The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

an?* v :*T'4'- ,.>• * wwi* 'mm t> * ""t*® ^ t V * * f -$£* V , ' " , ^ *»•<«*' t V /*../<* •" , * ** 1 ' J -V L . v y«s*f, y / Uj. f '.••*. > V^'i-- "'•^ i* •*> ' !i* •"•'»»' inwg fJlaiutUalfr J. VAN SLYKE, Editor at* FuMMwr. McHENRY, ILLINOIS, A LABGE number of immigrants from France to Southern California bj way of New Orleans is reported. Thej are gnainly experienced wine-growers. The , immigration to Southern California from all sources is reported by the im­ migration Commissioners of that State 4kt 700 or 800 a week. WILKTR COIXINS wrote ft letter to Xotta while she was in Englaud»com- <plimenting -her and saying he wondered •why people laughed at her representa­ tion of the little starred child, the ""Marchioness," tearing and swollowing food like a ravenous animal. The great ^novelist said it made him cry. IT is noted among the peculiarities of the Philadelphia city directory that a man named Shanks teaches dancing, •one Drinkwater inconsistently keeps a liquor saloon, Black is a coal merchant, •one Saylor is a mariner, Painter is an •artist, Law practices his name, Birch Reaches school, and Lamb sells beef. BISMARCK hns not yet gained the Jiighest honor the Kaiser cau bestow. There is another German order of mer­ it, founded in 1866, of which the badge a star bearing the portrait of Freder­ ick the Great. Those only who are privileged to wear it are Kaiser Wil- lelm; "Unser Fritz," Prince Frederick Charles, and "Mollke, the Silent." MME. LYDIA PASHKOFF, the traveler, «ays in her "Notes on China Women" that those selected for the imperial tiarem are not subjected to the barbar­ ous feet-cramping process. They are the daughters of Tartar officers, and 'do all they can to avoid being se­ lected for the palace at Pekin, inas- •much as the life there is tolerably dull. 4* V TEBBAPIN was introduced into En- ^ gland by "Wormley, the deceased Wash­ ington caterer, while steward to Rev- •erdy Johnson when the latter was Min­ ister to England. Poker was after­ ward introduced by Minister Schenck. No wonder Englishmen try to recover the money they have lost through in­ dulgence in these expensive luxuries by marrying rich American girls. GEN. ROBEBT Tooipg BAIBEEN talk­ ing about his old. a"?sociates ̂ Of Gen. -Joe Johnston lie said: "Johnston would have been the most successful general of the late war if he had been let alone. Jeff Davis was continually moving him :from one place to another." Referring to Jefferson Davis, Toombs said: "He is contumacious and incompatible, and . -apian of diminutive information." IT is said that the sand used in the manufacture of mirrors is now used by a Paris company to make white bricks and blocks, said not to be injured by frosts, rain, etc., and to be very light, the specific gravity being only 1.50 to 1.80 of clay brioka. The sand is first *trongly pressed by hydraulic power, •and then baked in ovens at a very high -temperature. The brick are almost pure silica. NOTICE posted by a Deadwood hus­ band in the postoffioe: "My wife Sarah lias Shot my ranche When I didn't Doo a thing Too hur an' I want it distintly Understood that any man That takes ler in an' keers for her on my account Will get himself pumped so Full of lead that Sum tenderfoot will locate liim for a mineral clame. A word to the wise is sufficient, an* orter work on iools. P. Smith." ' 1 TUNNEL 5,000tfeet long, that was con­ tracted at least 900 years befoie Chris­ tian era, has been discovered on the island of Samos. It is mentioned by Herodotus, and was excavated to sup­ ply the old seaport with drinking water. It is completely preserved, and contains water tubes of about twenty- five centimetres in diameter, each one provided with a lateral aperture for cleansing purposes. A SCHOOLMASTER in Iowa called his prettiest pupil to his desk and asked her if she would marry him. She re­ plied promptly that she would not. "If you were the last man on earth, and I was 40, instead of 16," she added. "I wouldn't take you.* Resuming his char­ acter of pedagogue, he decided that her language was disrespectful, and fer- ruled the hand which he could not get matrimonially.^ Tlie girl now sues him for damages* THERE are about 90,000 dwelling houses in Paris. A recent municipal law ordains that henceforth no fiats shall be less than 8 feet high; that in the streets 25 feet wide the height of the houses must not exceed 50 feet, in streets between 25 and 32 feet wide the lieight must not exceed 50 feet,in streets between 32 and 65 feet the height must not exceed 60 feet, in streets above 65 feet wide the houses must not exceed 65 feet, and no buildings are to have more than three stories, all included. THE Mudir of Dongola, in the Sou­ dan, is a slight, delicate man, with a pale, pensive face, lighted up by two large black, luminous eyes, which seem to be always looking in space, and from between which projects a preternatur- ally large nose, hooked like a vulture's beak. The effect of his extreme piety on the Mussulman population is very .marked, and has enabled him to main­ tain himself in power almost within armstroke of the MahdL He is only visible for a short time each-day before public prayers. A TEMPERANCE lecturer in London has given recently some curious statis­ tics in regard to the amount expended wn intoxicating liqnor. He estimated the annual average thus spent in the last ten years at $720,000,000. This give* m expenditure ef $60,000,000 every month, of $15,000,000 every week and of $25 every second, day and night There was 3,508,480 letters in the Bible, and if $205 was place ou every letter this would represent the annual ex­ penditure. The grain consumed by the brewers and distillers is sufficient to provide four loavefs of bread* per week to every family in the United Kingdom. These certainly are starting facts. THE French Montteur Universel, after remarking that the United States is the home of eccentricity, says that no church bells are rung by hand in New York. "The Angelus is Founded by steam: night and morning