Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 February 1910 — THING YOU MAY NOT KNOW [ARTICLE]

THING YOU MAY NOT KNOW

The twelve principal crops of this country show a valuation of $5,000,000,000. No one is at present engaged In exporting hard woods from Ecuador, which is rich in them. Glass water pipes covered with asphalt have been In use for a long time in some parts of Germany. Tanning snake skins for the manufacture of woman’s belts has become a lucrative industry of Madras. The largest delegation of foreign students attending American colleges last year was sent by Canada, 242. The United States annually exports more spirits of turpentine than all the other countries of the world —16,000,000 out of 24,000,000 gallons. . A new fertilizer is' now being mads in Norway from the mortar from purifying the sugar liquid, which was formerly difficult to dispose of. Of the world’s stock of money seven billion dollars is gold, three and one-half billions silver, and four and one-third billions uncovered paper. The sudden demand for popular education in China is shown by the fact that the school attendance in one province has increased 8,000 per cent in five years. Akron, .Ohio, is now the home of fourteen rubber factories. The total capitalization Is about $25,000,000. These companies employ between 11,000 and 12,000 persons. In 1887 the wheat crop of California was more than three times greater than that of Kansas. Last year the Kansas crop was seven times greater than that of California.

Fpr the purpose of promoting the sale of German goods abroad, instruction courses for cultivating the artistic taste of. storekeepers and their salespeople have been Instituted in Berlin.

A bill is being pressed In France to give that country a system of deposit accounts at postoffices, against which checks might be drawn for transmission of money from one point to another.

Steel is a true alloy, containing several foreign elements. Here, as in iron, the special values of the different steels depend on the nature and proportion of these elements. Steel may be had as soft as the softest irons. The forest service considers that it would be entirely possible, if the forest land is improved and the timber economically” cut and completely utilized, to produce on the remaining 450,000,000 acres sufficient wood for a population much greater than that now In the country. That the year holds some terrible fate In store for John Bull Is predicted, although in more or less vague terms, by the majority of those who profess ability to lift a corner of the veil of the future. The latest 111 omen to scare superstitious people is that In 1910 Good Friday occurs on March 26, Lady day, and that is supposed to forbode great evil.

James H. Hyslop, the brilliant psychologist, narrated, during a discussion of the Paladine case in New York, an original old lady’s opinion of ghosts. “Ghosts!" exclaimed the old lady scornfully. "I don’t take any stock in them. If you die and go to the good place, it isn’t likely that you’d want to waddl£ back to this poor vale of trouble; while if you go to the bad place, you’ll be kept there.” Henceforth all seacoast guns of sixinch caliber and over, except mortars, will be provided with double tubes, so that, should the Inner tube give way, the damage will not extend to the outer tube and the enveloping jacket and hoops. This will permit the restoration at small cost of guns whose tubes give way, and will facilitate the rehabilitation of guns whose accuracy has been lost through erosion and wear of the bore.

The wear and tear of coinage is delayed by the admixture of baser metals with the precious ones. In their pure state gold and silver would be too soft to stand the usage for which coins are intended. Manufacturers of brass and gunmetal are able to effect very surprising results In alloys. They will produce bright and useful substances with the most unpromising materials gathered from the old metal merchants.

The total production of coke and anthracite pig iron for the year 1909 was 25,337,002 tons. Estimating the production of the charcoal stacks for the same year at 400,000 gives the grand total of coke, anthracite arsi charcoal pig iron of the United States for 1909 as 25,737,000 tons. The total production of coke and anthracite Iron 4n the first ball -of 1909 was 10,820,672 tons; and in the last half, 14,516,330 tons. —lron Trade Review.

A monthly review has been recently established at Tokio for the express purpose of explaining and promoting the national spirit, the name of which, Vamato-damashll. It bears.. It Is authoritative, being edited by Colonel Takafcashi under the patronage of Admiral Ito, General Terauchl and Gen* eral Nod, and It contains some notable expositions of Japanese ethics. Thus, the editor, declaring K to be the object of the poblleattott “to lead ha* manlty to true happiness,” proclaims that “It is the duty of all men to improve their condition of life by forming good habits and acquiring refined customs, and to carry out the divine will With unswerving faith.”