Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1871-11-30

Published Regularly on TUESDAYS THURS
DAYS and SATURDAYS. at Sir Dollars per
anrnn.
SEWERAGE This is question which will
grow in importance 10 the American cities as
they Increase in population and wealth. 1t de-
serves the especial attention Of public men, as
involving the pleasure, comfort, and health OF
dense populations Then there is a question
of not less Importance connected with it-viz.,
the maintenance Of the fertility and produc-
tiveness Of the lands of the country. There is
one ,,lluin point that cannot be disputed about,
and that is that the offal of cities ought to be
so disposed of as to avoid offence and to pre-
serve cleanliness and health. This cannot be
done in the present mode of conveying that
offal through sewers to the nearest stream,
where i, will rise to annoy men and rebuke So
ciety for a s!ovenly way Of getting rid of rejec-
ted matter 1t is therefore interesting to con-
slider the schcmes for disposing Of the ofal OF
dense populations without poisoning the
streams and impairing the public health.
The following paragraph from the New ! ork
Tribune shows that the plan Of pneumatic
sewerage has been adopted in some European
cities and found to act well. Some years ago
it was introduced into the Mills House. in
Charleston, S. G., and found to answer very
wcll.-Rtch. Dis.
'Dr. Ferman Coar, who has resided in Flu
rope during the last seventeen years, read pa
per before the Polytechnic Branch Of the Ameri-
can Institute last evening upon the beverage
Systems a. Present in Use, in which he de-
scribe,i q method now attracting considerable
attention in Europe, and known a. the pneu-
matte sewerage system, air being the motive
power The plan is to divide Il city into COM
plexeS and sub b-compleXes--a sub-complex con-
ssting Of about 200 houses, and a complex com-
prsing all the sub-cOnplexes within radius of
1900 feet. Each complex has large alrtlght
cast iron reservoir, and each sub-complex a
smaller one connecting with the main reservoir
and with the houses by means Of pipes provd
ed with valves and cocks, by which circulation
of air may be prevented. The air inside is ex
hausted By means of Il large air pump driven
in connection with the main reservoir by pow
erful steam engine, and then the outer air,
pressing upon the contents of the pipes, forces
them into the reservoirs BY this means the
pipes may all be cleared in less than five minu
tes, their contents first passing into the sub
reservoirs and then into the main one. This
system has been in successful operation in Pra
que, Bohemia, for two and halt years, and
is being introduced into other European ci-
ties. "
SIGNING PApERs.-In the q. s. District
Court at Detroit, on the 24th instant, Judge
Lougyear presiding, two important criminal
cases were disposed Of The defendants were
BENJAMIN G. Gunn and f. w. Lawrence, Of
Maconb county. The former was at the time
the offence was committed, collector OF internal
revenue, and the latter was his deputy. The
charge in these cases was the signing certf-
Gates to statements not in fact true, the deten-
dants being collector and deputy collector of
the internal revenue. The act Of 1868, defn-
ing the ohenSe does not include the intent of
the party as an element The defendants,
therefore, put in 10 defense, and verdict
PASSED against him In passing sentence Judge
1Iongyear animadverted upon the conduct of
officials in signing certificates to facts OF which
they had not personal knowledge, when it was
their business aud duty to have that knowl-
edge. In this matter the government loses
Sl,400 \ fine Of 81 400 is, therefore, I'M
posed in each case. of which one half goes to
the government and one-half to the lutnrmer.
PRESERVATION OF MEAT The Melbourne
Argus states that samples of the various meat.
preserving companies have lately been tested
with results on the whole satisfactory. The
Geelong Company s soup and preserved ton.
CUES we're found to be excellent, but the NUT
ton was not unexceptionable. The Colac Com
pany submitted samples Of spiced beef kanga.
roo and bacon, kanagroo 10 mode, corned
beef, rabbits and onions curred rabbit, boiled
rabbit, rabbits and bacon. The most general
opinion was that the spiced beef or OK cheek,
and corned beef were the best preserved: The
rabbits were good, but would be better IT serv-
ed up hot instead of cold Financially, some
of the companies are not doing SO well as was
expected. The stoppage of the European war
had cut off one source Of demand and caused q
II. S1,o IL, mr. oh, hoH
effect of running few companies which had
commenced business with small capital, and
had sunk most of it in buildings and nachl.
merry
CURE FOR NEURALGIA.-A friend OF ours,
says the Lynchburg Republican, who suffered
horrible torture from neuralgia, hearing OF
noted physician iu Germany, who Invariably
cured that disease, crossed the ocean and visit
ed Germany for treatment He was perma
nently cured after short sojourn, and the
doctor freely gave him the simple remedy used,
which was nothing but poultlce and tea
made from our common field thistle. The
leaves ure macerated and used on the parts af
iected as poultice while small quantity OF
the leaves arc boiled down in the proportion
of quart to u pint and small wine glass Of
the decoction drank before each meal. Our
friend says he has recommended it far and near
and has never known 1t to fan OF giving relief,
while in almost every case it has effected y
cure 1t is certainly worth a trial.
THE REV. w. W. CoLBURN, the chaplain Of
Charlestowu, Mass, State prison, has lately
heard from his father whom he had not seen
for thirty-tire years, and whom he had long
supposed dead. The father disappeared, from
some freak, when The son was only three years
old and went to Oregon, where he has amass-
ed fortune. His wife, who struggled aloug
with two Children being obliged at one time
TO send them to the amshouse-h died, and
the father now proposes to make reparation, as
far as possible, to his son and grandchildren,