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GEORGIA'S REPORT
'OF CROPS, MADE BY THE AGRI
CULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
IOMETHING ABOUT COBN, OATS, SPANISH
PEANUTS, FRUIT, ETC —A REMEDY FOR
HOG CHOLERA —TIMELY SUGGESTIONS.
Col. J. M. Henderson, the Corumis
isionerof Agriculture for Georgia, has just
made his June Report as follows:
GENERAL REMARKS.
The reports from correspondents are
unusually full in number and in details
lof crop conditions, and a careful reading
| of “Notes from Correspondents” from
'nearly every county in the state, will
jgive a very clear idea of the general
condition of farm operations and crops.
THE WEATHER.
The drouth which set in after the
heavy rains of March and the early part
of April, was brought to a close by co
pious rains which fell, varying in the dif
ferent sections of the state, from the 12th
to the 22d of May. The seasons contin
ued good until June 1, many correspon
dents complaining of too much rain,
which interfered with the proper culti
vation of crops. The temperature
throughout the greater part of May, was
rather too low for healthy development
of the cotton plant, and this circuit,
stance, together with the too abundan
rains, has had a somewhat retarding <•
feet on the crop. The seasons and ten
perature on the first day of June wen
all that could be desired in every sectioi
of the state. The reports of conditio
and prospects of the crops from Noil
and Middle Georgia have rather
gloomy tinge. In the lower three s>
tions—Southwest, East and Middi
Georgia—the prospects are genera! 1
very good, and in many cases even f! i
tering. On the whole, the condition <
crops has advanced since last report, an.
the indications are favorable for goo
yields, provided, the weather conditioi -
continue good in the future.
CORN.
Stands of corn are good, except in
( low lands, where the bud worm and cm
worm have been very destructive. Tin
stalk is rather small for the season, but
the color is good and the plants an
healthy and vigorous and the fields in
good state of cultivation.
OATS AND WHEAT.
The generous rains of the latter half o'
May resulted iu a wonderful improve
ment of the oat crop. In some eountie
the yield is reported as the best sim
1882. The crop is better in Southw< -i
Georgia than elsewhere, the yield of tb
state at large will be 87, compared wit
an average crop. Wheat lias been ser
ousiy injured by rust, the extent of ii.
jury from this source being 20 per cent
The evil appears to be most serious it
jNorth Georgia and Middle Georgia.
COTTON.
The condition of this crop on the first
of the month was 61, compared with an
average, which is 7 points lower than
the reported condition, June 1, 1887.
The stand is fairly good in every section,
averaging 03, compared with a “perfect”
stand. In this respect there is very lit
tle difference iu the several sections.
The stand being so nearly perfect, the
case of the comparatively low condi
tion is found in the fact that a large
part of the crop failed to germinate at
the proper time ou account of dry
weather. Hence, although stands are
now good, the plants are small and the
crop is backward some ten days on an
(average. Comparatively few complaints
(Of lice or other insects have been received,
jin view of the favorable weather since
June 1, (now June 8,) the condition of
.the cotton crop is not discouraging at
this time.
FRUIT.
No change since May Ist, is reported in
(the percentage of yield of peaches, pears,
and grapes; but apples have declined
(from 98 per cent, of a full crop, to 59.
The repeated failures of the peach
crop are having a discouraging effect on
growers of this fruit. Is it not true that
ithe proportion of good peach years has
{grown much less in the last thiry years?
If true, what is the cause? Climatic,
Conditions- have undergone no change
■than is discoverable by the observation
iof instruments. Can it be attributed to
the more general planting of grafted and
pudded trees than formerly?
spANisrr peanuts.
Tbis variety of peanuts is becoming
-very popular with farmers. They mature
so quickly that two crops may be pro
duced on the same land, if desired, in
one season, and some farmers are pleased
with the plan of planting them in stub
ble fields in June. It is one <-f the
( most promising acquisitions for years
past.
{EFFECT OF CROP REPORT PUBLICATIONS.
