The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-08-21
TIMELY TOPICS.


Tables prepared at Washington give
the aggregate production of the three
great agricultural staples of the South
ern States for 1878 as follows: Cotton,
I s. 900. 900 bales; sugar, 2l2, 900 hogheads;
tobacco, 572,DO0,O00 pounds. In 1877
this production was: Cotton, Ash ,423
bales; sugar, 1877, 1853 hogheads; tobacco,
$50, 100000 pounds.
Charles Reade is outdone in the story
which Nathan G.. Sayles, of Golden,
Col, tells of his own experience us n
crazy man. His prosecutors were his
wife and daughter, who would be bene-
fited by his dying intestate. He says on
oath that they induced jury of six of
his enemies to pronounce him insane,
hired brute to keep him on his farm,
reviled him when, in an effort to escape,
he was lassoed and had leg and hip
broken by his jailer, and finally stole his
property. The man is vouched for as
entirely sane.
The French originator of the gigantic
enterprise of bridging the English chan
mel says that he means business and pro-
poses to commence operations at once.
He has been laying his plans before the
Chambers of Commerce in France and
Belgium for the. purpose of securing
funds, and will soon make an APP
peal to the British government.
He has already secured the indcrse-
ment of eighty-four commercial or
CARNATIONS in France and Belgium,
and he estimates that seven months time
and $4,000 600 will suffice for the expert
mental stage and demonstrate the feasi j.
bility of his enterprise.
Imitation meerschaum pipes are now
manufactured from potatoes in France
A peeled potato is placed in sulphuric
acid and water, in the proportion of eight
parts OF the former to 100 OF the latler
1t remains in this liquid thirty-six hours
to blacken, is dried with blotting paper,
and submitted to a certain pressure,
when it becomes material that can be
readily carved. The counterfeit is said
to be excellent. An imitation ivory
sufficiently hard for billiard balls can
be made by still greater pressure. A re-
semblance of coral is obtained by treat
ing carrots in the same manner
The race of white people which Major
Pinto, the Portuguese explorer, has dis
covered in South Africa is named Casse-
quer, and is whittier than the Caucasians.
Small tufts of very short black WOO
take the place of hair on the head, while
smallncss of eyes and prominence OF
cheek bones constitute resemblance tC
the Chinese. The men are extremely
robust, and both men and women are
entirely nomadic, wandering in groups
of from four to six families each. and
living on roots and on the results of the
chase. Unless these fail them they have
no intercourse with their black neigh
bors. They are the only people in
Africa that do not cook their food in
pots.
The latest Easiest ocean steamer is
the Arizona, which is the largest steam
er now in service and which reached
Queenstown in seven days, eight hours
and eight minutes from New York, beat
ing her previous trip. which was also
her first one, by one hour and a quarter
The speed of ocean voyages does not
necessarily increase the danger of them.
for it is the perfection and excellence of
the machinery used which enable the
newest steamers to outsail the old ones
For people who spend ocean voyages in
the agonies of sea-sickness the quicker
the trip is made the better they like it.
and provided safety be not sacrificed tC
speed, the saving of day in crossing the
Atlantic is an object for travellers of al
classes.
In relation to cotton production anC
consumption the United States Econ0n,ts
gives tables showing that for eleven
years, ending with the crop of 1860, the
total production of the country was 81,
4l0,691 bales. The annual average
yield 3,4O0,97 bales. For the fourteen
years, ending with the crop of 1878, the
yield, was O,759. l6S bales, the yearly
average being 3.6l5,3l9 bales. The
coming crop is put at 100000 bales
The percentage increase is, for the three
years ending 1856, 81 per cent. ; for the
three years ending 1859, 7; for the two
years ending 1861, 20: for the three years
ending 1871, 46; for the three years end
ing 1876, III for the three years ending
1877, II; for the two years ending 1879
l5f. During the first eleven years fol
lowing the war, the production reached
36,3lO,SSl bales, an average of $500, 90!
per annum, against 37,4l0, 697 for clever
years ending 1861, an average annua
production of 3.4O0,912. The averag,
crop for the l",t fourteen years exceed.
the average production for the clever
years ending 1861 by 2I5, 200 bales. TIL,
crop now coming to market, if current
estimates of it be correct, exceeds tn,
largest crop prior to the war by 377 ,OO(
bales.