Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1893 — A Papier-Mache Hospital. [ARTICLE]

A Papier-Mache Hospital.

. Matob Alexjeff, of Moscow, who was assassinated last month, was a half brother of the present Czar of Russia, being the natural son of Alexander 11. A woman at Sparta, Wis., last .year, raised 200 bushels of strawberries and 1,300 bushels of blackberries on seven and one-half acres of ground, making an income of $3,378.77. We have some large-hearted men in this country, but the Greenland whale has a cardiacal organ that would make a philanthropist green with envy, its dimensions reaching the prodigious proportions of a yard in diameter. I —^ Thc London underground electric wire system was made a success by the co-operation of “Strip, the Electrician." Strip is not a man, but a tiny fox Aerrier, trained to crawl th roughen A conduits with a wire attached ta.h<y collar. The city of Burnley, England, recently suffered from a violent epidemic of smallpox, and the health .authorities were puzzled to account for the rapidity with which new cases developed. Full investigation disclosed the fact that the bartender at one of the leading hotels had been for several days attending to his usual duties while suffering from a fully developed case of the loathsome disease. Stealing lightning is an industry that is not fully developed as yet. A pioneer of progress in this direction, however, has been discovered at St. Petersburg. He had a small factory contiguous to the electric plant and bored a bole through the wall and tapped the wire from the dynamo and drew off enough power to propel his machinery. He will doubtless be sent to Siberia for his enterprise and ingenuity, and if he can devise an equal ingenious plan for escape, from that inferno, humanity may yet regard him as a gCeat benefactor to the race. New York papers have been agitating the question of annexing Brooklyn for some time. Many residents of Brooklyn do not take kindly to the idea and retort that Brooklyn will annex New York. They hack their prediction with some strong arguments for its fulfillment, stating that Brooklyn in twenty years will be the largest city, and still have room to grow; that its commerce is already larger; that its docks are more spacious with ample room for their enlargement, and that in short Brooklyn has the best situation, the best air and is nearer to Coney Island.

The estate of Jay Gould is likely to be mulcted to the tune of $720,000 under a new law of the State of New York which levies a tax of 1 per cent, on all estates having personality worth over SIO,OOO. This is tough. The medium who recently discovered Jay in the Great Beyond should at once be called upon and requested to communicate the exasperating situation to the departed financier. He would no doubt be able to devise a scheme to circumvent the levy as was his wont to do in the past. Such a calamity was quite beyond his anticipation or he would have attended to it before passing over. Some of the most distinguished men whose names adorn the pages of our country 's history have" held the credentials of the United States as ministers to the Court of St. James, and their acts have helped to influence the course of public events in many instances. Among them have been John Quincy Adams, Albert Gallatin, Edward Everett, George Bancroft. James Buchanan, Charles Francis Adams and James Russell Lowell, with others of lesser note. Mr. Bayard is the last American to be accredited to this court,' and in point of rank he stands at the head of all our foreign representatives, being our first ambassador to any court. The late Gen. KirbV Smith commanded the Confederate forces in tl e last battle fought defense of the rebel flag. The conflict took place on tiie historic battle-ground of Resaca de la Palma, in Texas, May 13, 1865, and resulted in the defeat of the Union troops. The 34th Indiana Infantry, commanded by Col. Barrett* assisted by four companies of United States colored infantry, attacked the rebels, with the object of capturing Brownsville, but were repulsed. To escape eapture the color-bearer of the Indiana regiment tore the flag

from Ibe staff, and, wrapping It around his body, jumped into the Rio Grande and swam to the Mexican side. The New York Sun of a recent date devoted more than |wo columns to a fulsome description of the various - suits qt dothes; necktia&r shirts and other “duds’’ that are affected by the Earl of C raven, an English sprig of nobility, who married the daughter of Mr. Bradley Martin, of that city, going into details concerning the daily life of his highness and generally catering to the latent foolishness which seems inherent in so many people. The young earl may be a very nice young man and may be shedding a vast amount of luster on New York society by his presence in that city, but it strikes the average western reader that a description of his store clothes and night shirts together with an accurate programme of his daily routine, giving the hour at which he retires and arises, was just a trifle overdone.

Dust is almost an omnipresent nuisance, but there are different qualities of the scourge; the higher up one ascends the better he finds the sanitary condition of the atoms pervading the atmosphere. Scientific investigations have been conducted in New York, the various tail buildings affording ample opportunities, to arrive at the exact chemical composition of the dust deposits on window-sills at various altitudes. The deposits on the sills iof the ground floor were found to contain all sorts of unwholesome particles. The deposit on the next floor was less and of a more wholesome quality, and thisJmprovement was continued until only a thin and comparatively harmless layer of dust was found on the upper window-sills. Some dust, however, collects on the top of the very highest buildings.

Secretary Gresham has decided that Benavides, whose extradition was demanded by the government of Mexico, for traitorous crimes in that country, must be tried for violation of neutrality laws before he can be surrendered to Mexican authority. The Secretary holds that the offence of Benavides was primarily against the laws of this country, as it was from Texas that he made his way into Mexico at the head of au armed force. If he should not be held guilty of infringing the neutrality law he can be extradited to Mexico under the decision already rendered. In any case Mr. Benavides seems to be “in it” to such an extent that he will find plenty of employment iu the future without organizing murderous bands of marauders to slay anch burn innocentpeople in alleged attempts to overthrow an established government.

Poland as a nation ceased to exist as a result of the Napoleonic campaigns, being parceled out to Russia, Germany and Austria. Nevertheless the Poles have retained distinctive social peculiarities, and. like the Jews in all countries, still cling to their native land and assert that they are not Germans, or Austrians, or Russians, as the case may be, but are only Poles, as if their country still had a place upon the map of the world as a separate nationality. Much dissatisfaction has been created among the native Poles in this country over the action of the census bureau in refusing to credit them to Poland instead of to the German or Austrian or Russian provinces from which they came. This is especially noticeable in Wisconsin, where there are large numbers of Pqles. While their complaints seem just, there is uo remedy, as there is no such country as Poland, and government officers can not do otherwise thau to accept the facts as they exist.

Papier-mache, which can be compressed almost to the solidity of iron, promises to come into vogue as a building material. A portable hospital large enough to accommodate twenty beds has be,en made of compressed paper. Every part of the building is numbered, and the whole can be packed in such a way as to be carried by three transfer trucks. The trucks are so planned as to form the basis of the hospital. T-shaped joists of iron keep the foundation in place. Over this comes a floorin'* of compressed and varnished pap r boards, which adapt themselves aumirably to cleanliness. The walls and ceiling are of the same material, while the beams, composed of thin galvanized iron wire, connect the parallel walls. Holes are bored between the walls and the ceiling for the purpose of ventilation, and the windows are made of wire gauze with a transparent coating. Such a building would be of great service in tropical countries, especially if in addition to its lightness and strength it can be made fireproof. The best opals are obtained from Hungary ana Honduras. London has 11,500 public cabs; 2,500 arc driven by the owne rs. ,