A correspondent from Campbell county
says: “I find that a great many think it
works an injury to the farmer to place
(before the speculator the condition cf the
jcrop. Is it not a fact that such publica
tion benefits the speculator more than the
farmer?” In reply, it may be admitted
that if information of the condition of
.crops were given the speculators alone,
they would have greatly the advantage
jof the farmer. But such is not the case;
nor, is it the purpose of those reports to
give information to the speculator, or
’dealer in farm products. The primary
•object is to inform the farmers them
jselves. The dealers and speculators
have their own machinery for gaining in
formation of crop prospects, entirely in
'dependectent of official publications.
It is to their interest to keep well postet
•in regard to those prospects and if such
(information were in their exclusive con
trol they would use it to their own ad
vantage, and withhold the facts from
farmers except when it suited their in
terests to communicate them. If no of
fieal crop publications were made, it is
(plain that farmers would be at a disad
vantage. Speculators and dealers
(would be posted, while the farmers would
ibe in the dark. Such publications are
■in the interest of tiuth and fair dealing.
Where the prospect yield of the wheat
icrop or the cotton crop is as well known
jto the producer is it is to the cotton or
grain exchanges, prices will be necessa
rily adjusted according to the law of
’supply and demand; and no advantage
can be taken of ignorance—where all are
equally informed. If official reports of;
crop prospects should be abandoned.)
then the producers would be compelled
to rely for information on the speculators,
and the latter will be presumed to use
their knowledge for their own advan
tage.
INSPECTION OF FERTILIZERS.
The same correspondent remarks that
“There is also a great deal of dissatis
faction about the way guano is placed
upon the market. Please explain.”
Our correspondent does not say in what
respect the sale of guano is unsatisfac
tory, or whether the complaint is against
the manner in which the inspection law
is executed, or the details of the law it
self. An attempt to “explain” without
a more definite knowledge of the ground
of complaint, would not be likely to give
satisfaction. The commissioner is aware
shat the law is defective in some impor
tant respects, but he can do no more than
execute it as faithfully as possible with
the means at his command. This he
claims to have done, especially during
the season just passed. Nearly two
hundred thousand tons were personally
inspected and samples taken by the six
inspectors, and the tags applied to the
bags under their personal direction, and
generally in their immediate presence.
The work amounted to nearly twenty
eight hundred distinct inspections.
Every car load of fertilizers entering tlie
state for sale has been entered by an in
spector in person, either at Augusta, Sa
vannah or Toccoa, or at its final destina
tion. Extraordinary diligence and care
have been employed to prevent a single
car load or bag of fertilizer from reach
ing the hands of a farmer before being
personally inspected by an inspector.
The greatly increas d number of fer
tilizer factories within the limits of the
state, and the shipments entering the
state at points where it was impractica
ble to station an inspector, have required
the whole time—almost day and night—
of two of the six inspectors, during the
season. The chemist has been • over
whelmed with several thousands of sam
ples. The commissioner is confident that
the law as it is has been faithfully exe
cuted. The commissioner has been in
formed that some instances have occurred
(towards the close of the season and
where farmers were very urgent for the
immediate delivery of their fertilizers)
where agents have delivered fertilizers to
farmers without giving the inspector
time to reach the point of delivery.
Several such cases, by direction of the
commissioner, have been reported to the
prosecuting officers of the circuits where
the offenses occurred, to the end that the
penalty of the law may be imposed.
Farmers who receive uninspected or un
tagged fertilizers have certainly no right;
to complain. Every farmer—every good
citizen—should feel in mity bound to
discourage all such violations of law and
to report the same to the commissioner,'
or one of the inspectors. It has been
the sincere desire and earnest purpose of
the commissioner to protect the farmer
and prevent imposition. The farmers
themselves should co-operate with the
commissioner and his inspectors in en
forcing the law. He invites suggestions
from them in regard to changes in the
law or in the details of execution.
BUCKWHEAT.
In reply to an inquiry from J. W.
Stroud, of Crawford county, the#Mlow
ing information is given: Bu*; wheat
(from buck-beech, and wheat), so-called
from the resemblance in shape of the
grain to that of the beechnut, and the
uses to which it is applied, belqpgs to
the Order Polygonacesc, and isCotani
eally known as Fagopyrum escidentum.
