Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1894 — NOTES AND COMMENTS. [ARTICLE]

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Rudyarb Kipling told the St. James Gazette the other day that he lives on the borders ol “the great pie belt which extends through New-England and across Northern New York.” A movement has been begun to present a well-bound copy of the Bible in Japanese to each one of the 80,000 native physicians in Japan. It is proposed that these Bibles shall be given by the medical men of America and England. Under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, all persons in the acquired territory who were regarded as citizens of Mexico were considered to become citizens of the United States, and thus many people of many tribes in Mexico, Arizona and California are legally citizens. This is how a Kentucky Judge charged the jury the other day: “If you believe what the counsel for the plaintiff has told you, your verdict will be for the plaintiff; but if, on the other hand, you believe what the defendant’s counsel has told you, you will give a verdict for the defendant. But if you are like me, and don’t believe what either of them said, I* don’t know what you will do.” The jury disagreed. Recently an articie went the rounds of the papers to the effect that children and uneducated workingmen do not use more than five or six hundred words in communicating with their fellows. An intelligent lady who had a bright child of seven determined to test the truth of this by writing down the different words used by the child in one month, and she proved that the statement was wrong, by exhibiting nearly eleven hundred words which the child had used, and used understanding^.

There are more working days in the year of the American workman than of any other save the Hungarian. The latter works 812 days in the year, and thus has almost no holiday save Sunday, The number of working days in the American year is 808. This is the same as the Dutch; it is 30 days more than the English, 41 days more than the Russian, and from 6 to 18 days more than the working year of any other European country. It is noteworthy that even newly arrived immigrants keep American holidays. The foreign population in Japan according to the “Revue Francaise du Japon,” amounted on December 81, 1898, to 9,080 persons, of whom 6,780 were males and 2,800 females. They belonged to the following nationalities: China, 5,540; England,l,46o; United States, 700; Germany, 415; France, 850; Portugal, 150; Holland, 80; Russia, 70; Switzerland, 70; Denmark, 55; Austria, 45; Italy, 40; divers, 55. Ab it is seen, the Chinese element is the most considerable ; and still the anti-foreign party which has caused recently two dissolutions of the Chambers in Japan never mentions the Chinese in its attacks, which are reserved exclusively to foreign residents of European origin. Farmer Schuette, of Chester, 111., who recently took unto himself a charming wife, thought he could not afford to lose a Utter of fine pigs, whose mother died and left them helpless orphans, so the two young economists constructed a pig-feeder—a trough with ten holes in it, one for each little grunter, and bottles with nipples attached, to fit, nipple down, through the openings. It required but little coaxing to teach the piggies where and how to obtain their lacteal nourishment almost as naturally as before the demise of their maternal parent. It is quite an amusing sight to watch the porcine babies when feeding time comes fighting over the choice of position, and grunting with satisfaction when their sides puff out as they imbibe their dinner.

People who object to a multiplicity of departments in the Government should be thankful that they do not live in New Zealand, where in addition to the usual State divisions there is the Rabbit Department, which is the most important of the lot. It has the organization and equipment of forces and the planning of campaigns against the rabbits, which, if not kept under control, would overrun and devastate the south island. The need of this department is shown by the fact that in the last five years about 64,000,000 rabbit skins have been exported, and it is estimated that nearly 800,000,000 animals were killed to obtain that number of salable skins. In spits of this wholesale slaughter the number of bunnies is constantly increasing, and the, handling of the enojmous multitude of animals is an undertaking requiring both judgment and force. T#e French capital has just had a nine days’ Culinary Exposition, which was very largely attended, and is regarded as a success by its promoters. America has already had a number of food expositions, but they have differed widely from that held in Paris. Cooked foods were a specialty in the exhibition at the Palais de [’lndustrie, and visitors had an opportunity of witnessing the preparation by skilled cook-s of dishes* from the roast beef of old England to the .most delicate of French desserts. The raw material and the cooking were, of course, the principal features of this unique fair, but the decorative part was not forgotten. The proper way to serve food and the art of table garniture were illustrated with rare skill. Cooking appliances were an important feature of the Cullpary Exposition. It took the conceit out of American visitors who prid* themselves on the mechanical ingeyuity of their countrymen, to see that in kitchen appliances the French not only lead, but are away out td sight to the front. Living alone in his comfortable little home at North Fairfield, Huron Coupty, Ohio, is James Williams, the last living member of the once powerful Wyandotte tribe of Indians. He is about ninety years old, but is still able to do a good day’s work and is highly esteemed by his neighbors. When “Uncle Jim,” as he is called, was a child the Wyandotte tribe numbered 700, owning and operating farms on the upper Sandusky. They were a peaceful and industrious tribe,

