Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1876 — Page 2

WSEtAER UNION WDJABraR REPUBLICAN. ■MMfti**; - .<a» i ,)

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

flevortl live* bad been loat and many persona The funeral of the wife <tf Louio Blanc, ooCMion of an Immense radical demonstration. Over 900,000 penwe partlolpated lu %)kCI COT6IDODifS. According to a Ragosa dispatch of the Wth, the ffiturriron at Ntaaa were reduced to •Beat extremities. The anMlers and inhabitants were compelled to subsist on horse-

In the British House of Commons, on the •Bth, a bill to remove the electoral disabillttesef women was defeated—ls 2to 389. The leading Liberals supported the measure. Grout de Kotzebue, Governou-General of Poland, haa tendered his resignation because Russia had refused the appointment of one Polish-speaking Judge In •each governing She German Imperial Oeurt df Discipline has sentenced Count Von JArnlm to formal •dismissal from the public sesvice and to pay all costa of the proceedings. London telegrams of the OTUtauy that late advices from Mesopotamia show that the plague waa rapidly increasing. Since the previous report there hsd been 568 new cases aadbfißß deaths. The Prussian Chamber «f Deputies has passed a bill for the incorporation of the the Duchy of Laeenburg with the ▲.Vienna dispatch of the S6th ult., says the Pert© had sent a circular letter to Its representatives at the various European courts demanding military assistance in the suppression of the insurrection, and citing as a precedent, the suppression of the>Hungarian insurrection by Russia in KM). A report prevailed that Austria had ordered herarmy In Dalmatia to be increased to 60,600. The royal assent haa been given to the bill centering upon Queen Victoria the title of Jbnprere of India, and on the 96thult the Gantt* contained a proclamation announcing its aaampption by Her Majeety.

The aty National Bank of Chicago snw pended on the 2*th. The assets are represented to be about $1,000,000, which, It Is claimed, -will more than cover the: liabilities. The Metropolitan Hotel at Long ißraseh, RjJ n was bunted on the night of > the -35th. Loss $70,000. An Omaha dispatch of the 25th reps orders . had here issued to the commanding' officer at Tort Laramie to as far as possible, protect travelers between that point and < Custer Chy, but his .force was inadeqaiate to the task other than occasional scouting .parties. Serious trouble was apprehended I rom-Toring small hands of Indians, who will net attaftk laage, well-armed I parties. Complaints haring reached Washington ♦hatat some of the Sab-Treasuries fractional euntency continued to be paid out for legaltender notes, sad that at others it was rsAuatt, ’Treasurer Mew stated, on the -26th, that there Vas nothing In the law which prohibited him from paying out fractional currency not received in exchange for silver, the same .as previously, and that it would -be doaedn small amounts at all Sun-Treasuries. There-was about $709,000 in fractional eurreKfre hand, In Washington, which «ouM be paid out. Mr. Naw said, however, that he 1 would aaot allow it to be paid oat la large snare, but In a limited*; uantity. Judoe-Bond haa sentenced twenty-four'dii-tillersla South Carolina) convicted of fraud,' to an average of two pears in the Albany Penitentiary. ▲ Anmrearement was made on the 28th silt.; that tfceustraite of Mackinac were open, and. that steamers had succeeded in effecting a pmilQ, , fy r i fT PERMIhUL t The Gcremor of Massachusetts has signed the wareant for the execution, on the 26th of May, at Thomas W. Piper., convicted of the murder eflMabel Young indite Warren Ave-' nue ( Boston) Church tower. . Piper has made 1 a statemenhte the effect that the little girt 1 met her death by being caught in a trap door while ini-rriHjgr the tower, and that she was nearly dead -when be found* her, and that through faaiMf being accused .of murdering her, he itrMrVi* knowledge at the matter. A. Washington dispatch ofilfie 24th says Gen. >y»ri written a letter to a friend, that he had made any Vonfosaion whatever conrerniug the charges Hgsioalahim relative to the Fort Sill poat-tradffrahlp. dß* counted, on the 24th, •led with ’lneretary Gorham a vf.oinder to the replication of the House in the irepeachmaut matter. He ffeoiee that be wre SacralaryWaT untU Mter a commtttee of the Mcure had investigated his offlcisl conduct Bereluo alleges thsdiMr. ClyIber had staled doirim on the Ist us ,\March - that, unless he ifiSikoap) should eseign his position as Secretaty.ttf War before morn the neat May, he (dpreej) would moveihic imi peac kmeu tin tbs pLaget; that he (Belknap) ™yielded to the indmaUoa thus gives that he AigM. by resigning; .redid a protracted trial before Cte Senate. Whis alleged agnsemant on the part of the vfcetrgian of the Isussti gstiMtCommlttee, k to .»tged, should estqp the low from proteculigg the impeach , Mr. Barney Willisana, rjfae well-known! Iridh comedian, died at M*" York, on thej 25th, after a protracted fri-yrw He was flflyDoro Pedro and party esrisrad in San Francisco on the even lug of the #>Ui. To avoid any demonstration on his arrival, his car was 4«tariied from the train at Hearenton, and reu iptp the Clif hall an hour Ahead of the Westervelt, who la in prison si fWMelphi* |ur complicity In Utt> Charlie Ross ohdwction, by been visited by the widow al Mosher, the

and e«trotted to give some <;lw! U. Um.wher o *UmU of Uw boy. Ee ««*««*’ de01*1*1 that he knew nothing of the matter. flajMwt into Urn eonaplracy In hope* of p&etuiUfi a part of the reward, but bad uodi- , In the United States Circuit Court at tit. Loull, mi the 29th, Judge Dillon overruled tka raoll&B for arre.t of Judgment In the «a*, of Wo. aoovku-d of cOfisvlraey to XtTftud in comntmtion with ttfe tile

