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NEWS IN OLDEN DAYS. CUSTOMS IN VOGUE BEFORE THE ERA OF NEWSPAPERS. of newspapers is found in nncieut Rome. The government some tu > centuries previous to the Christian ( . nl is known to have promulgated its edicts by means of written papers affix ed to pillars. Nor was there much dif ference between the style of these acta diurnia, as they were termed, and that which now prevails farther than that the former were more brief and simple and deficient in introductory phrases and the editorial “we.” They generally gave the news or occurrence in simply itive s< ntences without .yiti tion or comment of any kind. Most of these acta which have Been preserved are found to mention but one or two events. They are headed with the date in Roman fashion and the name of the then consul and para graphs such as the following formed the staple: “It thundered, imd an oak was struck with lightning on that part of Mount Palatine called Summa Vevia, early in the afternoon.” “Murena, the consul, sacrificed early in the morning in the Temple of Castor and Pollux, and afterward assembled the senate in Pompey’s senate house. ” “C. Ciesar set out for his government in farther Spain, having long been detained by his creditors. ” It is hardly possible for us now, with all the lights of science around and the shoals of newspapers with which we are supplied, to form a proper notion of th. darkness which, for want of these, involved the masses of the people for many centuries after the fall of the Ro man empire. We are told that the cru saders were so ignorant of geography that at every town they approached in central Europe they inquired if it was Jerusalem. When they at length reached their destination, their exploits would have remained unknown for years to their relatives and friends at home had not at times some few straggling pil grims found their way back to the west. Even bad news in those days could not, contrary to tho proverb, travel fast. Every little community must then have lived much within it self. It was not until the sixteenth century that anything at all approaching even to the scanty Roman acta diurnia can be found to have revived in the modern world. The war which the Venetian re public waged against the Turks gave rise in 1583 to the custom of communi cating the military and commercial in formation in Venice by written sheets, notizic scritee, to be read in a particu lar place to those desirous of hearing the news, who paid for this privilege with a coin no longer in use, called gaz zetta, a name which came in time to be applied to the news sheet itself both in Italy and France and subsequently in England, when this mode of impart ing news came into use. The Venetian government eventually gave these announcements in a regular manner once a month, but they were too jealous to allow them to be printed. Only a few written copies were trans mitted to such as subscribed and paid for them. Thirty volumes of these valu able manuscript newspapers exist in the Maglia Bechian library at Florence. About the same time advertising wants commenced, the father of Montaigne, the celebrated essayist, being credited with the suggestion for making the wants of individuals known to the pub lic in France. These were received at offices established for the purpose and were first posted on the walls of public places, receiving the names of afliches. In time this led to a systematic and periodic publication in sheets. These were termed affiches in consequence of their contents being originally fixed up as placards, though the word itself is French for advertisement. It is to England as represented by Queen Elizabeth that the honor of com mencing printed sheets of public intel ligence is to bo ascribed. When the Spanish armada threatened an invasion of this country, that sage queen, re marking the disadvantage of the vague and alarming rumors ■which circulated everywhere, resolved to inform her peo ple truly of the impending dangers. She began to publish from time to time a sheet bearing the following title: “The English Mercuire, published by authorise, for the contradiction of false reports. ” Os this publication three cop ies are preserved in the British museum, the earliest, No. 50, bearing date July 23, 1588. The first article, dated from Whitehall, contains advices from Sir Francis Walsinghain that the armada was seen in the channel, making for the entrance, with a favorable gale. An ac count is then given of her majesty’s fleet, which consisted of 80 sail, divided into four squadrons, commanded by the lord high admiral, in the Ark Royal, Sir Francis Drake and Admirals Haw kins and