the ma­ chine operates with the regularity of a clock for five minutes." Another in­ teresting piece of information from the same trustworthy source is that when money is needed for a charity the come- liest and most proper young ladies in a town ascend a platform, where the passers by may kiss them at a $1 a head. No one, however, must take more than ten~kisses for his $1. "Even the busiest iKon of business snatch time to perform this act of gallant charity." A LARGE number of married cetfjjSles living in Rio de Sul, Brazil, awoke lately to find that their marriages had been illegal. They were mostly Gor­ man Protestants, and in the absence of clerics of their denominations they had resorted to civic marriages upon the assurance of an officer of the city that he could perform the ceremony legally. Meanwhile there is still an absence of proper clergymen to perform the func­ tions. The Catholic clergy will do nothing for them, nor do%s the govern­ ment in any way intimate that it tgill relieve their distress. If only some of the philanthropic missionary societies would send out a parson, here is a chance for him to do good and pay his way in doing it. THE Countess of Walewska, once maid of honor to the Empress Eugenie, says the San Francisco Argonaut, antici­ pated Whistler's "harmonies"' in her dress, which was always blcck, and she believed that color showed off the beautiful 'white of her neck and shoul­ ders and the carnation of her cheeks. One day, owing to an accident at a hunt, this lovely and ingenious lady of honor was forced to keep her bed, but she received her friends all the same, and astonished them somewhat by wearing a loose poplum robe of black foulard silk, which covered her nefck and arms, and pillow cases and sheets also of tho same fabric. The coverlet was of a pale pink brocade, bordered with swan's down. A Sotrra AMERICAN traveler has dis­ covered near the River Dramanta a' little stream issuing from a hard me- tamorphic rock that was hot and sticky. It is like a stream of thick petroleum. While engaged in examining this na­ tural curiosity he came upon two small birds canght in the sticky substance at the edge of the stream; they were still alive, but upon releasing them both the feathers and the skin came off where they came in contact with the bituminous matter, so that he had to kill them to put an end to their suffer­ ings. No doubt they had been taken in by the appearance of water whioh the stream presented and had alighted to drink, when they discovered their mistake too late. '•/ SPEAKING of the Opening of the quail season in California, the San Francisco Bulletin says: "They are now so abundant that they throng the road­ ways. While rewards are offered by farmers in southern counties for kill­ ing this bird, which destroys much grain, the Alameda and Contra Costa farmers say the -quail is useful to them. It attacks their grain only as a last re- Bort, and chiefly subsists on insects. Their destruction of ants is of incalcu­ lable importance. The quail's great foe is the wildcat. The latter animal is prolific in the counties named. A quail nesting will cover from fifteen to twenty eggs, and nearly every egg will hatch. They nest once a, year, and during those periods the maid is a most pugnacious defender of the mother and young. A man may almost strike him with a elub. The wily wildcat, as large as four ordinary cats, will stretch him- Belf out and put out his tongue; the male quail will approach and peck it, whereat the oat seizes his toothsome Krupp's Urea Iron Works at Essen. The great iron and cannon-founding establishment of Herr Krupp at Essen is constantly enlarging its space and persoifttel. In 1860 it contained but 1,760 workmea, and this number had increased by 1870 to 7,084, while at the present time it is over 20,000; if also the women and children dependent on the establishment are included, a popu­ lation of no less than 65,381 is gathered together, of which 29,000 persons are actually living In houses belonging to the works. The various departments of the Krupp undertaking are eight in num­ ber, and embrace the workshops at Essen, three collieries at Essen and Bo- chum, 547 iron mines in Germany mines in the north of Spain (in the neighborhood of Bilbao), the smelting furnaces, a trial ground of 17 kilome­ tres at Meppen for proving cannon, to­ gether with others at different plaoes with an area of 7| kilometres. There are 11 smelting furnaces, 1,542 pud­ dling and heating furnaces, 439 steam boilers, and 450 steam engines of 185,- 000 horse-power. At Essen alone the works connected with rolling stock comprise 59 kilometres of rails, 28 loco­ motives, 883 wagons, G9 horses, 191 trolleys, 65 kilometres of telegraph line, 35 telegraphic stations, and 55 Morse apparatus.--London Times. A PECULIARITY of robust yet careless persons is that they have generally in­ herited their constitutions from ancest­ ors who have observed rules; who have eaten with some degree of regularity; who have consulted their surroundings; cooled themselves when heated; warmed themselves when cool; rested themselves when tired, and, to use Em­ erson's expression, put up solid bars of sleep betweea each day's task. - THREE ELEPHANT STOKffiS. Treed bjr an Angry Ilrute--An Intrlpld B«Mt In Battle. Major Rogers had been out shooting, and had discharged all his guns, when an elephant made a charge at him from the skirts of the jungle. There was no help lor it except to ran, and for 400 yards the Major kept just ahead, feel­ ing at every step as if the animal's trunk was trying to twist itseL about his loins. A turn around a tree gave him a momentary advantage, which he made the most of by springing up in its branches; he w <s as nimble as a cat and as strong as a lion. One foot high­ er and he would have been out of the elephant's reach; but before he had time to draw up his legs the elephant had got him firmly clinched in the toils of his proboscis. Still, Rogers pulled against him, thinking it better to have his leg wrenched from the socket than to fall back