the ground that the set is not within the constitutional power of the legislature. On the 96th uIL, Judge Cartier, of the Court at the Wstriet of Columbia, grshted a writ Of habeut <v»Fretn the case of Hallett Kilbouroa, tha oontumaoious witness, but remanded him to th« custody of the United States Marsha! ff> ana ire ran indictment The prisoner thou gave ball and wss released. The action of ths Court was reported to the House, and the matter was referred to the Judiciary Committee. The Chicago /consol of the 28th ult says Don Carlos, the pretender to the Spanish throne, “ waa recognised in this city last Sunday, by those who have seen him at Madrid and Paris, who assure us most positively that they saw him, accompanied by three Spanish companions, at mass 1n the French r>th>di- Church, on Helsted street, on that day. Those from whom we derive this information are very positive that it was the veritable Don Carlos."

Founm. The lowa Independent State Convention has been called to meet at Dee Moines on the 10th of May to select delegates to the ■Greenback National Convention at Indianapolis. The Wisconsin Greenback Conventlen is to bo held at Madison, also on the 10th of Hay. The Massachusetts Republican State Convent km met at Boston on the 26th, and chose delegates to the National ’Convention. A resolution was adopted that the delegates be unpledged. It was tbdbght a majority of the delegation were In favor of the nomination of Secretary Briatow for the Presidency. Among the resolutions adopted by the Convention was one .in favor of the of specie payment at a date not later than that already fixed by law. The Oregon Democrats have renominated •Lafayette Lane for Congress. The California Republican State Convention was held on the 26th. Delegates were chosen to the National Convention, and a platform was adopted declaring in favor of a return to a metallic currency and the restoration of silver eoin to its -constitutional -equality with gold as a legal tender, and in favor of the payment of the National debt in gold, and condemning repudiation. Ttie New York Democratic State Convention, in session atiUtlca on the 27th, recognized the Tammany delegates from New ■York city, as “regular,” and gave seats, without voice, to the anti-Tammany contestants. Delegates to the National Convention were.chosen, and -resolutions were adopted indorsing the-administration of Gov. Tilden, and recommending him as a candidate for the-Presidency of the United States. The Arkansas Republican StataCon vent ion was held at Little Rock on the 27th, ami delegatee ware chosen to the National Convention, and instructed to give their preference to'Senator Morton as a candidate •for President of the United States. The recent California Republican State Convention expressed a preference for Jas. G. Blainefor President of the United States, but left iti-delegates to the National Convention uninstructed in that regard.

fiMWBEISIOHAL. 3fo eeesion of the Senate on the 22d ...A bill was reported -from the Committee on-Foreign Affaire-in regard to<citizenship, and to define cer-tain-rights of United Btates citizens in foreign countries and the duties of Diplomatic and Consular officers. A substitute was offered for the bill reported from committee to amend the charter of the Freedman's Bank. ’ln;t'he Senate, on the 24th, the bill to abolish the office-or.-Supervisor of Internal Revenue aad to umend the luws relating to the legaltender of silver ctiin were debated, Mr. Jones, of 'Nevada,-making-along argument In favor of the doable standard of gold and silver moaey.... Among the bills introdoced in the Honse were the.following: To increase the circulation of National ißank notes; to relieve the National Banks from the tax on their circulation; to liquidate the .National debt and to strengthen the public credit; to reorganize the navy. A joint resolution was passed requesting the Presi<dent to take inch-steps as may tend to obtain the early release of Edward O’M. Condon from his imprisonment In England. A resolution was offered'for the a select committee of ciae to make examination into the management of the New Orleans Custom House and other Federal offices in that city, with power to sit. in New Orleans during the recess, and a motion to suspend the rales and adopt the resolution was rejected—l 46 to i77,'less than two-thirds in the affirmative. Mr. Blaine made a personal explanation in regard to the newspaper chargee connecting him with the Union Pacific Bailroad • Company. The-Senate, oa the 25th, refused—yeas •4, nays4l—to-recede from its amendments to the Consular and Diplomatic Appropriation bill, and •also insisted on ita-amendments to the Deficiency Appropriation 'bill, and Conference Committees were.a .pointed. Mr..McMillan was appointed on .the special committee to .invest! ale the Missis •Slppl election, in place of Mr. Oglesby, excused. Mr. .Jones .concluded his remarks •of the Stiver Coin Legal-tender bi 11.... The iHonse, .in Committee of the Whole, considered and amended the Legislative Appro.priation/bUI. The Chairman of the Impeach•ment Managers—Mr. Lord—presented a rejoinder to the demuner filed by ex-Becretary Belknap, Which was approved ana ordered to be filed with 'therSecretary.ofthe-Benate; it is to the effect • that the Senateihas Jurisdiction in the case beifore it,.and that, as the defendant had not answered the articles .of lmpeacnment or In any mannerdenied thc-same, the Honee prays judgement. the reon according to law.

