Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 January 1883 — Page 3

meat their daily *jbsevvation& These re-pi-rts, having been transmitted regularly to the office at the Signal Service at Washington, have been commended for their fullness and accuracy, and they are contributing to ,the stock of knowledge which will gradually enable skillful observers to make longer and more accurate forecasts of the weather. The corps has been equipped with a small outfit of instruments by the United States {Signal Service, but has served without any compensation. The report of the Commissioner is so ireplete with information of general value {that it will, no doubt be examined by you with interest, and aid yon in some parts of !the work of legislation. , DEPARTMENT OP GEOLOGY. The report of the State Geologist has attracted much attention among scientists on account of its bringing to light new organic remains found among the rocks of the State, and on account of surface discoveries of a novel and important character. His tests of Indiana building stone, showing the superior quality thereof with respect to the important features of endurance and elasticity, have opened new markets for the stone, and much increased the sale thereof. Beds of gravel have also been found by him, at places where the existence of such deposits had not before been suspected, which are famishing material for improved roads. The State geological cabijnefc has been increased during the past year by an addition, with trilling expense, of* snore than 40,000 interesting and valuable specimens. New coal deposits have also been discovered and public attention directed to them. , STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. This board was established by an act of the last General Assembly. Twenty-six States had previously established like boards. Tfie work of the board has been prosecuted with zeal. Its report, afid the report of its executive officer, give a full statement of the work done since it entered upon the discharge of its duties. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S REPORT. The large collections made by the Attorney General of moneys received by various officers, which were payable to the State, but had been withheld, and the result of important suits in which the State has been interested, as well as the condition of pending suits, are shown by his report The litigation involving the title to the valuable tract of land near Indianapolis, purchased many years since as a site for the House of Refuge, but not used as such, consisting of 100 acres, has been decided in favor of the State, and the State has quiet possession of the land PUBLIC PRINTING. By a reference to the report of the Secretary of State it will be seen that a deficiency has existed for several years in the approSriations for public printing. The work is one for a fair price, but the cost of what necessarily must be done exceeds somewhat the sums appropriated. In this connection I beg to call your attention to the fact that the law should define with more precision •what printing shall he paid for out of the general appropriation. THE STATE MILITIA. Attention is called with pleasure to the energetic and successful efforts of the Adjutant General to increase the numbers and improve the discipline of our active militia The encampment held at Indianapolis last summer at which some of the most prominent militia companies of the country engaged in a competition for prizes with our own oompanies, and with one another, drew to it a vast number of interested spectators, gave a renewed impulse to the martial spirit, and has been productive of excellent results. I take this occasion to render acknowledgments to the gentlemen composing my staff for their arduous and disinterested services on that occasion. Since the encampment broke up, many new companies have been formed, and a disposition to elevate the standard of attainment in all military exercises has been manifest. The recommendations contained in the Adjutant General’s report are commended to your careful consideration. I particularly urge upon you the importance of passing a law. in conformity to his recommendation, ty provide for copying into record books, to be procured for that purpose, the muster-in and muster-out rolls of the Indiana soldiers. These contain an account el" the service of each soldier. When this record shall have been made, a frequent handling of original' papers will he unnecessary, and the papers will thus be preserved from injury. It will be a reproach to the State if a performance of this duty shall be longer neglected. There is" a necessity, also, that you shall provide, without delay, a fire-proof vault for the purpose of securing these papers against the hazards of fire. Their destruction would do incalculable injustice to persons having the strongest claims to grateful recognition by the State.

