Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1898 — Topics of the Time [ARTICLE]

Topics of the Time

A deaf and dump corps of the Salva* don Army has been organized in Stockholm, Sweden. The members meet four times a week. The “curfew” idea is said to be getting very popular in Kansas towns, and, where tried, to have been effective of good results in the control of the young. Owing to the prejudice of the Chinese against railroads, great difficulty has been experienced in the laying out of the line between Peking and Hankow. Surveying by photography is gaining ground. Over 50,000 square miles have been photographically plotted and surveyed by the surveyor general of Canada. The cigarmakers at Tampa hire a man to read to them while they work. This is a revival of a New England shop custom prior to the introduction of machinery. The term “infantry” soldiers originated with the Spanish, and was first applied to the military force employed by an infante, or young prince of Spain, to rescue bls father from the Moors. Profanity is forbidden by both the army and navy regulations. Any soldier or sailor who does not like to be sworn at has a right to make a complaint, and the offending officer is- subject to trial by court-martial. In Europe physicians no longer prescribe medicines for their patients in the form of pills. All medicines which are not liquid are compounded into tablets or cachets. Capsules are also out of date on the continent. - -

There is near Ballina, In Ireland, a little stone on the brink of a creek upon which is carved this interesting inscription, intended as a warning to travelers: “When this stone is out of sight it is not safe to ford the river.” In Nagasaki, Japan, there is a flreworks maker who manufactures pyrotechnic birds of great size that, when exploded, sail in a lifelike manner through the air, and perform movements exactly like those of living birds. In New Orleans practically the whole of the street railway system has been converted during the past three years from mule haulage to election traction. Out of 170 miles of road 163 miles are now operated electrically. A fish in a bottle was captured by a Maryland oysterman, and it seemed to be content with its quarters. Apparently it had entered the bottle under favorable circumstances and found Itself unable to wriggle out. Although all the old British battleships wore elaborately carved figureheads on their bows, modem vessels are not allowed any such sort of decorations, by virtue of an order of the admiralty issued about three years ago. In 1897 the regular Liverpool lines brought into the Mersey over 251,000 head of cattle from the United States and Canada, and the total loss was not more than 454 head, or about one-sixth of 1 per cent. Of the total number above mentioned the White Star lino carried over one-elxth, or 42,738 head, and only lost twenty-four head. The municipal hospital of Moscow, which was founded in 1764, has accommodations for 7,000 persons, and in the course of a year it receives 15,000 patients. The institution has on its staff twenty-six physicians and over 900 nurses. In 1812, when Napoleon was retreating from Moscow, he gave special orders that this hospital should bj spared. *