Tn.tbe ■(senate,<on theSßth, a resolution wag.adqpted calling on ithe Secretary of tbe Treasury for information ar to tbe number of iponona employed a* revenue or internal revenue Agent*, itbeir Tate of compensation, expenses, etc. Tbe ib ill to establish an educational land andiapply a portion of tbe proceeds of the public lands to public education-was taken up, and a substitute .was offered. The Silver bill was farther considered, and an amendment was offered by Mr. Sherman... An the House tbe Conferenoe.Cammtite.e on the Deficiency Appropriation bill reported recommending that the Senate recede trom three at its amendments, and that tbe Bouse .concur in three other#, which report was agreed to. The Legislative Appropriation bill was farther considered. The report of tbe Conference Committee en The Deficiency bill was adopted in the Senate, on tbe 27th. The Impeachment trial was begem «t H:M o’clock, and a motion was made and arena* teat the trial be postponed till the first Maodar es December nett; which motion, after retiring for consultation, the Senate denied. Adjourned, the .pending motion being that the evidence relating to the qnestlon of jurisdiction be green before the arguments were heard retettex tfiereto... ...Jn the Honse, the Senate amendment to the bill idefining the tax on fermented or maU liquors .was,agreed to. A Constitution*; Amendment was intiodneed and referred anlharising the president to approve or disapprove of separate .clauses or provisions of a bill. The Lefieiative and Executive Appropriation bill was amended In Committee of the Whole and reported W (be Meuse. No important legislative business was .transacted in the Senate, on the JSth. The Impeachment trial waa resumed, .and a request was .made and argued for a postponement for two .weeks, and enters vers agreed upon that the •fonaie proceed le hear and determine theqnes,tim of Jurisdiction, and that the trial proceed on ' the 4th ofMay, ana that the opening and closing .of the argument be gtawn to respondent. AdJohuied to May 1.... A number of private hills were.passed in the Hoe re Never*! of the com-, mite*- 1 amendments to the Legislative Appropriation ihifi were agreed to. and the point or order waeigfftde and sustained hjr (ha Speaker that (he section rransferri. g the Indian Bureau to the War Dep& dwent was not germane to the hilt, and it was dttfcken out, and the hit) waa pasred-2(M to If.

Tmsswpenment boa been tried in London of .establishing peony beaks in connection «lbb tbe public schools, and with eminent success. In a few months 5,£96 children ihad deposited a * k*w than £1,124. A similar«tperiment i a- bean tried, with like success, ipt Norwich aod Carmarthen. Ether dmatkards are a produet of Earl and. In a I*odonderiy neighborhood no official report' l»*s been made <Bf two deaths, caused ty drinking ether, and “ notwithstanding attempts made by the ejprgy and others as intiuence" to atop the practice, It aeenaefw be spreading. Tab £0,000,000,000 mulches manufactured in the United gwttw annually require 2U0.000 cubic feftt of the beat pwe lumber.—iTr, North.

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

A number of prisoners confined In Miami County Jail, at Pohx, made a desperate attempt to escape the oilier moral ng. Among the number was ono- Burpoff, charged with grand larceny, with chances good for a term In the Penitentiary. They obtained a quantity of powder from the outside, which they placed in a hole In the wall, where the mortar had been picked out. A alow matchwaa arranged, and an explosion followed, consldcrably damaging .the wMls, hu(thc fcl-_ lows were unable to escape before the Sheriff took them into Umbo again. Indiana stands first in railroads and telegraphs, having one mile of railroad to ejfery 895 of her population, the largest proportion of this most Important interest of any civil or political division on the globe. In wheat she rauks second only to Illinois, which is nearly one-half larger than Indiana. In com she ranks third, Illinois and Ohio alone surpassing her. In farm products and machinery she ranks fourth andcJlfth, New York, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania excelling her. In Uvc stock she ranks seventh in the scale. Indiana is now supporting a population of fifty, upon an average, to each section of 640 acres. By comparison with foreign countries, It will be seen that she haa the capacity of supporting a population of 17,000,000. While India, with her arduous system of irrigation and most earnest labor, Is supporting a population of 400 to the square mile, upon a yield of sixteen bushels of wheat to the acre, and rice, sweet potatoes and sueh like vegetables, all produced without any foreign machinery, and while a great portion of Europe, from her well worn fields, Is supporting her 300 to 400, and Massachusetts with her thiu soil and skilled labor is supporting her 200, and other less favored States are supporting 100 to 150, Indiana has an average of 100 to her cultivated lands, embracing only about 18,000 square miles, yet producing sufficient to support 5,000,000 people. One character! st ie feature that- gives force to and interest in her manufactures is the fact that in all her various manufacturing enterprises she is not making a useless toy or a silly ornament. On the other hand, she is producing nearly every class of labor-saving machinery, furniture and implements. Indiana, with less than 2,000,000 people, is producing more useful machinery to lighten the manual labor of the world, to create wealth, give comfort and advance civilization, than all Asia with her 800,000,000 of people. Thk fifty-seventh anniversary of the etteblishment .of Odd Fellowship In the United States was very generally observed by Odd Fellows throughout the State. At Richmond, Logansport, Goshen and Indianapolis the demonstrations were particularly imposing. Out of Haute children seventyfive cannot read nor write. On the morning of the 25th, near Berne, Adams County, while a daughter of Christian Yoder, thirteen years old, was engaged in burying wheat stubble in a field, her clothing caught fire, and, being unable to extingueh the Dames, and no assistance being near, she was so badly burned that death resulted in two hoars.

