Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 September 1881 — BITS OF INFORMATION. [ARTICLE]

BITS OF INFORMATION.

lowa beoamo a Territory June 12, 1838, with a population of 22,869, and a State Dec. 28, 1846, population 97,588. Anglo is a prefix meaning the same as F f ngh*h Whatever pertained to the Saxons who settled in England, or the •PngKah Saxons, is termed Anglo-Saxon. Cologne water was first so called in 1709, when an Italian citizen of Cologne, named Johann Maria Farina, prepared it. Since that time genuine ean de Cologne has been manufactured by the descerfflants of Farina. ' ' On the 6th of December, 1844, three ships, the England, the United States and the St. George, left Liverpool for New York. When six or seven days out a storm of great violence prevailed, and the two vessels first named were never heard of more. The origin of the British Parliament as it now exists is due to Simon de Montfort. A Parliament was ordered to meet in London on J an. 20, 1265, and for the first time the cities and towns were each required to send “ two decent, loyal and honest men,” and this was the foundation of the House of Commons. “ What salary is paid the cadets at West Point ? A friend says they get nothing, while I am of the opinion that they receive $750 a year. ” The pay of a cadet at West Point is SSOO per annum. and one ration per - diem—all amounting, in round numbers, to $6lO. Out of this sum each cadet pays for his board and clothing. Procrustes was the surname of Polypemon, or Damestes, a legendary robber of Attica, who had an iron bed upon which he placed all the travelers who fell ifito his hands. If they were longer than the bed, he cut enough from thenlimbs to niake them fit; if they were shorter, he stretched them out to the desired length. He was slain by Theseus on Mount Cephissus. The following list will show the latest United States internal-revenue tax on tobacco : Dealers in leaf, wholesale - 25.00 Dealers in leaf, retail 500.00 Dealers in leaf, for sales in excess of *I,OOO, per dollar of excess 05 Peddlers, traveling with more than two horseß, inul6 u cto ~.»#••••••••••••••••••••••• 50.00 Peddierß, traveling with two horses, mules or other ammais 25.00 Peddlers, traveling with one horse, mule or other animal 15.00 Peddlers, traveling on foot or in public conveyance. 10.00 Proteus, in Greek and Roman mythology, was a sea-god, subject to Neptune, whose flocks he tended. At midday he always arose from the flood and slept in the shadows of the rocks on the coast, and those who desired him to foretell the future were obliged to seize him at that time. He would assume various shapes to terrify or disgust, and thus drive away his questioner; but, when he found this subterfuge of no avail, he would yield to the demand. In regard to the cause of the Crimean war, we quote from “The Studet’s Hume” as follows : “The Russian Czars had long looked with a covetous eye on Constantinople, and had long waited for a favorable opportunity to seize it. Religion, soof ten the pretextof secular ambition, was made the ground of strife ; and an obscure quarrel of some Greek and Latin monks about the holy places of Palestine, with which the Turks had not meddled, served to excuse the attempt to appropriate an empire. The Emperor Nicholas demanded on this ground the control over all members of the Greek Church residing in the Turkish domimons-a demand naturally rejected by the Porte. In consequence of this refusal, Russian troops crossed the Pruth, in Italy, and took -possession eff the principalities of Wallacliia and Moldavia, but were defeated by Omar Pasha at the battle of Oltenitza. . Turkey claimed British aid on the faith of treats ies, and Napoleon 111. hoped to establish his new throne by cordially. uniting with Great Britain to repress the ambition of Russia. Austria and Prussia stood aloof.”