Newspaper Page Text
A wealthy Frenchman who has a hatred*
of sharks has been cruisiug in a steam
vessel for a year passed and killed over
.3,000 of the monsters. When he began
work in the harbor of Havana the au
thorities warned him off.
The Sioux Reservation, one-half of
which it is proposed to open up to set
tiers, contains an area of 87,000 square
miles. That is to say, it is larger than
the State of Kentucky, and only a few
square miles smaller than the State of
Indiana.
During'the last famine in China it re
quired fifteen days to transport relief to
the people over a distance of 200 miles.
Contrast with that the fact that at the
time of the big (hicago fire in 1871, a
relief train from New York traveled
1,500 miles in 21 hours.
There is a considerable increase in the
force of Protestaut missionaries in Mex
ico. The results thus far are anything
but discouraging. With only about a
hundred ordained missionaries upward
of 350 congregations have been organ
ized, with 18,000 church members and
35,000 adherents.
The Queen of Madagascar recently at
tended the opening services of two
Christian churches at Ambokimanaga.
In fourteen years 700 Protestant chapels
have been built in Madagascar, making
the number now 1,200. There are 8,00 >
Protestant communicants and all the
churchcsare self supporting.
A little girl of Met/, Alsace, 11 year
old, named Louise Fuchs, has been con
demned to eigl t days’ imprisonment foi
having insulted the Emperor of Ger
many. The insull consisted in writing a
private letter to one of her little friends,
in which there was something disrespect
ful to his majesty. Such sentences are
said to be quite common in Alsace-Lor
raine.
It has been calculate and that the quan
tity of beer brewed yearly in the under
mentioned countries is about as iollows:
Great Britain, 1.050,000,000 gallons;
Germany, 100,000,000; Austria, 270,000,-
000; Belgium, 180,000,000; France, 150,-
000,000; Russia, 50,000,000; Ilolhnc,
33,000,000; Eemnark, 30,000,000; Swe
den, 30,000,000; Switzerland, 17,000,-
000; Norway, 10,500,000.
Frederick Ellison, who was appointed
Consul to the Island of St. Helena by
President Cleveland, lias handed in his
resignation of the position, and returned
to his home in Indianapolis, Ind. lit
says that St. Helena is so dismal that lit
wonders that Napoleon survived so long
as he did his exile on that dreary rock.
Mr. Ellison landed on the island at night.
Had he reached it in the daytime he
says lie would never have gone ashore.
A recent lecture givcu at the National
Museum at Washington, by I'ernow,
undertakes to show the need of forest
protection and forest culture for tho
fourfold reason: (1 > Forests furnish
our material in the industries; (2) they
are regulators af climatic conditions; (3)
they are regulators of hydrologic condi
tions influencing the wateriiow ir
springs, brooks and rivers; (4) they are
regulators of soil conditions.
A Government agent traveling in
Alaska says that the American citizens
in some portions of that country still
pray for the Emperor of Russia. In one
town only one man was found who
knew the name of an American city, and
that was San Francisco. The repoit
says: “After laboring with them one
was found who had somehow heard
™£rago. Boston, New Y'ork, Phila-
Hiad Washington were unknown
At the close of the war there were
only forty-eight miles of railroad in the
State of Arkansas. In 1874 there were
only about 700 miles. Now, there are
near 2,000 miles, and as many more miles
projected on the different lines, which
will be built ere long, some of
which aro in course of construction.
Soon our State, says the Arkansas
Traveler , will be checkered by these
pioneers and indispensable adjuncts of
civilization.
This is a great country, remarks the
New York Sun. A photograph taken in
Los Angeles, Cal., of the servants of an
American lady living there shows six
persons. On a wheelbarrow, trying hard
to keep from giggling, are two pretty
maids, one Welsh, the other Scotch.
Behind them stand the colored cook, in
cap and apron; the Mexican gardener,
the English groom, and the Chinese
waiter man.- The mistress calls the
gathering a “Congress of Nations.”
The efficiency of oil, when dropped
upon the water to calm boisterous waves
may now be regarded as established. It
is astonishing how small a quantity of
oil will answer the purpose. Admiral
Clone gives the amount as from two to
three quarts an hour dropped from per
forated bags hanging over the sides ol
the ship in positions varying with the
wind. The oil, then, by its own out
spreading, extending over the waves,
forms a film of less than a two and a hall
millionth part of an inch in thickness:
and this is enough to reduce hi caking
waves and dangerous “rollers” to un
broken undulations that are practically
harmless. The oils that have been found
most effective are seal, porpoise, and fish
oils. Mineral oils, such as are used foi
illumination, are too light; but the lu
bricating oils are denser, end may be
found sufficient.
The Cagots.