BEVISED STATUTES. In conformity to a requirement contained in the act of 1881, concerning the publication ■of the Revised Statutes, I appointed the gentlemen composing the Board of Revision, Commissioners to prepare these statutes for publication, and to superintend the publication thereof. The last delivery of the copies required by law to be ttled'in the Clerks’ offices of the several counties was made in July, 1882. The act of 1881 provided that the Commissioners should hold their positions until the first day of November of that year, and that the Commissioners and the Governor should, on the final adjournment of the General Assembly, advertise for bids for the printing and delivery of the statutes.. A clause required the Commissioners to annotate the ■contents of the volume, so as to show, by "proper reference, the time when all statutes Included in the volume went into force. A literal compliance with the act of 1881. with respect to the time for completing the work assigned to the Commissioners, and to the time for advertising for bids, was found 'to be impossible. The work assigned to the Commissioners could not, by the utmost labor they could bestow, be completed within the time prescribed, and no intelligent bid, or bid at all favorable to the State, could have been expected, had bids been solicited when the work was in the incomplete condition in which it was at the time of the adjournment of the Legislature. Beside, the volume containing the session acts of 1881 was so large, on account of the bills brought before the Legislature by the Board for the Revision of Laws, that the printing could not be completed until a period much later than had been usual in the printing of session acts. Hence, the annotation of the time when the acts passed at the session of 1881 took effect, could not be made as early as the Legislature had contemplated. When the time fixed for the expiration of the offices of the Commissioners arrived, they, therefore, from public motives, and at much personal inconvenience, continued in the performance of their labor, without any provision for further compensation, until the work contemplated by law had been ! completed and the statute's were ready for delivery. The act of 1881 prescribed with particularity with what land of type and in what style the Revised Statutes should be printed. The contract was let in conformity to the terms of the act Had the volume, however, been prepared in that manner, it would |have been most inconvenient and unsightly. Fortunately, the contractor was willing to print the volume in a much better type, and to bind it in a much more .attractive style, at the price which had been named in the contract, and it was accordingly prepared in this manner, with the consent br the Commissioners and to the general satisfaction of the legal profession. It is. a,volume which the Commissioners have truly said is “a credit to the printers’ art, ” The cost of the printing, binding an&cte-

livery was #22,25&76, being #2,766.34 less than the appropriation tar the purpose. The Commissioners, in their contract, took the precaution to provide that, as soon as the number of volumes prescribed by law had been printed, the stereotype plates employed in printing it should, 'without additional charge, be turned over to the State. No provisions having been made by law for securing a copyright, the Commissioners took out a copyright in their own names, which they promptly assigned to the State. In compliance with a request from them, I recommend the passage of an act formally accepting the assignment. The stereotype plates can be used to advantage by the State, and could also be used by private parties, in printing separately for circulation, particular acts contained in the volume I recommend that provision be made by law for a temporary use of the plates by private parties, for a proper consideration, at the discretion of the Board of Public Printing. For the laborious work performed by the Commissioners after the end of their term of office, I have no doubt it will be the pleasure of the General Assembly to provide a proper compensation. THE NEW STATE HOUSE. The progress of the work upon the new State House since the General Assembly last met has, on the whole, been satisfactory. While in 1881 the work did not proceed quite as actively as had been anticipated, it has during the year just closed been prosecuted as diligently as the most sanguine could well have hoped. Under the careful and vigilant supervision of the Commissioners, it is believed that it has been thoroughly well executed, and will bear the sternest tests. It is a subject of great regret that the execution of the remainder of the work is liable to be retarded by a dissatisfaction on the part of the contractors, arising from losses said bvthein to have been necessarily Incurred while they have been engaged in a' diligent and faithful performance of their contract. The cost of materials and the prices of labor have risen, as they claim, altogether above what they expected, or what might reasonably have been expected, when they entered upon their undertaking. If they ‘should decline to proceed further under' existing circumstances, a grave duty will be devolved upon you in determining what course will be wisest to secure an early and satisfactory execution of the unfinished part of the work. Provision was made in the contract that changes directed by the Commissioners, with the consent of the contractors, during the progress of the work, should not operate to discharge the liability of the sureties upon the contractors’ bond, and in every instance where changes have been made they have been made with the consent of the contractors and in conformity to an opinion of the Attorney General, that the change would not release the sureties THE KANKAKEE MARSH. At the last session of the General Assembly an act was passed empowering the Governor to appoint a civil engineer to make a survey of the wet and swurnp lauds of the Kankakee region in this State, and to take levels, and make careful estimates, with a view of ascertaining the cheapest and most practicable outlets and routes by which to effect successfully a drainage of that vast hotly of fertile lands. An appropriation of $5,000 was made to enable the engineer to prosecute the work, and the Governor was empowered at his discretion to direct surveys to be made of other wet lands for a like purpose. On the sth day of May, 1881, I appointed as the civil engineer for the purpose contemplated in the act, Prof. John L Campbell, of Wabash College, who had been successfully conducting the United States Geodetic Surtey in this State. He accepted the appointment, and, having organized a corps of assistants, entered promptly upon his important work. I cannot too highly commend the manner in which he and his able corps of assistants have discharged their duties. His clear and exhaustive report should receive your most attentive consideration.

