Saint Mary's beacon., 1872-01-18
NEWS AND OTHER ITEMS.

The Washington cnrrespssdent Of the
Louisville Eswrier--loxrsal wriie- ~ fol-
io.senaeesning fae appearance cfih. faith
iui ftMhre 1t . recent reception: Mrs.
Grant . neither handsome nor stylish. bat
she has quite plump shoulders and ronnd.
shapely sTus snd hands. She is 30 de-
vossi cf esusriousness or prescnsicn that
she dlrsras criticism and always leaves an
agreeable impression. To-day she wore
q crimson velvet thar she bought two years
ago when Prince Arthur was here aud
wore Il for the 6rst time 10 the ball given
to him BY the English Minister. So you
see she doesn't mind wearing the same
dress many times. and for sev eral success
sive seasons. The dress is cut low in the
neck. but she wore . white lace cape With
long ends Of lace at the hack forming q
sash. The sleeves are vide and loose
with point-lsce trimmings She wore on
her bead fne lace barbe and knot Of
fowcrs."
Although everything is peacable and qui-
ct in New Orleans at present there are grave
reasons for the fear that there will be .
renewal Of the troubles. Speaker Carter
has addressed letter to General Emory
announcing his intention Of seizing the
Capital by force Of arms General Emory.
in reply. adheres to his determination
not to interfere. whereupon Governor War
moth ordered ous the militia There seems
to be Considerable difficult at Washington
in understanding the origin aud nature
Of the New Orleans muddle, and il is ex-
pected that resolution will be offered in
the Housc Of Representatives for the ap-
pointment Of an investigating committee.
but whether il is to sit at Washington
and call witnesses, or 90 to New Orleans
and pursue the inquiry. remains to be
settled.
The Hartford Post begins an article on
the Custom-house disclosures in this path
e,ic style: 1T is an unpleasant task for a
Republican TO arraign a Republican ai-
ministration for dereliction. or to record
those acts Of its agents which are opposed
to good government; yet Mr.. Horace
Greeley. before the Congressional commit
tee which is investigating the alleged
abuses in the New York Custom house,
manfuIIy gave his testimony to the effect
that Federal office-holders were employed
and used to influence the legislation Of a
State" And further on it nourn:ully
confesses that it would be ''hypocritical to
object to the truthfulncss Of his testin,o-
ny or deny its value as evidence"
The following is the dimension, cost.
etc, of the two grat tunnels Of the
world:
Mont Cents Tunncl-Lcngth. ~. .236
meters. or nearly eight miles width,
twenty-six feet eight inches hight, twen-
ty feet; cost. S13. 200. 900; time occupied
in construction, nine years number of
men employed. about 1000.
Hoosac Tunnel-Length. 26.021 feot,
or about q miles; twenty y-four feet wide
twenty -one feet high; cost, abou. s., ,O0O.-
900; time Of construction. when compile
ted, nearly twenty years: number Of work
men employed. about 700 at present. but
much less during most Of the time the
work has been prosecuted.
An experiment in the interest Of science
was lately tried in Russia with four mur-
dercrs. They we're placed. without know
ing it. in four beds where four persons
had died Of the cholera. but they did not
take the disease They were then told
that they were to sleep in beds where some
persons had died Of the malls ignant chole-
ra, but the beds were in fact new, and had
not been used at all. Nevertheless three
of them died of the disease within four
hours.
There is chateau near Paris in which
a party of the Prussian guards were quar-
tered. all Of them men Of great stature.
six feet and over. The chateau belonged
to a sprightly little French countess. who.
rather than leave her house. stayed be-
hind and did the honors Of it to her en-
forced guests. A superior officer. refer
ring to these gigantic soldiers. said to her:
" Are they not splendid fellows -
Pooh she replied, whats the good
of them? You can't do anything with
them unless you have ladder y
Professor Agassiz has been heard from.
and it appears he has already made some
important discoveries in the Gulf Stream.
He has found that gulf-weed is inhabited
by mvriads cf fishes ova. the floating par
ticles Of weed being in fact nothing but
fishes nests. His expedition will doubt
less reveal other mysteries yet which will
be Of great value to scientific men and in-
tcrcsting to all.
At the Presidents receptinn on the 9th
the only lady not dressed in silk. satin. or
velvet. or all three combined. was the
wife of Sir Edward Thornton. the British
Minister. who wore dress Of dark. soft
looking material. eminently suitable for
winter wear. The deviation from the gen.
cral rule was as suggestive as it was strik-
ing.
About 3,100 different languages are
spoken in the world. and there are more
than 200 different religions. One quar-
ter of the persons die before reaching the
age of years; one half before that Of Il.
OF every 600 persons only so reach the
age of 65: two live to be so; and not
more than l in 5000 lives to complete \
century. The latest estimates make the
entire population of the globe somewhat
over ~. 600. .0O0, 900.
An Anti-low- neck Association has been
started in England BY = Boston woman.
The members Of the association are 70
pledge themselves never to reveal. under
penalty Of immediate expulsion. single
sn...~ - cf ants uaous flSSue hsI0w the