bodily into the ani­ mal's power. The struggle, however, did not last long, for, to the delight of the pursued and the chagrin of the pnrsuer, the Wellington boot which the former wore, slipped off, released the leg, and saved the life of poor Hol­ ers. The dilemna. however, did not end here, for the elephant, finding him­ self balked of his pray, after destroying the boot, took up his quarters neneath the branches and kept his anticipated victim in the tree for twenty-four hours, when the country postman hap­ pened to pass by. Rogers gave him notice of his position, and soon help came and the elephant was frightened away by tom-toms and yelling. Had this occurred in a deserted part of the jungle, the officer must nave been starved to death in the tree. There is a beautiful story of an old elephant engaged in a battle ou the plains of India. He was stand­ ard-bearer, and carried on his huge back the royal ensign, the rallying- point of the Poona host. At the begin­ ning of the fight he lost his master. The "mahout," or driver, had just giv­ en bim the word to halt, when he re­ ceived a fatal wound and fell to the ground, where he laid under a heap of slain. The obedient elephant siood still while the battle closed around him and the standard he carried. He never stired a foot, refusing to advance or retire, as the conflict became bolter and fiercer, un-. til the Mahrattaa, seeing the standard still flying steadily in its place, refused to believe that they were being beaten, and rallied again and again round the colors. And all this while, amid the din of battle, the patient animal stood straining its ears to catch the sound of that voice it would never hear again. At last the tide of conquest left the field deserted. The Mahrattas swept on in pursuit of the flying foe, but the elephant, like the rock, stood there,with the dead and dying around aud the en­ sign waving in its place. For three days and nights it remained where its master had given the command to halt. No liribe or threat could move it Thoy theli sent to a village, one hun­ dred miles away, and brought the ma­ hout's little son. The noble hero tseemed then to remember how the driver had sometimes given his author­ ity to the little child, and immediately, with all the shattered trappings cling­ ing as he went, paced quietly and slow­ ly away. "The na'tive Hindo," tho narrator of this story tells us, "from want of thought keeps up a constant drumming on the beast's head with the goad, or 'ankns;' I therefore hoped not to use it at alL Such an improvement all at onoe, however, prove l more than the elephantine mind could grasp. He be­ gan readily to enjoy himself, going his way more than mine, till at last lie marched straight into an immense for­ est tree of the banyan species and commenced to browse. He seized the boughs above his head, and tugging vi­ olently at them, brought them down on my devoted skulL This was too much. I raised the ankus and brought it dowu on his head with a blow that brought blood through the skin. This had the desired effect, aLd he at once bundled off along the road by which he knew 1 wanted him to go. He merely took with him a branch about the size of a small apple tree to discuss as we went aloag. From this moment we were friends, and I do not think I ever had to use the hook again so as to bring blood." - _ The Brandyslianks. Although Mr. and Mrs. Brandyslianks have lived in Minneapolis a year, they never visited the Falls of St. Anthony until the other day. They were ac­ companied by three youthful Brandy- shanks and a dog built very long for his elevation. "Now, my dear," said Brandyshanks, as he led the way across the platform, "here's the falls. Here you see the father of waters thunder­ ing down--catch that fool dog! Gaul- darn his idiotic picture, don't he know enough to stay in out of the wet? Here is the greatest water-power in the Northwest. Here you behold what has made this city the greatest--Maria, don't you see that fool kid's about to tumble in? Got so wrapt up in this second-class squirt gun that you lose sight of your children and stand gawp­ ing at a lot of slush tumbling over a board fence, while your own flesh and blood's trying to choke itself to death on sewer water and sawdust? Long be­ fore the foot of the white man trod these siiores the fierce Aborigine built his wigwam here and gazed upon this wonder of--Well, split me open, if that cussed dog ain't in the mill-race! Oh, yes, holler for him to come back! He'll come! Can come back ju»t as easy as not. No trouble at all for a bow-leg­ ged dog to swim up a mill-race that runs fi teen miles a second. He's just going down that way for fun! Can I get him out? Can 1 tie my legs in a bow-knot around my neck and jump over the stone bridge? Gauldarn a fool woman, anyhow ! Any more idi­ otic questions you want to ask ? Ex­ pect me to shuck myself and jump in there to rescue a fool hound that don't know a mill-race from a pulley bone? Yes, that's right, cry now! Just hang your head over the railing and add your briny tears to the flood of waters, for another dog-gone dead. As I was saying, before they pat this apron on the falls--Where is the apron ? Well skin me alive! Where do you suppose it is? Suppose it's some fool thing it wear < over its Mother Hubbard when it dines at the Nicollet? Have an idea prancing around in your empty crani its corset? Think it was made up to order by some red-headed dressmaker? Any notion 'o tryii*' to crib the pattern ? The apron's tbat political platform set on the edge that the water slides over. Do you grasp the icfea now ? Oh, you do? How did they\put the apron on? I expected you hud a few more questions sticking ajpuud in your sys­ tem. Think I'm an Encyclopedia Brit- annica on leg?, don't you? Think I •̂edown inf<&m<iton like aa iron pump with a piece of chalk m fhe suc­ tion pipe does city milk ? Well, I ex­ pect when they put the durned thing on, they got a lot of fool women to jab­ ber at it and confound it, so the water started to run the other way and left the falls as dry as a political editorial. What did they put it on for? Have aa idea that they put it on to keep the blast­ ed thing lrom takin' cold, I suppose but they didn't The condemned thing was made to order for a married wom­ an to wear over her mouth to keep her from exposing her ignorance, but it was too small, so they hung it over the bustle of the falls," aud he grabbed the youngest kid and started for heme, leaving Mrs. Brandyshanks to dodge the fuel wagons with the other two, as best she might.