TIMELY TOPICS.
The spleen is an organ of the body
which for years has been a piece de re
sistance for the learned, as its precise
uses are a puzzle. It is not essential to
life, and has been removed from the body
"without any apparently dangerous conse
quences. At a recent German medical
-congress, a man was exhibited from
"whom this organ had been taken two
years and a half before, on account of
disease. The man seemed quite well.
Other cases of similar character were re
ferred to or exhibited.
Elisha E. Everett, a cabinet maker and
inventor, of Philadelphia, who has taken
out twenty or thirty different patents for
mechanical appliances, is now at work
on an invention that, if successful, may
'Completely revolutionize ocean and rail
way travel. Thi3 is nothing else than
the reduplication of steam power. He
"has designed a steamboat which, by
means of a succession of paddle3 beneath
the water, may attain a speed of thirty
knots an hour and accomplish a trip to
Europe in three or four days.
A human relic of Pompeii ha3 been
-discovered among the ruins in an excep
tionally well preserved state. It is the
full-length fossil of a man who was
probably struck while in flight at the
time of the destruction of the city, up
ward of eighteen centuries since. The
features are well defined, the mouth be
ing slightly open, showing the teeth in
'either jaw ; the hands are perfect, and
one is supposed to have held two keys,
which were found close to if, while the
legs are spread out and slightly raised.
"The left member had, however, been
broken, as the bone protruded.
. Khartoum is a name that is known
among the wildest savages of equatorial
Africa who never heard of Paris or Lon
don ; to them it is the center of all that
is great, and it is the capital of every
thing. The abandonment of Khartoum
would, in their estimation, be the dis
ruption of a central power, which would
imply Impotence. The slave hunters
have been suppressed by the authority
from Khartoum, and the force required
for that suppression has emanated from
that center of strength and government ;
if, therefore, Khartoum should be aban
doned, the protection that was the sup
port of loyal tribes of the interior would
have been withdrawn, the supporting
power would have been oveithrown, and
the slave hunters would again be in the
ascendant. Sir Samuel Baler.
It will be remembered. that In the
spring of 1883 it was announced by
Queen Victoria that the royal household
would not eat lamb during the season.
This edict has had the effect, according
to the official statement of live stock for
1884, to place the proportion of lambs
to sheep at fifty-nine per cent., also
showing an increase of nearly 1,000,000
in the number of both, or about four per
cent. During, the past two years the
number of cattle has also increased by
4dd,000 head, or 7 J per cent. .Notwith
standing the increase in number of cattle,
Great Britain still draws a large part of
its supply of meat from other countries
The official statement of imports of
animal food for the year 1883 shows that
not -Car from 11,000,000 hundredweight
of meat food was imported, amounting
to about twenty-eight pounds for each
innaDitant, ana costing about $4 per
neaa.
lucnara A. rroctor, the eminent as
tronomer, says that the age of the earth
is placed by some at 500,000,000 years.
and still others of later time, among them
the Duke of Argyll, place it at 10,000,
000 years. None place it lower than
10,000,000, knowing what processes
have been gone through. The
earth must have become old.
Newton surmised, although he
could give no reason for it, that the earth
would at one time become perfectly dry.
Since then it has been found that New
ton wa3 correct. As the earth keeps
cooling it will become porous, and great
cavities will be formed in the interior
which will take in the water. It is esti
mated that this process is now in pro
gress so far that the water diminishes at
the rate of the thickness of a sheet of
writing paper a year. At this rate in 9,
000,000 years the water will have sunk a
mile, and in 15,000,000 years every trace
of water will have disappeared from the
face of the globe.
