Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1876 — Page 2

The Imte Union. wf ■ XV .k 4

General News Summary.

*M«A<anxm>. According to a report recently made b> ttiePoetoAea Department, there are at the preMat time eigMy-aevea letter-carrier of Soaa, with carrier*; the number et leV ten aad postal-cards delivered by the carrier* dnrin< the pastyear wu 988,418,755; number collected, 984,230,582. About 100,000,000 newepapera were also collected and delivered fn the name time. The cost per piece lor thia work la elven at 818-100 mills. A Washington dispatch states that 83,000,000 in tee and six per cents were withdrawn on the SOth ult, and tour and a hall per cento were substituted. ’ r T»« number of postal cards Issued by the Government daring the month of October was *,116,000, being an increase of 2,977,500, or nearly fifteen per cent over the issues of October of last year, and the largest number issued in any one month. Tn public debt statement for October, published ou the Ist Inst, shows the following; Coin bonds outstanding, 81,097.320,100; total debt, 82,218,416,889; cash In Treasury, 8129,588,354; debt less cash in the Treasury, •2.068,818,535; decrease during October, •»,- •88,040. _ . THB B4ST. A New York dispatch of the 26tb says the * United States Monetary Commission, authorized by a concurrent resolution of Congress, is now organized as follows: Senators John P. Jones, of Nevada; George 8. Boutwell, of Massachusetts; Lewis V. Bogy, of Missouri; Representatives R. L. Gibson, of Louisiana; Richard P. Bland, of Missouri; George Willard, of Michi-

gan; Experts—Hou. William 8. Groesbeck, of Cincinnati, and Prof. Francis Bowen, of Cambridge; Hon. Alex. Delmar, of Philadelphia, Statistician and Corresponding Secretary; George M Weston, of Boston, Recording Secretary. The Commission is now in session In this city taking evidence. A sub-committee will shortly start for the Pacific coast to take evidence there with regard to the production of the precious metals in California, Nevada, etc., and in reference to other matters intrusted by Congress to the Commission The Woman's National Christian Temperance Union was In session at Newark, N. J., on the 26th. Among the resolutions adopted were the following: That, by prayer, persuasion and petition we will seek to influence those strongholds of power, the National Congress, State Legislatures and municipal authorities whence the rum shop derives its safeguards and guarantees; that to this end we will combine our efforts to secure such legislation as shall require the liquor dealers in every State, except in such States as have a prohibition law inactive force, to obtain the signatures of a majority of the women over twenty-one years of age, as well as those of the voters of any locality, before opening a place for the sale of intoxicating drinks; recognizing only one foundation principle, viz., total abstinence far the individual and total prohibition for the State. Edward S. Stokes, who was convicted of shooting James Fisk, Jr., was released from the New York State Prison at Auburn, on the morning of the 28th, the term of hie imprisonment having expired. A great crowd was at the railroad depot to see him as he, with his friends, started eastward. An infernal machine of some kind, inclosed in a flimsy Saratoga trunk, exploded in the baggage- car of an gxpress train from Philadelphia to New York, over the Pennsylvania Hoad, on the evening of the 27th. The trunk was fortunately on the top of a pile of baggage, and no damage was done, beyond scattering the trunksandprostratingthebaggagemen. The car was set on fire, soon extinguished. Parts of the machine were found in tho wreck, consisting of a small pistol and fragments of clock-work. The pistol was discharged into some Inflammable substance that was entirely consumed. The 9:04 train from Scranton, consisting of seventeen cars, was run into by the Summit coal train a mile and a half north of Goldsboro Station, Pa., on the Delaware, Lackawanna &■ We-tern Railroad on the evening of the 30th ult. One car was burned and two telescoped. Five persons were killed and about thirteen wounded. The Republicans of New York city, on the evening of the 81st ult., nominated Gen. John A. Dix for Mayor. Gold dosed in New York on the Ist at