Under ihe name of Cagots there live in
the Pyrenees and the old Aquitanian re
gions both sides of them—in the S| anish
Upper aud the French Lower Navarre,
in Bearn, Gascony, Gnicnne and Lower
Poitou —a peculiar race who have been
much talked about and attracted the at
tention of the peoples about them from
very ancient times. Formerly the Cagots
(whose name linguists derive from canis
Gothicus, Gothic dog; were confounded
with Crgtins. The association was a
mistaken one for the Cagots, with their
large, muscular form. * shapely skull,
prominent nose,strongly marked features,
blue eyes and smooth, blonde hair, are
decidedly different from the weak
minded, deformed and goitrous class;
and their physical appearance, in fact,
goes to sustain the etymology of their
name that we have mentioned, and to
indicate a possible derivation from the
Aryan Goths. The type of which we
speak also corresponds fully with the
iace relatives of the Cagots living out
side of the Pyrenees, who are variously
called according to the place, Cahets,
Caqueux, Caquins, Cocoas, Collibrets,
etc., and are spread to Lower Poitou, in
Brittany and Marne, and far down into
tpain.
The race of the Cagots was for hun
dreds of years superstitiorsly avoided by
the other inhabitants of the country,
despised, persecuted, repelled, treated as
if abandoned and outcast and restricted
iu all legal and social rights. Dark
superstition and the prejudice of earlier
times attributed to them a constant
leprosy; they were supposed to have a
peculiar repulsive exhalation, to be desti
tute of earlaps, to he color blind, to sec
in the night like cats and owls and were
accused of pretended, likewise disgrace
ful, offenses. They were treated as feeble
beings, afflicted with contagious disease
and moral impurities, who should not be
touched and with whom as little busi
ness intercourse should be had as pos
sible. Down to the seventeenth century
they were thus treated. If they lived in the
towns they were confined to a particular
quarter in which the other citizens rarely
came; if they came out of their quarter
they were obliged to wear a piece of red
cloth on some conspicuous part of their
dress, so jfliat might, recognize
them nthijlllllk’ away
alar Sjfi. ; , Z \ldldjf~ * - U" ; ,
PEASANTS.
A GRAPHIC PICTURE OF STOLID
SUBMISSION TO FATE.
A Country With Gorgeous Churches
but Bereft of Schools -Distress
anti Degradat ion—Prompt
ues in Paying Taxes.
There is a very strong contrast between
the appearance of things on the two sides
of the boundary between Germany and
Russia—as much as between the rural
districts of Massachusetts and Missis
sippi, says a correspondent of the Chi
cago New*. On the German side the
landscape is dotted with beautiful, cosey
homes, with every evidence of prosperity
and thrift, with well cultivated fields,
vine-clad stables, neat-looking kine,
hedges tastefully trimmed, and patches
of while in the town and villages
are handsome railway stations, tempting
cafes, large factories, handsome school
houses, and every symbol of a higher
civilization and prosperity. On the east
side of the line there are none of these,
and the change takes place instantly.
Thrift and comfort are replaced by dis
tress and degradation. The fields are
uncultivated, except m patches here and
there —spots where it was the easiest to
plow—the cattle are lean and hungry,
the homes of the people are log or mud
huts, and there is not u schoolliouse to
be seen from the boundary line to the
capital
There are churches enough, however,
for in every collection of cabhis rises a
splendid temple with a gilded dome and
spire, sheltering a mass of precious vest
ments, candlesticks and altar plate of
solid silver, and usually an altar of
malachite, lapis-lazuli, or some other
precious stone. One always finds, in the
most poverty-stricken and desolate vil
lages, icons, as the images of the Saviour
arc called, covered with shields of gold,
and ornamented with all sorts of jewels.
The vestments of the priests cost more
than all the rest of the clothing in the
village,’and the contributions for the
support of the church are usually equal
to, if they arc not greater than a third
of the combined incomes of the people.
Of the scanty earnings of the moujik
one-third goes to the church and another
third to the crown, and both exactions
&re paid without the slightest resistance.
The moujik is only glad’that the priest
and the tax gatherer do not take it all.
Centuries of oppression have left their
stamp indellibly upon the character of
the people.
The most striking characteristics of
the Russian peasant are sadness ana
submission and the desire for strong
drink. A Russian seems to be truly
happy—l am speaking of the lowest
class—only under two conditions. One
when lie is drunk on vodka, the corn
brandy, and the other when he is saying
his prayers before his favorite saint.
To him the interior of the church,
gilded from floor to dome, decorated
with icons that are covered with sheets
of pure go'd, is a representation of the
heaven the priests teach him is awaiting
those who say their prayers, fast on fast
days, and obey the Czar. He is always
loyal to the church and to the State.
