Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1895 — Page 3

FARM AND GARDEN.

BRIEF HINTS AS TO THEIR SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT. Husking Cora Economically of Labor —New Variety of Game Fowls—The Northern Spy a Good Bearing Apple —General Farm Prospects. Birchen Game Fowls. At tlie last revision of the American •Standard of Perfection there was recognised a new variety of Games, under the name of Birchen. This variety, though new to the Standard, is by no means new in fact, for it has existed for many years, but has been but little bred. In the past few years interest lias been revived or created in it in England, and has been awakened in this country. Birchens were produced originally by a cross of the Silver Duckwing and the Brown Ited, the Duckwing being used to effect the change in the color of the hackle and outer lacing. This cross, however, usually gives more lacing than is required or desired, and a return to the Brown Bed is made to get rid of the extra lacing. It is by no means an easy thing to produce a new variety, and though every step should be indicated, the patience necessary for the undertaking could not be supplied to the experimenter. He must furnish that very important element himself. Ordinarily, except to the one who likes

TYPICAL BIRCHEN GAMES.

this kind of work, it does not pay to attempt to produce a new variety. It is quicker and cheaper to purchase it already made. But there are always some minds which delight in the manipulation of old varieties for the sake of producing new, and to them we owe the new combinations in color or figure which delight the eye. Game fowls—especially games—are not generally included in the list of practical fowls, but they are really very good layers of most excellent eggs, and are, despite their long shanks, most excellent fowls for the table. Their bodies are plump and meaty and the flesh is exceedingly fine in grain and delicious in flavor. Exhibition games are better practical fowls than they are given credit for, and the Birchen is one of the most useful. The Back Yard. The intelligent man inspects his sinks, drains and cess-pools, and makes sure that they are in good order for winter. Whatever material Is used for drains, says A Healthy Home, the necessity of flushing the pipes with some good disinfectant solution at frequent intervals remains the same. Once or twice a week is none too often in hot weather. Gopiteras is a good disinfectant for ordinary use, and has the advantage of being cheap. Dissolve in the proportion of one-half a pound to a gallon of water, and use very freely. Plug the outlet. and pour enough Into the sink to fill the pipe Its full length. Use the solution as near the boiling point as convenient. for the reason that a hot fluid is far more penetrating than a cold one; also, because a hot solution acts as a solvent of whatever waste particles may have lodged at various points. Dishwater usually contains more or less grease, and this will be melted and washed out If the disinfectant is pouted in hot. The Northern Spy Apple. Frequently, out of a number of varieties of apples in an orchard, only one or two will bear, all the others failing to produce a crop. The Northern Spy is said by Meehan’s Monthly to be one of the apples that will frequently bear when all the others fail. This is probably owing to its blooming later than the others, so that the flowers get the full benefit of its pollen. The Northern Spy is also a favorite, from the fact that It usually bears an abundant crop; that is, after it once commences to bear; but the trees seldom bear when young, and the orchardist frequently has to wait several years for a crop, when other varieties have been for some time in bearing. The Most Beautiful Fern. The beautiful Adiantuin Farleyense, the delight and despair of most home growers, requires three things—heat and moisture, shade and root. room. Never let a plant get pot-bound, says Edgar Sanders in the Philadelphia Ledger, but keep on repotting, keeping the plant within bounds by using old stools for propagation when the plants are oversized. To do this, cut into jis many pieces as there are eyes, cut the foliage off and put into the potting material; soon there will be a young plant to show for It. Water the earth in which the plant is and keep the pot moist, but do not water the fronds. Farm Prospects, Three things are constantly tending to decrease the legitimate profits of agriculture, and that they are likely to continue to do so for a long time to come, says the Michigan Farmer. These are an increased area devoted to production, increased competition in all departments, and the increased fatalities for production afforded by machinery. And to these might be added a fourth, the wonderful facilities for transportation that enabled the products of the cheapest labor to compete with those of the dearest in the markets of the world. Treatment of Ashes. One of our exchanges gives a mode o' treating wood ashes, which nas the advantage of convenience, In connection with ground bone. The mixing is performed on a good solid barn floor. The first layer is of finely pulverized soil about two inches thick, which is then moistened with a sprinkler. On this is then placed two Inches of ground bone,