--Minnesota Baioo. The toreaser. The most impressive thing about the "Greaser"--aside from an odor sui gen­ eris-- is his co tume; he seems always to have outgrown his garments. Until* I myself saw him, I always regarded as an exaggeration that statement by a really honest writer, that the "way- down" Mexican, the lepero, puts on his leather breeches at twenty, before he has attained his growth, and never voluntarily removes them until he reaches threescore and teu. United in life, death itself does not divide these inseperable companions, who are often buried together. In the north, cotton usually replaces the more durable leather, but the same affectionate at­ tachment is exhibited BO long as the ma­ terial holds together. Simplicity of arrangement and a noble disregard of dirt are also characteristic of the "Greaser's" female partner, who gener­ ally wears a sort of skirt, fastened at the waist over a cotton sack or chemise short in the sleeves and low in the neck, and over which she draws a ro- bozo, or long and- narrow shawl or scarf, constantly falling away aud dis­ closing brown and brawny shoulders. She sometimes wears a folded cloth on her head, Contadina-like, though lux­ uriant black hair is oftener her only protection from the sun. Slippers or old shoes--no matter of what style, so they be loose and conveinent--encase her little feet, while the legs above, be­ ing stockingless, are supposed to be un­ fettered by garters. In feature the "Greaser" is decidedly Semitic; his skin is brown; Iti-t eyes black and beautiful; his hair black and coarse; his brow black and low; his manners are delightful; his nature in­ dolent, but revengeful. The color of his integument, I have said, is brown; but more properly it is that of his native soil. He has not passed through the past century of rev­ olutions without taking heed to make himself as inconspicuous an object in the lanbscapo as possible; hence he lives in a mud (adobe) house; he wears mud colored parmeuts, and exhibits a decidedly muddy countenance. A stu­ dent of the adaptability of animals to their surroundings would view him with intense nterest. We w«^.. know that Nature, "always in the right," pro­ vides suitable coverings for the lower animals and the varying climatic changes of the seasons; the rabbit, for example, which in summer has a coat of soft gray or brown, admirably har­ monizing with the colors of the vegeta­ tion in which it hides, in winter is dressed in white. In the colder re­ gions alone, especially in the artics, we have cognizance of these changes; but in the warmer south, where there is no radical chauges in the floral surround­ ings, we find no direct faunal transfor­ mation. Hence it is, perhapMttat the "Greaser" sees not the beoNHfcy for change; a cleansing process, in fact, would expose him to too violent a con­ trast with his surroundings. It is far from my purpose to slander the "Greas­ er;" on the contrary, 1 am striving hard to explain his terrene predilec­ tions. Besides an unconscious recogni­ tion of the fitness of his mode of life in its essential features, the "Greaser" has tradition to support him in his con­ stitutional aversion to water aud his yearning for dirt, it being tho first les­ son inculcated in his youth, that whoso wastes the precious aqua in personal ablution will surely catch cold and die. --Outing. Plain and Simple Speech. A plain, strong, colloquialism maybe at once easy and coi reet; but whoever attempts to use long words, or new words, with an air of pitying superior­ ity, to express ideas that come familiar phrase more nearly tits, is assuredly caught in the slough of affectation. A man who talks to you in casual speech -A "localities," "residences," "tragidies " "domestics," "mendicants," aud "indi­ viduals," instead of "places," "houses,"' "shocking affairs" "servants," "beggars," "persons/' is certainly bad enough. If, besides his weak nouns, the verbs are also affected, if he "states" things that ordinary people "say," and "purchases" when others "buy," and "commences," when a college professor would "begin" --the case is decidedly worse. Even the rude, rustic dialects, with their quaint and homely Saxon expres­ sions that have somehow lingered among the lower classes for centuries, are infinitely more interesting and agreeable than this emasculated mod­ ern talk. The daily newspapers often contain examples of the finest and most difficult kind of literary work--that in which poise, reserve, and brilliancy are united, and the style is perfectly lim­ pid. But who has not felt that the over expression of a feeling, the undue emphasis of a fact, the tendency to­ wards extravagance, are manifest in much that is printed in newspapers? Perhaps "the public demand it." Let us waive that point and merely ask of the probable effect of it on what may be called the speech of the people--the rich, expressive vernacular, Effect there must be, for every one reads pap­ ers, and even the modern school book is more and more written in the stilted style. Despite the continuance of "notes and queries," and the survival of folk lore, and philological societies, it is to be feared that the harmless idi­ oms will goto the wall. The little Eng­ lish girl of the brick-yards who says; "We swills the spottles off us faces be­ fore we has us dinners," will learn to say: "We perform our ablutions before our noon repasts." The colliermen's plea during a r ot: "We must hav9 something to fill ns bellies," is terse, idiomatic, and not to be strengthened. The Virginian mountaineer, instead of saying: "We are going to harness up our horses, get a violinist, notify the um that it is something it ties aroun^ig^^i^-^^j dance,"* sums its waist with a string and pins up ovCr : ... up all this in the phrase: "We are go­ ing on a dyke."