The peasant is never a nihilist, never an
atheist, but pays his taxes and his tithes
without murmuring, and expects no
more than his father got, which was
nothing. The only recompense he has
is to creep into some gaudy chapel, bow
his head to the fioor in front of the icon ;
of his favorite saint, and let his dull and j
listless mind enjoy the visions of para-I
dise that tioat over it. The church, with j
its marble pillars, the vestments of gold i
brocade, and the gold-incrusted pictures, !
makes the most beautiful spectacle his
foggy imagination can conceive of, and
to live in such a place always, like the
effigies he sees there, is heaven enough
for him.
There is said to be no instance in j
which a peasaut ever refused to pay his 1
taxes. Once a year the collector jmteis
the village, taps the window and calls
“Kaza 1” Then the man or woman of the
house comes out with the money, which j
is always ready, tos es it into the bag of j
the collector,.who does not count it, be- j
cause he knows it is all the moujik has i
got. When night comes the collector j
enters the best house in the village,J
hangs his money-bag under tho imagjfl
of the Saviour, and carouses or sledfl
till morning, being perfectly confidaß
that his money will not be disturlffl
because of the veneration ior the <S
whom he represents, and thagdi
■'-n-pder which the treasure.isniwj
those who have not investigated tho
subject. The ordinary traveler only
sees their little gardens, where- are
grown a scanty allowance of potatoes,
corn, turnips and cabbage. They eat
when they are hungry, generally cab
bage soup, always simmering on the fire,
are drunk as often as they can get vodka,
and when night comes curl up some
where on the floor in a warm place like
a kitten or a caterpillar. In the cabins
one seldom finds a bed or a table or a
chair, and very few dishes. They have
no comforts whatever, not even what we
consider the necessaries of life—the
church takes the place of them all.
The Only Female Mayor.
“Female Mayors are no good,” said
the ex-City Marshal of Argonia, Kan.
' “Why, Mrs. Salter has just killed Argo
nia. I used to have a hotel there and
was City Marshal, but I couldn’t stand
it, so I just scooted, and I expect I'm to
blame for her election, too.
“You know she wasn’t nominated in
any of the conventions. About 0 o’clock
on ’lection day all us boys were feeling
gay and agreed to meet at a hall and
nominated a candidate to knock out
Wilson. .Tack Ducker —he is the tough
est man in the place and the undertaker—
got up in the meetin’ and nominated Mrs.
Susanna Medora Salter for Mayor, and
the nomination was made unanimous.
"We rushed into the streets and com
menced to work for our candidate. At
noon her husband came to us and begged
us to quit the racket, sayin’ it was an in
sult to his wife. We wouldn’t do it, and
the voters commenced to come our way
in clusters. We got full of whisky and
enthusiasm, and at 4 o’clock every one
was votin’ for our candidate. Well, you
know as how she was elected. We had
a jollification, and when she took hef
seat like a man all our fun was busted.
“I sent up to Kansas City for some
crab apple cider just to please the boys.
She heard of it and asked me to stop it.
You can’t light a woman and she the
Mayor. Then 1 started a little poker
room, more for sociability than anything
else. Chips were only 10 cents. She
heard of it and came to me and I had to
stop. Then the druggist, before she
was elected, used to keep blue grass bit
ters, lemon rye aud extract of malt, and
a few other things like that. He don’t
do it now. The Mayor heard of it.
Then two billiard rooms were running.
They’re closed up now. The Mayq
don’t think it is fashionable to push* tfy
ivories. That’s the way it is with everw
thing. I just couldn’t stand the towl
and so I came up here.” . I
“She’s the only woman Mayor on v
earth, is she not?”
“That’s just what she is. You ought
to see the letters she gets, foreign letters i
and the like, askin’ for her autograph,]
and askin’ her if it is true that she is thei
Mayor, aud all questions like tliat.4
When I was Marshal I used to act under
her, and many’s the letter she has shown
me from abroad.” —lndianapolis Journal.
Benner’s Prophecies for 188^
Samuel Benner, an Ohio farmer, who
has gained considerable notoriety
through the newspapers for his predic
tions of future events, and who a few
years ago published a small volume on
the ups and downs of prices, which had
a great sale, has now communicated to
the Real Estate Journal , of New York
City, his prophecies for the year 1888, in
which he says :
“This year, 1888, being the closing
year in this cycle of low prices—seven
years from 1881 —is the golden oppor
tunity to commence the foundation for a
business. If there is any benefit tagbe
derived from a knowledge of
in trade, it will be in takiug advinH
of them.
“Young men who are about to v
mcnce their business career should
brace their present opportunity. The®
are few of these characters in an orclli
nary life. It requires about ten years
complete an up and down in
trade.
“When the depression fcfl
commerced crises reach their J
limit, theseJg
cycli-s, t
for in*r
tivcJS
! r
1/