The following were the closing quotations for produce: No. 2 Chicago Spring <heat(New), No. 2Milwaukee (New), State, Corn, Western Mixed, Wfcßlc; Fork, Mesa, *17.00; Lard, 10c; Flour good to choice, *5.55(85.65; White Wheat Extra, *[email protected]. Cattle, B@l©Xc for good to extra. Sheep, 4X@stfc. Hogs, sJf@6c. At East Liberty, Pa., on the Ist, cattle brought: Best, *5.00(85.25; medium, *4.50 ®4-75; common, *[email protected]. Hogs sold— Torfcers,*s3o@sso; Philadelphias, *5.75(8 6-00. Sheep brought *[email protected], according to quality. W«ST ANB SOUTH. Tux jury in the trial of Alexander Bullivan for the shooting of Frauds Hanford, in Chicago, were discharged on the 3*th, after being out two days and nights without coming to an agreement They are reported to have stood eleven for acquittal to one for conviction of murder. The A».ing Journal of the 26th nays a petition was being numerously signed by leading citizens asking Judge W. K. McAllister, of the Circuit Court, and who presided at the trial, to resign, owing to the alleged partiality of his rulings in fsvdr of the defense, and “ his onesided instructions to the Jury-” Mr. Sullivan has been released, by order of the Judge, on *B,OOO ball. Judge McAllister defends bls rulings and instructions, and denies showing the accused any undue or improper partiality. Tna Governors’ Grasshopper Convention at Omaha closed its ses<4on« on t-e 26th sftter pasting resolutions in favor of State boun ies for the coKeetion and destruction of eggs and unfledged insect*; favoring local taxition for the purpose of sys emstized efforts in the way of di chii g, burning, etc; auttgeting the rspeslof the game laws, or a mooifleation of tibemto prevent the destructiouof birds which feed on insects; dedaring that it is the duty of the National Government to make some

effort to deayroy or counteract the great peat, and thus prevent Its injuries, etc. Tho Governors of Minnesota, Illinois, lowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, Wybmiug, Dakota and Idaho were directed to transmit to their respective delegations a record of the proceedings of the Convention, and request them to urge on Congress speedy action tn this matter. Tun Sioux Indian Commission returned to Yankton, D. T., on the 28th, having consummated their work with the Indians, modifying the original terms of the treaty only by leaving it optional with the tribe whether they go to the Indian Territory or stay on the river. They encountered no hostility among the upper Indians, and are said to feel well sa isfled with the result of their work. They formally adjourned at Yankton to meet In Washington on the 9th of December, having traveled 1,700 miles, visited 20,000 Indians, and held twenty-nine councils. Cadet Midshipman Homer C. Poundstone, of Virginia, convicted of “ hazing,” was dismissed on the 28th from the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Two United States Deputy Marshals arrived at New Orleans on the 30th ult. from Bayou Sara with fifteen white prisoners whom they had arrested In West Feliciana Parish, for conspiracy and intimidation of negroes in July last The prisoners were held in the sum of 81,500 bail each to appear before the United States Court at the November term.

Henry M. Voohies, Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, died at h!s residence in St. Louis on the morning of the 80th ult., aged sixty-six years. A false alarm of fire created a panic in a Chinese theater in Sau Francisco on the evening of the 30th ult. The building was crowded, and a rush was made for the single means of exit, and many were trampled down in the confusion. The police dragged out twenty dead bodies and about the same number of wounded. The Chinese refused to render any assistance, and the performers continued playing until stopped by the police. A scout arrived at Bismarck, D. T., on the 31st ult., from Fort Buford, with official dispatches, giving intelligence that on the 21st Gen. Miles’ command struck the hostiles under Sitting Bull on Cedar Creek, and a fight ensued which continued for two days, and the troops completely routed the Indians, driving them forty-five miles to the Yellowstone. Five dead Indians were seen, and many more were undoubtedly killed and wounded. Gen. Miles had but two men wounded and none killed. He chased the Indians about sixty miles, when they divided, one portion going toward the agencies and Sitting Bull toward Fort Peck, Gen. Miles following. Sitting Bull crossed the river, below Fort Peck on the 34th, and had sent word to the agent that lie was coming in, and would be friendly, but wanted ammunition. John H. Lick, son of the late James Lick, has arrived in San Francisco and, on the 31st ult., filed a petition to be appointed administrator of the estate left by his father. Attempts had been made to compromise matters between him and tbe trustees of the estate by allowing him a large portion of the residue left to the Pioneers and Academy of Sciences, after providing for the definite bequest in the trust deed. The filing of this petition is considered the beginning of a vexatious and expensive litigation. Four carriages, three wagons, one pair of mules, one span of horses, one harness and three cows, property of Brigham YoUng, were sold at public auction la Salt Lake City, on the Ist, by the United States Commissioner, to pay the award of tbe court in Ann Eliza’s case, and brought 81,185. Further seizure of property would be made.