The grain is black or gray, three-angled,
and about the size of common wheat. It
will grow on even poor soils, and has
long been used as a soil improver, but it
gives better results on good land. Sandy
soils are best, but it will grow on a great
variety of soils. Potash is the dominant
fertilizing element required, and hence,
wood ashes are a valuable fertilizer for
buckwheat, but any of the ordinary fertil
izers, including stable manure, will do.
Buckwheat is highly valued as a honey
plant, although the honey from its flow
ers is dark colored. When sown for
(bees or for improving the soil, it should
(be sown iu April; if for grain, August is
the proper time to sow it in Georgia. It
commences to bloom as soon as six inches
high, and continues without intermis
sion until killed by frost. When the
grain is the object ,the crop should be
mown when the greatest number of seed
are ripe at one time. Cut it while the
dew is on, with a grass blade or mower,
and when dry thresh with flails, ■ or run
through a spike thresher, and thorough
ly dry the grain. Sow broad cast, if ithe
land is pretty clean, at the rate of half
bushel of seed per acre and cover with a
harrow. Or, the seed may be sown in
three feet drills, two quarts being suffi
cient for an acre. Forty bushels per
acre is not an uncommon yield. The
grain is excellent ftr fowls of ail kinds
and for hogs. It would doubtless be a
good plan to sow stubble lands in buck
wheat in June as a soil improver. Two
crops may be turned in on the same land
the same season, the second requiring no
i seeding.
HOG CHOLEKA.
S. P. Odom asks for a remedy for hog
icholera. There are several forms of the
disease, popularly called hog cholera,
land it may be safely said that no remedy
(or cure has yet been discovered. Indi
vidual animals have been known to re
cover from an attrek, orat least, survive,
and such recovery is attributed to reme
dies employed, or the treatment given.
But it is doubtful if in any case the dis
ease has yielded to treatment. Careful
and long-continued scientific in
vestigations have been made, and
the general result is, that it is practical
ly useless to attempt to cure an animal
that has been infected with the disease.
The most economical and expedient
course to pursue is to kill every hog in
which the disease has manifested itself
and will not yield to treatment; burn or
(bury deeply the carcasses, and rely on
preventing the spread of the plague by the
use of disinfectants. If a specially val
uable animal, should become affected,
]pt may be well to attempt its cure, but
the sick should be at once widely sepa
rated from the well. The following pre
iscnption has been used with success: 2
.pounds flowers of sulphur, 2 pounds sul
phate of iron (cooperas), 2 pounds mad
tier, £ pound black antimony, j pound
litrate of potash (sulphur), 2 ounces ai>
tenic. Mix the above in 12 gallons of
ifruel for 100 hogs, or give one pint
loses to each daily. Give to both sick
md well, where the latter have been ex
posed. Not only should the sick be sep
irated from the well animals, but each
iach should be moved to new and clean
quarters or pastures. Burn up the old
beds, sprinkle walls and floors of sheds
or styes with a solution of one pint of pure
sarbolic acid to ten gallons of soft water.
All discharges should be deeply buried,
ir treated with a solution of one ounce
of chloride of zinc to two gallons of wa
fer. The person who attends the sick,
should not have anything to do with the
well hogs. All food and water should
be clean and pure. If these directions
ire faithfully followed the disease may
be stayed in its progress and stamped
out. Every farmer should see and in
spect his hogs, as wed as all other ani
ma's, every day, and act promptly on
the very first appearance of disease.
HOPE HAS FLED
A bulletin at 9.30 on Tuesday morn
ing says the difficulty in swallowing,
which has troubled the Emperor Fred
erick of Germany, recently, has in
creased, and the taking of nourishment
is becoming difficult. The Emperor
feels weaker, and it is considered by the
Emperor’s physicians that the disease
has possible reached the oesophagus. The
greatest anxiety prevails through some
changes of the exact nature of which
the doctors are uncertain. The carti
lege of the cpigottis has become permea
ble, allowing particles of food and
liquids to enter the air tubes, the results
being attacks of coughing and choking.
