire within, and on the floor, playing gravely in the quivering, dancing light, many children of differ¬ ent hues; for, be it known, this peo¬ ple is not a moral one, and a family of Mexican children may vary in all the shades between black and white. This is, bien entendu, of the lower orders.—[Harper’s Magazine. Sitting Bull at the Telephone. When an Indian can not explain a thing on natural grounds he attributed the mystery to the action of the Diety. It is the Great Spirit's doing. I well remember Sitting Bull’s introduction to the telephone, writes Captain King in the Courier-Journal. It was liis first visit to the States, and I was bid¬ den to St. Paul to meet the old schemer in hopes of getting something out of him about his share in the Custer battle. Of this, however, he would not talk, and I don’t blame him. for is soon transpired that he ran away with the squaws. But we had some fun out of him. His nephew, Spotted Horn Bull, wa3 of the party. We seated him in a cer¬ tain oflice at the telephone with an in- terpreter to show how to work it, and then marched the old man several blocks away to the Pioneer Press building, and then asked him if he would not like to talk with “Spot.” lie smiled contemptuously when the telephone was pointed out to him, but as the agent assured him it was no joke he was persuaded to ask some question in the Sioux language. IIo did so with a shrug of his blanketed shoulders and an incredulous grin on his face. The next instant lie started as though shocked; the ear trumpet dropped from his nerveless hand, and he almost fell out of his chair. “Waukon!” was his only explanation, which might be translated “the devil!” Spotted Horn Bull had an¬ swered him in Sioux and nearly scared the life out of him. He would not touch it again that night. A Japanese Royal Progress. A Japanese royal progress has stih some novelty to European eyes. On the occasion of a recent visit of the Empress of Japan to the city of Osaka the following regulations were pub¬ lished “for the guidance of the peo¬ ple” while her Majesty was passing: ‘‘When her Majesty shall pass along no one must look at her from the frame built on houses for the drying of clothes, or through cracks in doors, or from any position in the upper por¬ tion of their houses. If anybody wishes to sec her Majesty he or she must sit down at the sides of the road by which her Majesty will pass. No one must look at her Majesty without taking off his hat, neckcloth or turban, or whatever else lie. may be wearing on or abouit liis head. Moreover, no one must be smoking while he ©>r she is looking at her Ma¬ nor must any one carry a stick cane. Only women wearing for¬ eign clothes will be permitted to re¬ tain their head covering. Although it may rain, no person will be allowed to put up an umbrella while her Majesty may be passing. As her Majesty pass¬ es no one must raise liis voice, nor must any sound be heard, nor must the crowd close in and follow r her car¬ riage; for no noise must be made. When her Majesty reaches Umeda Station there will be a discharge of fifty fireworks.”—[London News. Use Good Flour for Pastry. The use of good pastry flour is a matter more essential to the prepara¬ tion of perfect puff paste or of tender cake than anything else. Good cake or puff paste which is a mass of deli¬ cate crisp layers cannot be made from bread flour. Since the introduction of the “patent roller” process in mill¬ ing, the best bread is made from spring wheat grown in favorable sections of the country. Pastry flour must be made from winter wheat in order to possess the requisite qualities. For a long time after the introduction of the patent roller winter wheat was ground bv the old process, and this flour went by the name of “old pro¬ cess” flour. All flour now i3 ground by the pa¬ tent roller; and by improvements in the last few years as much gluten, it is said, is saved by this method as by the old process. An excellent pastry flour is made of pure winter wheat at St. Louis and at Baltimore. There are several brands of so-caLed pastry flour in market, which are prepared from spring wheat merely “softened,” as the dealers term it, with a little winter wheat. This flour is offered as a com¬ promise and is recommended as good for both bread and pastry. In point of fact it is inferior for both uses. Nothing shows the lack of “softness” in the flour made of spring wheat so quickly as cake. Bread flour makes tough, dry cake.— [New York Trib¬ une. The World’s Railroads. There are 3G0,0Cp miles of railroad in tho world, or enough to reach around the world 14 1-2 times. There are 104,000 locomotives; England has 80 locomotives for every 100 miles of road, while in the United States there are only 19 to every 100 miles. The railroad capital of tlie world is estima¬ ted at $29,000,000,000. A good many railroad companies are having their freight cars equipped with air brakes. Nearly all of them are ordering addi¬ tional locomotives.—[Chicago Sun. A Moving Mountain. A traveling mountain is found at the cascades of the Columbia river in Oregon. It is a triple-peaked mass of dark brown basalt, six or eight miles in length where it fronts the river, and rises to a height of almost tw'o thou¬ sand feet above the water. That it is in motion is the last thought which would he likely to suggest it.-elf to the mird of any one passing it: yet it is a well-established fact that this entire mountain is moving slowly but stead¬ ily down the river, as if it had a delib¬ erate purpose some time in the future to dam the Columbia and form a great lake from the cascades to 1 the Dalles. Tho Indian traditions indicate irn- nrrense movements of the mountains hereabouts long before white men came to Oregon, and the early settlers —immigrants, many of them’, from New England—gave the above-de¬ scribed mountainous ridge the- name of “traveling mountain,” or “sliding mountain.” In its forward, and downward movement the feveota aiong the base of the ridge have? be¬ come submerged in the river. Large tree stabs can be seen standing deep in the water on this shore. 