The Brussels Post, 1908-12-10, Page 3NOTES AND COMMENTS
Alcohol delusions aro being dis-
pelled by twentieth century science,
Von Helmholtz, the eminent physi-
oist, declared that the smallest
quantity of alcohol served effective-
ly while its influence lasted, to ban-
ish from his mind all possibility of
creative effort; all capacity to
solve an abtr•uso problem. Prof.
James deolares that the reason fox
craving alcohol is that it is an arie-
stheeic even in moderate quantities.
It obliterates a part of the field of
consciousness and abolishes collat-
eral trains of thought,
In Germany many practical ex-
periments have been made to tort
the basal operations of the mind.
In one of these the subject sits at
a table, his finger on a telegraph
key. At a given signal he releases
the key. It was found that when
an individual had imbibed a small
quantity of aloohol his reaction
time was lengthened, though the
eubject believed himself to be re-
sponding more promptly than be-
fore. In mere complicated tests the
keys would be relased more rapidly
than before the alcohol was taken,
but the wrong key would be press-
ed much more frequently. It was
computed that after consuming
eighty grams of alcohol to a man for
twelve successive days the work-
ing capacity of that individual's
mind was lessened from 25 to 40
per cent. The power to add was
impaired 40 per cent., and
the power to memorize was re-
duced 70 per cent. Forty to eighty
grams of alcohol are equal to a half
bottle or a bottle of ordinary wine.
Prof. Aschaffenburg declares that
the moderate drinker who consumes
his bottle of wine as a matter of
course each day with his dinner,
and who doubtless would declare
that he hover is under the influence
of liquor, in reality is never sober
from one week's end to another,
Dr. Henry Smith Williams says of
the moderate drinker that in the
light of what science has revealed
be is tangibly threatening the phy-
sical structure of stomach, liver,
kidneys, heart, blood vessels,
nerves, brain; that he is unequi-
vocally decreasing his capacity for
work in any field, that he is lower-
ing the grade of his mind, dulling
his higher esthetic sense, and tak-
ing the fine edge off his morals;
that he is distinctly lessening his
chances of maintaining health and
longevity, and may be entailing up-
on his unborn descendants a bond
of incalculable misery,
WAITING FOR HIM.
The owner of an estate had the
misfortune to get a charge of shot
in his legs from the double-barrel-
led gun of an inexperienced ;Torts -
man. The keeper hastened to his
master,
"You're not dead, aro you?" he
cried.
"Of course I am not, you fool!"
said the squire, rising.
"Well, sir, not seeing you get up
after you were shot, 1 thought you
must bo dead !" remarked the
keeper.
"Get up after I was shot—not I!"
responded the squire, "If I had
got up, the idiot would have given
me his other barrel L"
ae-
JUST A VARIATION.
"I am tired of seeing that ever-
lasting mackrel brought in for
breakfast," grumbled a boarder,
"and I intend to speak to the land-
lady about it."
Some of his fellow -victims ap
plaudod, but most of them doubted
his courage. The matter was un-
der discussion when the landlady
appeared.
"Miss Prunella," began the bold
boarder, "1 was about to say, in
regard to the mackerel, that we de.
sire a change."
"It's good mackerel," responded
the landlady, "and there will be
, no change,"
"Then, for goodness sake," re
mimed the bold boarder, "order the
girl to bring ib in tail first for a
while.,,
CITING AN EXAMPLE.
Aakitt-•"Do you believe in the
theory of heredity?".
Noitt, -"Sura thing. My barber
is the father of three little shav-
ere."
NEXT TIME SHE'LL
CARE•
lie—"Will you have porno oy-
si er s ?
She—"I don't, care,"
Ho—"All right; we won't have
Wife "Will I always ys
be the
drat thing in the world"
to y ou ?
Hu sb
1 B )enol— J, asure m s nn a you will, itr.•
less the landlord ass the vent,"
ri
Fl
N 01111 YOUR RAS FEEB
Preacher Outlines the Douse of Unoon-
scions Deterioration.
Gray hairs aro hero and there up-
on him and he knowoth it not. —
Hooea viii,, 9.
