The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-05-19

-Aisos ~ y IA SHAmBERS OliS
" Southern poetess," widely known al
the author of the Z" Bonny Blue Flag,
Bennie," etc, has entered upon tho
nOvitiate at a convent in Kentucky.
ACCORDING to an exchange it has been
calculated that from July next, when
the East Indies and French colonies will
be admitted to the postal union, not les
than 62S, 100000 human beings will reap
its advantages. In Germany the in
crease of foreign letters since the estab-
lishment of the union has been ten pei
cent.
The centennial board of finance es-
teens itself very fortunate that there
will emily be deficiency of 81 800, 900 to
be made up from visitors. AS it will
only require 100000 paying visitors to
produce this sum the board is probably
justified in rejoicing, for the exhibition
can hardly fail to attract at least that
number. Vienna had 100000, Paris,
IN 1867, had 10000, 900 and the British
exposition, in 1862, 100000. 1t will
depend somewhat on the railway fares,
however.
The school superintendent of Port
land, Oregon, touches grievOus abuse
when ne says in his report; Gone of
the crying evils of the day is the horde
of textbooks, succeeding each other
like Goths and Nandals; series of geOg-
raphies, grammars and arithmetics, six
deep and graded until gradation is a
misnomer. We are no advocate of the
sdcalled oral system, and believe thsF-
oughly in good textbooks in the hands
of good teachers; but the schools of the
whole land are now at the mercy Of the
publishers, whose interest requires the
most books at the highest price for the
least number Of children
The most popular fashionable afecta-
tion," says the New York Gazette,
among young ladies ra fenOus for social
nOtOriety is the FlOrada cough which
is regarded by those who have been
abroad as a fine substitute for Roman
malaria 50 fashionable few years ago.
The southern malady is supposed to be
contracted sitting on the piazza of a
Magnolia or Jacksonville hotel, flirting
and eating oranges alternately. Those
who have never been near either place
ufer dreadfully from the disease"
The marvellous recuperation of France
is again proved by Leon Says budget
for 1877. In 1869, the latest complete
year before the war, the revenue
amounted to 400, 100000 francs; the
expenditure for 1877 is estimated at the
enormous sum of 81, 10000, 900 francs,
which shows that in eight years the tax
atien of France has increased 80 per
cent, the excess over last years expen-
diture being 5O,O0O,0OO francs. For the
army and navy 10000 francs are al
lotted, but for education only 10000, 900
francs.
MILAN has made arrangements for the
regular practice of cremation, the author
tiles having caused a "pyre" to be erected
in the public cemetery for the use of
those whe desire-and can afford-to
avail themselves of it. The pyre is the
invention of two Milanese professors, and
is so constructed that in a few hours the
remains can be reduced to handful of
ashes, and that without making any dis
agreeable spectacle or disseminating any
smoke or odor. The apparatus is in the
form of the ancient Roman sarcophagus,
within which is a receptacle for the body,
upon which upwards of five hundred
lighted gas jets are turned, and kept
ablaze until it is reduced to ashes.
TIE work of excavation is still going
on in Herculaneum, POmpeii and other
Oriental cities. Many important dis
coveries are being made. Two splendid
sphinxes, with inscriptions, have just
been discovered at Ramses. When the
workmen in the ruins strikes cavity in
the lava or the ashes, he pours into the
cavity some substance that will harden
and take the form of the body or sub
1t mce which has decompOsed. In this
way plaster casts of persons in many
different shapes have been made. This
is of great assistance to those who are
studying the habits and customs of the
ancient people.