Frankie Parker, «trine year old boy of Lafayette, sustained a fatal fall, the other afternoon. He was playing about a store bailding and went through the hatchway. Dr. James Braden, of Indianapolis, haa prepared a very exhaustive table, showing Indiana’s relative importance as a producing State and her commercial advantages compared with «tbor States and eountries of the globe, which will appear in the forthcoming report of Alex. Heron, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, for 1875. From the table the following deductions are made: Ex-Countt Treasurer Koch, of Vanderburg, was recently arrested in Evansville, on a grand jury warrant charging him with defalcation in office. He gave bail in the sum of $5,000. A little two-year-old eon of Henry Re-in-king, of Manchesfer Township, Dearborn County, while playing out in the door-yard of his father’s home the other dav, was kicked by a vicious colt, which, by some carelessness, was running loose in the same yard. The little fellow was picked up in an unconscious condition and carried into the house, where, after lingering a few hours, he died. Charles Davis wm instantly killed at Sreencastle, the other -afternoon, by being thrown from the platform of a street-car, under the wheels, two of whieh passed, oyer his head. Bincb the Ist of January there have been K 6 accessions to the Methodist churches in the Grcensburg and Columbus districts, •under the presiding eldership of Rev. T. H. Lynch. Knox County will send to the Centennial •intbeway of timber thirty-three different -varieties, the specimens ranging in size from six inches to five feet in diameter, Indianapolis has forty-five gambling dens. There are just an even 200 .dwellings and 'business houses in Petersburg. Madison recently had a baby show at which ten male and female cherubs were exhibited. Two were so evenly matched that the matter of superiority had to be set-tled-by drawing straws. The panel from Richmond for the Ccntenolalihae been shipped. It contains the foi- ' lowing statistics: Richmond, Wayne County, first settlement, 18 )6; incorporated a town, 1808; chartered a city, 184 >; population 1856,1,445; population 1866, 6,603; population 1870, 9,445; population 1876, 15,522; manufactories 1875, 127; aggregate capital invested, $1,807,785; raw material and labor cost, $1,450,143; goods fold, value, $2,729,147; rate of taxation, $1.05 os $100; city debt, Mt per cent, of taxable property; churches,, 19; school-rooms publicly occupied, $7; ischools, denominational, 4; academy, Friends,' 1; college, Earlham, 1; railturnpikes, 13. The latent report* from Cincinnati giro the following,as the current priees for leading staples:: Flour,* $5.00@6l00; Wheat, $1.12f1.26; (Corn, Oats, 87 @43c; Barley, 98@99e; Rye, 74® 76c, Pork, $21.75 <*22.00; Lard-Steam, 13® 13Kc; kettle, tfij£@l4c; Hogs-$7.00g8.10.

The Satary Veto Message.

The following is the message of President Grant vetoing “An act fixing the saltryof the President of the United States’’: to the Senate of the Coiled States : . Herewith I return .Senate bill No. 172, entitled “ An act fixing .the salary of the Presided of the United States,” without my approval. lam constrained to this course from a secse of duty to my successors in office, to myself, and to what is due to the dignity of the pssition of Chief Magistrate of a nation of more than forty millions of people. Whey the salary of Uw President of the United States was fixed by the Constitution at S2S/Kt3 per annum, we were a nation of hut three millions of people, poor from a long and expensive /war, without commerce or manufifetusea, with bat few was is, and those Cheaply supplied. The salary must then have been deemed small for the responsibilities and dignity of the position, hut justifiably so from the impoverished condition of the Treasury and the simplicity It was desired to .cultivate in Use Republic. The salary of Cqurressmen under the Constitution was first fixed at six dollars pet dav for the lime actually in session. Mil average of stoat 120 days tv each session, «r 1720 per year, or less than oue-thirtieth of the salary of the President. Congressmen have legislated upon their own salaries from iltne to time u*bl finally it reached SS,UU> per annum, or one filth that Of the President te/ore the sslfiryof the latter wua increased.

No one having a knowledge of the cost of living at the National Capital will contend that the present aalary of Congressmen la too high, unless it t»e the intention to make the office one entirely of honor, when the salary Should be abolished—ft proposition repugnant to our l’eputtUcau ldeaa and lustitutlonfr I do not believe the citizens at this Republic desire their public servants to serve them without a fair compensation (or their services. The sun; of S2S,(X>O does not defray the expenses of, the Executive for one year, or has not in my experience. It la uoar one-fifih In value u&mt It waa when fixed .by the Constitution In supplying demand* and wants. .- - Having no personal interest-in -this matter, I have felt myself free to reiurn this bill to the House in wtiibh it originated with my objections, believing that in doing so I meet the wishes and (udgment of the great majority of those who Indirectly pay all the salaries and other expenses of the Government. U. 8. Grant. Executive Mansion, April 13,18.6.

Girls’ Dresses.

What are called “ basket suitings” are the tine woolen stud's used by Parisian dress makers for the dresses recently imported for girls. The colors are cream, pale blue and French gray in small, raised squares, all of one color. The trimming is merely knit pleating and silk facing. The designs ure modifications ot the princesse dress. This serves wither for the house or for an over dress for the street. The front is sometimes straight without darts, sometimes it is fitted to the figure; in either case it is buttoned diagonally. The back may be either in kilt or box pleats. The collar is deep and square behind. A pocket slung over the shoulder is quite a feature in these dresses. The princesse style is also adopted for the pique dresses of small girls, while larger girls have overskirts that are merely aprons shirred to form a fan behind, and the basques are box-pleated, with a row of insertion between the pleats. A Hamburg ruffle edges tbe basque and over-skirt; two such ruffles are on the lower skirt. * The low sash tied around the hips and fastened behind in a large bow is made of wide gros-grain ribbon, and worn with pique princesse dresses by very small girls. Their lace caps are of close capote shape, trimmed with ribbon to match the sash. The stockings are of similar color. Cambric and priut dresses for school and general wear are blouse waists buttoned behind; this waist is separate from the skirt, with ends extending over the hips, and instead of a belt a drawing string is passed around the waist. The skirt may be trimmed with ruffles, or else be plain and have a round long overskirt shirred on the sides and simply hemmed. Turbans and white straw sailor hats will be most worn by school-girls from ten years up to misses in their teens. Deep wide round frills turned down around the neck are made of the new lace braids, and worn by small children, both girls and boys; price $1.25. There are also broad Puritan collars of the Irish cord lace that imitates antique designs; price $2. Lace to match is imported to trim the wrists of the coats with which the collar is worn. The wool de bege and other suits worn by young girls are made with basques that button behind and long deep aprons. Brown, gray and dark blue remain the colors most in favor for young folks. — Harper's Bazar.

