Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1895 — NOTES AND COMMENTS. [ARTICLE]

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Is Argentina the preservation of meat by electricity is to be tried on a large scale by an English company that owns the patents. It will sot up six establishments in Buenos Ayres, Entre Rios, and Banda Oriental to kill 3,200 head of cattle a day. The Salvation Army now numbers among its officers the smallest man in the world. Gerrit Keyzer, the celebrated Dutch dwarf and the legitimate successor of Gen. Tom Thumb, may now be seen in Amsterdam and The Hague parading the streets in uniform and leading the army meetings, in which he is said to have been singularly successful. The best tea in Japan is raised in districts where the snow often falls to the eaves of the houses. Many plants will survive under such snow that are not hardy even in the Southern States. By the same rule some varieties of Japanese lilies will survive Vermont winters that are not hardy in Missouri. Paris has the greatest number of tailors, paperhangers, dressmakers, wigmakers, lawyers and authors; London has more hackdrivers, engi- { neers, printers, booksellers and cooks j than any other city; Amsterdam has ! most “cranks collecting anything” and userers of any city; Brussels isthe town of rogues and smoking children; Naples the town of “Lazzaronis;" Berlin of soldiers and beerdrinkers; Vienna of musicians; Florence of flower girls; Lisbon of porters; St. Petersburg of adventurers; Constantinople of idle officials. It is a significant sign of the times when a grandmotherly little old lady boasts of being a feminine nimrod. That is, however, what Mrs. Wallihan, of Colorado, a white-haired, gentle little woman, well past middle life, can claim to be. She is a deerslayer of renown. Thirty-two deer have fallen before her fire and she enjoys deer stalking with her husband as much as the ordinary whitehaired old lady enjoys sitting before the fire with her consort and reading the religious weekly. William Warren has brought suit to establish that he is the same William Warren who thirty-seven years ago made a deposit of SBSO in a San Francisco savings bank. It was only recently that Warren, being short of money, decided to draw against his old time deposit. The officials admitted the fact of the deposit, but would not admit Warren’s identity, and for that reason refused to pay. Warren now demands judgment for his SBSO, with accumulated interest. Principal and interest now amount to a snug little fortune of several thousand dollars.

It seems that Hawaii has some compensations for its doleful condition as it is reported that very fine qualities of teas and coffees can be raised there, and it is thought by experts that the islands will soon become an important source of supply. Both tea and coffee grow luxuriously, and both are being prepared for market by machinery insteud of by hand. The tea,is picked by machine and rolled and packed without being touched by hand. It is believed that the use of efficient machinery will compensate for the low wages paid in China and other tea eotintries. Extensivo drying houses have been erected by the coffee planters, and preparations are making for preparing a large crop for market this year. The main features of the Chicago World’s Fair are a mass of ruins The Transportation, Women’s, Fisheries and Horticultural buildings have been completely destroyed, and in their places the visitor finds many signs telling of “ Kindling Wood for Sale at $1 per Load.” The iron framework of the Machinery Building constitutes the most imposing ruin that remains standing, and in the meshes of the gigantic network of beams and braces the sparrows and orioles have built their nests. Another standing skeleton is the Government Building, never noted for any beauty of design, and now more ugly than ever. The Mining, and Administration buildings have so completely collapsed as to bear no sign of their original outlines, and it will be a relief to the eye when their wreckage is finally cleared away. In the entire park there are few beautiful spots left. Only the natural features of the lanascape, such as the wooded island and the lagoons, retain their former attractiveness “Cannot we have a cable penny post?” Mr. Henniker Heaton, Member of Parliament, asks and answers this fascinating question in the North American Review. He is the fatherof a resolution which stands on the Order Book of the British House of Commons declaring that it is advisable, at all costs, to put an immediate end to the cable monopolies and operate then/ hereafter as a Government enterprise for the general good, charging only such rates as are necessary for the cost of maintaining and extending the service. It is estimated that the total capital invested in the existing transatlantic cable companies is $60,000,000. Nominally there is competition between them, but actually there is none except between the AngloAmerican Telegraph Company and the Commercial Cable Company. The former company controls nine cables and the latter company three. There are three other cable lines in existence, but they have been abandoned. According to Mr. Heaton the cost of laying a transatlantic cable is about $2,500,000. The total cost of the twelve working cables and the three which have been abandoned was, therefore, about $37,500,000., Yet the capital of a single company is stated at $35,000,000, and the aggregate capital of the twelve at nearly double that sum. Mr. Heaton proposes that the British and American Governments shall jointly acquire the Droperty and rights of the existing cable companies at a fair valuation and establish a common State monopoly in cable communication. Thehhe would have them establish a tariff of one penny per word. He believes that the result would be a prodigious development of trade and an immense increase in the happiness of the great mass of the people of both countries. Quarles E. Schaffer, who has

just been elected President of the Altruria Co-operative Union, of Oakland, Cal., thus describes it: “This is the first union of the kind in the United States. Whether we will start a department store, a planingmill, a brickyard or laundry, or all, depends upon the amount of capital we have. While they would be very acceptable, we do not expect any •gifts from any one. You see, each member pays $1 a month dues, and when you have 500 members this amounts to a very neat sum. Here we have a co-operation without colonization, and that is going to make a great difference. I can see no reason why our scheme should not be eminently successful. Oakland Council, No. 3, of which/1 am the president, will be back of the Union to nurse it along. We expect to have these unions started in all the towns in the State before a great while. We propose to get things In running order here and then hold Oakland up as an example to the State, showing what can be done by co-operation without colonization. We want to establish manufactories, ranches, laundries, and the like. We want the money to remain among the wealth producers. The preamble to our constitution gives a few points on that idea. It says: ‘Corporate greed and vicious legislation have built up colossal fortunes for the few and a plutocratic power which practically disfranchises the wealth producers and threatens the very life of the nation. The time has come for the wealth producers to unite in one solid compact for their own protection and the salvation of the Kepublic. The subscribers unite and organize into an economic phalanx, to be known as the Altruria Co-operative Union, based upon justice, equity and fraternity.’ The preamble, it strikes mo, is right to the point.” A great deal of interest is being manifested in the preparations being made for the Cotton States and International Exposition which opens at Atlanta, Ga., in September next. The project is receiving the practical indorsement of the leading industrial interests throughout the country. New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, the throe great commonwealths which head the lists of manufacturing States, have already made provisions for exhibits, and will show the latest achievements in industrial arts. Several departments of the National Government are making arrangements for very interesting exhibits. The United States Geological Survey will make i.ts entire economic oxhibit at the Cotton States and International Exposition in the mining building. This exhibit) has been planned to include a statistical column showing the total product, of oach mineral in the South for a limited period of time. Another feature of the Government’s exhibit will be instruments for testing structural materials, and it is hoped that this machinery will be in daily operation. The South’s resources in road material will be similarly shown, and another feature will be a collection of typical ores from the regions, which can furnish the most characteristic specimens. The exhibit to be inado by the Department of State will be practically the same as at Chicago. This exhibit will be quite interesting, and will illustrate the principal period in our country’s history. The exhibit to be made by the War Department will includo many rare relics of Revolutionary times and of the early days of the Republic, All forms of army wagons, pack mules, ambulances, etc., many of them used on historic fields, will be shown. There will also be models of harbors and river work, and a complete field signal outfit, including field telegraphic and tolephonic instruments. The Art 'Department of the exposition promises to be the most notable one that has been shown in America. It will not be too large to be properly seen, and the variety of exhibits will possibly excel any exhibition that has yet been attempted.