The vast region of the Kankakee is shown to be. one of the most fertile regions of the State, and, by the excavation of a nearly straight channel to conduct the water of the river, a sufficient full can be obtained to effect a thorough drainage. The ease with which the channel can be constructed is most gratifying, and the cost of effecting a drainage, however considerable it may appeal-, bears no sort of proportion to the additional value which drainage will impart to the lands. These lands, on account of their proximity to Chicago, are covered by a net work of leading lines of railroads. The estimates of the engineer, who is of a cautious and conservative temper, may be regarded iis being certainly above, rather than below - , what would be‘the actual cost of the work required to be done. It was hoped that the rocky bottom of the bed of the river, which begins in Illinois, two miles west of our State line, would not at that point oppose any obstacle to a thorough drainage, but the engineer believes that the water, flowing through its new channel, holding pftrticles of earth in suspension, would be likely to deposit a sediment at that point and 'make a bar which might render lands adjacent’ to the river liable to overflow. He thinks that for a distance of half the length of the contemplated channel the work of drainage can safely be prosecuted without delay, but that the rest of the work should await an acquisition of the right to remove for a specified distance the rocky obstruction referred to. A belief has been expressed, however, by some hydraulic engineers, that, until the netv channel shall practically cease to make the stream muddy, any tendency to create a bar at the point mentioned might probably be prevented by one of the small vessels needed at any rate to be maintained in the river for some time after the completion of the work, being fitted with simple mechanical appliances, enabling it to stir the sediment and keep it in suspension until it can pass off in the current which flows freely over the rocky bottom of the river at that point. With respect to the manner in which this important undertaking shall be prosecuted, there will no doubt be found a diversity of opinion. The law of 1809, which was intended to provide a practical scheme for the accomplishment of the work, was repealed by the General Assembly soon after its enactment It was found that the effect of the law would be to subject to sale for a non-payment of assessments the lands of most of the small proprietors. Such proprietors cannot pay any considerable assessments until an increase of crops, occasioned bv a reclamation of their lands, provides them with the means of payment Some method must be devised, if they are to be protected, by which the work may go on and there may be a reasonable delav in the collection of the assessments. With respect to the portion of these lands included in the grant of swamp lands made to the State by the United States, the State engaged, when it sold them, that the proceeds of the sales should be applied toward draining them. It must be confessed that the engagement was imperfectly kept The more sanguine proprietors have hoped that, in consideration of this fact, the State would, at its own expense, undertake to drain these lands It does not, however, seem to be likely that the Legislature would be willing to charge the State with the expense of so considerable an undertaking. But the fact that the State so imperfectly kept its engagement should certainly Incline it to a course of liberal legislation. It is believed that it would be competent for the State Itself to advance money, retaining a Hen on the lands for a return thereof: but, if this should be deemed inexpedient, it might

empower the counties to be benefited by the drainage to guarantee bonds to be issued inpayment for the work, retaining ri lien on lands benefited in analogy to the! provision respecting aid to gravel road companiea The subject is one of bo great importance that it should engage your ear hi and most earnest attention. FEES AND SALARIES. ! For many years complaints have been made in the more populous counties that the fees anti salaries of officers were too large for the services performed. It has also* been asserted that the means to which there are often strong temptations to resort fori Obtaining nominations for offices so lucnn tive, ana for securing success at the polish have a corrupting effect upon elections.. Before the adoption of the constitutional] amendments of 1881, the Legislature was de-J prived of the power of curing this supposed] evil In that year an amendment was! passed which has removed the difficulty. This amendment was submitted to the electors of the State, and prevailed by a majority] of more than 90,000 votes. A session of] the Legislature has intervened since! this amendment was adopted, buti no act has been passed regulating the com-i pensation of officers in the manner contem-j plated. Every officer should lie adequately* paid for his services, but it is due to the people] that no greater sum shall be taken from them,, in the way of fees and salaries, than isneoes-j sary to pay to the officer a fair compensation. Officers frequently, however, relinquish regular occupations to obtain these places, under an expectation that the rate of fees prevailing when they were elected will be sub-, stantially maintained. It might he iust.j therefore, to postpone the operation of the* reguiuting act for a reasonable time after itst passage. A bill properly regulating fees and) salaries will require much thoughtful consideration, and should engage your attention at a very early period of the session