Frobisher. Under the head, “London,” there is an account of an interview which the mayor and cor poration had on the previous day with her majesty, for the purpose of assuring her of the resolution to stand by her with their lives and fortunes to the last. Under the same head appears the fol lowing paragraph: “Yesterday the Scotch ambassador had a private audi ence of her majestic, and delivered a let ter containing the most cordial assur ances of adhering to her majestie’s in terests, and to those of the Protestant religion, and the younge king, James Ith, said to her majestie’s minister at his court that all the favour he expected ■f the Spaniards was the courtesie of Polyphemus to Ulysses, that he should be devoured to the last. ” We wonder what would be thought of embassadors in tbesp days if tin y interlarded their oral communications with such classical ref erences '. TONS AND TONS OF GOLD. Twelve llnndrml Mile* (if Enoruieua ly Rich Territory. If a pin be placed at Denver on the map, and another at Stockton, Cal., and a string be drawn from one to the other, an air line will he marked pass ing through the heart of a wonderful gold territory. Slightly to the north of Denver in Central City, and southwest of that city is Cripple Creek. About 30 miles to the north of the string Lead ville will bo found. In the southwest corner of Colorado will appear Tellu ride, Rico and other points where gold is mined. Marysvale, in Utah, almost due south of .Salt Lake City, will ap pear to the south of tho string. Fifty miles to the north of it, near tho line between Utah and Nevada, will appear Osceola. Deep Creek lies north of Osce ola and on the southern edge of the great desert west of Salt lake. Detroit and several other rich gold camps are almost due east of Osceola. Pioche lies 100 miles south of the string, and the wonderfully rich gold territory of the Monkey Wrench district lies southwest of Pioche. Now, north and south of the string will appear dotted on the map of Neva da tho gold camps of Grant, Freiburg, Reveille, Kawich Valley, San Antonio, Gold Peak, Hot Springs, Belleville, Candelara and numerous others. Al most under the string, in Oaliforna, we find Bodie, and to the north of it Mar kleville and other points—all on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. On the western slope of the great sierras the string wjll bo almost on the Utica mine, which is located be tween San Andreas and Sonora. North and south of the Utica mine are hun dreds of rich gold mines in profitable operation. The distance from Denver to Stock ton is about 1,200 miles. On no portion of the habitable globe is there a region so continuously and enormously rich in gold as the territory described, and yet, notwithstanding this fact, the progress ive Yankee has scarcely made a start in opening and developing these riches, which have been entombed for millions of years, and which will remain so eepulchered until we awaken to an ap preciation of the fact that the states of Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California bear within their bosoms more wealth than ever was dreamed of by Croesus.— Forum. DECAPITATION. Life Said to lleninin Lonjx After the Head Im Severed. “The executions in Paris during re cent years have revived the old question whether death instantaneously follows upon the severance of the head from the body,” says the Massachusetts Med ical Journal. “Dr. Cinel asserts that decapitation dees not immediately affect the brain. He says that the blood which flows after decapitation comes from the large vessels of the neck, and there is hardly any call upon the circulation of the cranium. The brain remains intact, nourishing itself with the blood retained by the pressure of the air. “When the blood remaining in the head at the moment of separation is ex hausted, there commences a state, not of death, but of inertia, which lasts up to the moment when the organ, no longer fed, ceases to exist. Dr. Cinel estimates that the brain finds nourish ment in the residuary blood for about an hour after decapitation. The period of inertia would last for about two hours, he thinks, and absolute death would not ensue till after the space of throe hours altogether. “If, he adds, a bodiless head indicates by no movement the horrors of its situ ation, it is because it is physically im possible that it should do so, all the nerves —which serve for the transmis sion of orders from the brain to the trunk being severed; but there remains the nerves of hearing, of smell and sight, and he concludes that the guillotine does not cause instant death. If this be true, could any other form of death be more merciless?” An