The Washington union., 1857-04-25
GENERAL NEWS.

An ANCIENT BUILDING. The Germantown PENN Tee-
graph gives the following account Of old Lighthouse
Gently demolished in that place
" II was built in l3il, Market square, for prison.
and known such for many years after although
there but person incarcerated in t. Soon after
its construction, man named Adam Hogermoed
rested the charge OF ntempertnce and sent TO the
prison His friends unwilling that he should be the first
prisoner that he should be imprisoned for such irv
ia offence resolved to free their companion For this
purpose they met together in the night, and after short
delibertion quietly proceeded TO the jail where by their
united efforts, they pried up OF it with log Of
wood sufficiently to berate their friend What is most
curious however, the prison offered for sale short
time after and the person purchased it, moved it
about fifty yards further up where il recently stood and
made II his dwelling for a considerable time"
SCIENTIFIC ACCIDENT Professor Clark of Amherst Col
lege while producing electrical light one day last week.
was nearly struck blind by the blaze He has been obliged
since TO confne himself to dark room So pain
fully intense is the impression left upon the retina of his
eyes that though the is dark that his friends and
attendants cannot each other in it, to him it seems
be filled with the most dazzling light Permanent and
serious results feared
CANADIAN OF GovERNMENT.--Ihc English govern
ment being called on to decide between the rival claims
many four five cities to be the of the Ca
madam government, the London Times discusses the sub
ject at length throwing its influence in favor of Mon
treal
VALUABLE DISCOVERY, The New Orleans papers notice
the discovery of rich coal beds the Ouachta river at
point accessible at all times by boats and of sufficient
extent to supply the market with twenty millions of tons
year
Ii is called by those who made the discovery a south
ern camel coal hut it is not properly coal.
II is Ignite, of very superior quality only inferior
TO the celebrated Iorbanc Hill mineral, found in Scot
land which has been used to furnish gas for lighting the
Queens Pace at Windsor, unless il be that very mineral
itself II is not coal therefore, III the strict of the
term but it affords, by chemical operations, several prod
ucts valuable than the very best OF coal and 1t
will really answer every purpose Of fuel and is superior
In every respect to that known here the Breckenridge
while it absolutely possesses much durability the
anthracite.
When lighted it has that peculiar smell which is
characteristic of Ignite but from the fact that nodules
resembling rosin found in its bed suspect that il
is identical with the Torbanc- Hill mineral This sugges-
on will lead readers to conjecture its immense value
In oily products this coal is vastly richer than the
Breckenridge COAL and substitute in the manufacture
of Kcrosine oils weuld prove profitable almost beyond
calculation.
As producer Of gas it is superior to any coal known
Heated in ordinary tea kettle it discharged volume
Of gas which gnted and produced fame fourteen inches
in length.
INGENIOUS DEvIcE.-A fellow who had undertaken to
serve subpmnas, finding the roads in shocking
dition wrote note TO each of the parties stating that
sum OF money was deposited in his hands, which they
could have by calling him, They called and got a
subpoena and l22 cents each.
PLANT TRIES. For the benefit of our readers in the
middle and northern States wherc it is not too late in
the to plant rees make few extracts from
tcle the subject from plymouth, Massachusetts,
paper Its caption is, g 1867, and the object of the
writer il TO show how the present inhabitants of Ply
mouth may pc remepbered and blessed by their descend
ants q century hence.
Plant trees. Let the men Of 1867 walk beneath
stately chcsnuts and branching elms OF our setting AZ
childhood plays beneath them gratitude for their kindly
shade win prompt the question, BY whose hands
they hereH The would noccssitate honorable
mention of those who, five generations back, had the
sterling good sense to plant trees for ornament They
would be Obliged 10 speak OF them rcverenty and with
esteem oven We in passing North street OF an August
noon fling Kind thoughts 10 tho memory OF who
not be forgotten while the lin,cns stand.
Nor for successors alone, or The pcrpetuty
of our own name but for ourselves let plant There
will be Joy in their growth Birds win build nests and
sing in their branches Twenty thirty years. will step
BY before know t. and the trees will increase in beauty
with every They will educate the public eye and
re6ne the public heart. They will be 40 example in
cning others to do when have done After genera
tons also have the sober thoughts in their turn
which make mortality and the pershing out Of all evil
dences of existence certain and real and by the
remains they may be melted to noblcr efforts whereby
their names may be heard upon the lips Of those who
walk this way in the year 2057."
Tr pppM TRADE The first of series of tracts about to
be published By the London society io tine suppression of
opium smuggling contains the following:
1he opium trade has interfered with the legitimate
trade unusual since the opening of the north
ports silk in particular has been taken in barter
for opium TO very large extent Before the treaty the
shipments Of raw silk Great Britain from 900 to
5000 bales annually MhasihereasGd more than fveold
This would have operated fayoraby upon the import of
manufactured goods; but tho silk taken in barter for
opium shipped TO England and sold at profit whilst
Lancashire and Yorkshire goods the Legitimate articles
of exchange would have otted IN the stores at Shanghai
had the factors not pushed them off for what they would
fetch"
WANTED, A Lsz,RErTo.A Philadelphia editor thus
sums up the troubles Of the New Workers about new
location for their quarantine establishment
Formerly il was on Staten Island, but that beau
ul section had become the abiding place Of large
number Of persons doing business in the city, II
Thought necessary 10 remove the lazaretto TO avoid The
spslad of lectIop. IN The middle Of last summer the
yellow fever introduced into New Aork ia ihs laan
ner and thus the need OF change made evident
OF course tho 6nst thought Of the Gothames was TO
place their nzar house body eses territory Ac-