The official returns from the Colorado State election gives the following results: For Judges of the Supreme Court (Rep.) majority, 148; for member of the Fortyfourth Congress, J. B. Belford (Rep.) majority, 1,038; for the Forty-fifth Congress, J. B. Belford (Rep.), majority, 939. Legislature: Senate—Republicans 19, Democrats 7. House —Republicans 32, Democrats 17. Republican majority on joint ballot, 29. The Legislature convened at noon oh the Ist. Webster Anthony was elected Speaker of the House, and W. W. Webster President pro tern. of the Senate. Ik Chicago, on the Ist, Spring wheat, No. 2, closed at [email protected] cash. Cash corn closed at 42J£c for No. 2. Cash oats No. 2 sold at November : options were sold at S2Xc. Rye No. 2, 60@ 60Xc. Barley No. 2, 80@80Xc. Cash mess pork closed at |[email protected]. Lard, (9.50@9.«2X- Good to choice beeves brought medium grades, ([email protected]; butchers’ stock, (2.40 @2.80; stock cat'Je, etc., (2.75(a3.10. Hogs brought ([email protected] for good to choice. Sheep sold at ([email protected] for good to choice.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

A London telegram of the 27th says religious agitation bad begun in Morocco with the object of procuring help for Turkey. The Christians apprehended a Moslem outbreak. Tub British Arctic expedition, comprising the steamers Alert and Discovery, under Capt Nares, reached Valentis, Ireland, on the 27th. The Commander reports that no land was discovered to the northward of 83 degrees, 20 minutes, the highes atltude reached. A suvau cyclone passed over the Central American States on the 3d and 4th ot October. The town of Managua, in Nicaragua, was inundated, and about 400 houses were blown down. The inhabitants had to climb on the top of their houses to prevent being washed away by the flood. Many were drowned by the houses falling. The total damage is estimated at about *2,000,000. Over 300 houses were blown down at Blaufleld, and immense damage was done on Lake Nicaragua. Loss on the coffee crop estimated at *3 000,000. A Pabis telegram of the 28th says the American colony resident there had been greatly scandalized by the late publication of a letter written by M. Du fiommerard, chief of the French Commission to the Centennial Exposition, in which the American Commissioners are charged with the most outrag. ous offenses. On the 29th the Marquis de Tallyrand, also a tached to the Commission, published a reply denying the charges and stating that the French Commission had everywhere and at all times received the most delicate attention at the hands of the Americans. United States Minister Washburns had addressed u spirited note to the Duke de Capes. I Ragvba dispatches of the 28th say the surrender of Medan to the Montenegrins had greatly inspirited the Albanians. A Belgrade

telegram of the same date says aelf-wound-Ing was again becoming frequent among the Servian*. The Russian officers complained bitterly of the cowardice of tbeir Servian allies. The inhabitants of Dellgrad hid been ordered to leave that city. . According to Belgrade telegrams of the 30th ult. the capture of DJunis, the day before, was brought about by the cowardice of tbe Servian soldier*. The Russians made a most brilliant defense, 700 out of 1,000 engaged being killed, but they were finally forced back, Tehornayeff's army was eut in two and thoroughly demoralized, and Turkish batteries at DJunis were shelling the Dellgrad camp. Martial law had been proclaimed in the district of Kiev, Odessa, Khardow and Caucasns. A glycerins repository near Port Colborne, Ons., exploded on the 80th pit. The care-taker, Colbert King, was Immediately killed. Small pieces of his remains were found floating around tbe harbor. The town was shaken, and nearly every window broken by tbe shock. The magazine contained about forty pounds of nitro glycerine, and was placed on a crib in the water, outside the regular harbor entrance. The Paris Figaro of the 80th ult., publiehed'a letter from Du Sommerard, Chief of the French Commission to the Centennial Exposition In which be declares that the recent letter, criticising the management and purporting to be written by him, was an utter fabrication. A Constantinople dispatch of the 31st ult. says the Turkish troops had entered Alexinats after several days’ hard '■ fighting. It was reported in Belgrade on the 31st ult. that Prince Milan had expressed a desire and intention to abdicate. Dr. Slade, the American spiritualist and medium, who was arrested in London, a few weeks ago as an imposter and a vagrant, was on the 81st ult., sentenced to three months’ imprisonment at hard labor. An appeal was taken. Belgrade telegrams of the Ist say the Porte had signed a two months* armistice demanded by Russia, and issued orders for the suspension of hostilities. A report prevailed that the Turks bad entered Deligrad and burned Kruschevatz. The Mon-' tenegrins were bombarding Podgoritza, and their armies had penetrated into Albania and cut tbe communications between Podgori’za and Scutari. It was announced from Italy on the Ist, that Cardinal Antonelli, the Prime Minister of the Pope, was dying.

