The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-03-31
TIMELY TOPICS.

AAnLL L 1OHlCS.
FOREST planting is thriving in Min
nesota. The ST Paul and Pacific railroa,
mas set out over four million youn.
trees, and altogether it is estimated tha
twenty millions have been planted oi
the prairie lands.
LIE recent murder of the captain anC
pilot of a German schooner by Chimes,
pirates has aroused the ire of Bismarck
and he will require absolute satisfaction
1rom the Pellin government. The claim
rs supported by the American and Eng
ilsh representatives, and Admiral Ryder
of the British navy, has rendered his
squadron to aid the German war ships il
necessary.
THE largest ice house known is in
Brussels, Belgium, the roof covering an
area OF eighteen thousand feet. The
walls are double, and filled in with moss
and sswdust. There are nine separate
ice-chambers, each one of thirty thousand
cubic feet capacity. The temperature
never exceeds thirty-six and a half de-
grees Fahrenheit. There are galleries
set apart for the storing of meat in hot
weather, capable of hanging two thou
sand quarters, and having them perfectly
isolated. \ million tons of ice have been
stored in the building at one time.
The great Hebrew philanthropist, Sir
Moses MOnteforc, has returned from Je-
rlIsalem for the seventh time. He is now
IN his ODD year, and has received the
promises of the American and French
consuls that they will do all in their
power to protect the Jews in the holy
land against Turkish oppression. Sir
Moses gives a favorable account of the
skill of the Hebrew mechanics, watch
makers, photographers, engravers, sculr-
tors, gOlds.niths, etc, in the holy city,
one of whom presented him with grain
OF wheat on which 10 lines were written,
forming an acrostic of the philanthro-
plStS name.
a VERY important invention has
been made by Lieutenant Makaroff, of
the Russian navy, which is intended to
prevent the sinking of ships in cases of
collision or other damage. 1t consists of
mats, which can be effectively applied
Immediately after the occurrence of a
leak. The mats are practically indie
structible when exposed to the ragged
edge OF iron plates, however large the
aperture or severe the pressure of the
water. They are perfectly water-tight,
and continuous submersiOn only tends to
strengthen Jhoir qualities. The Russian
navy is now supplied with them, and
several ships have been raised through
their agency.
MRS. SWIssHELM sa VS., very pertinent
iy, concerning the Belknap affair: at
IS sright that the women who have tempted
those dearest to them to do wrong should
bear their full share of the punishment.
and the best way to cure the evil they
represent is to make it odious, and let
them have their full share of the odium;
but the great mass of the American peo-
pie are called to repentance by these de- |
veloPments; and men more than women |
need to cultivate a taste for simplicity
for women will always strive to be what
Is most agreeable to them, and if men
had not admired the reckless extrava-
gance which led Belknap to ruin, that
extravaganza would not have existed.
Let the press stop its cunning fattery Of
stunning toilets and the work of regen-
Grafton is half done"
ONE of the plans for retrenchment in
the salaries of pOstmasters now under
consideration by the appropriate house
committees involves the payment of sal
aries according to the varying scale of
boX-rents and gross receipts of each office.
Under it the only postmasters who will
receive more than $4,000 per annum will
be those of New York, Philadelphia, !
Boston, Chicago, ST. Louis, San Fran
cisco, Cincinnati and Baltimore. In adj
dition to these the only postmasters who
will receive SO, 800 or upward annually
will be those of Pittsburgh, New Or
leans, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington,
Brooklyn, Louisville, Buffalo and Mil
waukee. Taken altogether the average ;
in these seventeen cities exceeds four (
thousand dollars, but as the scale de-
scends large saving is effected
A NEW electric light, experimental !
upon some weeks ago on the roof of the
Siemens-Halske works at Berlin, proved {
20 Successful that ordinary writing could
be read by its aid at the distance of a
mile. When the light was thrown to-
ward the clouds by means of mirror !
luminous train appeared thereon, which ]
much resembled the tail of a comet, and I
drew together great crowds of spectators {
in the streets. Signals made by the in
strument were also repeated upon the
clouds, becoming thus visible at a very
great distance. The experiments were
made in the presence of a large number t
of officers of artillery and of other |
branches of the government service, and {
were continued for nearly two hours
The instrument, which is provided with
a locomotive engine, will be set up in
the Tegel artillery polygon for further
experiment, the German war department
having JIt lubcublOi VI purchasing sew =
eral of the machines for military use,
both ahoat and ashore.
THE Portuguese arc preparing to exer- S
else a little coercion on the Chinese. /
Portugal never makes much stir in the i
world, but when her trade is interfered
with she is very apt to do a little fight
ing or protesting on her own account
The mail from Shanghai brings the intel
lirence that the Portuguese authorities
at Macao "threaten to remove the Chi
nese Instructions to the trade of that ,
mort by an armed force of five thousand {