The comic paragraphists—gentle-
rnen whose elevating trade is to
take all the dignity out of sentiment
and all nobility out of life—aro in
the habit of making fun over the
discovery of the first gray hair.
There is nothing funny about it.
When some poignant experience
forces upon ua the realization of
that for which the gray hair con-
ventionally stands; when we realize
with a shock that our youth Inas fled
forever and that age is creeping on,
the flood of new emotions may eas-
ily carry us off our feet.
If this is not true for you and
has not been, then you are either
much better or worse than the av-
erage of humanity. Either you have
already grown unthoughtful, shal-
low and callous, or else you have
a strong, close grip upon the un-
seen, but everlasting realities of
life. And it would be good for us
if there were some physical sign,
corresponding to the approach of
gray hairs, which might warn us of
moral deterioration and awaken us
to the necessity of
RENEWING OUR YOUTH
by waiting upon the Lord, by tak-
ing in groat re-inforcements of
moral energy to repair the waste
and decay of moral tissue.
The shook, in the nature of things,
could not be pleasant. The awaken-
ing might be rude and painful. But
it would be salutary. It would be
chastening. And if for the moment
it was humbling, in the providence
of God it might be permanently up-
lifting. If we could really see this
soul destroying process at work,
leading downward to something
worse than a second childhood,
leading to a second slothfulness,
unreasonableness, barbarism, back
to the old unapiritual, unaspiring
life from which we have emerged,
would not that be good for us?
"With groat price," said the offi-
cer to Paul, "I purchased this free -
dem," With great price, indeed,
we delivered ourselves from the
cramping littleness and debasing
pleasures ref other days. And now
are we to sacrifice the freedom
which cost us dear to open our fin-
gers in mere summer wantonness
and lot it slip from us while the
years bind us again in the old bond-
age to folly or sin, while strangers
devour our strength, though we
know it not, and gray hairs are
here and there sprinkled upon us
and we cannot see them ?
MORAL DETERIORATION.
The poet tells us of hair growing
white in a single night from sud-
den fears. It may be so. But this
moral deterioration is slow, gradu-
al, silent. No man becomes desper-
ately wicked all at once. When
discovery, scandal and prosecution
at the hands of the law present to
you a spectacle of one who has hold
an honored position, a betrayer, an
outlaw and a castaway, the real
tragedy is- not that which you see;
and the very tears are for the long,
slow process which no eyes but
God's have seen. Flow the high re-
solves must have dropped and died,
and how the man has juggled with
words, played fast and loose with
honor, tampered with the sacred
realities of conscience. Do you think
he has deliberately' lied to his own
soul, lied in church, lied to bis God
Indeed, but you are wrong. He has
lost his soul and lost his God before
he comes to high-handerl, brazen-
cheeked, deliberate lying.
First, the mining, then the ex-
plosion! First the moral muscle
grown flabby, then the helpless
weakness before temptation. First,
the gray hairs here and there
sprinkled upon him and he knows
it not; finally the spiritual senility
and swift oblivion. This is the
course of unconscious deterioration.
Rev. Charles F. Aked, D. D.
THE So S. LESSON S i ESSON emend p'es
earnestons whichrequest follow,of Jehovah Solo -
is that the temple may always be
the symbol and pledge of inter-
course between Jehovah and his
people, and the pledge also of an-
swer to prayer. The heaven of
heavens cannot contain thee —
Words which indicate a profound
conception of the spiritual nature
of God on the part of the suppli-
cant.
Pray toward this place—With fac-
es turned toward Jerusalem, as
pious Mohammedans still pray with
their faces turned toward Mecca.
31. If a man sin—Or, "Wherein-
soever a man shall sin."
32. Rear thou in heaven, and do,
and judge thy servants—Giving ef-
fect to the oath taken in the sanc-
tuary.
Condemning , .justifying — De-
termining the guilt or the innocence
by means of the test made before
the altar of Jehovah.
33-37. The mercy of Jehovah is
asked for in cases of national apos-
tasy and consequent defeat at the
hands of their enemies, and in eas-
es of drought and famine occasion-
ed by similar forgetfulness of Je-
hovah and his commandments on
the part of the people.