which is also moistened; and then two inches of unleached wood ashes, moistened. The succession of layers is then continued until the mass is two or three feet high. The fermentation which follows repels the moisture in about two weeks, when the whole is overhauled, worked over and all the lumps pulverized with a hand hoe. It is then ready for applying to crops, on such soils as are benefited by bone and ashes. It may be used at the rate of six or eight hundred pounds to the acre, whether broadcast or in hills. Farm Water Supply. Running streams and springs are the best sources of water supply, hut they should be frequently examined to detect otherwise unsuspected causes of pollution, those most frequently coming from factories, slaughter-houses and the sewage from hotels and farmhouses. Especially, says the New York Tribune, should one see to it that all forms of human excreta are kept from polluting drinking water. Cisterns should be carefully built and covered, so that no foul air can reach the water, or small animals or insects fall into it. The overflow pipes from cisterns should have no connection with any other pipes. Roofs and gutters should be frequently examined, and no water allowed to enter the cistern during storms until they are well cleaned. Cistern water should be frequently examined and kept free from color, odor and every other indication of Impurity. Rainwater is purest when collected from a slate roof. The cistern should not be under the house, and should be cleaned at regular intervals. Granular Butter. Draw off the buttermilk, and with a dipper pour a pall of cold water over the butter, letting it run through it and out of the churn. This hardens the granules of butter and prevents their massing together. Next, advises the Wisconsin Dairyman, cover the butter with cold water, and move the churn back and forth a few times, draw off the water and repeat until the water runs from the churn clear. At this stage it is recommended and practiced by many to cover the butter with a strong brine (which can be kept for this purpose, and repeatedly used by occasional scalding to keep pure), which hardens the grains, and more perfectly liberates the buttermilk, giving the butter a brighter appearance. Corn Husking Device. lii the illustrated device for husking corn, f represents the rear end of an ordinary wagon box; a a are 2x4 in pine sticks 5 or 6 feet long, rouqded at the ends and extended into the,wagon box 2 feet from the end. The gate is bolted to the sides, up edgewise, so that the whole will tip clear forward and lie in the bottom of the bok toward its front end; b Is a step and brace. A man doing his own work can blanket his team, drive along the shock row, fling enough cornstalks upon the frame a a, husk it, throwing the corn Into the wagon bed, tie the bundle, step on b, walk to front end of wagon box, place it crosswise and continue the husking until loaded. When starting home, raise the frame and put in the end

HUSKING CORN CHEAPLY DONE.

gate which keeps fodder from rolling off in the rear. Returning to the field, turn the step b forward and use the Inverted end for a seat.—Farm and Home. Subsoil Plowing. Where there is a hard, dry subsoil, snbsoil plowing is to be recommended. Where the subsoil is loose, gravelly or sandy, subsoiling is probably unnecessary, or may even be injurious. Do not subsoil when the soil is very wet, either above or beneath, as there is great danger of puddling the soil, thus leaving It in worse condition than before. This Is one of the reasons why it is better to subsoil iu the fall than in the spring. If the ground be subsoiled in the fall the winter and spring rains have ample opportunity to soak in, that being the season of greatest rainfall and least evaporation. Watering Hens. I winter 200 hens; they are kept in warm' but ventilated houses, and do well. For the morning meal, says the Agriculturist, I feed hot corn and a pudding made of cornmeal, seasoned with salt and pepper. They have plenty of straw, all kinds of small grain, which they must scratch for, and all the fresh water they can drink. My hens are fat in winter, and I keep theifi so and have eggs in plenty at the same time. I keep the lice from interfering with my business by using Carbolineum Avenarius. It also prevents disease. For the Red Spider. Bisulphide of carbon Dr. Bailey recommends for the mite and the red spider. It is a clear, transparent Rflfijijl, evaporating rapidly. Its fumes are fatal to insect and animal life. The plants to be treated must be in a small space. An uncorked bottle of this hung above the infected plants in a tight box just large enough to contain them will kil : all animal life. Increase the Yield of Your Cows, If you can raise the average yield per cow, only 100 quarts per year for the next ten years, you will be well on the way to success as a milk farmer. The way to do it without expense is to breed the best cows to a bull of milkproducing pedigree, raise the best heifer calves and sell off a few of the poorest cows each year. Feed the Orchard. The better we feed the tree so much the better will be the return. What that feed shall be is for each one to decide. With me I’ll pin my faith on barn manures helped out by bone and potash. We are tilling our young orchard. In the small pasture places where there are older trees the hog is doing good work. Mddium-Sized Cows Beet. Some of those big milkers are not so profitable as the cows of moderate size, which give a moderate amount of rich milk and keep it up nearly the whole year. Big, coarse cows are tremendous eaters.

