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Washington.
Mr.
I
TaE NATION’S PROGRESS.
Nimxo, Chief of the Bureau of Statis
tics, Sums Up the National Ad
vancement of the Past Year.
Mr. Nimrno, Chief of the Bureau of
Statistics of the Treasury Department,
addressed to Rev. I)r. Theodore S.
'Wynfcoop, pastor of the W stern
Presbyterian church of Philadelphia,
•the following letttr, which is made
public: “Yesterday you asked me to
give you such statistical and other
facts as might be of str /ice to you in
the preparation of your Thanksgiv
ing sermon. In reply I cheerfully
give you such data as I have some
what hastily prepared.
“The Depnr.ment of Agriculture es
timates the corn crop of this year at
1,680,000,(01) bushels, as against 1,194,-
3)16,009 bushels in 1881. The latest
estimate of the wheat crop of the sea
son of 1882 is 500,000,000 bushels, as
against 38 ),280,(9J bus-iels in 1881.
‘‘The value of our domestic expor ts
during the fiscal year ended June 30,
18S2, was $733 239 732, as against $883 -
5925 947 during 1881, a haling oil of
$150,686,215. This, however, was due
almost entirely to the failure of the
crops of the country during the season
of 1881, a result attributable to the
drought and other unfavorable mete
orological influences which prevailed
so extensively throughout the country
during that season. In view of the
fact that on the average about 80 per
cent, of our exports abroad consist of
products of agriculture, it is evident
that an unfavorable season must vtry
much diminish the value of our ex
ports. But, notwithstanding the fact
that the season oi ISM was one of the
most unfavorable ev r known, we still
l ©no’ugii and t> spare, and
besides a large quantity of ct t on* for
export. The value of our export of
bread and breadstufls during the year
ended June 30,1882, the same being
the product of the crop of 1881,amount
ed to $182,679,528. The value of our
exports of cotton was $198,812,644. We
also considerably increased the value
of our exports of manu faotured artic
les.
The foregoing facts indicate the
exuberance of our soil and the vigor
of our industrial enterprises. Our im
ports during the year ended June 30,
11882, amounted to $724,639 574, being
larger than during any previous year
the history of the country.
•‘Notwithstanding the decrease of
tr exports, owing to the cause above
eferred to, and the increase of our im
ports, the balance of trade in our favor
was nearly $26,000,000.
“But the foreign commerce of the
country is of small value in compari
son with the value of our internal
ommerce. Railroads are now the
mnclp&l highways of transportation
in our internal trade. The number
of tons Jranspi lfied on fifteen leading
trunk railroads of the United States
during the last fiscal year, of which
returns can be obtained, amounted to
596,663,160 tons against 84,199,344 tons
duriq
crease
road mileage of the United Sates on
the 1st of January, 1882, was 104 813
miles. There were built in the United
States during the year 1881, 9386 miles
of main line, or nearly twenty-six
miles of railroad per day.
“Already we have two completed
lines of railroad stretchftg across the
continent. U elder date of October 17th,
T. F. Oaks, Vice-Presidc-ut of the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company,
informed me that the line will be
completed by the beginning of Sep
tember, 1883, and Mr. C. P. Hunting-
ton, of the S cithern Pacific Railroad
Company, informed me, uuder date of
October 3, that the line of the Atlan
tic and Pacific Railroad Company,
intermediate between the Union Pa
cific and Southern Paoitic Railroads,
would be completed In about twelve
months from date. We shall tl
have four lines of railroad across the
continent.
“The consumption of coal, the chief
motive power of commerce and of in
dustry, is one of the best indices of the
condition of the oouutry. The quan
tity of coal marketed during the year
1881, the latest year for which we
have statistics, amounted to 79,905,000
tons as ag&Aust 69,200,934 tons during
g year.
ease of the facilities for
constitutes another iu-
The Western Uuion,
hioh o wns the princl-
telegraph lines of the
noreased its number of
from 288,581 Jin 1880 to
! 374,^94 in 1882. The wires operated
I by that company would reach fifteen
times around the world. The popula
tion of rhe United States w»s, in 1870,
88,558,371 and in 188), 50,155,783 ; an
increase of 11,597 412.