The "doctors admit that the Emperor is
in an almost hopeless condition. When
the Emporor had partially overcome the
difficulty in swallowing, he has such a
distaste for food, that he refuses it. His
patience is admirable. It is reported if
Le does not improve, a regency will be
appointed.
SENSATIONAL ELOPEMENT.
Great excitement prevails in Laurens,
S. C., caused by the recent elopement of
Rev. Joe Jone», brother of Sam Jones,
(and Miss Bassie Farrow, of Cross An
ichor, S. C. Mr. Jones met the lady
last Summer, while conducting a series
jof religious meetings at Laurens. The
•mother of the young lady was very
’much opposed to the match, but on the
'other hand it was favored by her father.
On one occasion, it is said, that Mr.
Jones went to see his affianced, and was
met by her mother who “shut the dooi',
in his face,” and refused to admit him.
It seems Mr. Jones became tired of such
|obstacle3, and with the aid of friends,’
(secured the girl and ran away and mar
ried her. The happy couple were ex
jpected to leave ou the night train, but
j unfortunately, the bride had left home in
;such haste that she neglected to carry
her baggage, and therefore they were de
tained The mother declines to give it
up, and threatens to shoot the “first man
who puts his foot inside of the door.”
;Mr. Jone 3 is about thirty years of age,
land has for sometime past been preach
-1 ing at Laureffs, 8. C.
LOTTERY STOPPED.
The Confederate Veteran Distribu
tion Co. has been conducting daily lot
tery drawings in Richmond, Va., under
■a charter granted by the Circuit Court of
Richmond. On Saturday the office was!
’closed up and the parties managing it
(arrested for carJC ng on a lottery in vio
lation of the JUistitution of the state.
The charter authorizes distributions, the
proceeds from which, after deducting
(dividends on the shares, and a fair com
pensation to those conducting the pro
ject, are to be distributed among the
(Confederate Soldiers’ Home to indigent;
|ex-Confederates and their widows. A
.'somewhat similar scheme known as the
Southern Association, which was char
tered before the present state constitution
was adopted, was started there shortly
after the close of the War. Under its
(distribution hundreds of thousands of
dollars were distributed to ex-Confeder
atis.
A BOYS WORK.
A great million-dollar fire in Buffalo
on February 1, which destroyed the dry
goods house of Barnes, Hengerer & Co.,
and seriously damaged other property,
is explained. The firm reopened in a
new locality, and among its employes is
a cash boy named Andrew Howard, aged
fourteen. Howard was arrested for a
petty theft, and the detectives making the
arrest suspected him of a knowledge of
the fire. So they questioned him. How
ard says he set fire to some paper in •the
basement in a fit of anger because be
was not excused from work to go to a
funeral. Howard also admitted making
two attempts to fire the present store of
Barnes, Hengerer & Co.
A FATHER’S FURY.
Word has just been received of a terri
ble tragedy which occurred in Hazle
Green township, seventeen miles from
Monticello, in lowa. An old man
named Rothbacker, who was working in
a stone quarry, undertook to whip his
boy, a lad of twelve, but was prevented
by a fellow-workman. In the evening
the old man again tried to whip the boy,
when he attempted to run. The father
gave chase, and having captured him,
knocked him down and cut his head off
with an axe. An attempt will be made
to lynch the father when captured.
SUNDAY VIOLATORS.
More than 150 wai rants were served in
Cincinnati, Ohio, upon saloon keepers
for selling liquors ou Sunday. So far
the issuing of warrants and the giving of
bonds are the only forms of punishment
inflicted for the violations of the law,
but the temperance men are going in for
more vigorous measures.
HE IS THROUGH.
Thomas F. Siseman, probably the
/largest retail liquor dealer in Holly
Springs, Miss., closed his doors and
placarded them: “Closed for good.”
This is the resu’t of a successful revival
which is conducted by Rev. George Inge
at the Methodist church.
AROUND TIIE GLOBE.
:tems gleaned from tele-
PHONE AND TELEGRAPH.
INTERESTING DOTS ABOUT THE NORTH,
EAST AND WEST —THE EUROPEAN SITU
ATION DOINGS OF KINGS AND QUEENS.
The strawberry crop around New Al
bany, Indiana, is enormous.