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. The first section of the sixteenth article of the State constitution is in the following! language: “Any amendment or amendments to thlsi constitution may be proposed in either branch of the General Assembly; anil, if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members ejected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendments shall, with the yeas and nays thereon, he entered on their journals and referx-ed to the General bly, to be chosen at. the next general election; aiid if, in the General Assembly so next chosen, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall he the* duty of the General Assembly' to submit such amendment or amendments to the electors of theHtate; and if a majority of said electors shall ratify the same, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of this constitution.” At the special session of the General Assembly in 1881, several joint resolutions were introduced, which were passed by a vote of a majority of the members elected to each of the two houses, proposing certain amendments to the constitution. The titles of the several resolutions, and their numbers, were entered on the journals of the two houses, together with the yeas and nays oh the passage. An enrolled copy of each resolution, containing the amendment set out at full length, was signed by the President of the Henate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, transmitted to the Governor, and filed by him, in conformity to law, in the office of the Secretary of State. In the canvass for the election of Senators and Representatives to the present General Assembly, the point, it is believed, was not raised that, proper steps had not been taken to enable the present one to consider the amendments. Since the election, however, the point has been raised, through the public press, that the proposed amendments are not in a condition to be considered by the present General Assembly/ because, it is said, thev were not entered at length in the journals of the two houses of the last General Assembly. Neither of the points raised has been'settled in this State by any judicial decision. An executive construction was given, however, to one of them in a message of Gov. Raker, in the case of what is known as the Wabash and Erie Canal amendment. That amendment was not entered at length upon the journal of either of the two Houses. The resolution by which the amendment was proposed was referred to in the journal of each house by its title merely, and the enrolled copy thereof was signed by the presiding officer of each house, and was duly filed in the office of the. Secretary of State. Gov. Baker maintained that this was a sufficient compliance with the terms of the constitution. The constitution requires, in the case of bills, that upon the passage thereof the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered upon the journals of the two nousea In a case where the point was urged that an act was not in force because no entry of the yeas and nays on its passage appeared in the journals, the Supreme Court held that the signatures of the presiding officers were conclusive evidence of the passage. The constitution is silent respecting the manner in which a proposed amendment shall be referred from the first to the second General Assembly. The main object, no doubt, is to get it before the second Assembly. If the genuine resolution passed comes before the second Assembly', ana is acted on. the object of a reference would seem to have been attained, and the purpose of the framers of that instrument to have been carried out. There was, I believe, no formal reference of the amendments adopted in 1881 by the first to the second General Assembly. In the canvass last autumn it is said that some of the Senators and Representatives who were chosen at the November election publicly pledged themselves that, if they were chosen, they would vote at the present session to submit the amendments to the eleotors at a special election. Without saying anything respecting the merits of tne several amendments, 1 can frankly express a belief that pledges upon which electors were Induced to vote for gentlemen holding seats in either of the two houses of this Assembly will not be disregarded except for overwhelming reasons. CONCLUSION. The importance of the subjects which will engage vour attention during the session, and the limited time allowed to you by the constitution for their consideration, will require you to enter early and vigorously upon your work It will give me pleasure to supply you with such facilities for the performance of your duties as can lie furnished by the Executive Department And I trust that, under the guidance of Divine Providence, error may be avoided, and the best ’ interests of the people subserved.

A Dog With the Arkansaw Ager.

A man who unjinted both of his shoulders in shakin’ with the ager, And shook a jug of whisky out of a tree forty rods away, and during a hard shake it was not safe to pile wood within half a mile of his cabin, bought a new hat of Ryan, the hatter, and devoured ky-neen just as he would corn beef, until his hull system got so bitter that a dog who smelled of his leg did not get the pucker out of his mouth for ten days. 'Crotain bread, recommended for use ih time of famine, is prepared by making a mixture of corn, maize and beechwood flour, the latter being soaked in water.

ALBERT G. PORTER.

THE SIGNAL SERVICE.

