The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-11-26

"A citizen of birmingham has in his possession B
the largest copper idol ever brought 70 EnglanQi
ard one Of the modern wonders Of the world.
Under a shed in his coach-yard is no less per
sonage than the god Buddha, measuring over
seven feet In length, and one Of the most mar
vellous pieces ofcppper casting ever found Direct
from one Of the lower rooms OF his temple, where
he had been hidden away some two thousand
years ago, his gOlship has been brought to Bir-
minghan, and will be presented to the town BY
his present owner,
--Extensi"e series Of coal deposits, heretofore
unknown to Europeans, have been recently found
in Kuhshankan, In China, The Chinese work
these mines, and succeed in extracting COnsdcra-
bic quantities Of the mineral, although the means
employed by them are Of q very clumsy and
primitive character. The largest shaft measures
only four and a half feet high by five feet wide;
it Is CasCd with willow sticks ia secure manner,
and the roof Is particularly well guarded. The
bottom is lined with the same, to form a ladder,
/ up and down which tho miners travel in their
/ daily labor. This shaft is about one hundred and
fifty feet deep, and the ladder down % the dig
/ giug is nearly SIX hundred feet long. The coal Is
! secured on small wooden sleiges, and drawn tls
the miner crawIs slowly along the narrow and
| slippery step by a strap passing over his fore
head, The coal is hard and firm.
In her recent book on Italy, Frances Power
CObbc says that the Italians appear quite regard
| less Of religious impressions. "a sort of Chi
| ncse indiilcrCntism pcrvales the nation. we
have enough to do, they seem to feel, with the
affairs Of this word-wth politics, and railw
| heaven and hell, and purgatOry They are
| places which belong TO the priests, If they have
any existence at all, which is a question we can
| not spare time to consider. The btterest enc
| mics of the Papacy do bat condemn IL on secular
| grounds, the political tyranny IL iniliCts on its
subjects, and the corruption Of It's Jurisprudence
and, above ALL Its oppositionto the wishes Of the
| Italian nation 10 make Rome their capital. The
Pope and his priests are hated only because, by
their political action, they thwart the progress Of
the country"
The Archbishop Of Canterbury has given in
an Episcopal charge his ideas of inspiration. In
his opinion the theory Of complete verbal in
spiTauOn Of Scripture is not necessary % the posi-
tion Of the Church-that the Bible is Goods
Word written" All that is necessary 10 main
tain is the absolute and universal authority of
every portion Of Scripture, as written under the
Divine guidance, which preserved the writer from
error. We must be prepared, he says, to admit o
human element in the Bible; for God did 'nol
diyest each individual OF the peculiarites of tenn
perament and talent" "Therc Is q wide differ
ence between the authority which teaches the
very heart of an inspired writer and the absolute
dictation Of every word by the Holy Spirit AS
to the oppositons Of science and Scripture, there
is no cause for alarm. Scripture did not profess
to teach science, but only 20 make men "wise
unto salvation" 1t might incidentally touch on
subjects bearing on physical science, but il never
introduced them "with view to affirming scien-
| tifc truths"
The London AHeRGUD, in view of q recent
| accident to an actress whose dress caught fire
| ffOm the lOOILgnts, makes ineSe pertinent ODSCr-
TatiOns
"Will any one state what are the advantages of
Illuminating the stage in the modern manner
from below, that is as to bring the intensity Of
the light, with full power, between the spectators
| eyes and the objects at which he looks-to cast
| the shadows Of every object in manner which
| is not only the reverse Of that which nature
chooses, but actually contrary TO the way in which
the sCene-painters rcprcsentthcir effects Nothing
is more absurd than this error; we see the painted
shadows cast in the opposite direction to that Of the
actual ones and this in scenes where illusion is the
| main object. Had nature intended the human face
| 10 be illuminated from below, she would have
| shaped it so as to produce something quite diff
ferent from the ugly mask like look which
results from the modern system of theatrical
| lighting. By this curious device the features of
| performer are put out Of proportion with each
other, the eyes are set in shaded cavities the nose
| projects the wrong way, the upper lip is illum-
mated, instead Of having its thickness shaded the
eyeballs cannot but glare and glitter unnaturally
| the chin loses its eXpressiveness and the light
and shade of the cOuntenance is broken up.
Lights arranged in the sides of and above the
stage would not be liable to these objections;
they would aid instead of Gas now impeding
the ventilation of theatres, and would insure
audiences against seeing performers burnt alive
before their eyes"