VICIOUS INFLUENCE.

“ PROTECTION" A OONSERVATOR &F CORRUPTION. Blunts the Public Conscience and Makes of Politics a Mercenary Scramble—Mr. Lubin’e Challenge A Study in Wool—The Iron Trade. Ambassador Bayard on Protection. The Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, eX-Sec-retary of State, and now ambassador to Great Britain, delivered an address before the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh on Nov. 7. After an earnest protest against all forms of paternalism and state socialism he said: “In my own country I have witnessed the insatiable growth of that form of state socialism styled protection, which, I believe, has done more to foster class legislation and create inequality of fortune, corrupt public life, banish men ot independent mind and character from public councils, blunt public conscience and place polities upon the low level of a mercenary scramble than any other single cause. Step by step, and largely owing to the confusion of civil strife, it has succeeded iu obtaiuiug control of the sovereign power of taxation, creating the revenue into an engine for selfish and private profit (its allied beneficiaries and combines are called trusts), and gradually the commercial marine of the United States has disappeared, the few vessels lately built being an exception and proving the rule, as they were only built by making a breach in the general tariff and navigation laws.” No clearer statement of the evil effects of protection has ever been given. The loss to the material interests of the country which was due to the high tariff system, was but a secondary result. The most important and far-reaching Injury was the degradation of national statesmanship into a cunning balancing of the claims of privileged interests. The money lost through protection amounts to billions of dollars. But who can calculate the effects on private character of the establishment as a principle of public life of the doctrine that governments may justly take away the property of the people and bestow It on a favored few? Is It any wonder that the business man who In 1888 raised tb«t largest fund for corruption purposes should have been rewarded by President Harrison with a seat in the cabinet? Were not those funds contributed by men who wished to purchase government favors for themselves? By cleverly appealing to the selfishness of the various protected interests the advocates of a high tariff policy succeeded for a long time in holding oflice. If after the experience of the beneficial results of a low tariff on trade and industry the country should again elect a protectionist administration, it would be the strongest evidence of the lack of public conscience caused by the unjust and dishonest protective system.