' "From the frontiers of Guatemala to
those of the United States," says the
Mexican Financier, ;we have a vast do
main whose growth of precious woods is
truly enormous. Along almost the en
tire length of the coasts, both of the
Pacific ocean and Gulf of California, a
Tariety of wood abound that are remark
able for their perfumes as well as
.such valuable cabinet timbers as rosewood,
mahogany, ebony and the cedar. The
Mexican cedar is especially prized in
foreign markets, for, overlooking its
rich aroma, it possesses such a lightness
of weight and a grain so fine that it is
considered superior to the ordinary wal
nut, now so largely used in the manufac
ture of rich furniture. While the interior
States rival the coast States of Mexico in
Taluable timber resources, it is a note
worthy fact that the woods which com
mand good prices in many foreign mar
kets are here almost everywhere burned
carelessly as the cheapest fuel. The
coming exhibits in Boston and New
Orleans should attract to the neglected
regions of Mexico, so rich in wooded
" wealth, their deserved attention."
A New York paper asserts that "the
nun of Kenmare, Miss Cusack, has opened
a school in connection with a convent at
Nottingham, England, for the training
of domestic servants, and her enterprise
suggests the need of schools for servants
in New York. The difficulty of obtain
ing competent servants is the cause of
much aggravation to metropolitan house
keepers, and they would be delighted to
have a school for the proper training of
servants established in our city. Proba
bly most of them would gladly grant
permission to their servants to spend
several hours a wees at such a school
while pursuing the course of instruction,
and the services or graduates ol the in
stitution would be at a premium. Miss
Corson might contribute much more to
the general welfare, and at the same time
increase her income by the establishment
of the proposed school, and as som as
servants discovered the eagernesf of
housekeepers to secure the services of the
graduates of the school, she would have
more applicants than she could admit.
She or some other competent person
should soon open a school for servants in
New York."
A great many people have perhaps con
sidered that cleanliness had little to do
with the cholera and that the ravages of
the disease are as likely to be as great in
cleanly cities as uncleanly ones. At least,
that is the impression produced by the
indifference manifested in manv cities as
to their filthy surroundings. But a com
parison of the ravages of cholera in
France and Italy will produce a differ
ent impression. In France, only ten or
a dozen deaths per day occurred in the
cities of Marseilles and Toulon. In Na
ples 328 deaths and 9G6 fresh cases oc
curred in twenty -four hours. "The
cause of the discrepancy is easily seen,"
says a Western" paper, "the French
are much more cleanly in their
habits than the Italians." The latter
are paying a terrible penalty for their
grossly filthy habits. The excessively
warm weather is not alone an all-powerful
factor in producing an epidemic of
cholera. In verification of this an ex
change points to the fact that "the
second cholera epidemic through which
Chicago passed came to the city in the
winter of 1848-9." There is no reason
why there should be the slightest relaxa
tion by the authorities in their efforts to
ward off the .approach of the dreaded
scourge. Unless all signs fail, the Uni
ted States is likely to be beseiged by the
cholera next year; and every ounce of
preparation previous to that time will be
worth a pound of cure afterward."
The New York Financial Chronicle has
compiled some elaborate statistics in re
gard to the production and manufacture
of cotton in the world in the last
eighteen years which show that in the
last twelve years there has been an in
crease in the average annual production
of 59 6-10 per cent., and during the
same time an increase in the average an
nual manufacture of 61 8-10 per cent.
This is at the rate of doubling the pro
duction of manufactured cotton goods in
twenty years. This fact if taken as an
index of the increase of the other
manufacturing industries is very sugges
tive, because it snows an increase of com
modities greater than the increase of
population. The doubling period of
population in the United States is vari
able, owing to the fluctuations of em
igration, but is probably not far from
twenty-five years. The average period
which the population of Eu
rope doubles is about seventy-five
years. The doubling period of
the Oriental countries is not ascertain
able with even approximate certainty,
but it is unquestionably a much longer
period than in the United States. It
therefore appears that the population of
the world must consume more and more
cotton goods per capita each year in
order to furnish a market for the manu
factured goods. The Chronicle1 figures
also snow the interesting fact that the
entire increase of production and a very
large part of the incease of manufacture
have been in the United States. In 1866-7
the total supply was 4,408,000 bales of
400 pounds, of which the United States
furnished 2,330.000, and all other coun
tries 2,178,000.' In 1882-3 the supply
was 10,408,000 bales, of which the
United States furnished 8,058,000, and
all other countries 2,350,000, or only a
trifle more than the same countries sup
plied in 1866. Consumption by manu
facturers in the United States during the
same period has risen from 822,000 to
2,375,000 bales, and in Great Britain
from 2,500,000 to 3,800,000 bales.