38. The plague of his own heart:—
The
eart=The special visitation or judgment
sent upon the individual for his per-
sonal chastisement and correction
and for which consequently only the
individual himself can pray,
41. Concerning the foreigner, —
INTERNATIONAL LESSON,
DEC. 13.
Lesson XI. Solomon Dedicates the
Temple. Golden Text, •
Psa. 122. 1.
Verse 1. The elders of Israel —
These were chosen from the heads
of the tribes who were the princes
or senior male members of family
groups.
To bring up the ark of the coven-
ant—The transfer of this sacred
symbol of Jehovah's presence from
its temporary abode to its abiding
dwelling place was an important
part of the service of dedicating
the new sanctuary.
4. The tent of meeting—The tab-
ernacle in which up to this time
the ark of the covenant had been
kept.
Holy vessels --Those used in con-
nection with the services of the
sanctuary.
5. Sacrificing sheep and oxen —
The numerous sacrifices referred to
were apparently offered at stages
on the route, the ark being brought
from its abode on the lower south-
ern spur of the eastern hill of Je-
rusalem, to which the name "Zion"
used in verse 1 was originally re-
stricted, to the higher northern From passages such as Exod. 22.
plateau on which the temple now p g
stood, 21 ; 23. 9, 12, we note that consid-
6. The oracle of the house — Tho eration for foreigners was a marked
innermost sanctuary, the Holy of feature of Jewish legislation.
holies. 43. That all the peoples of the
7. The staves thereof—The bars earth may know thy name—The
or handles by which the ark was thought of the foreigners sojourn-
carried. ing among the people of Israel leads
9. Nothing in the ark save the to the thought of the peoples and
two tables of stone -The golden nations whom these foreigners re-
pot of manna and Aaron's rod men- present and suggests the influence
tioned in Num. 17. 10, and in Heb, upon the nations of the earth which
9. 4, had apparently been temper- the merciful answer of the petition
arily removed to some other place. of such foreigners in the sanctuary
At Horeb—That is, Sinai. of Jehovah's chosen people may ex -
10, The cloud filled the house of ert.
Jehovah—The placing of the sym- 50. Forgive thy people—The bur -
bol of Jehovah's presence into the den of prayer is for forgiveness
shrine is followed by the appearing and mercy in case of any possible
of the glory of Jehovah in the form forgetfulness on the part of indi-
of a cloud, the familiar symbol of vidual or nation in respect to the
his overshadowing, presence used commandments of Jehovah.
in Exod. 33. 9, and other passages. 02. And the king and all Israel
14. Blessed all the assembly — with him offered sacrifice unto Jo -
Perhaps in the words of verses 57- hovah-11he prayer of dedication
61 below, or in similar language. being completed, the dedicatory
15, The dedicatory prayer proper sacrifices are offered, as described
which is recorded in verses 2253 is in this and the two succeeding
preceded by an expression of verses (62.64).
thanksgiving to Jehovah for the fel- 03. Two and twenty thousand ox:.
fillment- of his promise to David, en, and a hundred and twenty
perhaps uttered in a brief address thousand sheep—The mention of
to the people, perhaps inthe form the number of sheep is omitted
of a prayer of thanksgiving, from the Septuagint, the earliest
25, There shall not fail thee a Greek translation of the Old Testa -
man in my sight—Hebrew, "There Ment, which antedates our carliast
shall not be cut off unto thee a man Hebrew manuscripts by many cen-
from lay sight." This verso and the tales: -The sacrifice of so large a
ono sueeseding contemplate a still number of animals could only be
' r fulfillment pp va 's' r_
lane of Jehovah's' s o oasnble on the a en n
gp p s, ppo ton that
Mlee in the permanent establish- the animals were slain in otherlac-
ing of the new founded: dynasty. es as well as iii the temple court,
27-30, The vOrses give in general and that the entire number of sae -
forme the substance of the detail- rifles offered ley the nation, en this
occasion are included in the num-
ber recorded.
04, This verso enumerates the
types of offerings made,
05. Sc Solomon held the feast —
The feast of tabornaolos, tho earns
referred to in verse 2, and the
great autumnal feast of the Jews,
The entrance of Hamath -- The
northern boundary of the kingdom.