Combination in the Soft Coal Trade. With the approach of cold weather comes the announcement that practically all the bituminous coal operators of central and western Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia have completed arrangements for the joint control of production and prices. It Is stated that the combination will be able to maintain or Increase prices by preventing the competition which has hitherto existed. When a Democratic House of Representatives put coal on the free list the Republican apologists for protection denied that the effect of the McKinley duty of 75 cents per ton was to increase the cost of soft coal to the consumer. So the Republican Senators, with the aid ot a few protection Democrats, put a duty on coal of 40 cents per ton. Had foreign coal been made duty free Its importation would have been confined to the New England States and the Pacific coast. But its effects would have been felt in practically the whole soft coal markets of the country, since with tlie possibility of cheaper coal from Canada, the domestic operators would not have been able to raise prices through their combination. Owing to the immense deposits coal can be mined more cheaply iu the United States than in any other country. But so long as protection is continued the coal pool will continue to charge high prices and pocket big. profits.! l The Republicans who are agitating for a restoration of the McKinley tariff know that with higher duties the coal trust will be strengthened. Do the American consumers want to pay higher prices for their coal? ‘•Wool Is Higher, and So la Labor.” “Bradstreet’s” of Nov. G has au editorial on the “Improved Woolen Goods Situation,” which reads quite differently from the editorials in Republican organs. It says that within the past week salesmen have been out with samples of heavy weight woolens for next fall’s delivery, and that “if samples continue to take as well for a few weeks as they have during the first, manufacturers will be well employed getting out orders, and wool dealers will have to dispose of a good deal of wool to manufacturers.” It says that slight advances in prices are asked for next year because “goods are costing more to produce. Wool is higher, and so is labor.” It says that “most of the manufacturers, too, have made up their minds that wool is as low as it will be for some time.” It declares that “the markets for carpet wools everywhere are very strong,” and concludes that “taken all in ail, the outlook for wool and woolens is encouraging.” Prices of wool now differ but little from McKinley prices of July, 1894; some grades are lower, some higher. 4 slight advance will put them above what they were when they had the advantage of GO or 70 per cent protection. Such talk as this from the leading commercial journal of the country must be wormwood and gall to the editors of G. O. P. McKinley organs. The Challenge iu x rotuctionists. Mr. David Lubin, of Sacramento, Cal., has had on deposit in a San Francisco bank for nearly a year a check for SI,OOO. This amount is Offered as a contribution to the Protective Tariff League, provided that an impartial committee of five would decide that the present system of tariff protection is Just and equitable to the producers of agricultural staples as long as there

Is a surplus of these exports. So far the League has not attempted to win the thousand dollars. As the Republicans will appeal to the farmeoa next year on a high-tariff platform, It is certainly incumbent on them to accept Mr. Lubln’s challenge and try to prove that protection is just to the farmers. It is an encouraging sign to find that the Democratic campaign of education has had the effect of showing many farmers that they cannot possibly be helped by the protective system. If the McKinleyites fail to prove that a restoration of their high taxation scheme will benefit the farming industry, how can they expect to gain the farmer vote? Their only hope lies in dodging the issue. But they may be assured that their cowardice will be of uo use. In the -words of the West, the farmers are on to the high-tariff dodge. Not just to the farmer? Then no votes for protection. See? What the President Will Do. Certain impudent Protectionist editors and jKditicians have taken upon themselves the liberty of advising President Cleveland that if the Incoming Congress should pass a bill increasing duties, he would be bound to sign it, in view of the Republican successes iu the recent State elections. And with unequalled insolence these petty partisans declare that the President “would not dare” -to veto a bill restoring the McKinley tariff. The Republicans in Congress need not worry about the Democratic President. If they choose to hamper Industry and check the business revival which has been going on since the Wilson tariff became law, by threatening to re-es-tablish McKlnleyisra, they are welcome to go ahead. The sooner they show their hand the quicker will the people realize that they are prosperity destroyers and opposed to the country’s best interests. There heed be no question as to what President Cleveland will do with a protectionist bill. The man who refused to sign the law repealing the McKinley tariff because it retained too much protection, will veto a Republican tariff bill so quickly that the Congress which passed it will hear something drop right hard. No scheme for more protection will become law while Grover Cleveland is President. Wonderfnl Production of Pig Iron. In its latest Issue the Iron Age states that tho current production of pig Iron in the United States “is at the tremendous rate of 11,250,000 tons per annum.” It adds that preparations uow under way “will probably carry the make up to 220,000 tons per week," and that “nearly every furnace manager, in the country has been driving his plant funlously.” This intense activity in the Iron industries does not comport very well with the multiplied and manifold predictions of our calamity-howlers. Prosperity in the iron trade Is usually recognized by commercial men as a precursor of prosperity In the majority of other manufacturing industries. Certainly never before in the history of American industry was the activity of the iron and steel works of the country so great as it is now. The output of American iron and steel mills is now much larger than that of any other and It can be Indefinitely Increased. Is this not a good time for them to enlarge their exporttrade? There may be a slackening of demand for their products at home, but the foreign markets are open to them.—New York Herald.