'The railway engineers and the brakemen fi-.:d that the line of the railroad which skirts the foot ©*f the mountain is being oou^ tinuallv forced out of place. At certain points the roadbed and' rails have- been pushed eight or ten. feet out of line in the course of a few years. Geologists attribute this- strange phenomenon to the fact that the basalt, which constitutes the bulk, of the mountain, rests on a substratum, of conglomerate, or of soft sandstone,, which the- deep, swift current of the- mighty river is constantly wearing away, or that tins softer sub-rock is-of itself yielding, at great depths, to. th# enormow- weight of the harder mate^ rial abewe.—[Commercial Advertiser. A Big Fish in a Cornfield.. During the season’s run, says a re¬ cent letter from Kankakee, Ill.,, we have Been catching what we consider large catfish. Fishing from the mill platform, twelve or fifteen feet over the boil and flurry in front of the dam, with, a light rod, the smallest taken has afforded excellent sport,, while a seven or eight-pounder taxes the skill and outfit of the best fisherman to bring him to hand. But little Charley Sehniftke, fishing with a com knife in his father's cornfield, six miles back from the river, has beaten, the record for size. Observing a commotion in a ditch in the field, when the water had sub¬ sided after a heavy rain, he investi¬ gated, and saw a large fish floundering around and making every effort to reach deep water. Securing the all- convenient corn knife, a few cuts quieted the li-h, which proved to be a “buffalo” weighing twenty-four pounds. To reach this point it must have left the river a mile above the dam and followed Gar Breek for about a mile and a half, and then the county ditch for probably four miles. It then entered an ordinary ditch run¬ ning through fields and crossing one road, and made its way over a mile farther until it readied the scene of capture. Virtue of Apple Sanse. Probably not one in a thousand of the many persons who eat apple sauce with roast goose have any idea why such a condiment should be used in these particular cases, Yet the cus- tom is based, if not on exact science, at least on a knowledge of the proper¬ ties of the apple, as well as upon ob¬ servation. The malic acid of the ap¬ ple tends to neutralize any excess of chalky matter engendered by eating too much, and it also serves to elimi¬ nate from the body noxious matters, which, if retained, would mak> the brain heavy and dull, or lean to jaun¬ dice or skin eruptions. Apple sauce aids the digestion, which in the case of the rich meats with which it ■ is usually associated, would be sluggish.—[Pittsburg Dis¬ patch. He Used Diplomacy. Lady (to tramp)—I’ve a good inind not to give you anything. Why do you always come to this house? Tramp—Madam, the woman in the next house is such a wretched cook that I couldn't eat anything she'd give me. Lady (sweetly)—Come right in, sir.—fLippincott. Wild Plum. Overhead is the hum Of the wind in the glooi* Of the sentinel pines; And below the wild plum. Where the slanting sun shines Shows its snowy white bloom * Flings its subtle perfume On the breeze To the bees. IIow they hover around, Tiny bandits and bold, Making thefts honey-swet With a murmurous sound! And the psyches they meet, Little atoms of gold. Join the frolic, and hold Jubilee Bound the tree. Where is 3Inb? where is Puck? Is that Ariel sings From the crest of yon hough That no mortal should pluck? O but list to it now!— Bevellings, rapturings;— Then a glimmer of wings And away Like a ray. IIow the bloom and the balm And the bee and the bird. In the depth of the wood. To the heart bring a calm. To the spirit some good. 31ore than music or word! Every fibre is stirred By the hum,— And the plum! —[Clinton Scollard HUMOROUS. A clothes carriage—The laundry wagon. Base ball mem do not believe ii rough diamonds. Alt plain sailing—Navigating prairie schooner. A howling success—The dog that is locked oat all night next door. “Do you think base-ball is ort the square ?”' “Nope. On the month” The reaiso-rr most poets think to purposeis that their thoughts are idyl, thoughts^ It is not the man who grinds his teeth over trifles who lias got the most grit in him. Sewing-circles are sometimes gath-| erings where dresses are sewed ami characters ripped. A teakettle can sing when it is mere- ly tilled with water. But man, proud man, is no teakettle. Men are “driven to drink” in differ¬ ent ways: some fellows simply go to the club in a carriage. Boston ladies attend base ball games in large numbers. They are ou the lookout for a good catch. Nothing suits a cross man more than to find a button oil' his coat when hi* wife has not time to sew it on. A sma'.l Boston girl of three, after a visit in the country, remarked wist- fully: “1 wish we had a house out of doors.” Young Tom (who has come to ask to be allowed to go fishing)—Now. mamma, don’t say I can’t, because you’ll just make me disobey you. “The sphere of woman is certainly extending,” said Mrs. Lashington to her husband; “every once in a while some woman goes into the lecture field.” “Yes,” said her husband, wearily, “every marriea man knows that.” 1 1 ‘ Wanted — rel iable men, y yf read Mrs. Bascom from the advertising col¬ umns of the paper. Then she raised her glasses upon her forehead, looked severely at her husband and remarked: “And the world’ll -wait a considerable number of centuries yet before it gets ’em.” A Trout as a Bird Hunter. “I was sitting on my front porch Sunday morning,” said Mr. Tift to a reporter, “reading the News, when 1 was startled by a noise and fluttering sound that came from the side yard- I jumped and ran to the end of the porch just in time to see what was the matter, and I witnessed one of the miracles of my life. I have in the pool surrounding my fountain several tish, trout taken from the creek, and on the edges of the pool the grass grows thick. An English sparrow had alighted on the grass to get some water, and one of the fish seeing the bird swam near him, made asuap a nt ^ caught him. The bird screamed and fluttered, but it was too late. When l reached the end of the porch the fish swallowed the bird and went swim¬ ming around the pool in the most satisfactory way.”—[Albany (Ga.) Naw*.