The Plague in Europe.

The plague, it seems clear, is once more threatening the confines of Europe. Since the beginning of March it has reached Bagdad, in which city in 1831 it destroyed 60,000 out of 150,000 people. The new outbreak, however, shows much of the old and mysterious fierceness before which medical science fbr many centuries recoiled in despair. There is no reason to expect that its ravages will be limited to the provinces of Turkey in Asia. Both in Egypt and in European Turkey the conditions in which the plague breeds and spreads are still prevailing. Happily there is not the least ground for believing that the conditions for its reproduction in Western Europe any longer exist. Thus we have hardly more than a scientific interest in the movement of a distant, but most deadly enemy. There is not much more chance of an invasion of England by the plague than there is of the destruction of London by an earthquake like that of Lisbon. No calamity, however, in thp history of the human race has produced so crushing an effect upon the imagination as the great epidemic of the plague. In one week 1,165 persons were killed by the pestilence in London, and the entire number of deaths in the year within the bills of mortality reached the enormous total of 68,000 out of a population of 500,000. Since that time no general visitation of the plague has been known in England or in the neighboring countries of Western Europe. Yet in 1712 it attacked Copenhagen; in 1720 Marseilles, where it slew more than half the inhabitants; in 1771 Moscow; in 1813 Malta; in 1816 Calabria: in 1818 Corfu: and in 1819 there was an outbreak in Silesia. These are the chief known instances of the appearance of the plague in modern times outside the dominions of Turkey and Egypt. It appears, therefore, that as modern life has been civilized, and, above all, has been cleansed, the power of the plague over the human organization baa been steadily : The plague itseif is a malignant fever analagous to typhus, with a peculiar influence over the lymphatic system. The persons subject to this sort of distemper are weakly in constitution,dwelling in the midst of damp and dirt, and generally of gross habits of living. When the true plague, stirred in its ancient “ source and seminary,” to quote Gibbon’s phrase, in the Egyptian or Syrian cities, by some such accident as an unhealthy season, extends its infection, it Axes itself where a population shown to be prepared for its reception by the prevalence of the lesser diseases already mentioned is gathered together. Oa thewhole,-it-may besaid that in no Western cities do such favoring conditions invite its visits. Though much remains to be done in our own and neighboring countries by way of sanitary improvement, what has been done, if we cone pare the life of onr cotemporaries with that of oqr ancestors of two centuries ago, marks a surprising advance. The worst rookery in modern London could not, as a nursery for the propagation of the pestilence, be matched with the chief cities of the East. Moreover, the collapse of the nervous powers, which is the especial characteristic of this frightful malady, is favored by terror and helplessness, and an active-minded modern community, which, in the worst event, would energetically combat even the plague with all the resources of medical science, could no more be reduoed to the despair of the Oriental when he finds himself face to face with the contagion than it could be terrified, as tbe people of London were in 1665, by the ominous flaming of an unexpected comet in the sky. Thus in modern England—indeed, throughout Western Europe generally—neither the material nor the moral conditions exist wihich invite the inroads of the plagu e.—Lond&n Timet.

Matrimony is on the decline In Maryland. The Balllmo,-e Qatette notes with sadness tbe fact that tbe past quarter shows a record of only 066 marriage licenses issued in the city, while tbe corresponding record oflast year showed a total of 590. A vein of silver, lead and zinc has been struck in the northern pun of Pope County, m

Checking the Fire Fiend.

The amount of worry and anxiety, and consequent discomfort of living and the shortening of the tetm of life, caused by the aiiprahenaion of danger from fh>, » enough to make everyone scarab diligently tor safeguards. The danger of loss of property It of course very great, and even the moderate chance of lugs of life should not bo disregarded. ■*, — When the communists tried to burn Paris, they failed, not because the fires were put out by engines of any - kind-,--but because the city waa so built that it would not burn. What must be the fate of an American city under similar circumstances is easily foretold. We build fire traps, and protect them by insurance. But money, though a great soother at times, can never pay us for the loss of peace of mind. It cannot even pay us for the loss of those articles of daily use to which we have become attached by long associations; the many pictures and books which seem to us like old friends, and, far dearer than these, the mother’s old armchair or the dead child’s playthings. We cannot reconcile ourselves to the loss of these, and we all long at times for a home in which they can be made reasonably secure to us. We do not ask for absolute safety. The world can seldom give that. We ask to have our treacherous enemy checked and retarded, to give time, at least, to get our priceless treasures beyond his reach. Much has been said and written on fireproof construction, and most of it ends with advice to employ cumbersome and expensive work of iron, brick, and tiles. But little has been told to show how a comparatively cheap house can be built so that it will never burn quickly, and so that the chances of saving it altogether can be increased a hundredfold.