Thanksgiving Day.

President Grant issued the following proclamation on the 26th: By tho President of the United States of America: From year to year we have been accustomed to pause in our daily pursuits, and set apart a time to offer our thanks to Almighty God for special blessings He has vouchsafed to us, with our prayers for a continuance thereof. We have at thia time equal reason to be thankful for His continued protection, and for many material blessings which His bounty has bestowed. In addition to the favors accorded to us as individuals we have especial occasion to express our hearty thanks to Almighty God that by His providence and guidance our Government, established a century ago, has been able to fulfill the purpose of its founders in offering an asylum to the people of every race, securing civil and religious liberty to all within its borders, and meting out to every individual alike Justice and equality before the law It is moreover e pecially our duty to offer our humble prayers to the Father of All Mercies for a continuance of His divine favor to us as a Nation and as individuals. By reason of all these considerations, I, Ulysses 8. Grant, President of the. United States, do recommend to the peopre of the United States to devote the 30th day of November next to the expressions of their thanks and prayer to Almighty God, and, laying aside their daily avocations and all secular occupations, to assemble in their respective places of worship and observe such day as a day of thanksgiving and rest. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of • the United States to be affixed Done at the City of Washington this twentysixth dav of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred'and seventy-six, and of the independence of the United States of America tne one hundred and first. By the President: U. 8. Grant. Hamilton Fish. Secretary al 6taM>

The Arctic Expedition.

A London dispatch of Oct. 30 gives the following account of the voyage of the steamers Alert and Discovery in the Arctic regions: A narrative of the Arctic expedition is published. It relates that after first encountering ice the expedition was detained some days at Port Payer. It started thence on Aug. 8, but before reaching the shore of Grinnell Land the vessels were caught in an ice-pack. After this their progress northward was an incessant struggle through chance openings made in the ice by wind and current, the channel through which the ships moved constantly closing behind them. The Discovery wintered in a well sheltered harbor on the west side of Hall’s Basin, a few miles north of Polaris Bay. The Alert pushed forward and rounded the northeast point of Grant’s Land, but instead of finding, as expected, a continuous coast a hundred miles toward the north, she found herself on the border of an extensive sea, with impenetrable ice on every side and no harbor. The ship wintered behind a barrier of grounded ice. The floating masses of thick polar ice had in meeting pressed up quantities of intermediate ice into blocks frequently a mile in diameter and varying in height from ten to fifty feet. Obstacles of this kind destroyed all hope of reaching the pole by sledges before the attempt was made. The sledge party was obliged to make a road with pickaxes nearly half the distance it traveled. As'it was always necessary to drag the sledge loads by installments, the party really traversed 276 miles, although it only progressed seventy-three. All the cairns erected by the Polaris expedition were visited. At the boat depot in Newman’s Bay a chronometer was found in perfect order. Wheat left by the Polaris was successfully grown aboard the ship. When at Polaris Bay the Discovery hoisted the American nag, and fired a salute as a brazen tablet with the following inscription was fixed on the grave of Capt. Hall: “ Sacred to the memory of Capt. Hall, of the Polaris, who sacrificed his life in the advancement of science. This tablet is erected by the British Pblar expedition, who, following his footsteps, have profited by his experience." Two sailors of the Greenland sledge party were buried near Capt. Half's grave. The sufferings of the sledge parties from scurvy were frightful. The expedition under Markham and Parr, which endeavored to reach the pole, consisted of seventeen persons. Nine became utterly helpless and had to be carried on sledges. Three could barely walk, and were unable to render assistance. Two hundred tons of ice are manufactured daily in New Orleans by the aqua ammonia process.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

