Connecticut western news., 1879-12-10
NOTES AND COMMENTS.

first opportunity. The anonymous writer further declared that if the matter were placed in the hands of the police he would instantly commit suicide, and the Queen would then, for the paltry sum of 2,000 crowns, have tho death of one of her subjects on her conscience 1; on the other hand, he declared that as soop as he was we'll enough off he would re- pay the amount by giving it to some charity, and thus lessen his offence. The police were at once informed and a detective was placed at the Post-ofice to watch for the person who might call for the reply. After he had waited sev- eral days in vain, commissionaire finally came and claimed the letter. He was followed, and when he handed the letter to young man both were secured, but the commissionaire was at once re- leased. It turns out that the writer of the letter is student only nineteen years of age, who was in want of money to continue his studies. He acknowl- edged having sent the letter as @ "hoax." It IS supposed that the King of Sweden will not insist upon the young man suf- fering the full penalty of his offence.
 In report of some things said by a physician just home from Memphis we find this reference to cotton "There are thousands of bales of cotton at present lying in Memphis in the gutters and dirty streets. They are saturated with yellow and malarial fever poison and will take it wherever they go. Eighteen men in the employ of the Iowa Central who handle d them died of yellow fever"
 The corps of skaters, force peculiar to the Norwegian army, has been lately reorganized, and consists now of five companies each of no men, which in time of war can be reinforced by calling in 270 skaters belonging to the land wehr. The men of this corps are armed with rifles, and can be mane 1vred on ice or over the snow fields of the noun tains with rapidity equal to that of the best trained cavalry. The skates they use are admirably adapted for travelling over rough and broken ice or frozen snow, being six inches broad and be- tween nine and ten inches long. In as cending steep slopes the men take zig. gag course; tacking up the mountain side as ship does against head wind. As an instance of the speed at which they can go, it is mentioned that last win. ter messenger desp atched from Roe rass at o'clock iu the morning arrived at Drontheim at 9:3O ID the evening oi the same day, having consequently ac- complisned 120 miles in 183 hours.
 The population of the globe may be roughly assumed at 1,421, 100000, di' vided thus Europe, 309, 900, 900 Asia, 824, 900, ,0Oo; Africa, 199,O00, ,O00; Oce- anioa, 100000; America, 95,OOo, GOO. It has been calculated from the mor- tality tables of known countries that the annual number of deaths throughout the world is 35, ,393, 1850, or that, in oth- CT words, 97,790 persons die every day. On the other hand, the balance of popu- lation is more than kept up by births at the rate of 1O4, 800 per day. Seventy new lives are ushered in every minute of the twenty four hours.
 A remarkable table on the military colonies of the Cossacks is published in the St. Petersburg Gazette. The writer says it is high time to abolish these colonies, as their organization is not ill accordance with the requirements of modern military science, and that regu' lar cavalry regiments should be created 1n place of the Cossaek regiments. The St. Petersburg Gazette is, however, ot opinion that such O change could not we'll be carried out at ths present crisis, when 8 war between Russia and some oi the other European powers may break out at any moment. No one, adds the Gazette, desires the outbreak of a war as the 100000 Cossacks on the Don and the Kouban, for they have grown up in the tradition of the plunderings and robberies which accompanied the wars of the beginning of the century, and hope some day to return with as much booty as their fathers did.
 Denis Kearney, being charged in z San Francisco police court fortnight ago with carrying concealed weapon struck an attitude and thus spake: "Al I have to say is that 1t is shame if al honest man can't carry pistol to de fend himself against lot of hirelingi and bummers, when every thievine blackleg and hoodlum in town has beer granted permit to do so. want itun derstood right here that if am convict ed I shall not appeal this to the Su preme Court, but will strap revolver outside of my coat and wear it there."
 A brave lad has just performed { rare feat of courage, common sense and presence of mind in Berlin, in the pres ence of few observers. A milk-cart containing no one but a little girl about three years old was being wildly dragged along the Muhlenstrasse by furious horse and no one dared to rush at the bridle of the galloping beast. A boy apparently not more than thirteen years old, sprang forward and rolled large empty tub, which was standing at shoI door, into the centre of the road. This brought the horse to an instant pause aud, when trying to pass at it's side, the boy seized the Sridle. and hung on, al the same moment throwing up his legs and ciasp;ug them tightly around the horses noch. This heavy burden at sc unusual place brought the terrified