The brook of Egypt - The wady
el-Arish, the southern boundary of
the kingdom. This stream enters
the Mediterranean about fifty miles
southwest of the Bite of Gaza,
66, On the eighth day—In accord-
ance with Deut. 1e. 13, 15, the feast
of tabernacles lasted seven days,
the people departing for their
homes on the eighth. So on this
occasion, the glad festive season
being ended, the people bid fare-
well to the king and return to their
respective homes.
3!
PIRACY JN SOUTH AMERICA.
Ships Attacked and Plundered at
Their Docks.
Capt. Callsen, a special repre-
sentative of the Hamburg Juicier -
writers? has reached Victoria, B.O.,
after eighteen months spent in in-
vestigating the wholesale piracy
that has for some time infected the
ports of South America.
Interviewed at Victoria, Capt Call-
san said that it could not be called
anything short of piracy. He found
that some sensational episodes had
occurred, and as a result of the re-
ports sent by him to Ramburg the
insurance rates on cargoes sent to
these ports had been increased
from 1% to 10 per cent. Antofa-
gasta had the worst record. There
one of the Pacific Steam Navigation
Company's steamers, the Borate,
had been pirated as she lay at
anchor.
The harbor thieves came wish
small boats after nightfall and
clambered up the mooring lines.
bound and gagged the watchman,
and then went to the captain's
room, and while one man held him
covered with a pistol others went
down and forced off the hatches
They even got up steam and lifted
seven valuable packages of cargo
into boats waiting alongside.
.,Another equally flagrant case was
that of the steamer Coya, ono of
the W. R. Grace Line. The pirates
made an attack on her, and a fus-
ilade of revolver shots was exchang-
ed with those on board, who tried
unsuccessfully to fight the pirates
off. In another case, Bays Capt.
Callsen, forty tons of cargo were
stolen from a vessel and loaded on
an Italian ship for transportation
to another port by these pirates. In
this case the cargo was Belgian
goods.
As a result of the captain's in-
vestigations he states that the Ger-
man underwriters have practically
ceased to insure goods consigned to
these ports.
SENTENCE SERMONS.
Loving is simply life giving.
Killing time is crippling char-
acter.
Sermons cannot take the place of
sympathy.
The breadth of your prayer de-
termines its reach.
There is no faith without some
feeling for our fellows.
Faith is not a balancing pole for
the man on the fence.
Refuse another burden and you
lose your own blessing.
A great sorrow may be fitting for
some great service,
It takes more than the loathing
of hell to lead to heaven.
You never will find good in a boy
by the detective method.
The clinkers always take credit
for the full head of steam.
That is not a good life which does
not find living a glad thing.
Men who are doing a big business
never need a "busy" sign.
Bearing your arose does not re-
lieve you from paying your taxes,
This world never agrees with the
man who tries to `swallow it whole,
Nothing impoverishes a good deed
quicker than thinking of its profit,
You cannot improve your view of
heaven by climbing on your broth-
er's back.
It's the little happiness we sow
that give us the harvest of perpet-
ual pleasure.
The saddest people in this world
are those who are always fleeing.
from sorrow:
A rabid defence of creed is often
accompanied by a remarkable in-
difference to ,deed.
The favorite circus in the, average
church is that of whipping the devil
around the stump.
The people who are too lazy to
run in the race always get up a per-
spiration over the way the prizes
go
Whether the church stays in the
world depends not on whether the
world will support it but on wheth-
er it will serve the evened end save
it.
She. --"Jest look at that mem 00
the bicycle. Why on earth' does he
stoop so 1" Be --"He must be try-
ing to put his shoulder to the
;v leer,
fIEIn ul; DOG DETECTIVES
System Employed With. Sueeeee
Tracking Evildoers.
Year by year I attend trials of
"police dogs" in Germany and ,Aus-
tria, where man hunting dogs aro
trained and bred for pollee pur-
poses and where dogs have become
a braneh,of the police organization,
writes a correspondent of the Lon-
don Telegraph, In Germany there
is a society called the Aesociation
for Furthering the Breeding and
Employment of Police Dogs, and
ideas on the subject are exchanged,
all experiments with dogs being
carefully reported.