--E change. PAPER bottles are now largely manu­ factured in 'Germany and Austria. They are made of rags, wood pulp, and straw, and are coated on both sides with defribrinated blood, lime, and alumina. They are manufactured in two parts, and are sufcmittee pressure. When completed old epirits, acid, etc., and are ] broken. Their cost is very lc fro high ley will >t easily CURIOUS AM) SCIENTIFIC. IN the Provience of Yiatka, Russia, there are produced annually 72,000,000 pounds of tar, 5,400,000 pounds of pitoh and 2,160,000 pounds of turpentine oil. It is stated that the annual product of birch oil amounts to 144,000,000 pounds C4,000,0()0 poods), an indication that the demand for it is now great. THR eminent botanist De Candolle gave the age of an elm at 335 years. The ages of some palms have been set down at from 600 to 700 years; that of an olive tree at 700 years, that of a plane tree at 720, of a cedar at 800 years, of an oak at 1,500, of a yew at 2,8S0, of a taxodium at 4,000, and of a baobab tree at 5,000. As TO the depths reached in sound­ ing the ocean, Lieutenant Berryman obtained bottom at 4,580 fathoms a short distance south of the banks of Newfoundland. The depth of the sea is commonly exaggerated. People used to think that it ranged from 7,( 00 to 8,000 fathoms. The average depth is 2,580 fathoms in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. THE skin or outer cover of the insect consists of the cuticle, not comparable with any part of the skin of a vertebrate, and underlying tissues. The cuticle consists of two very distinct layers-- one thick and transparent, the other, in which also pigment is developed, thin and opaque. The pigment is disposed in beautifnl microscopic markings, dif­ fering in different species. THE highest velocity that has been imparted to shot is given as 1,626 feet per second, being equal to a mile in 32 seconds. The velocity of the earth at the equator, due to rotation on its axis, is 1,000 miles per hour, or a mile in 36 seconds; and thus, if a cannon ball was fired due West, and could maintain its initial velocity, it would beat the sun in its apparent journey round the earth. THE effects of the inhalation of fumes of strong ammonia on the system are deafness and catarrh. In some in­ stances the troubles are very serious indeed. It will induce lung disease if fhere is any tendency to weakness of the lungs. The most valuable remedy is to inhale the fumes of strong glacial acetic acid, which reacts upon the alkali ammonia.--Manufacturer's Gazelle. THE celebrated English physiologist, Dr. Carpenter, lias proposed a substan­ tially new version of the germ theory of diseases. He believes, from obser­ vations based upon the mutability of bacilli, that the same germs may pro­ duce different diseases in different con­ stitutions a theory that is corroborated, if not confirmed, by recent observations, which show that the bacteria of typhoid fever and malaria are of the same de­ scription. A COMPOSITE pulley is among the re­ cent mechanical invention's. It is formed of a castiron hub, a web or l>ody made of paper, casted and pressed into a solid bloc v of the thickness to insure the required strength, and this web is surrounded by a wrought or cast rim secured by knees or flangs riveted through the rim and paper; the rim, having thus a unifo m bearing upon the paper body, is steadier and more even than an iron pulley. THE latest theory of malaria is that the principal source of the fever and exhaustion is to be sought in the slowly but cumulatively poisonous influence of the relatively large amount of car­ bonic acid in the atmosphere! of malari­ ous districts, generated by vegetable decay, by evaporation of soil moisture laden with it, or by upturning earth saturated with that compound. Recent measurements of the carbonio acid in the soil, as compared with the amount present in normal atmosphere have shown that their relative proportions are as 250 to one. POSTAL AFFAIKS. df Postmaster -Operations of Os Department Upon the Beroroe of UM Lower Bate of Postage--Further BP duction Urged. .\ An Extension of the Free-Delivery Syg« fawn BufiimmfniM--Tho St«i- , -"Tr . . service. Crime in Paris. A practical economist aud one of the wisest of statesmen once remarked that it is cheaper to educate a hundred chil­ dren to do right than to punish and re­ form one adult criminal. This remark, which is less exaggerated than most ep­ igrams, occurs to one in reading over the oriminal statistics which are com­ piled each year by every large city. Take, for instance, the record of crime in Paris during 1883. According to figures recently published the police made 46,208 arrests, a decrease of 153 over 1882. The decrease for the city itself amounted to 725, but the increase in the banlieux, or suburbs, brought up the total, of which 40,401 were males, and 5,807 females. The large proportion of juvenile criminals--13,- 232 males and 1,521 females--show how true it is that in large cities there springs up a criminal class which is not to be eradicated, because its chil­ dren from the earliest age are taught to tread the paths of crime. But some encouragement may be derived from the fact that nearly 50 per cent, of all the persons arrested have been arrest­ ed before. This proves that the re­ formation of criminals is extremely di - ficult and uncertain, but at the same time it indicates that the number of malefactors in Paris is really not so large as the figures first published would imply. Several of the arrests were upon peculiar charges; thus, two persons were charged with conspiracy against the Government; four with at­ tempting to kindle a civil war, and forty with seditious proposals. There were 4,791 arrests fur disturbing the peace, 14,524 for vagrancy, 3,046 for begging, 114 for burglary, 143 for mur­ der, 1,255 