Locusts have appeared at Dubuque,
lowa, in vast numbers in the last two
days.
The Alarm, an anarchist paper of the
most pronounced type, has been started
in New York City.
Mrs. Sheridan, mother of Gen. Phil
Sheridan, died at Somerset, Ohio, on
Tuesday; aged eighty-seven years.
The French government has consented
to allow the Brouge factory to supply
Russia with cannon and projectiles.
Rev. James Freeman Clarke, a well
known Unitarian divine, died on Satur
day at his residence in Jamaica Plains,
Mass., aged 78.
The stables of the Montreal Street
Railway, at Hochelaga, Canada, were
burned on Saturday, and 134 horses were
burned to death.
The town of Norway, Mich., was al
most destroyed by fire on Sunday. Thir
ty buildings were wiped away, including
the main business section.
J. J. Mcßride, postmaster at Livings
ton, Mon., left suddenly Sunday morn
ing. It now transpires that he is a de
faulter to the U. S. government.
During a game of base ball at Sand
wich, Mass., on Saturday, John Mc-
Lanev, a short-stop, dropped dead of
heart disease. He leaves a widow and
one child.
The seventeen year locusts appeared at
Wheaton, 111., about two weeks ago, and
have so rapidly increased in number that
now they literally cover all kinds of
■bushes and trees.
The citizens of Aberdeen, Dak., forci
bly resisted the efforts of an electric mo
jtor company to lay rails in the streets,
(because the consent of property owners
had not been obtained.
The Board cf Aldermen of Boston,
’Mass., on Monday, by a vote of 7 to 4,
refused to confirm the Mayor’s nomina
tion of Edwin G. Walker, a well-known
colored lawyer, as principal assessor.
Locusts arc advancing in a compact
,mass twelve miles long by six in breadth
in Algiers. A panic prevails in the prov
ince of Constantine. The valley of
Quelma has been devastated by locusts.
Swarms of grasshoppers have appeared
,in Ottertail county, Minn., and several
{large townships are alive with them.
They are of the Rocky Mountain variety
which did great damage some years ago.
Robertson, a negro soldier at Fort
:Shaw, Saturday night, had a row
with a man near the fort over a sporting
woman, and killed an innocent bystander.
Fifty masked citizens from Sun River
took the murderer out Monday night
;and lynched him. ...
The Chamber of Deputies, of Italy, on
Saturday, after an excited debate, al
most unanimously rejected the Bishops’
petition to eliminate from the Penal Code
bill the articles imposing penalties for
abuses committed- by the clergy in the
exercise of their functions. The Cham
ber of Deputies agreed to abolish capital
punishment.
The strike of the brewery employes in
Chicago. 111., was on Saturday declared
off. All the strikers applied for work at
the breweries where they had been form
erly employed, and many .were taken
back. The brewery owners promised
not to demand their withdrawal from the
union, and allowed them their wages for
ten hours’ work per day.
• j During the hearing before him on
.Monday at Albany, N. Y., on the bill
providing for repairs to the Assembly
chamber ceiling, Gov. Hill took occasion
to say that the whole capitol was a blun
der and that he was willing to put it in
the hands of either Capitol Commissioner
Perry or Superintendent of Buildings
Andrews, and allow either to complete
it.
The destruction caused by Saturday’s
; storm at Ottawa, Canada, is terrible and
{widespread. Enormous damage was
■done to crops, shoots just peeping forth
being literally blown out of the ground.
Young apple orchards in nearly every lo
cality in the district were destroyed. The
loss cannot fall short of $300,000. Be
sides three persons killed, a large number
Were seriously injured. A brick school
house in Osgood township was blown
(down and twenty children were buried
in the ruins.
A terrible holacaust occurred in Low
ell, Mass., on Sunday night. Shortly
before midnight a tire broke out in the
two-story tenement block at the corner
of Rock and Willie streets, and spread
{rapidly, practically gutting the building
(before the fire department could make
much headway against the angry flames.