—Low reflections--Polished booth. —Turkey gobblers—the Great Powers of Europe. For the accumulation of wealth saving Is better than getting. —Motto for the Russian bear about this time—Now comes the hug of war. —A man should live within bb income, even if you have to borrow to do it. —An indiscreet person is like an unsealed letter, which iq seldom worth ing—Appleton't Journal says that children suffer more miseries than adults, bat forget them sooner. —A man might face death at the cannon’s mouth and yet shrifik from collecting an ice bill in October. —Russia feels that she will be all right if she can only get the Bulge-aria on Turkey, before intervention comes. —Wendell Phillips told the Woman Suffrage meeting at Faneull Hall thal seven-tenths of the husbands are frauds. —The days of great profits have passed for the present. We must now be content to build up our bank accounts- by nickels. —There is only one thing more honorable than seeking after employment, and that is to be faithfully engaged at work already secured. —“ Yesterday being a pleasant Sunday,” says the Norwich Bulletin, “ most of the boys who attended Sunday-school brought home a good many chestnuts which a kind man had given them.” —Another growing distress of out afflicted country is. the overweening desire of certain classes of its society to get something for nothing. —We are slowly but surely approaching the Thanksgiving time when a man must know how to carve a fowl or get ready to take a baked turkey in his lap. —The Mohammedans of India are raising funds to help their “ spiritual and temporal lord,” the Sultan of Turkey, who is being “ harassed by the infidel.” —George William Curtis intimates that, in his opinion, there is no man more foolish than the one who commits his indignation to paper and sends it to an. editor. —Palestine is to have a railroad, and the cry will soon be: “ All aboard for Jerusalem. Passengers for Moab and the Dead Sea,will please remain in the forward car.”— N. Y. Commercial. —lke has had an irritating skin disease. Mrs. Partington says “The Charlotte Russe broke out all over him, and if he hadn’t wore the Injun beads as an omelet it would doubtless have calumniated fatally.”

—“ Plenty of milk in your cans this morning?” the customer asked a Burlington milkman yesterday morning. And the milkman nodded gravely as without a wink in his eve he made reply, “ Chalk full.”— Hawk-bye. —The man who has been sitting all summer in a public square looking for a job of work lately transferred his observation to a warm bar-room, where he can see just as much and be more comfortable.— N. O. Republican. —According to an old soldier once serv. ing in St. Helena, the great Napoleon had a leaning toward rural economy. He would carry a stick about as thick as a walking-stick, with an iron spud at the end, and, anywhere he went, if he saw a weed, he would always spud it up.—London Timet. —A cijrar contains acetic, formic, butyric, valeric and proprionic acids, prussic acid, creosote, carbolic acid, 'ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen, pyridine, viridine, picoline and rubiaene, "to say nothing about cabbagine and burdockic acid. That's why you can’t get a good one for less than five cents. —We now have the fall of the autumn leaf. Also the fall of the man who steps on it on the wet pavement. A leaf no longer than a ten-cent note will get under the heel of a man worth •213,000 and makes,him sit down so suddenly that the most practical eye can’t tell whether his hat or his collar button flew the highest. — Exchange. ' 2 —He called at the police office yesterday, and stated that he was in trouble. “ A fine young fellow, sh ust so nice as anybody, came up to me on the street, and saia: ‘How you does? Long time since I saw you in Shasta Gounty,’ I says: ‘I nefer vas in Shasta Gounty.’ He says: ‘ Why, I dinks I see you dere.’ Isays: ‘ No, I lives near Auburn.’ He goes away, and bimeby I meets a chap and he says: * How you vas since I left you at Auburn?’ Then we has a talk und some drinks, und I lend him ein hundred dollars until the pank opens, und I dond see him some more. Vat you dinks?”— Sacramento Union-Record.