“S.uce the world began there has
not been seen in any other country a
material development so grandly com
pliant. with the Divine edict, ‘Be
fruitful and multiply, and replenish
the earth and subdue it.’
“In view of all the cheering evi
dences of development and of prosper
ity to which I have referred, every
American whose heart swells with
lie spirit of thanksgiving may ex
claim : ‘I have a goodly heiitage.’
“it strikes me. however, that the
commercial view of cur reasons for
thanksgiving is, comparatively speak
ing, a lev one. My friend, Professor
John Eaton, Commissioner of Educa
tion, has, however, furnished me with
s uuething rather more elevated in
ch tracter. He states that the number
of pupils enrolled in public schools in
1680 was 9,781,52 >, constituting 63 per
cent, of the total school population of
tlieUuited States in 1880. The total
number of pupils enrolled in colored
public schools in the receat slave
Spates in 1880 was 784,709, and consti
tuted 44 per cent, of the total colored
tchool population in those States.
Tins ie a pretty fair showing, I
think, for a population which lately
came out of slavery with its absolute
illiteracy, into freedom. It is also
creditable to the States ot which tbe
enfranchised race are now citiz :us. I
think there are many cheering evi-
d ncea of the fact that the colored peo-
p.e in the Soutuern States are advau-
cing as citizens and as workers.
“I am unable to give you just now
any further indications of our social
progress or any facts touching the
still higher q lestion as to Low far our
resources of soil and of mine, oar in
dustrial activities, our transportation
facilities, and the advantages afforded
by the agency of steam and electricity
haye tended to elevate the moral status
of the people of this country and have
fruited in character. You are better
able to supply information of that
scrl,.”—Philn. Record.
l^jre present fiscal year, an in-
el^Sjearly 15 per cent. The rail-
Build on Hard-Pan.
The Rev. Robert Collyer delivered
an address t > the students at Easton
College, in the course of which he re
marked that he had worked on a
farm, carried a hod, shod horses, broke
stone on a turnpike, reaped and cra
dled grain, dug a well, eut wood, and
preached sermons that nobody wanted
to hear. His wonderful success had
been achieved by pure grit and honest
industry. You must dig down to hard-
pan, he said, to lay a foundation to
fame and fortune.
The reverend gentleman seems to
have drawn most of his inspiration
from Poor Richard’s Almanac. His
aphorisms may be grouped as follows :
Work is good medicine.
A man’s best friends are his ten fin
gers.
Society says one thing and nature
says another.
Any kind of an honest job is better
than no job at all.
Take a dollar a day tor your wor£
if you can get no more.
Have a reserve force that will come
out when you need it.
The honest man who dies poor is
rich if he only holds his own.
Only those who make clean money
and do clean things win success.
A good day’s woik at what you can
bent do is tflie hard-pan to which all
must come.
When country boys come to the
city, if they can hoi i on the old sweet
ways they can defy the world.
Sleep eight hours out of the twenty-
four, cat three meals a day, and walk
on the sunny side of the way.
Keep your grip on the hard-pan of
principle and good conduct, and you
will be men of good name and good
fortune.
When a boy fills a house with bugs
he is all right, provided he don’t run
after humbugs. He has the making
in him of a great naturalist.
A good farmer is better than a poor
doctor, and a good horse slioer is better
than a bishop who preaches sermons
that nobody wants to hear.
When evil days come, as evil days
will, no man deserves the title of gen-
tlemau If he does not take honest
work to do regardless of social in
fluences.
She shipped film : A lawyer rec< ntly
lost a bride in a peculiar way. He
appeared at the wedding,but, on being
oalled to the ceremony,from sheer force
of habit protested that he was not
ready to proceed and demanded delay.
And so the bride got mad and shipped
him.
Slipshod Knowledge.