f their habits being good as a rule. Next to them in strength were the Delawares, who lived near the Wyandottes, the Senacas and Ottawas following. Not long ago “Uncle Jim” j made a large bow, which he uses with I ease and accuracy, showing what a | dangerous weapon it must have been in the hands of the savages of old. Williams, so far as known, is the only living being who can fluently speak the language of the Wyandottes. Some of his reminiscences are fuUy corroborated in local and other historical works. Williams draws a pension on account of the death of his son, who fell in the civil war. Western Kansas is being steadily drained of its population of farmers. In 1888 twenty-two counties contained 102,669 people, and to-day the total is only 54,668. The exodus has been caused by the settlers’ failure to raise their crops on their arid plains. The hope of those who have remained is in irrigation. At the present time they are investing in windmills, and hundreds of these machines will be set to work thi9 summer wherever there are signs of water beneath the surface of the prairie. The furnace-like winds which hitherto have parched the farmer’s wheat will then do him service as an agency in irrigating his lands. The agriculturist has not been the only loser, however. All along the branch lines of the SanteFe, Missouri Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads are decayed towns that once were full of promise and even aspired to greatness. In the boom times many brick buildings ivere put up and wide avenues were laid out. Some of the buildings have never had a tenant, and others were soon abandoned. On the wide streets there is no traffic worth the name.

Electrical cars that run on rails are not at all novel in America; but we have no cars in use that run on ordinary roads, propelled by electricity. Such carriages are getting to be quite common in England, where they are known as “Pickford vans.’’ In outward appearance these vans look very much like old style omnibusses, exthat there are no horses. The drivers are expert in managing them, and even on crowded streets they can wind in and out among a tangle of other vehicles as speedily and safely as if drawn by quiet horses. The storage batteries which furnish the power for drawing the cars are suspended beneath the body of the vehicle, and when they are exhausted a new set may be substituted in a few minutes. The van is lighted by electricity, and in the winter season it can be heated by the same means. The speed is controlled by a switch, and when going at the rate of ten or more miles an hour it can be brought to a stop in less time and a shorter distance than if drawn by horses. The driver’s left hand holds the switch, and in his right hand is the steering apparatus, the latter enabling him to make short turns and go in any direction he chooses. The cost of running one of these electrical vans, with a' power equal to two horses, is about four cents a mile, and the batteries have sufficient power to continue from thirty to forty miles without recharging.

The wild camel in the Arizona desert, supposed to be the survival of an army experiment, has been written about a good deal, and there seems to be strong foundation for the report that these beasts are occasionally seen, like ghosts, on the line of the horizon. The story that a small flock of ostriches are running wild in the Mojave desert, in Southern California, has an air of greater probability, for several experiments in domesticating the South African bird have been made on the Pacific coast, and are still being tried. The wild birds were originally imported and placed in a corral by an enterprising breeder, who did not take the precaution to build his fences high enough. One morning the ostriches stampeded, jumping the fence, and were never again rounded up. Mexicans lassoed some of them, pursuing on horseback, but to this day others are at large and ranging the desert. Speaking of ostrich farming in California, it is said that it is not likely to prove profitable. Only the wing and tail feathers are of commercial value, the best bringing about SIOO per pound. Each bird furnishes from half a pound to a pound and a half of feathers yearly. When the risk of losing birds by sickness and accident is reckoned, the margin of profit is found to be rather slender. Two men, who had been out hunting in the mountains-of Southern California, returned to their camp one evening, when they were attracted by the fierce barking of their dog, who had scared a panther into a tree. Each hunter had four shots left. One succeeded in breaking the panther’s leg, but failed to bring him to the ground; the other then fired all his ammunition without doing serious damage to the fierce creature in the tree. As the animal was still strong and defiant, and the hunters did not like the idea of being beaten, they held a consultation. They made a running noose in a lariat, or long rope, and one of them climbed the tree next to that in which the panther found refuge f by means of a pole he had taken up with him, he tried to slip the noose over the creature’s head. But at every attempt the panther knocked the pole aside with his paws. Suddenly the man saw another chance, and slipped the noose ovey the animal’s brpken leg, pulling it tight. This done, he climbed down the tree, and with the help of his companion began to pull on the rope. Presently down came the panther. For a few minutes there was a cyclone of panther, dog, men and clubs. When the contest ended, it was discovered that the men and dog were badly wounded and the panther was dead.