Some Details of the Work Done by the Weather Bhrean---The Extent of the System and Ita Use. [From the National Republican. 1 The weather Bureau or meteorological division did not get into full operation under government auspices until November, 1870. During that year there were but twenty-four signal stations throughout the country. In 1871 there were fifty-five. In 1878 these were increased to seventy-nine, and since 1877, when there were 109, the number has run up to 146 the present year. Each of these stations, three times daily, sends a cipher dispatch in ten words to the central or chief signal office in this city, which gives a complete history of the weather in every particular, as shown by the scientific instruments in use—the barometer, thermometer, hygrometer, anemometer, anemoscope, rain-guage, etc.—which record the direction and velocity of the wind, humidity of the air, nature of the upper and lower clouds, rainfall, etc. At the head office these are translated, mapped, printed and sent to various points. These maps are carefully studied by the “indications” officer, and his deductions are sent to the newspapers, and also what is called the fact-room where they are compared with aotual occurrences after the time cover has elapsed. It would be dry reading to go into details, and the whole subject oan be better understood, and a very pleasant time had also, by a visit to the in-strument-rooms of the signal office on G street, where a corps oi deputies to the clerk of the weather keep a record of his transactions wonderful to the uninitiated to behold. The rooms are open to the public every forenoon. Prior to the establishment of this bureau Dr. Myer and Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian, assisted by such scientists as Espy,. Maury, Loomis and others, labored hard in this field, but no synoptic weather maps were issued. No work demands greater precision, more copious and circumstantial detail, and closer attention to the developments of each moment than weatherprognosticating. The weather-map is the weather-prophet’s strategy. From it he evolves his decisions and issues his pronunciamentos. Ho sees the weather in all its varying conditions everywhere all over the continent as plainly as you see a balloon in mid air, and his science, yet in its infancy, may, in less than another decade, so far develop as to teach how to harness the elements and ride the storm. Not only are storms foretold, but the oscillations of the rivers—their rise and fall —are reported, so that fioqds and distinctive stages of low water and attendant disasters can be provided against, and millions of property has been, saved by this branch of signal service alone. The coast signal stations warn vessels of the approach of storms, and give life-saving stations quick notice of the approach of marine disasters asking rescue. By using the international code of signals—which is really a universal sign language, by which people of different tongues, who cannot understand each other’s speech, can communicate with each other with perfect intelligence—signal men have saved much life and property through the exchange of signals, by means of which the people on wrecks have been informed of the steps being taken for their rescue on shore, and have acted in intelligent concert, thereby saving whole shiploads of human life and valuable property. Space will not allow a citation of the numerous cases, but the record of them can be seen at the chief signal office. Six years ago the Austrian Meteorological Association Journal declared that “not only had the American signal service passed all of the older European systems with amazing rapidity, but owing to the strict military training of tne observers and the energy aud system of the management it has spread itself in every direction.” The ocean-line stations extend about eight hundred miles, connected principally by submarine cable, a chain of sea-coast sentinels ready to warn of danger and summon succor through the use of batteries not made for the barbarous practices of war. Now, all the military garrisons on the Indian frontier are connected with wire, erected, operated and maintained by the signal corps, and civilization has, as a consequence in the last five years, taken a stride of 200 miles in its westward march, Arizona has 1,245 miles, Texas over 2,000, and the Northwest about 2,500. The cotton belt system was inaugurated by General Hazen, and has already accomplished results that can be characterized as grand. The railway bulletin service is another new feature, and an excellent means of disseminating weather indications. Over 100 railroads co-operate in this work, and under the orders of their several superintendents the weather bulletins are distributed to fully 3,000 stations that would not otherwise receive them. The extension of the special frost warnings to the fruit interests is another phase worth millions annually. But above other considerations and benefits is the profits that must, sooner, or later avail through the existence of a corps of experts out of whose familiarity with the element! will at some time be educed methods of safety from their violence, and skill to direct them at will into channels of utility.

Explorations in Patagonia.

As is well known, there has been much discussion about the existence of a gigantic race of Patagonians, as to whose stature many were disposed to doubt tjie report of Magellan. But, in wandering over Terra del Fuego our travelers found human craniums and

bones of - such an enormous size as to prove the existence of a race which has now disappeared, and thus attest the veracity of Magellan. In those regions there is a river, the Santa Cruz, *lwnst unknown. Fitz Hoy and Darwin alone within a few years have navigated it in part. A painful spectacle was presented to them on arriving at Cape Horn. There is not a ridge on the ooast that does not record a shipwreck. Every part was oovered with broken planks, masts snapped in pieoes, ironwork twisted by the violence of the waves.— Naples letter to the London Times.