—Yesterday afternoon about three o’clock, a small child, aged about three years, son of Mr. John Haley, accidentally fell into a well on his premises, adjoining Powell’s soap-works. The mother for some days had been confined to the house by severe sickness, but on hearing the ciy given by an attendant, Mrs. Haley sprang out of bed, rushed to’the well and jumped in. The alarm being given, both mother and child were rescued from their perilous situation. Great fear is entertained for the mother's safety. Mrs. Lewis, who happened to be at the house at tbe time, seized the well-chain, fastened it around her waist, and was let down by the nurse. She succeeded in keeping their heads out of water until rescued. There were ten feet of water in the well.— Omaha Herald. —A peasant woman called at a druggist’s with her face bound up, and complaining of toothache. The druggist gave her something to put on it, and she returned to the country. The next day the druggist received another visit from her. “ Do you still suffer with your tooth?” he asked. “ Yes,” she replied. “They tell me it will hurt me aM day.” “ That is not»e’sessary, I will give you something stronger that will stop the pain immediately.” With that the druggist proceeded to prepare the remedy and gave it to her with instructions to be sure and put it on the tooth, etc. The payeanne listened attentively, and then saidv “My kind sir, would you please put it on the tooth yourself? I’ve got it here in my pocket I had it pulled this morning. ’'

Amber.

Of all the getn-like substances used for personal adornment, amber is of the highest antiquity. It is mentioned by Homer, and is found introduced in the most ancient specimens of Etruscan jewelry. In the collection of the Prince of the Canino was a necklace of choice Etruscan workmanship, having pendants in the form of acarabei of alternate sardonyx and amber. The Greeks termed amber electron, from Elector, one of the names of the sun god. Among the Romans also this Substance was greatly prized. Pliny tells us that a small figure carved in amber had been known to sell at a higher price

than a living slave in vigorous health. In tbfi tlm«-%f Nero one of tMf eofffetriap order wto sent to Germany by JAanufl, the manager of the gladiatorial ex hi bitioua, in order to procure a iiupplj pf tills uacceded so welt Knd brought such vast quantities ihattne very nets that protected the podium against the wild beast, the litters upon which the slain -gladiators were earned away, and all the other articles used were stuaed with amber. Sir Thomas Browne also, in his “ Urn Burial," mentions among the contents of a Roman urn to the p-Mwessioii of Cardinal Fanuarn, not only jewels, but an ape to agate and a grasshopper and an elephant carved in amber. Great uncertainty prevailed among the ancients as to tbe nature of amber, and many were the legends to which this uncertainty gave rise. After Phaeton had been struck by lightning his sisters, we are told, changed to poplars, which every day shed their tears upon the banks of the Eridanus, and to these tears was given the name electron. < Nicias says that it is a liquid produced by the rays of tho sun; that these rays, at the moment of the sun’s setting, striking with the greatest force upon the surface of the soil, leave upon it an unctuous sweat, which is carried off by the tides of the ocean, and thrown upon the shores of Germany. According to another author there is a river “ beyond India,” the banks of which are frequented by birds called toeleagrides; these,’ weeping the death of Meleager, allow their tears to drop into' the stream, whereupon they are transformed to amber. A similar belief—that amber was produced by the tears of birds—prevailed among the Orientals. This is alluded to by Moore in “Lallah Rookh:” Aron nd thee «h»U glisten the loveliest amber That ever the eorrowlag sea-birds have wept.

It was gradually, however, made manifest that amber was neither more nor less than a vegetable product—a kind of gfito; hence it acquired the name succinum/by which it is now known in natural history. It was found that by boiling in turoentine it could be rendered plastic, and pieces were discovered in which insects, leaves of plants, and other foreign matter had become imbedded, proving that the amber must at one time have been ip a liquid or semi-liquid state. Wherever beds of lignite occur amber is found; so that it is very generally diffused ovqr the world. But the shores of the Baltic, between Memel and Konigsberg, is the only district that supplies it in quantities. As much as 4,000 pounds weight of amber yearly is said to be the average produce of feat country. It is mostly found on the seashore, but in Prussia there are also mines.’ In Shakespeare’s time amber would seem to have been fashionable as an ornament, as he more than once alludes to it. When Petruchio promises to take Katherine on a visit to her father he mentions “amber bracelets" among the “ bravery” with which she is to be adorned. Among the artists of the renaissance period it was chiefly used in the formation of jewel caskets and such like elegant objects. It is still much vab ued in the East, but the chief market at present is China, where it is crushed into powder and burnt as incense. Mouthpieces for cigars, beads and other ornaments in this material are, however, exi tensively manufactured in the workshops of Dantzic, Hamburg and elsewhere. The electric properties of amber early attracted attention; it was also believed to be highly medicinal, and was said to have the power of detecting fee presence of poison; “ for then an appearance like the rainbow flies to and fro in the vessel, at. tended by the crackling of flame,- and gives warning by this double indication.”' It is still supposed to possess certain virtues. The wearing of an amber necklace, it is said, will keep off attacks of erysipelas, and it is also a preservative against sore throats, on account of the circle of electricity maintained, as well as from the warmfe of the amber.— Arcade Timet.