Ia a debate during the last agitation
for reform Mr. John Bright compared
a certain clique iii the House of Com
mons to the occupants of the “Cave of
Adullam.” A reference to the news
papers of the time will sh >w that by
many persons the allusion was sup
posed to be classical ( ioubtleas from
the appearance of the phrast), and tiie
fact that it was scriptural dawned but
slowly on the public mind Tim is
one example of many inst mces of the
slipshod nature of public knowledge
Many quotations which have become
“old sayings” are attributed to the
Bible or to Shakespeare, according to
the likeness they bear either to the
expressions of Holy Writ, or to the
writings of tbe great dramatist, and
the supposed connection has been so
often reiterated that it has become
generally accepted or taken for
granted, few persons ever thinking of
doubting the relationship, anti fewer
still ir uibling to inquire into the mat
ter. “God tempers toe wind to the
shorn iamb” was long attributed to
the “Psalms of David, uulil oft-re
peated corrections have convinced
people that the sentiment belongs to
Maria, in Laurence Sterne’s “Senti
mental Journey.” The epigram,
“Spare the rid and spoil the cnild,” is
still often quoted as one of the prov
erbs of S ilomon, and is rarely at
tributed to its author, Butler (^ee
Hundibras, Part II., canto 2, line 84)).
The nearest approach to any such
phrase to be found in the Bible is tiie
tex : “He who spareth the rod hateth
his son” (Prov., xiii.: 24) The refer
ence to “pouring oil on troubled wa
ters” is often supposed to be Scriptural,
though the Bible does not make any
such allusion. “Man wants but little
here below” is an expression no older
than Goldsmith’s “Hermit,” though
it is generally quoted either as Scrip
ture or as a Hue from an ancient hymn.
“Manslensof the blest” are mentioned
iu the Revelations, not of Sc. John
the Divine, but to the Monk of Eve
sham (A. D. 1496).
The critic who complained of “Ham
let” that it was “too full of quota
tions,” did not generalize more errone
ously in attributing to others what be
longs to S lakespeare than do those
who attribute to Shakespeare what
belongs to other writers. “Richard’s
himself again,” and “Oft with his
head, so much for Buckingham,” are
cer amly to be found in “R chard
IIr,” but tlaey are iu Coll y Cibber’s
play, not in Shakespeare’s ; while on
the other hand, “A horse, a horse ; my
kingdom for a hi ne,” so often quoted
as Colley Cibber’s, was actually written
by Shakespeare. The instances of this
inexactness are very numerous. r lhe
Bfble is credited with many things
written by Pope; many of the utter
ances of Sancbo Panza are put down to
Shakespeare ; while the galaxy of epi
grams in Stephen G ussen’s f-chool of
Abuse (A, D. 1579) are attributed to
almost every onw but the author of
them.
Pnonics are a fruitful source of error.
The sound of a word often leads astray
those who acquire knowledge in a
slipshod fashion. People have long
been familiar with the cocoanut or
fruit of the palm-tree; but it is only
within the last few years that they
have become acquainted with the bev
erage obtained from the cocoa shrub.
The result has been that the word
“cocoa” is used for the product of both
plants, and many people think that
both tiie nut and the “nibs” have the
same source ; tnus similarity of sound
causes a complete misapprehension.
A more serious err >r is in regard to
the etymology of the word “Bombay.”
To those acquainted with the Ro
manic languages, the word has cer
tainly the appearance of meauing
“good hay,” or “good harbor.” It
can have been nothing hut this ap-
petrauce which led so careful a writer
as Harlet Martineau.as well as Oiitram
ami many other writers, to gravely as
sure us that the Portuguese, on discov
ering the place, and observing ttie fine
haven iu front of it,exclaimed : “Buou
Bahia!” (“good hay”). Tne state
ment, however,is quite erroneous. The
name dates from a pet iod anterior to
the anival ot the Portuguese iu India.
By ttie natives the name is still writ
ten Mauibe, and very often Bambe.
In the E ist the initials “B” and “M”
are frequently used promiscuously.
In tiie Koran, Mecca is written of as
Iu Pipy’s diary the word is
l Bombaiu,and soon after Pepy’s
it became Bombay. Tbe name
is Srived from Mambe, and the piaoe
is^> called beoause there was on the
and a temple dedicated to that god-
Another instance of an error
in.
the phrase “setting the Tiaames on
fire.”