A Gum Game.
The finest grades of crude rubber
come from Para, the trees being tapped
and the sap gathered by means of pad
dles which are dipped in the tub of sap
and held over a smoky fire that the coat
ing may harden. This process is repeat
ed until a cake of gum of the size and
shape of a squash is formed, when the
paddle is cut out and the lump is ready
for market. The scraps and droppings
from the process are carefully collected
and sold as an inferior grade. Ameri
can rubber manufacturers make as much
complaint of the rubber gatherers as
English manufacturers of American cot
ton packers, and even with more reason;
for rubber being such an expensive raw
material affords a greater profit to the
wily native, who increases his gains by
stuffing the rubber with stones, wood,
and dirt. These adulterations are of
course charged back from manufacturer
to dealer and from dealer to importer,
but the original offender is seldom
reached. Boston Bulletin.
Chinese Soldiers.
The Chinese troops are uniformed in
the hues of the rainbow, beside black
and white. Imagine one hundred laun
drymen in scarlet blouses and royal pur
ple trousers drawn up in line, adjoining
them a company in pure white, then a
company in bright geeen, then one in
light blue, and you have a Chinese regi
ment. When they march they lift up
their feet like cats in the snow.
, Magnetized Watches.
Some very curious things concerning
watches come under a watchmaker's ob
servation at times. A watchmaker says :
I remember a lady who used to bring me
her watch sometimes as often as once a
week it was either too fast or too slow
with her; while it hung up in the shop
it ran as steady as the State house ttock.
I studied that watch and -one day I came
across something in an English horolog
ical magazine that opened my eyes. It
was simply a little item saying that
sometimes delicately adjusted watches
were affected , by the temperament of
their wearers. Affected by personal
magnetism. The whole thing flashed
upon me in a moment. The woman's
watch was affected by herself. I found
out that she was of a highly nervous
temperament, but would at times suffer
from attacks of despondency. The watch
only recorded her temperament. When
she was vivacious it went fast, when she
was in a low mood it went slow. Very
often it is impossible to regulate a watch
for some men by keeping the timepiece
in the shop. There is some physical
peculiarity about the man; it may be his
gait, his temperament, or an excess of
bodily electricity. In these cases I let
the man wear the watch continually, and
then regulate it to his peculiarities.
Bodily electricity is very marked in cer
tain persons. I knew a young watch
maker in whom it became so strong that
he was obliged to give up that branch of
the trade because it was found that he
magnetized the delicate hair-springs.
Horrors of Former Warfare.
In Anton Gindely's "History of the
Thirty Year's War" we find the follow
ing: Such were the atrocities committed
upon their victims by these robbers, that
the old chroniclers have produced noth
ing more frightful even in regard to the
Huns, Avars and Mongols. They would
unscrew the flint of a pistol and screw
up the thumb of the unfortunate in the
place, they would skin the bottom of the
foot, sprinkle salt in the fresh wound
and then make a goat lick the salt off;
they would pass a horse-hair through the
tongue and draw it slowly up and down;
they would bind about the forehead a
knotted rope and draw it constantly
tighter with a lever. If an oven was at
hand, they would force their victim into
it, kindle a fire in the front of it, and
compel him to creep out through this
fire. They often bored holes in the knee-
pans of those whom they would torment,
or poured disgusting fluids down their
throats. To these thousand - fold torme nts
were added, in the case of matrons and
maidens the basest assaults. When . the
robbers had, by tortuie, compelled the
surrender of hidden treasures, when their
lust of plunder was satisfied, they com
pleted the proof of their vandalism by
destroying that which they could not
carry off.
Agriculture in Alaska.