for unlawful wounding, 8,997 for robbery, 298 for cheating at cards, and 2,384 for swindling. Naturally, the largest number of arrests was made among unemployed persons, or among those of uncertain employment, it being literally true that idleness leads to crime. Among artisans, mechanics head the list, followed by masons, cab­ men, liquor dealers, seamstresses, and shoemakers. Among the delinquents 3,401, or 8 per cent, were foreigners. These statistics furnish suggestive ma­ terial for those who care to meditate upon the number of black sheep in ev­ ery municipal flock in spite of the im­ provements of modern times. Of Reptile Descent. According to the Darwinian hypoth­ esis, man has probably descended from some extinct variety of anthropoid ape, but according to a Mr. Cauldwell. who read a paper at the scientific meeting at Montreal, there is a high probability that all mammals, including man, de­ scended from reptiles. It seems the lowest known mammal, the duck-billed platypus, lays eggs like a bird, though it subsequently suckles its young. The structure of the egg is analogous to that of the reptile. AH this seems very wild; but undoubtedly many scientific men really believe the human race is an evolution out of the lower forms of life. They seem to regard the matter as proven, and say that the only mys­ tery is how life first made its appear­ ance upon tibo planet.--Demoreat's Vie present below the salient features of the annual report of Postmaster General Hatton: For the fiscal year the revenues were $43,338,- 127.08; the expenses, $46,404,960.66, leaving a deficit of $3,066,km.57, to which are added oat- standing debts and the credits of the Pacifie Railroads, raising the excess of disbursements over the revenues to $5,204,484.12. The reve- nnes were $2,170,565.62 less than for the preced­ ing year, owinu to the reduction on postage from ;< to 1 cents. The amount paid Postmas­ ters was $11,283,830.87, an increase of $»>M36.4l over that of the previous year, and $3:!3,R30.8T IK excess ot the appropriation. This ex­ cess. Mr. Hatton says, was unavoidable., because the law fixes the compensation of post­ masters. and allows them to take it out of the revenues of their office before making their re­ turns to the department. The aggregate amotint appropriated for the service of the year was $46,746,037.02, or $341,076.97 more than the amonnt disbursed on account thereof, and $536,- 394.0? less than the total disbursementR and ontntandinff liabilities. The estimates for the fiscal Mr ending Jons 30, I&JO, are: RECEIPTS. Ordinary postal revenue.. .$80,872,830.11 Money-order business. 400,000.00 $51,272,820.34 DisatntssMKNTs. All expenses, including Pacifie Rail­ road credits $86,099,169.80 ILLINOIS STATS Deficiency to be supplied $4,836,349.96 The receipts for the year are estimated with uncertainty, the report says, because there ts as yet no basis by which the revenues on a 3- cent basis can be reckoned, tho reduction in the rate of postage from 3 cents having come at a time when it unequally affected the various quarters. But a regular increase of 9 per cent. Is expected, and tliat would place the receipts at, the fiuuie given above. In the expenses there will probably be for compensation to postmasters a deficiency of at least $1,600,000, and for transportation by railroads about $l,ooo,noo. The estimate also contemplates the payment out of the appropriation of the entire cost of mail service on the Pacific rnilroads, a portion of which is now by law credited on the books of the Treasury, and docs not appear in the appro­ priation for mail transportation. The amount involved by the contemplated change in the mode of settlement is approximated at $1,100,- 000, which amount, added to the two deficien­ cies mentioned, will leave the estimates $3,458,- 7Gt».50 in excess of the appropriations for the present year. The reduction of postage affected the sales of postal cards so that the number issued last year was 16,640,IHW less than the preceding year. The collections on second-class matter were$l,aso,- 6'.'2.14, an increase of $1S4,414.61 over the preced­ ing year. Of th s source of revenue 24.90 por cent, was collected in New York, 9.41 per cent, at Chicago, 6.42 per cent, at Boston, with Phila­ delphia, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and San Fran­ cisco following in order. There were 11,246,515 registered articles han­ dled and 4,751,873 pieces of undelivered malt were received at the Dead Letter Office. In speaking of the work of the Dead Letter Office the report says: "The amonnt realized from the sales ot arti­ cles for which no owner can be found is de- jwsited in the United States Treasury. The 3>rocecds of the last auction sale, which was in annsry, 1884, was $1,915.43. The money sepa- rxted from dead letters which cannot' be re­ stored to the sender is also placed in the Treas­ ury, and tho amount deposited during the year was $7.2:59.47. The value of postage stamps received from various sources and destroyed was $2,082.18. The late Postmaster Gen­ eral Maynard ordered that such useful printed matter as had previously been told for waste paper should be distributed among the inmates of the various hospitals, asylums, and other charitable and re­ formatory institutions within the District ot Columbia. This practice still prevails, and 23,162 magazines, pamphlets, illustrated papers, Christmas cards, valentines, etc., wero dis­ poned of in that way during the year." During the year there were 11,953 appoint­ ments to places in the postal servioe, the num­ ber being 549 less than during the preceding year. There are now 7i,6Tl employes u the de­ partment. The Postmaster General urges the develop­ ment of the free-delivery system, holding that It encourages method in the delivery or mail and stimulate correspondence. He reoom- mends that in densely populated districts ham­ lets be united in their postal accommodations, so as to bring them within the soope of the law which sllows a free system to every post- office having more than 30,000 