The substitution of the name of a
river for the correct word entirely
deprives the expression of any meau
ing, and so general has the errer be
come that, foolish though the mistake
is, it is perhaps useless to attempt to
restore the true signification of the
saying, which, like many others, is
traceable to the domestic pursuits of
our forefathers before machinery did
so much of their work. Many year,
ago, before machinery was introduced
into flour mills for the purpose of sift
ing flour, it was the custom of tie
miller to send it .away unsifted. The
process of sifting was done at home,
thus : Tne temse or sieve, which was
moved with a rim that projected from
the bottom of it, was worked over the
mouth of the barrel into which the
fl mr or meal was sifted. The active
fellow, who worked hard, not unfrs-
quentiy wet the rim on fire by force of
friit on against tbe flour barrel ; so
that this depar ment of domestic em
ployment became a standari by which
to teat a man’s wdl and capacity to
work hard. Tnus of a lazy fellow, nr
one deficient in strength, it was said
he “will never set the temsa on fire.”
Tiie word is still in common use in
Lincolnshire to signify the sieve used
by brewers to remove the hops from
the beer.
The errors in history and geography
arising from a slipshod method of
ascertaining facts are so numerous and
widely spread that they are to be
found even In text books and standard
primers. Almost every schoolboy
will djelare that Mont Blanc is in
Switzerland, and will produce his
“school hook” iu priof of his asser
tion. A reference, however, t) a stand
ard boon o i geography (Keith Johu-
ston’s Gtography, 1880), or to a good
atlas, will show that Mont Blanc Is
iu France. Again, tbe introduction
of tobacco into England, usually cod.
sidere 1 one of the main events in the
life of Sir Walter Raleigh, will he
found by those who care to inquire
into the sui j *ct to he due to Sir John
Hawking about the year 1565, For
the irnpor ation of the narcotic in
quantity, and for the knowledge of
how to smoke it, we are indebted to
Captain Ralph Lane. After this the
reader will not be surprised to learn
that the aueodote which records how
Raleigh’s servant threw a jug of beer
over her master, uuder the impression
that he was on tire when he was only
smoking a pipe, is a pure fiction, not
associated with Raleigh’s name until
1726.
The story is told of a Welshman in
the Irish Hxbbub, or the English
Hue and Cry (A. D. 1619), as follows:
“A certaine Welshman comming
newly to London, and beholding one
to take tobacco, never seeing the like
before, and not knowing the manner
of it, but perceiving him vent smoke
so fast, and supposing bis inward
parts to be on fire, cried out: “Oh,
Jhesu, JlieBU, man! for the passion of
G)d hold, for, by Goo’s splud, ty
snowt’a on fire! ” and, having a
bowle of beere in his hand, threw it at
the other’s face to quench his smok
ing nose.” A similar story is related
of Tarlton in Tarlton’s jests (A. D.
1611). All anecdotes of great men
should be received with caution. The
person who declared that his religion
was the religion of all sensible men,
aud on being asked : “What is that ?”
replied : “All sensible men keep tnat
to themselves,” is said to Talleyrand,
Thackeray aud a host of othtrs.
Auother error in history to be found
in many hooks even pretendiug to au
thority iH that trial by j ary was es
tablished by Kmg Alfred. A refer
ence to Green s “His ory of the Eng
lish People,” Section 8, will show that
it was not in existence until the reign
of H«nry the Second. Again, even
standard works declare that William
the*First was surnamed the “Con
queror” beoause lie conquered Eug-
land ; but according to the greatest
authority on English law this circum-
stmee was at best hut tbe penultimate
cause of the title given, to the Norman
warrior. Blackstoue 'explains in his
chapter on “ Title by Purchase” that
“Purchase, perquisitis, taken in its
largest sense, is defined the possession
of lands aud tenements, which a man
hath by his own act or agreemeut,and
not by descent. . What we
call purchase the feudist oalled cou-
qutst, both denoting any means of ac
quiring an estate otherwise than by
inheritance. Hence the appellation
given to William the Norman, signi
fying that he was tbe first of his family
who acquired the crown of England.