Alaska has very little to -offer in the
shape of agricultural resources, as there
is very little flat ground near the sea
shore. In some of the towns small vege
table gardens are kept, and the products
are quite as good as those in any part of
the Pacific slope. The only possible
chance for the agriculturist will be one
of two things to invent a process of
curing hay without the sun and utilize
the small grass plains at the mouth of
the river, or start a small cattle ranch,
fro. 1 . . -.A n i i i 3
me lauer proiect. on me wnoie. WOUia
be the best, as the meat would command
a ready sale, and there is no need of
storing hay, since the cattle will find
enough the whole year round, for the
climate during the winter in the south
eastern portion is less cold than that of
New York. The chances for disposing
of milk are good, as there are only six
cows, two mules and no horses in Alaska
and all these domestic animals are owned
at Sitka. Boston Ilerald.
The Armies of Europe.
The last official repoVt gave the strength
and annual cost of Europe's armies, on a
peace footing, as follows :
Soldiers. Cost.
Austria 290,218 $50,680,000
Belgium 40,277 8,787,909
France 470,000 100,007,623
Germany 419,059 92,573,403
Great Britain 133120 65,000,000
Greece 12,397 1,494,860
Italy 199,577 87,953,755
Netherlands 61 ,03 10,206,995
Portugal 25,733 4,342,923
Roumania. 1:10,158 3,310,198
Russia 787,910 144,000,008
Servia 14,150 809,138
Spain 330,000 49,146,491
Switzerland. 106,102 2,419,210
Turkey 157,607 24,703,090
A New Word Frequently Seen.
The origin of the word "mugwump" is
thus given in the New York Critic by J.
Hammond Trumbull, who is 6aid to be
the only man in the country who i3 able
to read Eliot's Indian Bible :
In the language of the Indians of Mas
sachusetts an$ Connecticut, " mug
quomp" (or, as now written "mug
wump)," means literally "great man."
It was the title of a captain or superior
officer. In Eliot's Indian Bible it stands
for "captain" and in one passage (Gen.
xxxvi., 40-43) for "duke" of the author
ized version.
In a Paris restaurant: "I say, sir
you are carrying off a silver sugar bowl 1"
"Oh! a thousand pardons; I thought it
was my hat 1" Le Figaro.
Forty years ago there was not a tele
graph office in existence. To-dav the
number is 51,840.
Washington's tomb, at Mount Vernon.
i Va'., is seventeen miles south of the cap
lital. .
"MOUNTAIN OF PITY."
The Great National Pawnshop of
Mexico Its Origin and Method.
Everybody who knows much about
Mexico has heard of Senor De Peter
Romero de Terreros. Peter Terreros, a
shop-keeper of limited means, conceived
what was at first considered the wildest
of ideas. It was to drain the aban
doned Real del Pasos by means of a
tunnel through the hard rock a mile
and a quarter long , from the level
of the stream till it should strike
the Santa Brigada shaft. He toiled with
varying success from 1750 to 1762, when
he struck a marvelous bonanza which
for the next twelve years yielded an
amount of silver that in our day would
appear fabulous. Plain Peter became a
count, so wealthy that he furnished the
people with more fables than Croesus of
old.
He it was who founded the celebrated
Monte de Piedad in the City of Mexico
one of the most beneficent institutions
in the world and in the year 1775 en
dowed it with $300,000. The name
Monte.de Piedad, means literally a
" Mountain of Pity" and was not mis
applied, for more than a hundred years
this national pawnshop was a sure pro
tection to the public from the ruinous ex
tortions of usurers, by whom, no douot,
Peter Terreros had suffered in his days
of obscurity. It was sumptuously regu
lated and protected by the government,
and was intended solely to. assist the
needy in times of temporary embarrass
ment by lending money, on liberal terms
and at reasonable rates of interest, on
deposits of jewelry, plate, merchandise
and other movable articles. Alike in
peace and war, and through changing
forms of goverment, its honor was held
sacred and the trusts unmolested during
the revolutions and overturnings that
devastated the country. It is estimated
that for a period of one hundred and nine
years it afforded assistance to more
than two hundred people daily. As
early as 1836, official records show
that up to that time it had given aid to
2,232.611 applicants, andhas distributed
$31,674,702, beside having given $132,
746 in alms alone 1 It was ruled by a
general board of directors, who received
the pledges. These articles were ap
praised at a fair valuation, the full
amount of which (deducting the interest)
was immediately paid to the pawner.