Years of thorough and painsta
Mg study were devoted to this au
joct before suitable breeds of do
were obtained and proper metho
of working the dogs were disco
ered. Originally Brunswick w
the headquarters of the Germ
police doggy mon and when canin
assistance was required one of tl
officers at once set out with a do
These officers and dogs often tra
ailed long journeys, going as fas
Paris and Constantinople on tw
occasions.
The German trainers soon cam
to the conclusion that not even th
most perfect dog would carry
line three or four days old whe
he was not in a perfect workin
condition, as he would not be afte
a long train journey. Before any
thing else the "mind" of a do
must be quite fresh because he ha
to do far more mental than phy-
sical work. Further, a dog brought
to a country in which the conditions
are different from those of his home
cannot settle down to the work at
once with his mind quite fresh for
the task. Artificial means to "re-
vive the scent" are not always
handy and even then will fail if the
dog is not in perfect working -con-
dition.
Quite a revolution, however, set
in when the association referred to
above began to distribute dogs
among policemen and watchmen
These animals got so accustome
to their masters and the rural con
ditions of their districts that the
slightest change from the normal
state provoked their suspicion while
on their daily patrol, and any
amount of cases are published ev-
ery week where such well trained
clogs led their masters to places of
outrages which up to that moment
were still unknown. Suicides were
found in time to bring such poor
creatures back to 1;fe, murders were
discovered while the corpses were
still warm, and so of course was the
scent. The criminals wore at once
hunted and stopped not many miles
off, waiting for a chance to escape.
Tramps hiding themselves in thick-
ets could not enjoy a quiet hour,
and many a "wanted" was dis-
covered by the help of these dogs.
It is an unfrequent occurrence
that an out rage is not discovered
within twenty-four hours after the
commission of the crime. The next
"station dog" is at once called, and
unless he has not already stopped a
suspicious individual during one of
his patrols he will pick up at once
the line of the criminal after hay.
ing—in case of fatal outrage—been
brought to the corpse.
Since police dogs were introduced
in Brunswick there have been com-
paratively few evasions of justice
in cases of violence. The certainty
of detection has had a good result,
and the criminal statistics of that
town show that during the last two
years not a single murder 1008 com-
mitted there or within twenty miles
around this municipality.
In
k-
b-
gs
ds
v-
ac
an agricultural enterprises.
o Ithas organized the young people
ne everywhere and started branches in
g. about 210,000 of the smaller hamlets
v- and villages of Japan. The Moto -
as kukwai is assisted in its laudable
O efforts by the Government of Japan,
which gives it money from time to
e time; by the heads of the various
o prefectures and by the villags them -
a' solves. It has built up an agricul
n tural society in every prefecture
g district, separate ones in the larger
✓ towns, and put over all of these a
- central agricultural agency in Tokio
g to aid and direct them. If any o
s the members of the numerous
branches of the society choose to
visit one of the big cities they are
conducted by a representative of
the organization through its schools,
factories and workshops and shown.
its most interesting sights. The so-
ciety likewise issues a number of
periodicals and papers for the in-
struction and intellectual awaken-
ing of its members. The .Agricul-
tural Association of Motosu dis-
trict recognized the advantage of
using the influence of Buddhist
priests for improvement in agricul-
• ture. So in August, 1900, seventy
d Buddhist priests of various sects
- were called together and instructed
how to cultivate rice, barley and
vegetables, and how to hunt the in-
jurious insects. The attempts prov-
ed successful and the results were
remarkably good.
To foster the spirit of industry and
economy and to encourage an aux-
iliory work among farmers tbo
manufacture of wicker lunch bask-
ets was started among common
school students of Namazu village.
The wages were to be either used
for school expenses or deposited as
postal savings. The material being
waste pieces disearded in the mak-
ing of wicker trunks, this work is
proving very profitable and hope-
ful.
Shimo-Nakajima village abounds
in deep, muddy rice fields, which are
suitable for the growth of leeches.