Kliznhethnn Letter. I have sent the a letle provision agen this time, but I cold wish it were much beter. Thcr is a goose pye, a netes tounge pye, and a mutton pastie for standers for thy table this Crismas, for a node, I knowo they will last tell twelftide, for they are now newe baked. I have sent the a goose and ij capens alive for feare they wold not last tell ye holy daies if they had bin killed, but I wish tho to kill them on Saterday at ye furdest lest they growe worse. * ♦ * I pretho doe so much as bestoe for mo vjd or viijd in same cringes or lemons or ij pouns siterns and sende them downe nowe by Hale * * * and so with my best wishes to the and Kitt 1 rest, Tnv Mother, S. D. —“Antiquities and Curiosities of the Exchequer. ’’ Aluminium n« Paper. Experiments with aluminium as a substitute for paper are now under way in France. It is well known that the paper used today in the manufacture of books is not durable. It is now possible to roll aluminium into sheets four-thousandths of an inch in thickness, in which form it weighs less than paper. By the adoption of suitable machinery these sheets can be made even thinner still and can be used for book and writing paper. The metal will not oxidize, is practically fire and water proof, and is indestructible by Vie jaws of worms. Bamboo grows very thriftily in Cali fornia bottom lands, and is found to be a very useful plant. The seed of many species resembles rice, and is almost as valuable for feed. The stock may be used in the building of bridges, fences and Lains and in the manufacture of water pipes, furniture and boxes. Christopher Columbus, who was an admiral iu the Spanish navy at the time be discover d America, was paid at the rale of 8383 a year. SURPRISED HER HUSBAND. IVby the Young Wife Spent an After* noon tn lliw Office. Young Mrs. Smith, who lives down on Prairie avenue, is very fond of her husband and also very jealous of him. Mr. Smith knows this and enjoys it im mensely, Before the Smiths were mar ried he used to know a Minneapolis girl who visited his sister in Chicago Mrs. Smith knew her very well too. The Min neapolis girl camo down not long ago, and Mrs. Smith called on her. A few days before the Minneapolis girl went back she called on Mrs. Smith, and they had an enjoyable quarter of an hour thinking things about one another and talking about Mansfield. When the Minneapolis girl rose to go, she said sweetly, “Oh. by the way, I want to see Charlie before I go back, and I think 1 may just drop into his office this afternoon. ” “Oh, do; Charlie will be delighted,’ returned Mrs. Smith. The door had hardly closed on the guest before Mrs. Smith executed a sort of war dance. She dressed as fast as she could, put on her bonnet and announced her intention of going down to Mr. Smith’s office. Her grandmother remonstrated in vain. Mrs. Smith is only’ 18. and she is jeal ous. “I thought I'd spend the afternoon with yon, ” she announced to the aston ished Charlie as she swept into the office. “But, my dear"— he began, when Mrs. Smith ensconced herself at the side of bis desk and intimated that the most violent arguments would not move her. She sat there all the after noon. Tho Minneapolis girl enjoyed herself shopping, and forgot to call in to tell Charlie goodby. Mrs. Smith broke down and confessed as soon as she got home, and her foolish young husband told her to go dow r n next day and buy herself the prettiest hat she could find. —Chicago Inter Ocean JOHN HAY’S BIG APRON. One of the Caoesi Where Dioliwanh* intf Produced a Poet. Colonel Hay was when a boy a regu lar attendant of the Presbyterian Sun day school at Warsaw, Ills. The Sunday school lessons partly con sisted of committing to memory Bible verses, and to attain supremacy in thia created quite a rivalry among the schol ars. John Hay was sure to come out ahead from two to five answers, some times more, causing those of his com rades who were always behind him to regard him with enyy. Consequently when some of those boys heard that John had to wash dishes and do the churning for his mother and, more than all, that he wore an apron while at these duties his jealous com rades fairly crowed One morning it was agreed by his comrades to get him out of doors while he had his apron on and humiliate him by having two or three girls whom he rather liked ask him questions in re gard to his housework. Young Hay came out to where the boys were and answered the questions by saying that he washed dishes as his mother taught him, and then, with twinkling eyes, he gave the dishpan which he had with him a tremendous fling, contents and all, drenching who ever happened to be near enough, and, laughing loudly, ran into the kitchen. Hay and his big apron w’ere never mo lested after that.