Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 December 1882 — Speaking Ships at Sea. [ARTICLE]

Speaking Ships at Sea.

Robert Mayo, a colored citizen of Louisville, brought suit for divorce, alleging that he thought his wife was a mulatto, whereas she is a white woman, and their cohabitation is in violation of law. Salvini had a hard time of if iu Boston. esthetic woman invited bim to a pale tea where the gas was turned off and a few candles lit, so that people talked at each other in the dark. He made the best of it by saying it reminded him of an Italian salon—where they don’t use gas—but everybody else said it reminded them of Vanderbilt’s tunnel. At another party the lady of the house approached and serenely invited Salvini to recite something. His smiles vanished, and he said he never recited. From the official report of the Italian census, taken on the last day of the jear 1881, it appears that the total population of the peninsula is 28,452,639, uii increase since 1871 of 1,651,485; while, in that period, it is estimated, further, that fully 350,000 Italians have .emigrated. The educational exhibit of these returns is interesting because so encouraging. Thus, the number of persons who could not read or write in 1871 was 42 per cent, of men and 47 of women —proportions which, in the case •of men, have decreased 17 per cent, wnd of women 11. The greatest improvement is found between the ages •of 20 and 25.

The guardsmen returned from Egypt who now walk the streets of London, •ays an English paper, have a wild look about the eyes and a marked unquiet’ about the brow. The trace of severe privation' is left in their dried and shrunken forms, but the trace of mental anguish is visible enough in the disturbed glances they cast around. The same expression was noticeable in the laces oi the men returned from Zulti*land, and the officers of our army will tell you that the men who have served in tbe frontier war against the Indians never recovered the happy, careless look they had worn at' the commence ment of a campaign. “One single echo of the war whoop by night will rob a man of twenty years of his life, and he may bid farewell to his youth forever after," said Gen. Custer just before entering on his campaign on the Rosebud river. Some interesting statistics of the public observatories of the world have just been published. Their number is 1M; eighty-four being in Europe, two in Asia, two in Africa, twenty-seven in America and three in Oceania. Of the European observatories Prussia has twenty-nine, Russia nineteen, England fourteen, Italy nine, Austria eight, France six, Switzerland four and Sweden three. Spain, Portugal, Holland and Norway each possess two, while there is only one in Greece, Belgium Denmark. The most ancient observatory in Europe and m the world is that of Leyden, having been founded in 1632; then comes Copenhagen, founded in 1637; Paris, in 1667 and Greenwich, in 1675. The Moscow observatory is the oldest in Russia, dating from 1750. Prussia, now the richest country in the world in astronomical observatories, had none before 1805.

That the country is Wealthier than the city is generally Understood, but the mortality statistics Qf the census furnish data upon, yrhioh to Jbaqe aUopinion as t» the itary the of 1180 perthan* sand of ppfmlatian, 12.8 sr’ of 1870, uad 15.1 in tfc« census of 1880,* The increase is attributed to the greater accuracy in . the work pf the enumerators for each successive census, rather than to,any increase in the Actual mortality. It is. believed' that the enumerators have yet failed to obtain the full mortality statistics, for a canvass in two States has shown that about 30 per cent, of the deaths are not included in the oeneus statistics. It is therefore supposed that the true death-rate is not far from 18 per thousand es population. As the death-rate for our cities averages about 25 per thousand, the chances of long life are vastly greater in the country than in the town. When William Shcehy, of Trenton, If. J., presented at the church to be married, the other day, the priest informed him that the ceremony could

not go on. Olfjection tb the marriage: had been made by two women, who: claimed to be friends of the bride, on the ground that Sheehy was already married, and said he wonld have to disprove the statement before he could go on with the ceremony. Sheehy had foi merly lived in Philadelphia, and it was stated that his alleged present wife was living there now. . The priest who had been his pastor in Philadelphia had since removed to N. J There jras nothing left Shee&y to do but go to Burlington, see the priest in question and get a certificate from him to the effect that he was a single Stan. The distance to the depot Vrits half a mile, and he had less than five minutes in which to catch the train. If he failed to get back from Burlingtbh W fore noon the.-, marriage wonld have?, to be postponed' for another;- day, and lie felt that under the circumstances de-' lays were dangerous. He reached the station in time to catch the train just as it was pulling out. Meantime there was excitement, anxiety and uncertainty among those at the churoh. The curiosity of everybody was too much aroused for any one to leave until thrfy heard of the result of the mission, of the absent Sheehy. After waiting about two hours, and just as the people were beginning to despair of his return, the groom expectant, about twenty minutes of 12, was seen coming on a run. fie had the desired certificate, and was in time tp have the ceremony proceed. By noon himself the bride were one, and the spectators were congratulating him on his pluck in overcoming obstacles. Mrs. Crosby, who lives in an oldfashioned mansion, surrounded by fine grounds, near Fort Schuyler, a few miles from New York, on Long Island sound, was awakened the other night by tbe ringing of the door bell and the demand of a man to be let in. She refused, and he went to the side door, where, by breaking a pane of glass, he succeeded in unlocking the door and letting himself in. She, in the meantime, rang a big bell and called John and Tom, the ostler and gardener, living near by in a cott&ge. “11l John and Tom you!” said the intruder. "I’ll kill yon if you don’t stop your noise.” He succeeded in reaching the top of the stairs, where the nurse broke a cane over his head and ran away into the nursery and locked the door. The man began kicking the panels of this door when Mrs. Crosby snapped a gun at him, which did not go off. Then she ran by another way into the nursery. Just as the man got his shoulders through the door, she clubbed the gun and struck him on the shoulder, breaking the stock of the gun short off. As the man arose she caught him by the neck and shoulder and hit him a blow in the right eye with her fist. He seized her by the face, hi 9 thumb in one corner of her mouth and his fingers spread from her right ear down under the jaw. Then he threw her across the foot of a bed. She wrenched his hand from her face, rolled him off, and, catching him by the collar, shoved him through the deor and sent him tumbling down the stairs. During this struggle Willie, a lad of 7 years, manfully helped his mother by kioking, pounding and biting the man and pulling his hair vigorously, saying, as ke did so: “Oh mamma, he’ll kill yon! he’ll kill yon! but I’ll help you.” When she had sent the man rolling down the stairs she thought of a pair of pistols in a case in the front room. She found the case locked, but pried it open with a knife. As she got to the head of the stairs with the pistols. the •ipan saw her and ran.' He reaohed the Conservatory door, near the foot of the atairs, and pulled the door-knob off in to 'get out. Then he ran up to the stair landing and jumped out he had come in. After the man had'fcot away from the the two servants woke bp, but could not find him.

Immediately-on-hearing the cry M Sail, O!" the signal flags, of which there are eighteen, are brought to deok, and the ensign is run up the peak halyards; or, if not visible to the other vessel there, thoy are displayed from some conspicuous point. When the other vessel comes near enough to see our ensign through the glass, she makes it known by pulling down her ensign. We next raise the four flags of pennants that denote the name of our vessel, and when distinguished by them they follow suit, The other flags used denoting the letters were B. L. D. O.—from Bombay, B. E. M.—for Amsterdam, W. ,F. V.— seventy-six days out; these were answered by us, and then we asked him to report us-; he replied, V. J. W.—with pleasure. Anything can be said by the use of these flags.