• Taking advantage of this, students
of the common school were made
to gather leeches for the purpose of
encouraging the spirit of industry
and economy among them. The
work was started in June, 1904, and
in that year almost 3,000 leeches'
were caught and sold, about 15
yen ($7.50) being made, In 1905
about 5,000 were caught and more
than 30 yen ($15) was made. Each
time the money was deposited as a
joint saving. In I906 more than 10,-
000 leeches were gathered. The
children expect a greater income as
well as a larger demand, and are
much interested.
TEACHING THRIFT IN JAPAN.
Now Things In !Farming—Sooleties
For Tenn People.
Not only is Japan encouraging
agriculture through the enginory of
model farm experimental stations,
lectures and what not, bet likewise
it is attempting to improve the lot
of the agriculturist, There is going
on in Japan to -de' a big work of
uplifting.
Foremost in this movement is a
society known as the Hotokukwai,
which may be translated as the so-
ciety for moral and economic ad-
vancement. Its main strength is
being put forth in improving rural
conditions and in making life in the
rural communities more worth the
living through the extension of.
amusements, charities, education,
social features of one kind and
another, and by the development of
1
mers two men and one heater aver-
age 600 rivets in ten hours, Inheres
by hand 250 rivets is a good day's
f work for three men and one heater,
The butchers of Berlin have a
curious way of informing their cus-
tomers of the days on which fresh
chair, covered with a large clean
apron, at the side of the shop door.
A ring set with two briliants, and
valued at about $75, was found in
a herring by Mme. Heully, at the)
Freneh village of Sercoeur. She
was eating the fish, and bit some-
thing hard, which proved to be the
The British soldier carries a hel-
met which weighs nearly l'eei lbs; the
helmet of the Prussian infantry-
men weighs only a trifle over 14 oz, •
while the Italian is still better off
with a kepi which turns the scale
at between 11 oz. and 12 oz.
Signor Koelticker, an Italian zool-
oetist, states that by means of a
microphonograph his hypothesis
thaa fish have a language of their
own has been fully confirmed. He
has heard them carry on a sort of
murmuring conversation, which he
does not, however, claim to have
Many old houses in Holland have
a special door -which is never open-
ed save on two occasions—when -
there is a inarria,ge or a death in
the. family. The bride and bride-
groom enter by this door; and it
is then nailed or barred up until
a death occurs, when it is opened,
and the body is removed by this
As he was the only man with
young children he a district of Lane
County, Oregon, Mr. john Larkin
formed a school committee, of which
c airman an is
wife clerk. Mrs. Larkin was in-
stalled as teacher by the chairman,
and the five little Larkins now go
to school to their own mother, who
is remunerated by the State.
The municipality of Freiburg car-
ries on a pawnshop, an itsurance
business, a theatre, several res-
tauranbs, and a newspaper, as well
as the schools, A seat can be pro-
cured at the opera, in this German.
city for 9 cents, and supper after-
wards for 0 cents. The authorities
also own a cemetery, in which the
citizens can be interred ohea,ply.
The average storm -wave is 30 ft.
ever measured' were between 44 ft.
and 48 ft. high. The gigantic force
of storm -waves is shown by the fact
that at Skerryvore lighthotom, off
the wed coast of Scotland, a mass
of rock weighing 51/, tons was once
hurled to a, height of 72 ft. above
the sea -level, whilst a mass weigh-
ing 13X tons WitS torn from a cliff
74 ft. high,
The Australian Corctmon wealth
Customs Department has had to
dgel its brains in order to decide
viler). turtle is fish. An Act of the
Coramonwealth Parliament provides
hat a bounty is payable on pre-
erved fish. An enterprising spec -
Water in Northern Australia has
een producing' preserved turtle oft
the bounty utdcr the Act. tut,
after much consultation of dieter -
inns, the Department has decided
that the turtle ie not a fish, but a
AIRSHIPS IN WAR.in height; the highest storm -waves
Objectives Will Not Bo Armiesn
But Dockyards, Arsenals, eta.
Of the use of airships in war a
writer says; "Large vessels of
from 500,000 to 1,000,000 cubic feet
capacity, capable of travelling at a
speed of forty miles an hour in a
calm and of carrying considerable
quantities of high explosives, can
set out, and with a favorable wind,
can cover vastdistances ina few
hours. When they will come and
What their objective will be cannot
possibly be known to the enemy,
who cannot always be looking with
guns ready pointed into the air,
while they will pass over the coun-
try so quickly as to•be out of range
almost as soon as seen.
