News and Miscellany by Editor

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · May 13, 1875

News and Miscellany.

By Editor

—The army worm has made its appearance in the vicinity of Sacramento.

—During the month of April the the Central Pacific Railroad carried 10,649 passengers, of which 8,206 were westward bound, and 2,443 eastward.

—A gentleman left a small valise containing a large sum of money in one of the Oakland and Brooklyn street cars. It was returned by John Shay, the driver, who refused reward. He seems to be as modest as he is honest.

—In reply to a recent anti-Papal manifesto on Karl Blind, Garibaldi writes: "I believe there is not in all the world a country less Catholic than Italy. Government and the upper classes affect a Catholic devotion which they do not feel. As to the masses of the people they neither do believe in Catholicism; and in the Popish churches one only sees bigoted old women."

New York, May 7.—A Washington dispatch says the rapid increase of silver coinage within a short time causes some Treasury officers to think that the Secretary will begin paying out silver in lieu of fractional currency before the meeting of Congress in December next. It is estimated that by the last of June (the end of the present fiscal year) there will be about six million dollars in silver coin in the Treasury, and that by the 1st of September there will be fully ten millions. With this amount it is believed that the Secretary will feel that he can safely begin to put into operation the law authorizing silver coin to be paid out and fractional currency withdrawn.

The Russian Tartars.—It is reported from St. Petersburg that the wholesale emigration of Tartars from the Crimea, on account of the new law of universal military service, has been checked by a decree from the Czar, ordering that the Tartars who have been recruited this year shall be formed into a special squadron. The order has satisfied the Tartars, whose chief objection to military service was that they were drafted into regiments of Russians, where they were not enabled to hold Mohammedan religious services. According to the census of 1870, Russia has 2,364,034 Mohammedan subjects, of whom 127,682 live in the Crimea. The Jews of Podolia and Volhynia have sent a petition to the government to attach synagogues to the barracks where the Jewish soldiers live.

Girls' School in Egypt.—The school for girls lately established by the third wife of the Khedive of Egypt, which is one of the greatest innovations the country of the Pharaohs has ever seen, is turning out a great success. The lady bought a large house in a thickly peopled locality, near the dancing dervishes, erected around it a quadrangle of spacious buildings, handed them over to the Education Department, but she defrays the whole cost of maintenance. The school is free to all, and when it had been open only four months there were two hundred and six boarders and one hundred day scholars, all Arabs or slaves. They discard the Oriental veil, and are dressed in frocks, pinafores, and shoes, English fashion, and they sit, not squatting on the ground, but at desks.

—The Coinage of the San Francisco Mint since January 1, amounts to $10,036,000, of the following descriptions: double eagles, $7,900,000; half eagles, $20,000; trade dollars, $1,486,000; half dollars, $356,000; dimes, $274,000. The total coinage of the Mint since the beginning of the fiscal year aggregates $26,622,000, of which $23,320,000, was in gold coin, and $1,619,000 in trade dollars.

—"Have you ever read the 'Ancient Mariner?'" asked Rev. Mr. Spurgeon one day, of his congregation. "I dare say you thought it one of the strangest imaginations ever put together, especially that part where the mariner represents the corpses of all dead men rising to man the ship; dead men pulling the ropes; dead men steering; dead men spreading the sails. I thought what a strange idea that was. But do you know that I have lived to see it done? I have gone into churches; I have seen a dead man in the pulpit; a dead man as a deacon; a dead man handing the plate; and dead men sitting to hear."

—"I am missionary in my nursery," once observed a Christian mother. "Six pairs of little eyes are daily watching mamma's looks, as well as listening to her words; and I wish my children never to see in me that which they may not imitate."

—Here is one of President Porter's sermons to the Yale students. He could not have made more of it if he had preached an hour: "Don't drink. Don't chew. Don't smoke. Don't swear. Don't deceive. Don't read novels. Don't marry until you can support a wife. Be earnest. Be self-reliant. Be generous. Be civil. Read the papers. Advertise your business. Make money and do good with it. Love God and your fellow-men."

—Prof. Kedzie, of the Agricultural College, has recently been engaged in investigating syrups. He explained to the editor of the Leslie Herald a few days since that golden and silver drips and other choice syrups could be made of starch, copperas, lime, and other similar ingredients, and said that out of seventeen different specimens of best syrups purchased of Jackson dealers, "all but two contained abominations."

—The Queen Dowager of Bavaria, who recently joined the Roman Catholic church, has ordered the construction, at her own expense, of a new Catholic church at Munich, which will cost 340,000 marks (£17,000). The Municipal Council of Munich had refused previously to construct the church, as the town has already quite sufficient church accommodations.

—It is estimated that a million and a half illustrated tracts, defending Hindooism and abusing Christianity are in circulation in Upper India.

—A wood-cutter employed on the farm of Mr. Knowles, of Seneca township, Canada, recently discovered a polished stone tomahawk embedded in the wood of an oak tree. It is supposed to have been accidentally left in the side of an oak tree, when it was a sapling, and its growth into a tree finally covered the weapon. From the rings counted on the tree, it was stuck there 101 years ago.

—Mr. Samuel R. Wells, the well known founder and publisher of the Phrenological Journal, and the writer and publisher of a number of books on physiological and sanitary topics, died in New York of typhoid fever on the 14th instant. He was an ardent advocate of vegetarianism and tetotalism, and had lectured on these and other subjects.

What American Children Eat.—A correspondent writes: "While visiting a school in Montreal, I asked the teacher 'if there were any American children there?' She said, 'Yes, and she could tell them by their pale faces, bright eyes, and nervousness. They learned quickly, but lost so many days during the term that they did not get on as fast as those who were able to be at school regularly.' He also took occasion to examine their luncheon baskets, and found the American fare to consist of a piece of mince pie, a piece of pound cake, two doughnuts, a pickle, and a cold sausage; while the English, Irish, and Scotch children had either two days' old bread, with meat, or bread and butter, or bread and apple with nothing else."—Herald of Health.