patrons. Mr. Hatton, citing the fact that the fret- delivery system earned Isst year $1,273,278.35 over its expenditures, says he is convinced the N, __j;lme has come for the reduction of postage of letters. The department views with Jealous eye the growth of the messenger service system, and the Postmaster-General describes the duty of the postal servioe tn the matter ot quick local de­ livery, as follows: "The necessity and demand, in cities, for prompt transmission and delivery of letters passing between business men and others has resulted in the establishment, in many places, of what may be termed letter-express companies, which, by the employment of messenger boys, are enabled greatly to facilitate intercourse of this character among merchants, professional persons, and others engaged in active life. It is done at a small expense and with so much sys­ tem aud promptness as seriously to diminish the revenues of tho department at several letter- carrier offices. The patronage which is ex­ tended to these companies affords evidence that the free-delivery system, notwithstanding its facilities and benefits, has not progressed so far as to meet all the wants of energetic business life in large commercial cities. Therefore, fur­ ther improvement of the service in this particu­ lar should, in my Judgment, be attempted, not only TO prevent a loss of revenue, but with a purpose to make it as useful as possible. I am of opinion that the publio have a right to expect that this department should make the same effort to serve them promptly and faithfnlly in the transmission and delivery of letters as is done by private parties. I know of 110 way in which this can be better accomplished than by the use of a special postage-stamp for letters mailed and intended for special and prompt delivery at free-delivery offices. This stamp should be of the denomina­ tion of ten cents, and. when affixed to a letter, in addition to the proper postage charge, should Insure for it as speedy a delivery as possible after its reception at any letter-carrier office. .This outside distribution could be effected by employing messenger boys, at a small salary, and in such numbers as the circumstances should warrant. I am satisfied such an effort to accommodate the public would still further commend the free-delivery service to its patrons in the large cities where it is in operation." The Postmaster-General says he agrees with the Secretary of War that those officers of the department who handle money should be in­ sured by corporations instead of being required to give an official bond, the solvency of which is always in doubt. The report expresses confidence in the effi­ ciency of the star route service, but urges the amendment of the laws relating to contracts in that branch so as to give the awards to persons who live along the line of the route, and thus stop the speculation business. Tribute is paid to the postal clerks. The re­ port deplores any attempt to weed out this branch of the service without cause. "There are at the present time about 4,000 clerks in the railway mail servioe, many of them having been so employed s great number of years. The amount of special study that these clerks have devoted to the duties of their office would have made them proficient in almost any of the professions of life. In the very nature ot the case, the plaoes of these skilled clerks, who have made their work a life study, cannot be filled with new appointees without great detri­ ment to the service. The in justice to the men themselves might be left out of the question, bat the system by which they have fitted themselves for their posts and the maintenance of a good servioe demand that this branch of the postal servioe be continued in the line of its present successful development. As experienced clerks are absolutely indispensable to an ef­ ficient service, it conld not do other than work confusion and delay to the whole mail system of the country if the present fore* should be aet aside and new and lnexperienoed men be put in their plaoes. About 30 per cent, of all clerks appointed fail to pass satisfactory examinations, are and retired. It will thus be seen that a far greater number of clerks have been appointed than are now in the service; bnt by this sifting process the department has se­ cured the most active and efficient clerks. And I venture to say that no more worthy, compe­ tent, and efficient corps of men can be found in any branch of the Government servioe." In conclusion the report gives data of the routine working of the department and urges the development of the foreign mail system generally, especially with Mexico. It also approves the suggestion made by the superin­ tendent that postal notes be amended to be payable to order if desired, and describes the work on various buildings and facilities of the department A NEGRESS of Crawford County, Ky.. less than 30 yean old, is the mother 01 eleven children. fr- I; < 1 / • 1 v.* . I .. -AJ.1. BENNIE JENIFER, a newsboy on the Pan­ handle Road, recently found $30,000 in an empty car seal M. WORTH, the man milliner, intend* to mmm to to ImUk# Qlfc ISitP ---Ducks sod hunters are numerous the Illinois River. --Israel Boies, tile well-known HHimia dairyman, died at Ms home at Marengo. --Gen. Logan is at his old home in Ifv- physboro, resting after the hard labors of the campaign. --A Grand Jury at Chicago has indicted "Black Jack" Yattaw for the murfer ot • special constable on election day. --The Chicago Law Department savs that Congressman Lawler need not resign hia place as Alderman unless he chooses. --Moline, Rock Island County, is about to build a street railroad from the center of the business quarter to t&e top of the blnSL --Secretary Robert T. Lincoln settled np ^ ^ ^ t h e a f f a i r s o f h i s m o t h e r ' s e s t a t e a t S p r i n g - , • £ field, was discharged as administrator, and % ̂\ "v left for Washington. i "V • * --Mrs. Hillis, of Elgin, has a copy of the "\jjjfj ^ ^ poem, "Oh, why shonld the spirit of mortal „ ^ be proud?" in the