—Christian Endeavor World. - A Klu.lng Nation. In no other part of the world is kiss ing so much in vogue as in Russia. From time immemorial it has been the national salute. Indeed it is more of a greeting than a caress. In public affairs, as in private, the kiss is an established custom. Fathers and sons kiss, old generals with rusty mustaches kiss, whole regiments kiss. The emperor kisses his officers. On a reviewing day there are almost as many kisses as shots exchanged. If a lillipu tlan corps of cadets have earned the im perial approval, the imperial salute is bestowed upon the head boy, who passes it on with a hearty report to his neigh bor, he in his turn to the next, and so on, through the whole juvenile body. On a holiday or fete day the young and delicate mistress of a house will not only kiss all her maidservants, but all her menservants, too, and if the gentleman does not venture above her hand she will stoop and kiss his cheek. ■, To judge also from the number of salutes the matrimonial bond in those high circles must be one of uninterrupt ed felicity. A gentleman scarcely enters or leaves the room without kissing his wife either on her forehead, cheek or hand. Heroes of the Pen. The intensity of application with which the mind follows whatever it lays hold of in literary pursuits is ex emplified in the case of Robert Ains worth, a celebrated writer and anti quarian of the seventeenth century. He had been for years engaged in a volumi nous Latin dictionary, and while fas cinated with this heroic work gave so little time and attention to his wife that he incurred her bitterest jealousy, and before the work was quite complete she committed the whole to the flames. Instead of abandoning himself to de spair, Ainsworth set to work and re wrote it, accomplishing the entire work in time. The same bitter disappoint ment was endured with similar heroism by Carlyle when the nfanuscript of his “Frederick the Great” was destroyed by fire. t netpeered. The tramp had been very impertinent and dictatorial until the hired man un expectedly made his appearance and in quired, “Are you lookin fur a scrap ’ His manner changed entirely, and at once he answered, “Yes, sir, that s what I’m lookin fur—a scrap o’cold turkey er cold ham er anything that happens to be handy. ’ —Washington Star. b, • ‘ sS- M OLD hi ELING KI LES. “MUCH USEFUL ADVICE’' FROM AN ANCIENT BOOK. If the Combe Innl Die* n* n llcinlt of the Encounter, lie Im Told to Go Off With im (hm>«l Grace uh Possible. Irhlimen Not Good Seconds. T<> Englishmen dueling is happily a lost art. but thr<- • quarters of a century »!'.» dueling was sufficiently in to induce an anonymous writer to publish a book “containing much useful infor mation, " irm:. ally dedicated to Daniel O’Connell. Esq . M I’. and Janies Silk Buckingham. Esq.. M P., as “enter taining the opinion first promulgated by the immortal F.ilstaff of happy memory that discretion is tho better part of valor. " The author advises “all my country men who go abroad to use the pistol in stead of the sword when they have the choice of the weapon, as tho balance of killed and wounded is now much in fa vor of the Fri i wh >. upon the ter ruination of t'e I;* w.r. unused them selves by occasionally spitting some half dozen of our traveling young fashion ables before breakfast.” Ho recom mends “Purdey, iu Oxford street, as the maker of the best dueling pistol locks,” care in the selection of a stock which fits the hand comfortably and to eschew “saw handles. ” Barrels should be ten inches long and half rifled, which, considering that throughout hie volume ho poses as a man of the strict est honor, is puzzling, for he admits that a wholly rifled pistol is considered an unfair weapon, therefore one not ap pearing to be rifled should be substi tuted. On “the chances” he writes “Many a poor, long armed, straggling fellow has received the coup di (sic) coenr (or fatal stroke) who might still have been in existence had he known how to pro tect his person in the field,” the neces sary protection consisting in standing sideways and drawing in the stomach. “Should the party be hit” —presumably because he could not draw in his stom ach —“he must not feel alarmed. " Thia seems difficult, as a man with a bullet in his stomach can hardly be expected not to display some little natural anxie ty, for, as is admitted later, “a shot in the digestive organs must bo particu larly annoying to a bon vivant ” To aidermen his advice is “tho old method of fighting—the back to the adversary and discharging over the shoulder. ’’ “The chances of a man’s being