The Tariff Is a Tax. If the tariff is not a tax, will the Buffalo News kindly tell us why the consumer is obliged to pay more for the taxed article than he would and does were it untaxed.—Niagara Palls Cataract. The Cataract begs the question. lie doesn’t.—Buffalo News. That is sheer nonsense. If the consumer does not pay the tax, why then is there so much attempted smuggling of taxed articles on his part; and why is it that when the tax is taken off the price immediately falls? llow, for instance, does it happen that woolen goods are cheaper now than ever before; how, that the price of natural gas to the consumer in Buffalo, as the Express of that city pointed out, is greater by reason of the import tax than it would be? And what would be the effect in this last case if there was no tax? The News apparently entirely loses sight of the economic fact that the less the cost of putting any ware on the market the cheaper it can be sold. Any addition to the expense, whether arbitrary in the form of a tax, or otherwise, means a raising of the price to the consumer. And if the price be raised to him he must assuredly pay the tax.— Niagara Falls Cataract. Creditable to Democrats,' The total vote in Pennsylvania gives an explanation of the Republican plurality of 175,000. Compared with 1892 the Democratic stay-at-homes number 170,000 this year. The Republican vote, so far from increasing, is 00,000 behind that of 1892. Compared even with last year the Democrats fall behind 118,000 and the Republicans 50,000. Considg the ascendency of Boss Quay in jßmir party, it is much to the discredit of the Republicans of Pennsylvania that they permitted the Democrats so greatly to surpass them in disgust and apathy. Sealed Market*). The calamity howlers of the Boston Home Market Club have doubtless observed that during the operation of the new tariff a Boston shoe firm has been very successful in supplying many people in Germany with “Hessian” boots. But to members of this club a foreign market for American manufactures is not worth considering. W'hat they desire is an exclusive home market, in which there will be neither ex-, ports nor Imports.—Philadelphia Record. Sherman on Free Wool. Senator Sherman tells an interviewer that free wool has cost the country $40,000,000 or $50,000,000. It would be interesting to know how much the free wool which Mr. Sherman has pulled over the country’s eyes in his role of financial wiseacre has taken out of the pockets of the people.—Philadelphia Record. Wiwng principles are as wrong In politics as they are In religion.

DEBS IS AGAIN FREE.

MANY FRIENDS MEET HIM AT THE JAIL. Given • Great Ovation at ChicagoBorne to the Central Mualc Hall on the Shoulders of Four Men—Hl« Speech Received with Applause. Labor Leader Talks. Eugene V. Debs spoke in Central Music Hall, Chicago, the night following his release from jail to au audience that taxed the seating and standing capacity of the hall. Most of the leading labor organizations were represented and the reception accorded to the leader of the American Railway Union was enthusiastic in the extreme. Eight carloads of Debs' friends went to Woodstock to greet him on his release front jail, and several thousand men were at the station of tho

EUGENE v. DEBS.

Northwestern Road when the train, bearing 'Debs and his friends, arrived at 7:30 o’clock. The reception given Debs as he stepped from the train bordered on the frantic. Hundreds of men pushed and struggled to get a grasp of hiH hand, many of them hugged him, and some went to the length of kissing hint. Finally he was tossed tip to the shoulders of four men and followed by a dense throng that never for one instant stopped its shouts and cheers, he was escorted to the hull, about n mile distant. Tho warmth of the reception given him at the depot wsh repented when ho entered the hull, with the exception that the men were unable to get close to him and contented themselves with cheering and waving their lints. The speech delivered by Debs was received with great applause by the audience. He commenced by saying that in the light of recent judicial proceedings he

DEBS’ RELEASE FROM THE WOODSTOCK JAIL.