The articles were retained six months,
during which time the owner was al
lowed to withdraw them upon refund
ing the sum advanced. Ir the debt was
not paid at the end of that time, the
pledges were disposed of at public sale,
and if they brought more under the
hammer than the original valuation, the
difference was refunded to the owner, a
proceeding not much like the business
principles of our Chatham street
"uncles!" The Monte de Piedad occu
pies a palace built by Cortez opposite the
great cathedral, and is one of the most
interesting places at the capital. Every
species of garment may be seen there,
from the tattered reboso of the lepera to
the lace mantilla of the noble dame;
from the blanket of the beggar to the
military cloak and jeweled sword of the
impoverished officer. Some of the most
splendid table services oi silver and gold
I ever saw are crowded into the plate
rooms, and as for jewels Aladdin
would have considered his fabled
palace a poor affair compared to
the caskets of blazing dia
monds and every known precious
j stone, for the magnificence of which
1T-.J. U!.l T a.
Jiicwiau imuics are uruverui&i. xu me
year 1880,' having an available fund of
$1,000,000 and unimpeachable credit,
the directors of the Monte de Piedad
determined to increase its capacities for
usefulness by adding to its pawnbroking
business the operations of a banking es
tablishment. Under the new charter
then obtained it was authorized to issue
notes of circulation, called certificates,
of denominations from $1 to $1,000.
These notes were issued only from the
mother bank,, and were redeemable there
or at any of its branches in silver coin.
They were also receivable for Federal
taxes, duties and for all local imports in
the federal district and in several states
of the republic. The Monte de Piedad
had eight branches in the city of Mexico,
and had recently established others in
various cities. The amount of its paper
in circulation was not publicly known,
as no reports were published; but its
honor was considered like that of old
Caesar's wife till one fine morning peo
ple woke up to find its doors closed and
a bewildered crowd clamoring in vain
outside 1 Nothing is sacred in these days
which can bring gold to the coffers of
the president and his advisers not even
the benificent institution which had
prevented so much disgrace and misery
through a century of revolutionary diffi
culties, and it was utterly ruined by a
demand from the government upon it
for more money than its treasury con
tained. It still carries on a limited pawn
business, but is so crippled and impov
erished as to be little like the old "Moun
tain of Pity." Springfield Republican.
The Stomach and the Conscience.
' The theory that the stomach domi
nates the conscience through the appe
tite was unfolded by Carlyle. He pro
phesied that the kitchen-range was to be
throne and altar of the future. He said
that the grid-iron would be brandished
as a censor in the coming temple of hu
manity. It is plain that religion will
not thrive with a bad stomach, and that
poor cooking will show itself in wretched
feelings. "Take care what you eat,"
said a theological professor to his stu
dents; "for if you have sour bread it
will show itself in your sermons." The
science that only touches the head and
forgets the stomach is vitally defective.
Wars have sometimes been traced to
dyspepsia on the part of a king or
prime minister. The kitchen has
had a long probation, and it is still on
trial.
Governor Fish's Diplomacy.
Governor Hamilton Fish was noted for1
his deportment, and he took great pride,
while secretary of state, in sending to
the courts of Europe in a diplomatic ca-
pacity gentlemen whose dress and man
ners would not excite comment. He was
much concerned, however, when it be
came his duty to commission Horace
Maynard, of Tennessee, a3 minister to
Turkey, and Godlove S Orth, of Indi
ana, as minister to Austria. Neither one
was remarkable for his observance of the
social proprieties, and it was some time
before Governor Fish could devise a plan,
for giving them a lesson in dress. At
last, so the story goes, an idea struck
him, and sending for Orth he said some
thing like this to the Indiana states
man: "Mr. Orth, I have a favor -to ask of
you."
"Anything I can do for you, Mr. Sec
retary, I'll be glad to."