handwriting of Abraham ^ y 4 .4 *• Lincoln, who presented it to her himself. . "g --There is a Decatur couple who are the happy parents of eleven children--seven daughters and four sons. The husband is 33 years of age and the mother only 27. --Emma Dickens carved her husband with a large knife, at Juliet, inflicting fatal wounds. Pickens was living apart from the woman, and his refusal to increase her monetary allowance led to the cutting. --W. Snedecker, of Kankakee, was killed by an engine on the Illinois Central track, just south of Grand Crossing. His mangled remains were found on the track, and that is all that ii known of the oeeur* ance. --George W. Pierce, of Wabash, a brake- man of the Chicago and Alton Railroad, has entered a damage suit for $5,000 against the company, alleging that while in its serv­ ice he was injured through the carelessness of employes. --Some prominent citizens of Chicago, remembering the English donations to the public library made through the efforts of . Thomas Hughes, have undertaken to col- S ~J lect funds in aid of the Hughes library at -ilf Rugby, Tenn. T * * * • --Detective Palmer, of Chicago, secured M ^ from a burglar a letter of introduction to , ^ /j his accomplice, Charles Steele, residing in g , Fourth avenue. On the person of the lat- J ter Wt>re found 100 skeleton keys, and in ^ ^ his house stolen property worth $800 was f|5 " • , secured. ' •i':v ^ * --Undismayed by past . failures, gk*. ̂1, ̂ friends of the Hennepin Canal project will make a vigorous effort in the Forty-ninth Congress to secure the necessary aid for ̂ this important work. As preliminary to ^ " 1 ̂ this end, the commission was reorganized ^ "JR at Chicago, and new officers selected for ̂ tho ensuing year. --Judge Welch, of the Circuit Court, has jj.,1 just rendered a decision at Carlinville, SUB- * V ^ ' taining the position taken some months ago 1 \ ̂ ^ < by Judge Phillips, that the directors of a .f4." broken bank are personally responsible to a ' - v;T depositor for deposits made after the bank has become insolvent and when the direc- tors by due diligence might have known of •./' ' " such insolvency. --Mike Mooney, the murderer of hia cell- • * ̂ mate, John Anderson, at the Joliet prison, ̂ and who has twice received the death sen- tence, has gained another lea^ of life, the ; Supreme Court having reversed the verdict - • j 1 of the lower court and remanded the case . for a new trial. Mooney is confined in the Lake County Jail at Wankegan. The case has already cost Will County over f12,000. X'$T M: AJ -J m W'l Uniform System of BaUroad Signals* The great success which attended the adoption of uniform standard time led the railroad officials to consider the question of uniform signals. The matter is of as great1 importance as the change of time. Up to ' this time nearly every road in the country used different signals, and this caused many v accidents, especially at junction points I® where one or more reads cross each other. \ ** f * At such point, it often happened that the signal of a train was mistaken for that of another which used different signals, and a collision was the result. The question of W <5 ~ ^ making the signals alike by all roads was brought up at the Time-Table Convention , in Chicago about a year ago at which the standard time was adopted. At that time the matter was referred to a special committee, with instructions to devise a plan for uniform signals. This committee submitted a new system to the Time-^able Convention held in Philadelphia Oct. 9, 1884, which, after a lengthy discussion, was adopted. Many of the roads have already coine out with announcements that they will put the new system of sigiials into effeot when the next change in time-tables is made. Among the Chicago roads that have already given such notices are the Chicago and Grand Trunk, Chicago and Alton, and the Chicago and Atlantic, and it is expected that notices to the same effect will be issued very soon by most of the other roads. The new system of signals is as follows. GENEBA&. • < 7 % , -« s -• - i H * j • w A# '•* ». -V-r *. 'A m- ..•V (iSES Red signifies dancer, and is a stenal to step. Green signifies can.ion. and is a signal te «• slowly. « White signifies safety, and is a^lgnal that the way is clear. A combined green and white signal will be used to stop trains at flag-stations. TRAIN SI NALS. Green riirnal carried on fr. nt of an engine in­ dicates that another train is following ha vine the same riuhts ae the train carrying the signal. White signal carried on the front and rear Of a train indicates that it is a wild train. The last car of every train will carry two preen lights by night and two green tiaga bar day as markers to show that this la the tsar « the train. HAM) AND I AMP SIGNALS. Stop--A motion crosswise with the track. Go ahead--A flag or lamp raised and lowex«4L Back-up--A motion in a vertical circle at anna length crosswise with the track. WHIST E SIGNALS. One Ions blast is a signal for approaching*!*- tions, railroad crossings, and junctions, One short blast--Apply brakes. Two Ion? blusts--Release brakes. Two short blasts--Answer to any signal ex­ cept train parted. Time long blasts--Train is parted. Thre.' short blasts (train standing?--Signifies back up. » ,, • , - Three short blasts 'train moving)--Calls aft* tention 10 sitntls ca-ried. • , •; Four lone blasts--Call in flagman. Four short blasts--Engineers call for signals from switchmen, watchmen, or trainmen. Two Ion? and two short blasts --Approaching road crossing. A suooession of short blasts- Alarm for cattle on the track or persons walkimt in front at tho train. BSU-CORI> SIGNALS. On-» tap 'train standing --Start. 1 Two taps (train moving --Stoix Two taps train standing --( all In flagmen, 'ihreetaps 'train moving!--fciopat next stgp tlon. Three 'ars 'train standing --Back. 1 our tape train moving--Reduce 1. •L«* ' IK) :>ITRSALS. ;?8' One, dansrer ^'top. • -- Two, caution-Ran carefully. --A pum;>kin-i'ie social is tha latest a% p Mont* Vernon. ' ; - . >• ,-f i ^ ' 1 -1 af,v\ '„¥