'Stood stripped of his constitutional rights as a free man, and shorn of the most aacred prerogative of American citizenship: and what was true of himself was true of every other citizen who had the temerity to protest against corporation rule or the question of the absolute sway of the money power. It was not the law nor the administration of law of which he complained. It wns the flngrunt violation of the constitution, the total abrogation of law, and usurpation of judicial and despotic power by virtuo of which ho and his colleagues were committed to jail against which he entered his protest, and any honest analysis of the proceedings must sustain the haggard truth of the indictment. He lind been denied trial. He was ohnrged now with conspiracy, and If guilty should go to the penitentiary. He wanted to be tried by a jury of his peers, and all he asked was a fair trial and no favor.—(Tho conspiracy caso is still undisposed of In the United States Court. —Ed.) He then spoke nt great length of "personal liberty,” and in defense of the American Railway Union, saying it would have triumphed but for the Interference of Federal authorities, which he characterized ns “an exhildtion of the debauching power of money.” This demonstration, he said, meant that American lovers of liberty were setting In operation forces to rescue their constitutional liberties from the grasp of monopoly and its mercenary hirelings; that the people were arounsed in view of Impending perils, and that agitation, organization and unification were to bo the future battles cries of men who would not part with their birthright and who, like Patrick Henry, had the courage to exclaim, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Were he a criminal, guilty of crime meriting a prison cell, had he ever lifted his hand against life or the liberty of his fellowmen, had he ever sought to filch their good nnme, he would not be on this platform. He would have fled from the haunts of civilization and lived in a cave where the voice of his kindred would never be heard. But he, standing before his hearers without a selfaccusation of crime or criminal intent festering in his conscience, in the sunlight once more, contributing ns best he could to make this “liberation day” a memorial day, realizing that, as Lowell sang: “He's true to God who's true to man: Wherever wrong is done. In the humblest and the weakest. 'Neath the all-beholding sun. That wrong is also done to us, And they are slaves most base, Whose love of right is for themselves And not for all their race.”

MONEY SYSTEM IS BAD.

Director of the Mint Soya Sensible Currency Legislation Is Needed. The director of the mint has submitted his report to the Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Preston, in a review of the monetary legislation of the country, states that the real demonetization of silver took place In 1853, when the weight of the divisional coins was reduced about 7 per cent. This, he says, was not an accident or an oversight; it was expressly declared in the House of Representatives that the Intention was to make gold the sole standard of value in lnrge transactions, and silver, subservient to it, for small ones. The act of 1873, he says, was only nominal. In his report the director of the mint says that the result of the currency legislation of the United States for over a hundred years has been such as to'lenye an incoherent monetary system, as inconsistent, illogical and expensive as can will be imagined, that inspires little confidence at home and is not conducive to bur credit abroad, and its reform is one of the most important and urgent political and financial questions of the hour. : v :■/. ;Ars.t"?

He says that on the date of July 1, 1878, the date of the resumption of specie payments, the only currency, except coin certificates, required to be redeemed in gold coin was the $346,681,016 legal tender notes then outstanding, which the then Secretary of the Treasury was of the opinion that a gold reserve of SIOO,000,000 would he sufficient to maintain, hut tho paper currency redeemable on presentation has been increased to the extent of $155,030,000 issued in payment of the silver bullion purchased under act of July 14, 1800. Besides these, there were outstanding Nov. 1, 18%, $333,456,336 in silver certificates, and as the act of July 14, 1800, declared it “to be the established policy of the United States to maintain tho two metals at jtarity with each other,” there was now a total of $821,320,533 resting on the basis of the gold reserve of $100,000,000. The value of the gold deposited at the mints and assay offices during the fiscal year was $87,482,082, of which $65,101,007 were original deposits aud $22,821,022 were redeposits. The classification of the original deposits of gold was: Domestic bullion, $44,371,840; worn, uncurrent and mutilated gold coins, $188,258; foreign bullion aud coin, $10,367,040; gold plate, jewelry, etc., $3,213,800. Tho value of the silver deposited during the fiscal year was $15,714,365, of which $15,234,700 were original deposits and $470,665 redeposits. The value of the deposits of domestic silver bullion at the mints during the fiscal year was SB,804,363, and worn and mutilated domestic coins at silver dollar value $3,890,353, foreign bullion and coin $1,780,923, old plate, jewelry, etc., $750,001. The coinage by the mints during tho year was: Gold, $43,933,475; silver dollars, $3,050,011; subsidiary silver coins, $5,118,469; minor coins, $712,594; a total coinage of $53,715,549. In nddition to the coinage -executed by the mints during the year, gold bnrs were manufactured of the value of $43,153,370, and silver bnrs of tho value of $10,341,545. The average London price of silver bullion during tho year wns 29 pence, equivalent to 63.8 cents. Tho highest price of silver during the year was 68 cents nnd the lowest price 59.8 cents. At the average price of silver bullion during the fiscal year, tho ratio of gold to silver wns 1 to 82.5, nnd the bullion value of a United States silver dollar wns $0.40.168. The total earnings of the mints and assay offices during the year was $2,088,372, nnd the total expenditures $1,185,435, showing the net earnings from all sources to have been $902,936.

