Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 February 1888 — MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. [ARTICLE]

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.

According to the official statistics on the subject, 78,792 cabin passengers were landed from the various steamers at the port of New York during 1887. The total number of steerage passengers arriving was 371,619, and the trips made by the steamships of the various lines aggregated 885. “ There are ten times as many tenants turned out of their houses and rooms in the city of New York in a year for the non-payment of rent as there are evictions in all Ireland. In the former there ware, according to court records, 22,804 families evicted in twelve months; in the latter, according to a Parliamentary report, there were 2,088. A Russian general has created a great sensation in Europe by furnishing an elaborate scheme for the construction of a railway through Siberia tq the Pacific ocean. It is intended to go by the shortest possible cut from the Urals to the Pacific ocean. The total cost of the road is estimated at $200,000,000, which, it is believed can be readily raised in Russia itself. James G. Blaine taught school at Millersburg, Ky., when he was a young man. Butthat town boasts “a bigger man than old” Blaine. “Ike” Smith, a young colored man, wears shoes made on a No. 18 last. They are the largest shoes in Kentucky. Smith is six feet seven inches tall and weighs tt ro hundred and forty pounds. It is said that the big cattle ranches of the far West and Southwest are breaking up. A year ago the Niobrara Land and Cattle Company, which has become bankrupt, refused $1,000,000 for its property. Instead of the big companies swallowing the little ones, it is thought that the tendency is toward the breaking up of the big ranches into smaller ones. It is best to bathe just before going to bed, as any danger of catching cold is thus avoided, and the complexion is improved by keeping warm for several hours after leaving the bath. A couple of pounds of bran put into a thin bag and then in the bath tub is excellent for softening the ekin. It should be left to soak in a small quantity of water several hours before being used. At Xenia, Ohio, the other day a man traded a calf to another for an old buggy and $2, Then he traded the buggy for several miscellaneous articles, which he swapped for other things that took his fancy. During the day he made thirteen different trades with various parties, and in the evening he found himself still the owner of the calf, and also of $24, the profit of the several transactions. r— “ Many of tne valentines which are a combination of laced and silvered paper, sprigs, mottoes of colored flower?, little mirrors, and the like are made in London, in a factory where the work goes on the year around. Much of the work is done by hand,' and women are the mos* expert at it. They use a good deal of mucilage in constructing these affairs, and invariably use the third finger of the right hand instead of a mucilage brush. A ppg and a Newfoundland dog belonging to a New Jersey gentleman were seen to halt before a brook. The big dog took to the water, but the pug refused to do so. The Newfoundland then persuaded the pug to get upon his back bat he slid off when half way across, when the big dog yanked him out and set him on the opposite bank. Since then the pug has carried out of the house to the Newfoundland the choicest bits of his food, and he seems to enjoy seeing ihe big dog eat .them. A little Esquimaux woman, who left her native home on the eastern shore of Greenland when 15 years old, has resided in this country long enough to learn the language and to develop the fact that Esquimaux are as white as any other people when the dirt and grease are washed off. Among other things she says the people of her nationality never wash or bathe in all their lives have no rulers, no form of government, every one does exactly as he or she pleases, all are contented with their lot as they know of nothing better. The biggest income of any single man in England'is said to be that of the Duke of Westminster, who has miles of tenement housesand many square miles of agricultural land. He is said to receive SSO a minute the year round, or $3,000 an hour or $72,000 a day. Queen Victoria has also a nice income, and it is estimated that she has received nearly one hundred million dollars since she ascended to the throne. The Dukes of Devonshire and Norfolk and the Marquis of Bute, have each rents amounting to $2,000,000 per year, and the Duke of Portland, after extravagancies like those of Monte Cristo, accumulated $10,000,(XX) of unentailed property during his life. ___