Before showing how this can be done, it msy be well to transcribe, for the benefit of those whose houses are already built, a few suggestions from the London Builder with reference to the prevention of fires. “ Keep matches in metal boxes, and out of the reach of children; wax matches are particularly dangerous, and should be kept out of the way of rats and mice. Be careful in making fires with shavings and other light kindlings. Do not deposit ashes in a wooden vessel, and be sure that burning cinders are extinguished before they are deposited. Never put firewood upon the stove to dry, and never put ashes or a light under a staircase. Fill fluid or spirit (or kerosene) lamps only by daylight. Do not leave a candle burning on a bureau or chest. Always be cautious about extinguishing matches or other lighters before throwing them away. Never throw a cigar stump on the floor, or into a spit-box containing sawdust or trash, without being certain that it contains no fire. After blowing out a candle never put It away until sure that the snuff nas gone entirely out. A lighted candle ought not to be stuck up against a frame wall, or placed upon any portion, of the woodwork in a stable, manufactory, shop, or any other place. Never enter a barn or stable at night with an uncovered light. Never take an open light to examine a gas meter. Do not put gas or other lights near curtains. Never take a light into a closet. Do not read in bed.

“The principal register of a furnace should always be fastened open. Stove pipes should be at least four inches from woodwork, and well guarded by tin or zinc; rags ought never to be stuffed into stove pipe holes; openings into chimney flues for stove pipes which are not used ought always to be protected by metallic coverings. Never close up a place of business in the evening without looking well to the extinguishment of lights and the proper security of the fires. When retiring to bed at night, always see that there is no danger from your fires, and be sure that your lights are safe.”

To these good roles might be added: Never keep cr leave oiled rags or oiled cotton waste in any place where their burning could do any barm. They are more dangerous than gunpowder Always have an ax, one or more buckets of water, and a small hand pump available at all times to put out a fire in its beginning. Do not allow accumulation of combustible rubbish about, especially in out of the way corners. These directions may prove of use to those whose houses are already built. Those who have yet to build need to be shown how to use their material properly. The great danger in our present system of construction lies in the inflammable nature ot our building materials, and in the opportunity given by the arrangement of partition walls and flours, unchecked, unseen and out of reach. It is best, if possible, to build outer walls of brick, and with judicious treatment and at moderate expense they can be made to look attractive even in the country. By making a projection or offset inside at each floor, an effectual stop can be put to any passage of fire up the inside surfaces; or if hollow or vaulted walls are used, the plaster can be put directly ou the brick without using any wood. But if the outside walls are of wood, the spread of fire can be greatly checked by filling them full, between the joints and against the outside boarding, with brick and mortar or concrete, or any such incombustible material; or if that expense is too great, they may be filled at each floor, and for a short distance above. Then, by treating the partitions in the same way, there will be an unobstructed channel or flue for flame only one story high, and stopped tight at top and bottom. The wood will hold well end burn very slowly even when only partially protected in this lyay. In war times, soldiers used to build chimneys with a-cob house construction, of small sticks plastered inside and out with clay; and these frail structures would endure the heat of roaring wood fires, simply because the flame could not reach to envelop the wood. Protect a piece of joist on two sides with plaster, and it will be very hard to make the exposed flat surface bu rn long, and the charred wood soon furnishes a sort of check to further combustion. And this is the correct principle to apply to the protec tionof wooden houses. Cover the wood as far as possible with mortar, and stop all circulation of air. Having pbgged the walls and partitions thoroughly, and treated the stairway in a similar manner by filling in between the support ing stringers or carriages with coarse mortar, we must next make the opening around each chimney tight, where it passes through the floor, by a filling-in of mortar, or by turning trimmer arches against the surrounding timbers on the four sides. The next vulnerable point is the floor. In France, it is often the custom to crosslath the ceiling with laths considerably thicker than ours, and then to put a flat surface of sough boards a short distance below the under surface of the laths (supporting it by a staging), and to pour in from above a mixture ot plaster of Paris, which hardens into a solid mass between the floor timbers and above and below the lathing. When the whole is sufficiently set, the singing is removed and the ceiling smootli-finished from below. Plaster of Paris is at present too expensive here forms to follow this method in ordinary cases, but we have a very good substitute in wire lathing. This is simply what is commonly known as coarse wire netting, is nailed to the furring strips of a ceiling, and may have coarse mortar spread upon it from above and between the floor timbers. The mortar is to be well worked up with a trowel against the sides of the sticks, and then the under side of the wire may be plastered in the ordinary way from below. This method unfortunately costs about double what ordinary lath and plaster do, besides occupying more time in construction. Ani• •• “■ .'ft—i\ ■ ■ - -

other aud leas expensive safeguard, which it is well, to use in connection with this, qx which .may be ifeade ' a partial substitute for it, is to chyer the rohfh boanllnr of the floor with about an hu h in tticknem of onj inary plasterer’s mortar, smoothed over, between incli-square battens nailed to every other floor timber, to furnish a solid ground on which to nail the upper floors. These battens are sometimes taken out after the plaster is hard, and their places filled by fresh plaster, the whole' surface covered with sheathing paper, and the upper floors nailed over this. The roofs may also be treated with a coat of plaster or cement, in which the slates should be firmly bedded while it is wet* All these precautions against fire arc also useftil to make the house warmer, to deaden sound, and to help to stop leaks. And they are all In one sense economical, they may suve expense in insurance. It is a good maxim in war to do what your enemy least wishes you to do. The fire fiend craves light wood work, loosely arranged and full of draft channels. Let him find everything plugged solid with mortar. Make him dig for every inch of wood he seeks to devour; check him, hold him, worry him, cramp him in close quarters. Then with a little presence of mind, a strong arm or two and a few homely weapons, you can drive him to a corner and finally destroy him altogether. — J: A. F., in the Boston Journal of Chemistry.