A Matter of Taste.

Each nation, notwithstanding cable telegrams and rapid steamships, retains certain food characteristics. Some of these the stranger naturally remarks as soon as he comes into the country. When the Prince of Wales was here the most striking one to him was the prevalence of the eating of oysters, the smell of them, raw, cooking, and cooked, and the sight of the shells, being unpleasant to him. During his sojourn he was always endeavoring to escape from the smell of them, and to (his day probably his recollections of America are intimately associated with tlie testaceous animals. The amateur of cooked oysters may affirm, and probably with reason, that the Prince did not know what was good; but that is a matter of opinion. The Prince likely, as most Englishman are, is fond of eating lettuce and cheese together, which the amateur of cooked oysters would probably dislike as muca as the royal guest did his favorite food. According to the newspapers, when anothermember of a royal family, not long ago, was traveling through the United States, he said his chief objection to the country was that he could not: get anything to eat; the remark being made after going through the South and West, and before reaching the metropolis. The hope was held out to him in Philadelphia that in New York he would find compensation for the trials which he had undergone in other parts of the Uhibh; but he was skeptical, and counted on little improvement. If a reporter Of the press may be credited, he went so far as to say that we were the worst fed of all civilized people. Borne weight may be at, tached to this opinion, as he who gave it has some reputation as a gastronomer. To go from royalty to the proletariat the workingmen’s delegates from Prance to the Centennial Exhibition complained of the food which was placed before them by their fellow-workmen here. They were simple toilers, unaccustomed to the delicacies of the table. Thus all .classed from well-fed foreign countries appear to entertain much the same opinion as regards the American kitchen. Eating a particular kind’of food, together with the preparation of it, is so much a matter of custom that we are apt to like that best which we have been accustomed to eat; hence it is that the foreigner favors his own nourishment and pronounces against ours to the extent that he does. Man everywhere is almost as tenacious of the form of his food as he is of his religion; errors and abuses in one being nearly as difficult to eradicate as in the other. "But after making due allow-, ance for prejudice in the mind of the foreigner, there is probably foundation for at least a portion of his criticism, entertained! as it is in different lands. There is such unanimity on this head that there is warrant for believing, if an international congress of gastronomy were to be organized, that the United States would not hold the rank of some other nations which we are, wont to regard as considerably behind this one in general civilization.--Al6«rt Rhode*, inGalaxy for November.

Curiosities of the British Patent System.