The building was occupied by two fami
lies, nine persons iu all. bix of these
effected their escape. Three were burned
,to death. Their names are Eugenia Val
jlerand, aged 18 years, Peter Yallerand
!age 8 years, Delia Vallerand, 5 years,
j A dispatch from Ft. Yates, I)ak., says,
several persons were killed in the great
tempest., on Sunday, by lightning and
flying debris. Those so far identified
are Shell King, the celebrated Indian
chief, and his son. A fanner living two
miles south was found dead in his field.
The building has 1 een completely
wrecked, and it is supposed the man
had been carried to the point where found
bv the wind. Mattus Dambrowski, a
girl of thirteen, living at the settlement,
•six miles south, has uot been seen since
the storm struck that point, and if is be
lieved she was blown in the river aid
drowned. The loss among the Indians
jis severe, as hundreds of them had ev
erything they had swept away by the
‘winds.
; GREAT OIL WELL.
C. C. Harris drilled into an oil well an
the Synder farm, in Henry township,
Ohio, which filled an 800 barrel tank in
three hours, at which rate the well will
produce 6,400 barrels per day, making it
the hugest oil well yet discovered in any
field. ,
THE GERMAN ARMY.
ITS GREAT STRENGTH AND PER
FECT DISCIPLINE.
The Pay and Armament of Ger
man Soldiers Their Daily
Duties—The Other Gieat
Armies ot Europe.
Berlin, and Germany itself for .vat
matter, writes a correspondent of the
New York Sun, reminds the stranger of
a huge military barracks. There are
soldiers everywhere, aud ev.ery man in
the country, from the son of a monarch
to the lowliest beggar, must serve in the
army. From this there is no appeal. A
million marks will not purchase immu
nity from the service. It has made a
stalwart, methodical, fine-looking and
well-bred lot of men of the Germans.
The army is the most common of all
subjects of discussion here. There are
several branches which fall under the
nominal command of the lesser German
Kings in time of peace, but the Emperor
of Germany is absolute monarch when
war breaks out. He is a good deal of a
monarch at other times, too, one finds
out after a short residence in Germany.
I met an officer of the Saxon branch of
the army last night whom I had known
when he was in New York some years
ago.
“Em in the army for good and all,
now.” lie said, with a shrug of his broad
shoulders, “and recent events reconcile
me to it.”
“Aou think the general stirring up of
the Government here will turn" out a
benefit to military men?”
“T think that the accession to power
of a horn soldier and warrior like our
Crown Prince will send the finest army
in the world to the’front. Prince Will
iam is ambitious and capable. With
such a sovereign the chances of distinc
tion in the army will be limitless.
“It is well you look for distinction in
stead of money in the army.”
“Oh, there is no money in the service
here. Our soldier receives—l will give
the equivalent sum in United States
money—about $1.16 for every ten days’
service, from which he has to pay the
mess fifty-seven cents for ten days’ eat
ing. A man can’t acquire a fortune with
breathless rapidity at this rate unless he
practices a good ileal of economy. The
Government gives every man s, pound
and a quarter of bread" a day, but the
soldier must buy all nece-sary articles for
cleaning his uniform. Everything in the
way of linen, boots and clothing is sup
plied by the nation.”
“Have the arms been changed?”
“The latest and most valuable inven
tions are secured at any cost. Our pri
vates now carry the ’B4 repeating rifle.
The cannons are made by Krupp, of Es
sen. The men are worked hard, but
they seem to thrive on it. The average
private has four hours’ work in the morn
ing and about three hours in the after
noon. In the evening he is taught to
read and write, and is also instructed in
matters pertaining to the army. The
men clean the barracks and do ail the
work about the building. Between
sixty and eighty of them sleep in every
dormitory now, but in the 1 newest bar
racks only fifteen or twenty men will
sleep in a room. A corporal commands
and watches over them. They can only
practice shooting when ordered to by
the commanding officer. Every soldier
carries about thirty cartridges.”
“The discipline is very severe,” I
said..
“Very,” said the Major. “It must
he; for there are many insidious and re
bellious spirits at work in Germfiny
now, and the iron hand is the only one
that commands respect. A soldier re
ceives two days' imprisonment if he fails
to salute an officer when he sees him.
