Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1895 — NOTES AND COMMENTS [ARTICLE]

NOTES AND COMMENTS

The Churchman’s I.eague. an Eplacopalian organization of Washington, D.C., is searching the statutes of the District of Columbia to find a law for the 1 tetter oltservance of Sunday; and if such a law cauuot Ik* found it will agitate for the passage of a law on the subject.

There are seven surnames in Ashantee corresponding to the days of the week. as follows: Kwasie indicates a man Itorn on Sunday. Kudjoe on Monday, Kwaltina on Tuesday. Kwaku on Wednesday. Yao on Thursday. Koffi on Friday, and KwanMna on Saturday. These are all accented on the final syllable. By the promotion of Thomas O. Selfridge to a Hear-Admiralsbip, It happens for the first time in American history that a father and his son are both on the navy lists at the same time as rear- admirals. The father, appointed a midshipman in 1818. is a hale and hearty veteran of ninetyfour years, while the son was graduated from the Naval Academy in 1853. He was in command of the gun-deck battery of the old Cumberland when the Merrimac suuk her in 1802.

In a recent article Carol Norton gives some statistics showing the remarkable growth of the cult known as Christian science. It was founded in Boston in 1800 by Dr. Mary Baker Eddy, and now has 200 incorporated churches iu the United States, besides others in which less formal services are held. Their text-book, “Science and Health,” first published by Mrs. Eddy iu 1875, is now in its ninety-sev-enth edition, and the Massachusetts Metaphysical College where she taught has graduated 4,000 students. The exhibit of the Carlisle, Penn., Indian School at the Atlanta Exposition is especially line, and shows liow thorough aud practical is the training given to Indian hoys and girls at that excellent school. Over the exhibit floats the Carlisle banner, with its motto. “Into Civilization and Citizenship." This motto lias really been the fundamental principle of the school, and a large proportion of its graduates have been living examples of it. Fifteen other Indian schools also have interesting exhibits at the exposition.

Previous to the breaking out of the war in Cuba New York.sent about fifteen steamers a mouth to the ports of the “ever faithful” isle. Since the trouble began six or seven of these steamers have been taken off and sent elsewhere or laid up, with the result that the trade of the port lias suffered a loss of more tlmu $1,000,000 a month. It would take a long time to get this trade back again, even if the war should stop within a short time, and the longer the light is kept up the more the trade between the island aud this country will suffer.

Germany is proud of her canal connecting the North Sea and the Baltic which was dedicated with so much pomp last summer. But that is a small affair, compared with the great canal by which Russia lias determined to connect the Baltic with the Black Sea, starting at Riga, and ending at Kherson. This will be almost one thousand miles long, and will enable the Tsar to move his war-ships from one sea to the other at pleasure. It will require five years, and will cost one hundred and forty million dollars to construct it. The course of the rivers Dwiua, Beresina, and Dnieper will be followed as far as possible.

Edward Atkinson recently told the following anecdote, as ilustrating a human failing very frequently to be seen “’When cotton seed oil was under the banc of popular prejudice and the law as well, a Chicago lard-maker shipped some lard ‘adulterated’ with cotton seed oil to Europe. It was pronounced excellent lard. It was liked so well that he received a great order for 10,000 tierces. But at this juncture lie could get no oil.aud was forced to ship the pure' lard. The consignee pronounced it ‘off sample.’ wouldn’t have it. and the unfortunante Chicago man lost a large sum of money.” The lard dealer was rendered powerless because lie laid bitten off more adulteration than his factory could eliew.

The enormous territorial area of Canada is made strikingly manifest by the recent action of the Dominion Government iu setting apart the unorganized and unnamed portion of the Dominion into provisional districts. The territory east of Hudson Bay having the province of Quebec on the south and the Atlantic on the east is to be hereafter known as Tlngava. The territory embraced in the islands of the Arctic Sea is to be known as Franklin, the Mackenzie River region is to be known as Mackenzie, and the Pacific coast territory lying north of British Columbia and west of Mackenzie is to be known as Yukon. The extent of Ungava and Franklin is undefined. Mackenzie covers .">38.000 square miles, and Yukon covers 225,000 square miles, in addition to 143.500 square miles added to Athabasca and 470,000 to Keewatin. The total area of the Dominion is estimated at 3,450,383 sqilare miles.

The Philadelphia Record says that an item in the salaries of Pennsylvania Railroad engineers and firemen, which is not generally known to the public is a so-called premium on' coal. On all the runs a generous allowance for coal per mile is made by the company, and whatever the firemen and engineers save on this allowance results in a premium for them. A portion of thesaving goes to the company, and the remainder is divided between the employes on the engine. One material drawback to this system is that engineers frequently run slowly on up grades, and on going down hill they shut off the steam entirely and let th|e train go for all it is worth by its own inertia. This severely racks the engine. but the company keeps a strict tab by watching the time between stations, and a perfect knowledge of the grades on the road shows pretty clearly when the engineer is abusing his engine. The New Y’ork World prints a list of American heiresses who have married foreigners with titles during the last twenty-five years. It is a long one. The richest of all was Anna Gould, with fifteen millions. She marTied Count Boniface de Castellane. Mrs. Frederick Stevens, with seven millions, married the Duke of Dlno.

Mrs. Hammersley was worth seven millions also. She married the Duke' of Marlborough; after his death she | took Lord William Beresford for her ; third husband. There are ten girls on ; the list with five millions each. Eva. Julia Bryant Mackay, who married Prince Colonnu di Galatro; Miss Eh ret, who married Baron von Zedlitz; Miss 1 Flagler, who married Baron Harden | Hickey; Miss Gilleuder, who married | Marquis di Man Marzano; Clara Huntington. who married Prince Hatzfeldt; Mrs. J. P. Ives, who married Mir Win. Vernon Harcourt: Mary Leiter, who married the Hon. G. N. Curzon, M.P.; Mrs. Isaac Singer, who married the Duke of Camposelice; Sarah Phelps Stokes, who marled Baron Halkett, and Belle Wilson, who became the wife of the Hon. Michael Henry Herbert. The money taken to Europe by the people on The Worlds list exceeds $11.1,000,000. Some of the leviathans of the deep are protesting, as best they may, against the big, fast ships which men are putting on the sea. There have been desperate efforts to dispute the right of way across the ocean. The other day two cases were reported of sharks who died in a gallant attempt to stay the course of steamers one of them immolating itself before the hows the other vainly striving to stay the propeller. But the conduct of two huge whales, reported to he sixty feet in length, was more striking still. They literally charged a timber ship at full speed, and though at the last moment the least courageous of the pair shirked the encounter by diving, the other held straight to its course, aud produced a collision. From the blood which dyed the water the result to the whale evidently was. worse than a bad headache. But the ship struggled home with a considerable hole in her side, and the loss of no small portion of her cargo, which had to be thrown overboard. This aggressive recklessness adds a new peril to the deep, observes London Graphic. Certainly the case is not so bad as that which, if ancient prints are to be believed. sometimes befell our seagoing ancestors, whose ships were occasionally swallowed whole by fish; still, it is not pleasant to be butted by a whale of fifty tons, and a small craft treated in this fashion would probably he kuocked out of time altogether.