A writer in Chambert' Journal has bees examining into fee history of the British Patent Office; and he describes manv curious grants in the early history of the office. Among other facts, the writer states that there are 4,000 applications for patents every year; and that fee office receives the snug sum of SR>O,OOO a year in fees and stamps. The first patents, issued in the time of James 1., werrmore hr the nature of monopolies or privileges, for which a consideration was paid to shrewd Jamie himself. The first patent of all was an exclusive privilege for drawing, engraving, and publishing mans of London, Westminster, Windsor, Bristol, Norwich, Canterbury, Bath, Oxford, and Cambridge. The next was for the privilege of publishing portraits of His Bacred Majesty. The third was for an unexplained group of wonderful inventions, for plowing land without horses or oxen, making barren land fertile, raising water, and . constructing boats for swift movement on water. Many of the patents relating to clothing are singular either for their immediate objects or for the language in which they are couched. One patent for breeches, at a date when trousers bad not yet come much into use, described* a mode of cutting out and making “ to do away with all the inconveniences hitherto complained of”—by the aid of elastic sprihgs, morocco elastic supporters, straps, buckles, etc. Another “protects trousers from mud,” by means of a shield attached to the hinder part of the boot heel, which shield receives the splashed mud. George Holland patented a mode of “ making false or dummy calves in stockings.” A famous modiste has an improvement in ladies’ dresses, “ rendering the same body capable of adapting itself to fit different figures.” For those “ who cannot bear a ligature round the leg,” a patentee has a garter made of steel springs, connected with a silver plate placed in the waistband of the dress. One patent tells of a machine for brushing trousers ■ a framework supports a spindle which carries a set of concave brushes; a cylinder of wicker or cane is placed inside the trousers to keep them distended; and the spindle is set rotating by an endless band acting on a beveled pulley. The searchers after a machine for producing perpetual motion —that dreamy fallacy of the middle ages—have not failed to make their appearance in the patent world. In 1859 two Germans, Krause and Rotman, residing at Milwaukee, in fee United States, sent a letter to “ Her Majesty,the Queen Victoria, Patent Office, London.” Her Majesty most likely did not read it, but the Patent Office folks did. It ran feus: “Your Majesty, we humbly advertise that we find out the perpetual motion, a machine very singular in its construction, but fee same time very important by the power it gives. We intend to secure for ourselves the patent right for the United States; and, as we are informed your Majesty has secured a reward for the invention, we respectfully ask your Majesty if we may come to show our invention ? To prevent mistake, we humbly beg not to believe any person without having the original patent of the United States, and the copy of this letter.” From the cradle to the grave, says the writer, patentees take care of us in some way or other. Even Dolly is attended to. One patent among many tells us that “ dolls hitherto made have never been so constructed as to allow of their being placed in a sitting posture, with the legs bending at and hanging down from the kneesand announdes that this important desideratum has now at length been secured. Another inventor “gives a rocking motion to dolls’ cradles” oy an elaborate array of clock-work, eccentric wheel, winch and connecting-rod. One of fee early patentees had “a hydraulike, which, being placed by a bedside, causeth sweetesleepe to those which either by hott feavers or otherwise cannot take rest.” A patent medicinal powder, compounded of tobacco and herbs, was so meritorious that “ if one teaspoonful be struck Ibra dose up the nose as snuff, will cure various disorders of fee hypocondriac and melancholy kind.” Eighty sears ago many persons believed in a patented mode of curing numberless achesand pains “by drawing - over the parts affected various pointed metals, which from the affinity they have with the offending matters, or from some other cause, extract or draw out the same, and thus cure the patient.” One patentee has a thief-proof coffin, in which the corpse is secured by chaining or hooping it to a false bottom; and another a coffin made impregnable by some special application of “ tapped ana casehardened screws.”

If we cut short our budget of curious patents, it is only because space fails us. Two of the Lilywhites, the celebrated cricketers, have at different times patented bowling machines; in one instance for the adoption of machine bowling in actual play; in the other only for practice at batting, when a trained bowler is not at hand. If the reader will imagine sbmething of the catapult or cross-bow kind, he may form some idea ‘of these cricketing oddities. One patentee has a balloon for catching fisji; a balloon inflated with air and ballasted with water, is supposed to drag or trawl the fishing lines or nets. Before the Manchester and Liverpool Railway was constructed, a bright genius conceived the ideaof using balloons to draw a ship overland between those towns, on a tramway of twenty feet gauge I A balloon has been patented for preventing sea sickness; a platform resting on a huge ball and socket, supports the seats for the passengers; the platform is connected by cords with a circle of small balloons; and the balloons are expected to keep the platform always horizontal—of course to the great satisfaction of the passengers. Balloons are also intended, by another patentee, to keep in motion the swings which are such a source of delight at countiy fairs. One of the very earliest patents was for/‘a fish call, very useful for the fishermen to calr all klnde of fishes to their netts, speares, or hookes; and for fowlers to call severall kindes of fowles or birds to their netts or snares.’’ In one part the inventor speaks ,of his fish call as a “ looking glass’’—rather a puzzle to interpret. Acrobats are invited to use a patent shoe soled with iron, which will enable the wearer, with the aid of a powerful electro- magnet to walk head downwards along a metallic celling. There are patents for milking cows, for preserving Hie hands from chapping, and for curing the croup In fowls. Snufl-taking is made easy by “.two snuff boxes, one with a slider and the other with a sweep, out of which snuff may be taken without pulling it (the box!) out of the pocket, and without spilling.” _ . —Dr. Rolland says “ One tires of talking to fools;” and Mr. Howells wittily adds: “Many good people are tired of hearing the. fools talked to."