It has a tendency to cure absent-minded
ness. Soldiers must be at home in bar
racks at 10 o’clock p. vr., unless written
consent to stay out later, signed by an
officer; and finally, an officer cannot
marry a girl who has a fortune of her
own of loss than SIO,OOO. There are
lots of restrictions in the life, but the
officers and men love it nevertheless.”
The number of soldiers who will be
at the back of the coming Emperor of
Germany is enough to keep Europe's
eyes open. The future monarch is the
idol of the army. He comes from the
marriage of a Guelph aud a Hohenzol
lern, just as Frederick the Great did,
and he hates the English and the French.
It will be a shrewd prophet who can
tell what he will do when he finds him
self at the nation’s head. The available
force in Germany iu case of war may he
roughly estimated as follows. Every
German must serve; no substitution is
allowed:
Officers 35,000
Men in active service 1,500,000
The Bismarck addition 700,000
One-year volunteers and Landsturm
division 1,150,000
Trained and active soldiers 3,385,000
Estimated number to be drawn
from those not in active service. .2,900,000
Total available force of all
classes 6,285.000
Iu addition the army has at its dis
posal 312,731 horses and 2500 guns.
Before I leave figures it may be of in
terest to show the forces that this army
may have to meet—or may make its al
lies, according to the temper of sover
eigns and the skill of diplomatists. The
recent addition of 700,000 men to the
German army lifts it to the head of the
list, but there are mighty forces in Eu
rope, and the next war will be a scene of
awful slaughter, if the military experts
are to be believed. The following fig
ures give the trained and active war
strength of four nations:
Strength of Army.
Population. Peace. War.
I Infantry..*l4s,soo 2,200,000
Germany 41.000,000 -; Horse 81,000 312.131
(Guns 1,364 2,600
( Infantry..29o,ooo 1,070,(.00
Austria 33,000,000H0r5e .... 52,0(0 205,000
(Guns 1,000 ',300
( Infantry..7so,000 1,900,000
Russia 103,000,000-: Horse 130.000 465,0: 0
(Guns 1,300 2,500
(Infantry..slo,ooo 1,800,000
France 38,000,000 < Horse 125,000 325,000
(Guns 1,600 2,600
In an aggregate population of 100,-
000,000 in Russia, according to Dr.
Bubnoff, there are only about 5000
medical men, while no working sanitary
system can be said to exist in the empire. «
In some districts the death-rate ranges
from 60 to 80 per 1000, and in spite of
a high birth-rate the population of the
country is increasing only at the rate of
1 per cent.
Carrageen, or Irish Moss.
“Years ago the markets of the world
were supplied with this farinaceous and
gelatinous seaweed entirely from the
coast of Ireland, hence it's name,” said
a New A’ork druggist to a Sun reporter.
“About twenty veais ago, however, the
discovery was made that as good carra
geen grew on the rocks along the Massa
chusetts coast as ever ciung to those
washed by the Irish surf; and now there
are colonies of men at various points
along that coast who make it their sole
business to collect the moss and prepare
it for market. The trade in Irish moss
was formerly entirely confined to the
grocers, and how it came to be one of
the regular articles on sale in drug stores
lam unable to say. It probably came
about through the discovery of valuable
medicinal qualities in the composition of
the weed—iodine being one—and from
the fact that it was found to be an ex
cellent substitute for arrowroot, sago,
and other farinaceous substances, in
valuable in the sick room. Formerly
carrageen was only utilized as a gelati
nous article of food, and it did service
only in the popular jellies and blanc
mange of the table. Analysis finally re
vealed that this toothsome, sea-flavored
weed, tossed by the waves and seasoned
by their salt, contained starch of the
most excellent quality. This farnia is
not only unexcelled for nutritive
purposes, but a starch that surpasses all
othei-3 for fine laundrying is extracted
from the weed.