"Thou objectives would not bo
the enemy's armies, but his dock-
yards,' arsenals, store -houses, rail-
way oentr•ea and so forth, where the
maximum of damage can be caused
at a minimum of cost. Possibly
they might even attack the enemy's
navy if ho hes one, but possibly
the same effect would be produced
in a more humane manner by
merely destroying the docks.
"Keeping high up in the daytime
and descending at night, they can
keep their direction with practical
certainty,' and hearing close over
aau
ny desired spot may lnch explo-
sives with relay action fuses, which
will enable them to retire to a safe
distance before the explosion no -
ours; or they may even risk de-
struction to effect some notable ex-
ploit
"There would appear to be but
little difficulty in lodging the ex-
pletives with great accuracy if good
plans are available to work by,
while the expense, even if airships
be lost, would be insignificant.
--r
PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS,
Algeria and Tunis have this year
suffered from an extraordinary in-
version of •locusts. The locusts ar-
rive from the direction of the des-
erts in swarms so thick as to hide
the sun. They cover the ground as
with a yellow carpet, and some-
times render the railways so slip-
pery that trains can hardly run. At
this stage they are not voracious,•
being engaged principally in laying
their eggs. But 40 days later the
young locusts, not yet winged, be-
gin to run about, devouring every -
green thing, including not only 1
leaves, but even the bark and tend-
er shoots of trees. The hordes, ad- t
wincing in a body, sometimes cover s
an area of several square miles.
Barricades of cloth, surmounted - b
with waxed strips, erected in the
line of march, arrest the progress
of the insects, which are unable to
crawl up the smooth surface. Pass-
ing along the lino of the barricades,
they fall into ditches dug for the
purpose, where they are killed with
corrosive liquids. .Another method
is to smooth descending paths, end-
ing in poisoned ditches. The in-
sects folloev the descents, and thus
go to their death.
e SEVENTEEN YEARS,
Dr: iierbet, of Bremen, has made
a careful study of the case of the
peasants daughter who recently
awoke after having slept seventeen
yams. The subject, he says, is now
forty-four years of ago, and fools
none the worse for lying helpless 80
long, The only injury she has sus-
tained is the loss of her teeth, all
of which with the exception of three
fell out. She spoke and walked
with 'difficulty at first, but the use
of her faculties soon returned to a,
her. 1
TI7.`-ons OF (KNOWLEDGE.
General Information About a Llttle
of Everything.
Omnibuses in Holland are fitted
with letter -boxes,
Some of the great Atlantic !more
employ 150 firemen.
The Czar of Russia employe 00,000
servants, and his stables contain
6,000 horses for his personal use.
To keep a racehorse in even mod-
erate condition in England, with
proper attendants, costs $1,023 a
year.
It is a peculiar fact that Africans
never sneeze, neither do their de-
scendants, if they be pure blooded,,
although if
in other parts
of the world.
Eskimo dogs have been driven
forty-five miles over the ice in five
hours. A ,picked team of these
dogs once travelled six miles in
twenty-eight minutes,
The first hotel in Europe for wo-
men only, and managed and staffed
by women, has just been opened as
an experiment Zurich by the Salva-
tion Army
When a vessel is on her trial trip
she runs four times- over a meas-
ured mile, twice with and twice
against the tide. Her average speed
is thus arrived at.
In riveting with pneumatic ham-
INSURANCE 15 COMPULSORY.
The Austrian Government intro -
de ad in the Lower,.House of the
.Austrian Reichstag the other day
a bill dealing with social insurance.
It extends the present provisions
for compulsory insurance against ill-
ness to all workmen and servants,
inoluding agricultural" laborers,
insurance against old age is also
made obligatory in the case of all
workmen employed in industrial
concerns, agricultural laborers,
servants, and employers whose an-
nual income does not exceed $500.
The number of persons affected is
10,000,000. The State will make an
annual. grant of $466,500 toward the
costs of administering the funds,
ed after the fift-i year will place
7 for ea±l eentributor,