killed are about 14 to 1, and of his being hit about 6 to 1.” He arrives at this conclusion by dividing a man’s body, when opposed to his adversary, into nine parts. Therefore he says, “As in only’ three of these a wound would prove mortal, the chances are 3 to 1 against his being killed, and 5 to 1 against his being hit —that is, how ever,” he hastens to add, “provided his antagonist has never read my work. If he has, the case may be different!” The combatant is told “not to allow the idea of becoming a target to make him uneasy, but to treat the matter jocosely. ” He is to laugh away the evening over a bottle of port, and play a rubber of whist, but he must avoid drinking to excess, or taking “any food that tends to create bile, ” because “bil ious objects are not seen either distinct ly or correctly. ” This would rather be a valid reason for getting as bilious as possible. A man -with an attack of jaundice should be invisible, and able to blaze at his antagonist in perfect safety. If he cannot sleep on retiring to rest, he is to read Byron's “Childe Harold. ” His servant is to call him at 5 and give Lira a strong cup of coffee. Then he is to smoke a cigar, and “on his way to the scene of action” he is to take a brandy and soda, as a most “grateful stimulant and corrective.” No wonder our author recommends him at this point to draw in his stom ach. “If he dies, he is to go off with as good grace as possible I” On the other hand, if he hits his antagonist, he is to take off his hat to him and express re gret. A challenge is not to lie in rhyme, such as “a certain poetical, brandy lov ing major general of marines” wrote to a brother officer who ran off with his wife. Wound s on the fl cub » surgeon's wkill may heal, But wounded honor’s only cured with steeL An Irishman is not to be chosen as second, for nine out of ten have such an innate love of fighting they cannot bring an affair to an amicable adjust ment, and the first duty of a second is to prevent the affair coming to a seri ous issue. Other advice is for the sec ond to take care his principal is not in convenienced by the sun, and to get his antagonist with something dark behind him, when it will be much more easy to hit him. As may be inferred, the author holds by dueling, for “the man who falls in a duel and the individual who is killed by the overturn of a stagecoach are both unfortunate victims to a prac tice from which we derive great advan tages It would lie absurd to prohibit stage traveling because occasionally a few lives are lost by an overturn, and unless men endeavored to destroy each other they might live to a patriarchal age and multiply so rapidly that the soil would soon be insufficient to sup ply them with nourishment," with which reductio ad absurdnm the vol ume may well be put back on the shelf —Navy and Army Illustrated. A Double llrnded Bull. On the occasion of a public reception at Napier, Australia, the school chil dren of the town, after being duly com plimented by his excellency from Coun ty Tyrone on the hearty manner in which they had rendered the national anthem, were solemnly assured that if they put their shoulders to the wheel they would be sure to reach the top of the tree! Upon which a compatriot turned to me and said, “Sure, it was an axletree he r leant, bedad. ” —Spec tator. _ IMSTORM —— I For Infants and Children. STOR|AII The Kind You Have n, *| Always Bought ti AVc.e table Preparation for As- fl * ** i| s iinfiut M the Food and B / | BcaiS tllG / * 1 0 . 4 | Signature Z/iU •1; motas Digestion,Cheerful- I " J 1 y , nessandftest.Contains neither | > a ii Opium. Morphine nor Mineral, a Li /l\ jL I! Not Nahcotic. fl MV? /Iw/yg/x Sfttl I W tenna ’ i y ■ wrML & .■ltaf Sml • I Bg g v nni/il Il n I ■ w 813 /A ■ I ■ ■ fl Jfl AZ fl I/m use il A perfect R. med yf, Constipa- fll ■ IT l tion.Sour Bl Worms .Convulsions. Feveris- fll P. p. f|t|QO ncss mid Loss of Sleep. IB Xa/ 1 IU I U® v! " facsimile Sif’ncJ'.irc of B 3 * * ? | niiriv NEW YOHK. H ‘HI ‘J Swl.l W LXACT copy OF WRAPPER. W • 0 (fill ■" • -- - THF rtNTS'IH < ", -f ’ ..TV. —GET YOUR JOB PRINTING DONE A r F The Morning Call Office We have always on hand a Complete Line of Stationery of all kinds, and can g'et up, on short notice, anything wanted in the way of LETTERHEADS, BILL HEADS, STATEMENTS, (’IRC"! < R ENVELOPES, NOTE' 1 , MORTGAGES, PROGRAMS, CARDS, POSTERS, DODGERS, ETC , ETC. WE CARRY THE BEST LINE Oi ENVELOPES EVER OFFER ED THIS TRADE. OUR PRICES ON WORK OF ALL KINDS WILL COMPARE FAVORABLY WITH THOSE OBTAINED FROM AN V OFFICE IN THE STATE. WHEN YOU WANT JOB PRINTING OF ANY DESCRIPTION GIVE US A CALL. 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