"Thank you Mr. Orth, thank you,
sir, you are very good. Mr. Maynard,
you know, is an excellent gentleman, but
he is not accustomed to the ways of so
ciety as you or I are," and the secretary
smiled pleasantly at the guileless Orth,
who had on a sky-blue necktie and un-
blackened boots. After having clinched
his point he continued : "I am afraid he
will invent some startling innovation on
the costume usual nmong gentlemen
when they are out in society. He may
startle the foreign courts with a red;
necktie and a sack coat, and now what I
want to ask you, Mr. Orth, is to give
him a hint, as you are both going over
on the same steamer, about what you or
I should wear on social occasions the
dress coat, black trousers and waistcoat,
and the simple white tie. You will know
precisely how to do it, and you will
oblige me greatly by attending to the
matter of so much importance, as
you, as a member of polite society,!
know." i
The hint was taken, and Mr. Orth was
noted among the diplomatists at Vienna
for his faultless attire. Mr. Maynard,
with his long black hair and Indian fea
tures, was not so apt a scholar. Ben:
Berlcy Boore.
Feminine Navigators.
The Washington correspondent of the '
Providence Journal relates the following
funny incident: Mr. Key, the agent of
our society with the long name, who has
to look after abused animals used on the
canal, impounded, a few days since, a
sorry-looking old sore-backed mule, but
it was not long before three women en
tered the society's office an elderly dame
and two young mademoiselles, all robust,
tanned and hardhanded. '
"I say," said the older one to the clerk
in charge, "my name is Armenia Ander
son. These two girls are my daughters.
We run a canalboat together without the
assistance, too, of men. We are thor
oughly independent of men. The two
girls act as tow-boys,' while I direct the
general management of the boat. Through
no lault of ours the mule's back became
sore."
"But " interjected the stationkeeper.
: "No buts about it, sir. The mule is
my property, and I must have it, and
have it quick, too."
"Don't you know it is a violation of
the law to work a sore-backed mule V
asked Agent Key, who had sat quietly in
one corner of the room. Turning to him,
the woman said, sharply : "You are the
little fellow who took my mule; now,
give it up to me at once. I must have
it, and I won't leave this place till I get
it."
Key looked nonplussed. He knew he
couldn't convince the woman that she
had violated the law, and, after a short
conversation with the stationkeeper, Mr.
Key said: "Madam, your mule is in the
back yard. Go, take him ; the charge
against you is withdrawn."
The three women caught hold of the
long rope attached to the animal's neck
and drove him off to their boat, which
lay a short, distance off, and a few hours
later they were on their way back to
Cumberland. One of the girls was driv
ing the mule, the other was steering, and
the old lady was cooking dinner as they
passed the station-house in . triumph.
Who says that women are not claiming;
and receiving their rights ?
Empress Eugenie and her Son.
I have seen the ex-Empress Eugenie at
table perhaps a dozen times, and I never
saw any one eat so little that seemed to
be in as good health as she did. Her
son (poor boy!), however, made up for
her, lor he had a very healthy appetite.
While at Shoeburness Military school he
had several photographs taken by one of
the soldiers, who had some talent that
way, and he gave me a copy with his au
tograph on it. Another embryo artist at
Shoeburyness wished to make a plaster
bust of the young prince, and accord
ingly they arranged the sand and mud to
take the mold, and he got down on his
knees and bravely pushed his greased
face into the mud, but not far enough to
suit the artist, who put his hands on the
young Napoleon's neck and pushed it
still further in. When the plaster cast
was taken out there was a nose like a
gourd squash about a foot long, as the
plaster had somehow forced a channel
for itself. This remarkable bust now
stands on a pedestal in the mess room at
Shoeburyness, and is marked Napoleon
IV. To think of the brave, bright young;
man as I knew him, full of life and boy
ish earnestness, as having died as he died
makes my heart ache for him, and more
for the mother who loved him so. After
my visit to Chislehurst I never saw either
of them again. Olive Harpei Reminit
cences. "
Cremation has been adopted by author
ity at Lisbon, Portugal. In time of epi
demic it is made compulsory.
A writer in Nature says he saw a wasp
attack a fly and cut its head off.