Painting the Great Dome of the Capitol.

It may seem incredible, but it is a fact, nevertheless, that to repaint the outside of the dome requires fifteen tons of pure white lead. This amount of material,. under ordinary circumstances, would be sufficient to paint every house on Pennsylvania avenue from the Capitol to the treasury building. Common white paint would wash off the roof of the dome in the first rain that came along, aud triokle down in big streams, leaving the dirt as palpable as before. The work of repainting would not be rendered so often necessary were it not for the fact that the dome is so constructed that the vertical joints, or ribs, of the walla, which are of iron, as is the entire structure, do not come in actual contact with each other, thereby allowing the rain to get in and rust. Were they joined the grand old dome would assume, each day, under the influence of the weather, new aud horribly fantastic shapes, and some unusually cold morning would find it crushed like an egg-shell into a thousand fragments. The painters on the roof of the dome resemble nothing so much as tiny flies, aud the rope ladders stretching down from the top in every direction like hair lines, remind one of delicate streaks of molasses, which these flies are working for all they are worth. To reach the bottom of the dome it is necessary to lie prostrate and climb down these ladders, a proceeding which is not of itself peculiarly difficult, •but becomes so when he who ascends has a dizzy head, and unsteady nerve, and is encumbered with too many paint pots, and several brushes. The most wonderful thing about the Capitol dome, however, is yet to be told. * It is said that there was a statue in anoient Egypt, called Memnon, which whispered sweet words of melody to the sun as he appeared above the horizon, and sung him to sleep every night with wild, weird lullabies. The grand, haughty goddess of liberty on top of the dome has a heart of bronze, but a good heart for all that, and one filled with true old Virginia courtesy. She has not yet picked up enough courage to attempt to do the prima donna act, but every morning the good dame courtesies to the sun, and when he sinks in the west she again courtesies, but without turning around. Some time since Architect Clark suspended a plummet line from the interior of the dome and it was found by actual measurement that the lead swung over a space of 4i inches, making a total dip out of the penpendieular of 8£ inches. This is caused by the alternate contract tion and expansion of the iron. A ludicrous mistake, which occurred not long since, may be mentioned in this connection. The coast survey had m charge the surveying of the river front preparatory to locating the line for the reclamation of the Potomac flats. The top of the dome was taken as one point of the surveyor’s triangle in estimating certain distances. The ealcu lations thus arrived at was found to sadly differ almost every day, and much swearing and perplexed thinking npon the part of the brilliant engineers was indulged in before the dipping of the dome was brought to mind. After that the top of the Washington monument did unceasing duty as a mathematic guiding star.— Washington Post.

Bill Nye Contributes a Few Household Recipes.

To remove oils, varnishes, resin, tar, oyster soup, currant jelly and other from the bill of fare, use benzine soap and chloroform cautiously with whitewash brush and garden hose. Then hang on the wood-pile to remove the pungent effluvia of the benzine. To clean ceilings that have been smeared by kerosene lamps or the fragrance from fried salt pork, remove the ceiling, wash thoroughly with borax, turpentine and rain water, then hang on the clothes-line to dry. After, pulverize and spread over the pie-plant bed for spring wear. To soften water for household purposes, put in an ounce of quicklime in a certain quantity of water. If it is not sufficient, use less water end more quicklime. Should the immediate lime continue to remain deliberate, lay the water down on a stone and pormd it with a base ball club. • To wash black silk stockings, prepare a tub of lather, composed of tepid rain water and white soap, with a little ammonia. Then stand in the tub till dinner is ready. Roll in a cloth to dry. Do not wring, but press the water out. This will necessitates the removal of the stockings. Woolen goods may be nicely washed if you put half an ox-gall into two gallons of tepid water. It might be well to put th£ goods in the water also. If the mixture is not strong enough, put in another ox-gall. Should this fail to do the work, put in the entire ox, reserving the tail for soup. The ox-gall is comparatively useless for soup, and should not be preserved as an article of diet. The descendants of a single pair of rabbits in four years are 1,274,840.