The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-05-27
GENERAL WHY'S ITEMS.


GENERAL NE VS. ITEMS.
The world moves. The services of Metho.
dist church in Texas were recently opened
by selections on ihe organ from the opera of
Martha
The usuui autumn military m lvres Of
the great powers OF Europe have been and
all this year a5ioGraed sine die. There are
other fish to fry.
Professor Proctor says the earth is growing
larger. We are glad to hear it adds the Dan
bury man }. for real estate has shrunk fearfully
in the past three years.
The aggregate of naval vessels belonging to
the various countries of Europe was, in 1876,
20S9, of which 209 were ironclad. They carried
$50 600 men and l5. 600 guns.
The Great Eastern, the enormous vessel that
has thus far proved uuprohtable curiosity,
is to be transformed inio huge floating refri-
perator, and used in the conveyance OF Ameri-
,oan meat to England.
The London Mining Journal advocates the
use of Telephones in mines. SHOULD acoi-
dent occur the prompt Motif cation of it and
it's nature to those at tho surface might save
many lives and much property.
The English Census Commissioners have re-
F. ported to Parliament that from most reliable
statistios tho number of native-h born lrishmeu
scattered over the world aggregates .5oo 5il.
That would make Ireland twice as strong as
Belgium.
Rome eau boast. at the present time, one of
tho finest tenors ever kuowH. in the person of
a franciscan monk, Father Giovanni. lnpre-
sarii have repeatedly besought him to leave
the cloisteT for the stage, but he turns deaf
car. When he sang at the Easter fetes the
@ch5rches cranmed to sutfocation. He is
n due, poust man "t 70.
a corresn ondent writing from Cairo ex xposes
the humbug of the Khedive III pretending to
suppress slavery, and says that at the very
time he sent an expedition for that ohjeci
down the Red SEQ at the instance Of the
English Foreign Office, he was selling 400 fe.
male slaves, while every one of his palaces
ovsrfows with them, ITO say nothing of his
crueily oppressed. forced lsborers" There is
no doubt that this is perfectly true.
Through the observations of the Challenger
explorations of 1865 20 it was Ascertained that
tho temperature of the sea at 500 fathons ae
- degrees instead of -. rs generally believed.
It is now known that in the South ATLANTIC
the water over the bottom is generally as 10 "
as 30 degrees while in the North Allan tic the
Temperature rarely falls below 30 degrees
This problem of the low degree OF water In
Che tropical area, where warn water might
he expected, aud higher degree in the polar
regiou, where one might look for colder TEN
perature, is certainly u c1rous ore.
The Paris PGtrie gives some Particular
about the treasure of ISLAM" 1t says that
all the pilgrims who visit Mecca cast an of
fering into the three sepnlchres for the defence
Of Islam. The writer calculates that not les
than SO 00O. 600 a year are thus contributed
aud adds that from one of the sepulohres
which was opened In 1899 Immense sums wert
drawn, Another sepulchro was opened during
the Sr!mean war, and nov the Shek MI -IslAu
has gone to Mecca to draw funds from tb
third, which has not been opened since 14lh
Taking the three sepulchres together, IT i
computed that they must contain about Sl20,
900 600.
Dr. S. Weir MITCHELL q Philadep phia physi
oian, has beeh studying the relation between
bodily pain aud weather. 1t is we'll known
that diseases and injuries of the bones, rheu
rnatism and other ailments, cAuse increased
pain Oh the approach of storms. DR.. Mitchell
induced an army officer, who had lost q leg, ant
drriih lots In ha In kaR
a record of his pains in connection with tn
weather for threo years. TIE conclusion de
Eived by this Investigator is that = certain
combination of atmospheric conditions is re
xSuired 20 prod dnce the psins. He says :"Ever,
6torm, 0s it sweeps across the continent, con
ssists of vast rain areO, at the centre o
which is 8 moving space of greatest baEometri
~Iiepression, known as the storm centre, alonI
which the storm moves like q bead on q thread
The rain usually proceeds this by 600 miles
but before and around the rain lies belt
which may be called the neuralgia margin o
tho storm, aud which precedes the rain b.
about $50 miles This fact is very deceptive
because the sufferer may be on the far edge o
che asorm basin of bsrometrio depression, and
seeing nothing of the rain, may yet 5Av
pain due to the storm"
Some twelve or fifteen years ago a quee
character, nicknamed Jersey Bill" lived a
-otiaville, N. Y. Daring the races at GOsheI
or Middletown he used to visit the courses 70
tho purpose of peddling whips, which wer
made of reeds and which be sold for five or si1
cents apiece. When Bill had accumulated
little money he abandoned his itinerant pur
slnits, settled down at Hampton, and became
sspopFietor of tho tavern there. he mad madI
many Roquaintanoes among sthe farmers II
Sussex county, N. j., and when business wa
slack he would take q run across the limo Z
visit them. On one Of these occasions Bill
ohenced 60 eco Q mare which he admired great
wand which. after somo dickering, he pur
chased Cor &l6e sHd 4es 9sek wlsn na
49, sIrn = 4rriehflV, neRt itzsne& c4aetnro