Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1891 — Page 4 Advertisements Column 2 [ADVERTISEMENT]

' - - • the gallows. This appears to have been done, and that barbaric relic is certain to disappear, except perhaps for executions ia lawless communities where the methods of Judge Lynoh prevail. Some of the writers who are boasting of their Southern blood will be string-halted by the following cutting remarks of the St. Louis Republic: “When journalists who write the Chicago dialect attempt to write Eentncky English, they will oonfer a great favor upon a suffering public by never making a Kentuoky Colonel say ‘sah’ for ‘sir.’ He never says ‘sah’ under any circumstances whatever. What he does say is ‘sur,’ or, if you like, ‘sih’ or ‘sub.’ As a matter of fact, no one ever pronounces the Tin ‘sir.’ The ‘i’ sonnd coalesces completely with the liquid ‘r’ to make a vowel sound for which there is no letter in the English alphabet.”

According to the St. Louis OlobeDemocrat a fiend in human guise has invented an eleotrioal alarm that will run for two hours after getting started unless its victim gets out of bed and turns it off. The old-fashioned alarm clock would run for five miuutes or so and then a man could turn over and go to sleep again. It allowed its owner to set it at nigbt and then to change his mind in the morning. But the new device is inexorable. The man who sets it must get up at the hour specified, unless he has previously died in his sleep. A well-known principle of ancient justice should be applied to its inventbr. He should be compelled to have one of his own clocks setting at his bedside every night, set for 4 o’clock in the morning.

Mb. John W. Bookw alter, of Springfield, Ohio, Owns about 60,000 acres of land in lowa and Nebraska, and he proposes to inaugurate a reform which will keep young people on the farm. Mr. Bookwalter spent his early life on a farm and believes that the principal cause of disoontent among farmers, young and old, is isolation and loneliness. He suggests that farm-houses be built iu small villages or settlements, not more than a third of a mile apart, with lands surrounding them and conveniently near for practical farming. The idea is not a new one. The farmers of Russia live in villages, but the plan ha 3 not obtained to any extent in this country where the farmer owns his land. Mr. Bookwalter has started such a plan iu Nebraska and he hopes to make the farmer’s life agreeable as well as profitable. His village in Nebraska will have a circulating library, a town hall, a school and a church or two. Mr. Bookwalter’s plan could be followed profitably by other farming communities.

The Universal Postal Congress which has closed its labors at Vienna, Austria, agreed upon a schedule of low and uniform rates of postage among nearly all nations. There have been three preceding congresses, the first session being held at Berne, Switzerland, in 1874, where the original was formed, and meetings have sinoe been held at Paris and Berlin. The last congress at Vienna contained 120 members, every civilized and semioivilized country with the exception of China being new represented in the postal union. The next congress will meet in Washington, D. C., in 1897. Under the operation of this international alliance the promptness and cheapness with which mail is dispatched to every country in the globe is one of the marvelous achievements of modern civilization. Previous to the organization of the union, there existed 1,200 different postal taxes, but these have been reduced to an insignificant number with uniform and moderate tariff. The countries adopting the postal union have a population of 915,000,000, or more than threefifths of the total inhabitants of the globe. An idea of the inorease of the postal business of the world Bince the adoption of the union schedule may be gathered from the fact that in 1871 the. total number of postal pieces carried was 3,300,000,000, while in 1888 il reached 14,760,000,000.

Whatever else may be said of the marriage of Mr. Parnell and Mrs. O’Shea, nee Wood, it was an honorable and courageous act, though the relations of the two were such that no other course remained open to a highminded man. She had sacrificed herself for him, and he has eacrificed much for her. As they were partners in distress, it is well for them to fa'ce the world together, and if there be any marital comfort left for them to share it together. Mrs. O’Shea stands infinitely higher than her late husband and comes of a better family, as socia standing is measured ia that country. At the time of their divorce it wa3 said that he had not lived with her on the

average a month in the year. The rest of his time he spent among the dissipations of the clubs and pursuing pleasure on the continent. Under such circumstances it was but natural that they should cease to have any respect for each other. They pulled apart, and when the divorce was obtained both were satisfied. The legal time has elapsed since the divorce, and both Mr. Parnell and herself being free, they married. Their previous relations have weakened Mr. Parnell’s position as leader to such an extent that it is doubtful if he can recover it, for offenses such as were against him are not easily oondoned. But so far a 3 his domestic relations are concerned gossip mast now bf closed and the whole matter dropped