CANAL MUST WAIT.

Great Nlcaragtiun Project Given a KtngiierlnK llackset. According to the New York Herald a serious blow has boon dealt tho Nicaraguan Canal Company’s project for the

construction of a waterway cross tho Isthmus by tho roport of tho Nicaraguan Cniial commission. Inevltublo delay and n further und moro (borough Investigation of the entire subject nro declared to bo necessary before-even the engineering feasibility of any canal across Nicaragua can be decided upon. The report Is at sueli vnrianee with the numerous rumors nnd predictions which have from time to time been published concerning it that it will enuso groat surprise nnd disappointment nuiong those who have hoped for a generally favorable report, nnd who have, therefore, placed credence in these rumors, which usually stated "on the highest nuthority” that the commission favored the route proposed by the company nnd placed the cost of the canal at übout $110,000,000. The report points out that it is nolther practicable nor advisable to attempt the construction of the Nicaragua Canal upon the data nt present nvnilable, and that the undertaking would be fraught with hazards too obvious to disregard. That the necessary knowledge may be hafi of the physical and topographical conditions affecting the construction nnd maintenance of a canal across Nicaragua, upon which to form ,a final judgment ns to the feasibility, permanence and cost, the commission recommends an appropriation by Congress of $350,000 for extensive additional surveys nnd examinations, covering a period of eighteen months. With the data at hand, however, the commission makes a provisional estimate of the cost of $133,472,893, or nearly doublo that of the Maritime Canal Company’s unconditional estimate of $60,893,660. The commission makes its estimate “provisional,” for the commissioners say the existing data are Inadequate as a basis for estimating the cost of many structures. Home portions of the work may cost more, others loss. The report says the official estimate by the company of $69,803,060 is insufficient for the work; thnt “in several important cases the quantities must be greatly increased, and in numerous cases the unit prices do not make proper allowance for the difference in cost of work between the United States and Nicaragua.” The general trend of the entire report is certainly very unfavorable to the canal company. The commission refrains from any direct criticism of the company!* prospectus, but its report shows that certain features, which the company has persisted in assuring the public through Congress were knowu to be absolutely safe and feasible, if put in execution might jeopardize the practicability of the whole system, and possibly destroy forever the hope of a canal by means of the Han Juan River and Lake Nicaragua.

POSTAL REVENUES GAINING.

Postmaster General, In HU Reoort, Bays the Increase Is Noted. Postmaster Generul Wilson has made ■his first annual report to the President. The receipts of the postofiice department for the yenr ending June 30, 1895, were $70,171,090, and the expenditures $86,790,172. It is gratifying, says the report, that a large portion of the deficiency occurred in the first quarter of the year and that revenues are increasing with returning prosperity. Mr. Wil„on estimates the revenue for the year ending June 30, 1897, at $89,793,120, and the expenditures at $94,817,900, the difference to be made up by Congressional appropriation. The postmaster general refers to the growth of the free delivery service and .says he believes it is good policy for Congress and for this department to foster the extension of this service! by judicious administration. Mr. Wilson reiterates the necessity for legislation to punish train wrecking and obstruction to malls urged by his predecessor, recommends legislation authorizing the use of private postal cards, and says that the civil service rules should be extended wherever practicable.

WHY FROST EXPANDS WATER.