This is tne legal signification of the
word purchase.”
l literal
history and in geography tiie state o
knowledge among the general public
is anything but exact. I might be
shown that in every other department
of knowledge the same feature obtains.
There Is a work on “caulking” which
shows that the author does not know
how to spell the name of the thing he
is writing about, for a reference to
Caambers’ Dictionary, or auv other
similar standard work, will ehow that
Hie “u” iu “caulk” is as much out of
place as it would be in chalk, talk and
walk.
Even men wher think themselves
educated still imagine that thunder-
holts exist, iu fact, instead of merely in
ihe imagination of the ancients, as is
recorded in Homer that Jupiter had
His triple thunder and his bolts of Are.
In comparing the soldierly qualities
of Wellington aud Napoleon it is often
forgotten that they only met once in
battle—viz , on the fi fid of Waterloo.
Lord Btaconsfield was jeered at by
his opponents and admired by his
friends for the use of the phrase
“Peace with honor,” while, as a mat
ter of fact, it was first used not by him
hut to him in a civic address at Dover,
when his lordship landed there on his
return from Berlin. Up to this day it
is often said tnat J. 8. Mill styled the
Conservatives the “stupid pnr:y,”
though what the gr.iat philosopher
actually said was : “Show me aatupid
man and I will show you a Conserva
tive.” Surely even a dull man can
see that Mr. Mill might think that all
stupid men were Conservatives with
out believing that all Conservatives
were stupid.
“Double entendre,” used as a noun
by so many English people, is a sim
ple barbarism, the correct expression
being “double entente,” as every
French scholar is perfectly aware. A
serious error often made, both in Par
liament aud the press, is in the state
ment that the demand creates the
supply, and on the basis of the false
theory numberless fallacies are erected.
Students of Adam Smith know well
enough that although demand affects
supply it does not create it. On the
other hand, it is supply that creates
demand. There was no demand for
stockings or steam engines until
they were invented—that is, until
there was a supply of them.—All the
Year Round.
Pious Gems.
Plant blessings and blessings will bloom ;
P ant bate an J hate will grow ;
You can sow to-day—to-morrow shall bring
i he blossom that proves what sort of a thin
Is the seed—tae seed that you sow.
In your temptations go to the pro
ises. They are the branches the L
has hung over the water, that his
drowned children mav take a gr
them, without which they will g
bottom.
Home Is more near,
O, Lord, by every passing day ;
Home is more dear
By every prayer I pray.
Science is but a mere heap of facts,
not a golden chain of truths, if We re
fuse to link it to the throne of God.
»
All—all is turned to fair,
Aye! to a scheme of ordered happiness,
So soon as we love God, or rather know
That God loves us!
A Christian’s experience is like
rainbow, mafile up of drops of th
grief of earth, and beams of the blis
of heaven.
O God, my sins are manifold; against my
life they cry,
And all ruy guilty deeds foregone up to Thy
temple tly,
Wilt Thou release my trembling soul, that to
despair Is driven ?
“Forgive !” a blessed voice rtp’.led, “and thou
shall be forgiven.”
All things work together for good.
This is a Jacob’s stall in the hand of
faith, with which we may walk cheer
fully to the Mount of God. What will
satisfy or give content, if this will not?
The expression, “Work together,” re
fers to medicine. Several poisonous
iugredieuts put together, being tem
pered by the skill of the apothecary t
make a sovereign medicine, aud work
together for the good of the patient.
So all God’s provideuoes,
viuely tempered and sanctified;
work together for the best,
sainta. He who loves God, a
oalled according to his purpose,
rest assured that everything
world shall be for his good. Thi
Curistiau’s cordial, which may
him—make him like Jonathan,
when he had tasted the noney
end of the rod, “his eyes wti
lightened.” Why should a Christ
destroy himself ? Why should he
himself with oare, when all thl
shall sweetly conour,
his good.