The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-09-17
TIMELY TOPICS.

pawnbroker, has had a sharp trio
, played on him. One Saturday nigh
three men called on him and offered t
. sell him q gold brick, alleged to hav
/ been madeu of watch cases and jewelry
, melted down to AVOID Identification
He produced his aoid and scales to ties
| the brick, and while his back was turne
| the acid vial was replaced with one con
tanning water. Ofcourse the brick stoo
the test, and he paid the men $4,000. II
afterward found his brick was wort
. about seven cents per pound.
!, There is an old proverb about n foe
, and his money, but it has no connection
!, with the fact that a New York girl ia
lust paid $3.50 for q yellow yachtin
dress embroidered in red, white ant
blue, with designs representing marin
scenes. On the front of the skirt is
sailing ship; on the corners of the over
skirt, sailors climbing masts and unfurl
ing flags; on the drapery, a lifeboat, full.
manned; on the sleeves and ribbons
masts and flags, and on the pearl buttons
sunset scenes. When not in actual use
this gown is to be kept in the family pic
ture gallery.
The commerce of the world for 1871
amounted to Sl,355, 900, OOO, 900. In TIN
same year Europe and America, with {
population of 1873, 900, 900, had a com
merce valued at 81, l72. 1925, 000, 900, while
the trade of the rest of the world, with ;
population of $50. OOO. 900, amounted tt
only 1882, 431, 2Ov, 900. 1t appears from
the table prepared by Prof. Numar
I Spallart, Of Vienna. that in the years
IS67-s., the total value of products ex'
changed among the various nations o.
the two hemispheres amounted to tho
enormous sum of 81, 069. 989. 480. 900. Ir
1928 the aggregate had risen to 1897
9O8, l60, 900, an increase Of 81 per cent. ir
five years.
June 30, 1879, marked the end Of the
first sixteen years of operation of the
United States homestead law, during
which period the number Of entries was
1884, 649. The average. size OF farms Is
about l20 acres, making the aggregate
area occupied 40, l8l, 100 acres, OF 5000.
600 moro than New England contains,
Last year emigration was so active that
titles to 5000, 900 acres, representing the
movement Of SO, 900 families to public
lands, were issued under the homestead
law alone. and q much larger quantity
of new land was also purchased from the
government and railway companies.
Joaquin Miller, speaking of Sitting
Bull, thus explains how his Sioux high
ness came by his name, the key to the
conundrum having been impaired to
him by the Indians themselves: IAN
Indian is never honored with q distinc-
tive name," said MI. Miller, until he
has done something noteworthy. and
which reveals a marked trait of char
acter. When Sitting Bull was a young
man he was shot in the legs and disabled.
but he sat bolt upright on the ground
and continued to fight with the fierce
ness of a wounded buffalo bull, and it
was this incident which drew from the
tribe the appellation of Sitting Bull.
The following are the heights OF the
principal monuments, domes, ETC., in the
world: St. Antoine column at Rome,
1876 feet; principal tower of the Smith
sonian Institute, Washington, AS;
Trajan's column ut Rome, AS; ..Napo-
leans column at Paris, $50; Washington
monument mt Baltimore, $50; the great
obelisk ut Thebcs, 200; Bunker Hill mon
ument mt Boston, 223; column of Delhi,
262; Trinity church steeple at New
York. 1854; the contemplated dome of
the Capitol, 300; dome Of ST.. Paul's
Cathedral, London, 800; tower of Man
Illus, $50; tower ofthe cathedral Mt Stras-
burg, 400; dome of St. Peters Cathedral,
Rome, 1865; Great Pyramid, 48l.
A monograph on the true burial
place" of Christopher Columbus has
ust been published in London. Sir
! Travers Twiss, the author, discusses the
question of the true burial at length, and
concludes that the claim recently put
forward by the Bishop of San Domingo
is without foundation. The general be-
lief has been, it will be remembered, that
the great discoveries body, after being
taken from Spain to San Domingo, vas
transported to Havana. where it was
allowed to rest in peace. The bishop
contended that the remains are still in
his cathedral, and that those who m
tended to remove them to Havana took
away the wrong body.
! The Washington Sar, speaking of the
process of Misunderstanding wllichthe Presi.
dent is required to go through, says:
"Some folks seize the Presidents hand
in both of theirs; others merely touch
the tips of his fingers; some grab him
, above the wrist, and then Others think
the harder they press the hand the more
honor they enjoy. The old ladies always
stop to ask how Mrs. Hayes is, and
when Mrs. Hayes assists the President
in the reception, all the ladies. both
young and old, invariably look back
after passing to see what she has on. The
old men want to add a word or.two Of
advice on political management as they
pass, and the young man, when from
rural parts, tries to appear rs if he made
a practice of being introduced to Presi-
dents every day.
One of the most durable kinds of wood
is that Of the larch tree. The tree grows
in abundance and to perfection, on the
sandy coasts of the Baltic. There the
Romans became acquainted with it dur
ing their Germanic wars, and SO highly
did they value it that they transported
it, at immense expense. across the Alps
down to the river Pc, and thence tC
Rome. Vitruvius praises it much as
building timber. and Plinius declares il
to be the best OF all resinous kinds o.
wood. The great floating palace which
the Emperor Trajan built for a summer
residence on Lake Nerne was made partly
O fcypress and partly of larch, and when,
aftel the lapse offourteen centuries, this
palace was discovered on the bottom O.
the sea and raised from the mud ir
which it lay imbedded.. all those parts
oft which were of la1ch were found t
be perfectly sound. In the English
marine the larch was introduced II
1909 from the Scotch forests of the Duke
of Athol. and the frigate Athol. built in
1880, is still in active service and in excel
lent condition.
Contrasted with the enormous iron
clads of most Of the old world navie!
are the new gunboats of China. They
are practically only floating gun car
riages, but are heavily armed with gun!
that are said to. be more efficient thar
the nlfty-elSII-lo gun WIliCll - Iii'
boast of the British navy. Tie Chinese
gunboats have been named after tn
letters of the Greek alphabet, and eigh
have been constructed. Their maya
zines and machinery are under the waite,
line, and the single thirty-five or thirty
cight-ton gun they carry lies flat upol
the deck. tits moved and loaded by ny
draulic power. so that only five men art
required to handle it. Its proiectil