Scientists Puzzled Over the WeIR Known Phenomenon. One of the most curious natural phenomena, and one which has* never as yet been explained by the philosophers, is that in reference to the expansion of freezing water. The case of water is a singular exception to all natural laws of expansion by heat and contraction by cold, which apply in cases of all other known liquids. When water is freezing It contracts In bulk down to the point where the mercury reaches the reading of 39% degrees, of 7% degrees above freezing, from which point it slowly expands according to the Intensity of cold. No other liquid is known to possess this remarkable property, except that certain metals expand slightly in passing from a liquid to a solid state. But If heat be applied to water after It has cooled down to a temperature of 39% degrees (the point where It Is ready to begin expanding should a greater degree of cold be applied) it will immediately expand by the universal law. But should we lower the temperature to 32 degrees it will expand by its own special law. Another curious point to be noted here Is this: That the amount of expansion Is as great In water lowered from 39% degrees down to 32 degrees as It Is In water that has been heated so that the temperature runs up from 39% to 47 degrees. These points are certainly odd and curious and worthy of attention and experiment.—St. Louis Republic.

BAGGAGE BY ELECTRICITY.

Useful Arrangement for Carrying Baggage. The moving of baggage about the platforms and floors of large railroad stations eomcrimos causes great Inconvenience, not only to the employes, but to tho passengers, arriving or departing. There are few travelers that have not, at one time or another, been competed to move aside so that a baggage-truck might pass. A contrivance to do away with this inconvenience has been devised by the chief mechanical engineer of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, of England, and is now in use at tho Victoria

ELECTRIC “BAGGAGE SMASHER.”

Station, Manchester. It consists of a tramway suspended from the roof of the station, on which runs a light car fitted with an electric motor and a seat for an attendant. Chains passing over a winch barrel, also operated by eJectrlclty, permit the basket truck, shown In the cut, to be raised or lowered, nnd la this way baggage find parcels of all kinds may be moved from one platform to another over tho heads of tho passengers. Fast Traveling. Competition between two British railway lines this year resulted In “breaking the record" for long-distance speed. A train ran over the London and Northwestern lino from London to Aberdeen, 540 miles, In 512 minutes. In order to show what an American railroad Is able to do, the Now York Central road ran a train from New York to Buffalo, 436% miles, lu 407 minutes. This is nt the rate of sixty-four and onethird miles, as compared with the British record of sixty-three and one-half miles, an hour. As the circumference of tho earth at the equator is 24,911 miles, a train running nt tho speed of the New York Central train wSuld encircle tho globe In sixteen duys, two hours and fifty-eight minutes.

New Uses for Palmetto Leaves.

Every lover of our forests grieves at the sight of giant hemlocks lying stripped of their bark, taken for use In tanning leather, while tho trunks are left to rot upon the ground. Of late a comparatively new source of tannin has been developed, the leaves of the palmetto tree. It Is asserted that the employment of these leaves Is more economical than that of oak and hemlock bark. Moreover, a use has been found for the leaves after the tannin has been extracted. The long fibers are prepared by a chemical prqqpss.to be made Into paper. Artificial horsehair Is also produced from the fibres.

His Hat.

It Is a pleasant European custom to lift the hat to gentlemen, as well as to ladles. Out of this practice arose the remark of a well-known London hatter, who met an acquaintance who owed him for the hat he wore. The hatter, who was accompanied by a friend, lifted his hat to his debtqr, but the latter made no sign of recognition. “He does not salute you?” said the hatter’s friend. “No,” said the hatter. “I think he might at least touch my hat to me!”

Two Thousand a Week.

An expert employed by arNew York house earns a salary of SB,OOO a year for Just four weeks’ work—two in the autumn and two in the spring. His business is to go to Hamburg, and, out of thousands of designs made there and submitted to him for “edgings,” to select those that shall be manufactured for the American market

Ragson Tatters—W’at’s become o’

Bonesy? Rollingstone Nomoas—Dld’n’ yer hear? Why, dby had ter put ’im in de loonertic asylum. ‘‘What fur?” “Why, he swiped a box fruin de grocery store and carried it ten blocks, an’ w’en he opened it it wuz full o’ soap.” —Philadelphia Record.

The Son-in-law (gratefully)— I don’t

know what I should have done if hadn’t given us all this furniture. The Father-ln : law—That’s so, my boy; without it my daughter couldn’t have given you much of a home.—New York Herald.