Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1879-09-09
TIMELY TOPICS.


AT the close Of last year there were
ol,84l miles of railroad in opera
ton in the United States, with a popu-
lation of about 80, 600, 600. The number
ofmiles of road in operation in Europe
was about $4,000, for a population az
something over 800, 900, 600. The United
States thus has a mile of railroad to
about 464 inhabitants, and Europe one
mile to about 3, 1923 inhabitants or, in
other words, every inhabitant of the
United States has about seven times as
much railroad as every European.
A congress for the Improvement Of
the condition of the blind has been held
in Berlin. Foremost among the ques-
tions was that of the printed or written
character to be used by tie blind, and
the congress decided that the system Of
writing and printing by combination of
raised points, first introduced by Louis
Braille in 1884, should be adopted in
Germany without modification. Another
important decision was that the prac-
tice OF uniting the blind and the deaf in
the same institution was highly objec-
ttonable- The congress also recorded
the fact that in the experience Of German
Institutions rope-making is one of the
best trades there practiced by the blind.
The funeral Of Herhg, Socialist mas
ter turner, was the scene Of a great So
cialist demonstration at Dresden. Sew
eral thousand sympathizers followed
the body to the grave, but the police
took advantage of an old Saxon law
against the public exhibition Of repub-
lican emblems to forbid the wearing Of
political ensignia. No funeral Grafton
was permitted, ana wnen a woman
stepped forward and spoke a few words
an order was given to arrest her, the
execution of which was, however. rem
dered impossible by the closing in Of
the crowd. Several wreaths were thrown
on the coffin, but not before the police
had insisted on the removal Of the red
silk ribbons with which they were tied
"A great business is being done this
year in the importation of iron from
Africa for use in American manufac-
tories. The great reason for preferring
African iron to native ore is, of course,
its cheapness, but it has the further ad-
vantage Of being remarkably free from
phosphorus. This ore has been imported
to some extent for two or three years,
DuO ACNFl III ouCn q1etuululSS DIS uOMs
one authority estimating that two hum
dred thousand tons Will be shipped to
New FORK this year and half as much
TO Philadelphia, the latter for use at the
iron works in Bethlehem and Johnstown
and by the Pennsylvania Steel Com
pany. Another notable feature in the
iron trade is the importation of Bessemer
pig, of which forty five thousand tons
are known to be under contract for the
United States There have been no i'm
portations Of this sort before since 1873.
The great Importance which ostrich
farming has acquired N Southern A f.
rica may be seen from an ostrich auc-
tion recently held at Middleburg, Cape
Land. The lowest price paid for one
pair Of these birds was ESQ, and several
pairs fetched 9285. "A few years ago
ostriches were obtained by hunting
only, and at that time good bird could
be bought for menagerie or a zoOiogi-
cal garden ut moderate price. But
since their domesticatiOn and the devel-
opment Of ostrich farming as an indus
Try their price has risen enormously.
At present the Geological Garden in
London owns not one living ostrich
From the Cape of Good Hope 2,297
pounds of ostrich feathers were exported
in 1860, at value of ELS, ,26l; but in 1873
the expectation had risen to 81, 58l
pounds, at value Of fl5o, ,679, and re-
Gently bunch of picked bloods were
sold at Port Elizabeth for EST I5s- a
pound-that is. about l5s. feather.