Membranous Croup Cured.

That terror of parents, the muchdreaded membranous croup, has been met and conquered. A mother thus tells the story of how it was done in the Western Farm Journal of Chicago: I began with the intent to add a story of a sore struggle with croup, that resulted in a cure almost miraculous in its character, hoping that, from the reading of it, somebody may get hope and help in a similar case. In the mouth of November, 1872, my little boy, Archie, tnen about three years old, was taken suddenly with croup, not of the worst type at first, but accompanied by the hoarse cough and other symptoms of the milder form of the disease. Our well-tried and always, before this, successful remedy, was applied at once, that is, the cold bandage on the chest and throat, but, to our dismay, without any alleviation. The little fellow had considerable fever, and thpre was a steadilyincreasing closing up of the air-passages all that night and the next day. A physician was called who ordered emetics, etc., all of which had no effect. We flew from cold water to hot, used lard internally and externally, and even tried a patent nostrum, to our shame be it spoken. On the third day we gave him up, or rather could think of nothing else to do. The poor little fellow had lost almost all consciousness, and his breathing was that dry whistle, that showed the terrible work of suffocation that was killing our boy. An older and wiser doctor had been summoned, but as he looked at the little sufferer he shook his head and said, “membranous croup of the worst kind; he can’t iive an hour.” As we stood about the bed, an inspiration seemed to seize this physician. Said he: “Steam has been applied, I have heard, with good results;” and in an instant all were alert to find some means to apply this new remedy. The foot of an old-fashioned, high post bedstead was made one side of a room, perhaps six feet square. Quilts were rapidly collected and strung around the sides and over the top; a large store box, the first thing at hand, was moved into this room of quilts; the wash-boiler was put upon the stove some six feet from this impromptu steam bath, its lid pierced and fitted with a copper pipe, which'conveyed the steam where it was needed. All this came about like magic, though it is hard to tell exactly how; ,tmt i Q l ess than thirty minutes I was sitting on the box,.with Archie’s head on my shoulder, the air of our little den thick with steam, and our anxious friends waiting outside for the signal that the little one was saved. The first breath of the moist, hot atmosphere changed the sound of his breathing, but for fotfr hours the relief was uncertain. At the end of-that time the whistle had become a rattle, and the little fellow finally fell into a sound sleep. For seven days and nights Archie and I inhabited that steam den. The progress of his recovery was marked by fearful struggles with his enemy. At times he would sit up, tainting and laughing about the clouds that hung about his head, and then again he would wake from sleep half strangled, and for some seconds it seemed as if ne must suffocate or burst a blood vessel. But during the last few days of our imprisonment, hard, scaly matter came up by coughing, until the little fellow was safe, and the eighth day we ventured out. Some more of the facts connected with this strange experiment may be interesting. For twelve hours after we entered the bath it seemed impossible to keep up the needed amount of steam; our cotton walls drank it up until they were saturated. We were obliged to keep kettles of water inside the bath into which hot stones were now and then plunged; but this made us trouble, as the steam was so loaded with sulphurous fumes as to be stifling; but other than this, my own sensations were not unpleasant; breathing was easy, and I came out from the ordeal, to my utter astonishment, with scarcely any ill effects, not even excessive fatigue, and Archie did not lose flesh or spirits, though for months there was a hoarseness in his voice, as if it had been weakened by the extraordinary efforts to throw oft the disease. We were long apprehensive of a return of the attack, but it never came, and he finally was himself again. The records of croup cases will shov? that remedies which succeed in one case fail in all others, and I am slow to encourage the belief that our experience would be that of all who try that method, .but- there is. something in tma- direct application of hot moisture to the softening of the membrane in this generally fatal type of croup, that makes me confident of its power to ameliorate, at least, if not to cure the worst forms of this terrible malady ; and we shall never cease to thank the good angel who prompted the doctor to tell us of it, although the good doctor himself had little faith in its success in our case.

she Lumberman of April 8 contains an exhaustive review of the lumber product of the Northwest for the season of 1875, showing also the quantity of logs and lumber on hand at the beginning of the present year. The production and supply left over are shown to be as follows: No ft. lumber No. ft. lumber and toge on hand sawed is 187.'). Jan. 1,1K78. Michigan 2,74*1,feti.184 1,380,*77,1«9 Wisconsin 1,088,67 ,»» M ,S«l,U0O Minnesota S4-2.0aa,1Tl 217.0*8,000 Mississippi River.. -.91,487,1X0 2U,7ll,utX> Total The prxluct of the season of 1874 was 4,229,189,688 feet, and the supply of lumber and logs on hand JTan. 1, 1875, was 2,187,624,279 feet. The salaries of the Buffalo employee of the Erie Railway Company aggregate about SIOO,OOO a month, ornearly $1,250,000 per year. Nearly bue-thira of this amount is paid out so Ute attaches of the two work-shops. »- - Thhek hundred and tiiirty-sevkn American hotels were burned In 1875, and not a hotel cldrk was so much as scorched.

MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

—M. Daguzan has invented a composition to replace the coloring matter now in use for printing paper-hangings, leather, etc. Its base is caoutchoocln the natural state, though gutta percha and other like gums are sometimes employed; the base fa reduced to a paste with benzine, and somo organic coloring matter added. —ln the course of some experiment* made by the permanent;Austrian committee It is noted that the Austrian prisnaatlcpowuer has a smaller kernel and a lesser density than that ordinarily employed in Prussia for Six-inch cannon; anti the result of the experiments made with this powder shows that the maximum preastfre exerted by It upon the common ball amounts to 2,520 atmospheres, being about 200 atmospheres, or 8,000 pounds to the Bquarc inch, greater than the pressure developed by the Prussian prismatic powder. —An exhaustive report has been issued by the German Government, giving in detail the experiments of officers in military ballooning. The conclusion arrived at is that the German officers believe that the mechanical direction of balloons is by no means impossible. Even the problem of ascending and desceading without using ballast or allowing gas to escape they think is quite likely to receive a speedy solution. The proposition the experimentalists make the German Government is that fitll opportunity be given them to study the action of the helix on balloons of different capacities. —A brilliant light has been produced by a London chemist, by a very simple method. He finds that, when common saltpeter or nitrate of potassium is heated to a temperature somewhat beyond the point of fusion in a hard glass tube or porcelain capsule mounted over a spirit lamp, and small pieces of sulphur are then successively introduced, a deflagration ensiles, accompanied by the emission of an intensely powerful white light, which is maintained as long as any ot the sulphur remains floating as a molten globule in the fluid nitrate. The cost of this light is of course very trifling, both ingredients being exObedingly cheap. Tlius, one ounce of nit£r melted and fed with sulphur at the rate of eight or ten grains at a time, will keep up a brilliant light for about ten minutes, at the expense of one cent.

—Dr. Cutter relates an interesting case in his practice—that of an energetic carpenter who, in building a hothouse, was exposed to the sun’s heat under glass in llie summertimejthiaexpesnrebeinjr followed by symptoms of disturbance of the nervous system, evincing a loss of nerve force. Naturally of a cool temper, he became excitable, was unable to cast accounts, his steps were rapid and manner nervous, but sleeplessness was the most prominent and perplexing symptom. Chloral hydrate, bromide of potassium, opium, sulphate of morphia aud valerianate of morphia, were successively tried Without avail. Finally, reasoning that here was a case of loss of nerve force, and knowing phosphorous to be a most important nerve food, Dr. Cutter prescribed one-fiftieth of a grain thrice daily in pill form. In a few days he slept as well as ever, and, discontinuing the pills, has since had his natural sleep. —Some efforts are being made in Pittsburgh to bring into use the gaseous products of wells in Butler County by layiug pipes from the Bource and connecting them directly with the great manufacturing town of Western Pennsylvania. The gas is a hydrocarbon, of the composition of C 4, H 6, mixed with some carbonic oxide and carbonic add. Its illuminating power is about from six to seven caudles, coal gas being rather more titan double.. Engineers state that pressure at the wells being as much as 100 pounds to the square inch, the gas might be carried through 3%-inch piping to Pittsburgh, and that the friction could be overcome. The volume at which the gas rushes into the air from the wells has been calculated at about 1,700 feet per second. This number multiplied by the area °f the tube would be 17 square Inches, which would be about 280 cubic feet per second, or 17,384 cubic feet per minute, or, in round numbers, 1,000,000 of cubic feet per hour. Mr. O. Wuth, an engineer, computes that this carburetted hydrogen, counting on a delivery of 1,000,000 cubic feet of gas per hour, would weigh 58.7 tons, or that per day it would represent 1,408 tons. Mr. Wuth thinks it quite feasible, by the use of this'gas, to economize an outlay in coal estimated to be worth, if consumed, sl,500,000. ___ ’

Taking the Census of Philadelphia.

Only one day was consumed in taking the recent census of Philadelphia. The work was done something after the .English fashion. Three hundred thousand blanks were printed, and One was left with every family in the city. The work was done by the police. The blanks were distributed on the 3d, and on the 10th Mayor Stokly issued a proclamation showing the result of the census. The total number of inhabitants is 817,748, of whom 226,070 are males over twenty-one years, 246,634 are females over twentyone, 171,998 arc malts under twenty-one, and 172,746 are females under twenty-one. The population jof the city in 1070, as given by the United States census, was 674.022, so that there has increase since then of 143,426. It is believed mat the enumeration of the 8d is within 5,000 of the actual population. After the returns were gathered over fifty employes of the Police Department were engaged in compiling them from early morning until midnight, and the entire work has not cost more than $3,000, mainly for printing and advertising.

Forced To Be a Liar.

\ An agent for the sale of a now kerosene lamp-chimney called into ahouse on Chestnut street the other day to make a sale. He satisfied the woman drat If good tiling, and then she asked: “ How much kerosene will it save ? ’ “I think it will save some,” was his evasive answer. “What per cent, of fuel will it save?” she next demanded. “ Why—why—what has fuel to do with a kerosene lamp?” “All right, you can go,” she said. “ There was a man along here yesterday with a chimney which he warranted to save half the oil aud forty per cbnt. in fuel, and you can take your goods and go home I” He sold one of his chimneys in that house; but when he reached the street great beads of perspiration stood on his forehead, and he said f "She wanted to be lied to, and I lied, and now I’ve got to keep on lying add lose my soul for the sake of selling lamp chimneys!” — Detroit Free Press Gongs and cymbals, which have, up to within a few years past, been imported from China ana Turkey, are now mode at an establishment in Boston, the only one in the country, where from 800 to 400 gongs and 500 pairs cymbals per year are / produced. Cymbals of twelve and four teen inches diameter range in price firom $24 to $36, and gongs Bell at fifty cents per inch of diameter. Mbs. L. E. Cotton, of West Gorham, Me., reports, that last year she took 880 pounds of uoney from one blve, all in glass boxes, which she sold atthirty-three cents per pound. She fed the at cfc early. in spring to encourage early breeding, and kept it strong all through the season.