“The trade in Irish moss from the
Massachusetts coast is controlled by one
or two Boston firms. The gatherers of
the moss are mostly Irishmen. They
start out in dories long before daylight,
and a boat will frequently travel twenty
mile? in the course of a day before it is
filled with the succulent weed. The moss
clings to the rocks tenaciously, and to
detach it and drag it in the boats long
handled, dredge-shaped, sharp-toothed
iron rakes are used. When the moss
gatherers return with their day’s collec
tion it is sorted over, forthere are as many
grades of the weed as there are of leaf
tobacco. The whitest of the moss is
selected for the starchmakers. When a
load is sorted, the different kinds are
spread on the beach, out of reach of the
tide, to dry and bleach in the sun and
wind.
“This requires fiomten days to two
weeks. The moss is then ready for the
market, and is packed in barrels. The
moss gatherers of the South Massachu
setts coast are probably the only persons
who live by the sea or its products who
welcome ocean storms. The reason for
that is that a storm brings money to their
pockets, and saves them days of labor.
After every storm at sea the coast will
be thickly strewn for miles with Irish
moss, which the violence of storm-torn
waves has forced from its hold on the
rocks, and which is swept the
shore by the incoming surf.”
Dynamite.
Dynamite consi-ts of some porous ab
soroent mineral saturated with nitro
glycerine. Several substances have been
tried as aborbents of the glycerine, but
the most satisfactory is the kieseiguhr,
an infusorial earth, composed of the
silicious shells of extremely small veget
able organisms, and it is of this that
Nobel’s dynamite is made. It absorbs
about three times its weight of the gly
cerine, and resembles putty in appear
ance. Thus, a given quantity will con
tain 75 per cent, of the real exp’osive/and
its blasting power compared with pure
nitro-glyeerine is, of course, represented
by the same ratio. In order to explode
it, it is necessary to obtain the tempera
ture of 360 degrees Fahrenheit. It
freezes in the same way as glycerine, and
when in this state must be carefully
handled. Nitro-glyeerine has an ex
pansive force ten times that of an equal
weight of powder. It is highly danger
ous to place dynamite on or near tire
stoves, steam pipes or any highly heated
metal. Dynamite must never be put
into warm water to thaw it, as the water
would free the nitro-glyeerine, when it
is most dangerous. It ought always to
be put into a water-tight vessel, and then
have the vessel put into warm water.
It should never be exposed to the di ect
rays of a tropical sun. When loading it,
a wooden lod or squeezer should be used
to push home the cartridge, never a
metal one, and the charge should gently
and firmly be pushed down, and not
rammed or pounded.
Dynamite can be burnt with safety,
and simply fizzes up harmlessly. It ex
ercises its force in the direction of most
resistance. —lndian Engineer.
Misanthropic Wills.
The Vienna papers publish the will
of a half-pay Austrian officer, which has
created considerable amusement. He
leaves his fortune to his nephew, who
has a situation in the postoftice, on con
dition that he shall never, on any oc
casion, indulge in his favorite occupa
tion of reading newspapers. The old
gentleman institutes three persons his
trustees, whose duty it shall be to
watch his luckless heir, and. in case of
a single infringement of the will, dis
poses of his property to other members
of bis family. The said property con
sists of two houses, money in the funds
and a landed estate.
Another curious will story comes tc
hand from the sister capital—Berlin. A
poor citizen of the big town on the
Spree was recently left some 100,0(U!
marks. Thinking none of his friends
worthy of it, he at last determined to
leave it to a bitter enemy, who had
a large family and no money cxcep: his
daily earnings. He made his vill to
that effect; he made it a con ‘ion,
however, that the heir should ...ways
wear thin white linen clothes and no ex
tra underclothing. Should that con
dition be violated even once the money
goes to the hospitals.— Stephen's Eeeie.o
Marriage of Two Midgets.
A notable wedding occurred at Liver
more, Ky., some weeks ago. Mr. G. A.
Algood, of Owensboro, Ky., who is only
four feet in height, was married to Miss
Minnie Dewitt, of Livia, Kv., who is
several inches shorter in stature. Mr.
Algood is one of the substantial men ol
the county, and has been Assessor of
Davies County for twelve years past.
Miss Dewitt is twenty-three years of age
and is a beauty in miniature. Hei
many accomplishments have rendered
her a rare favorite in society, in which
she has filled a conspicuous place. A
grand reception has been given Mr. and
Mrs. Algood,