Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1879-01-28
Tariefes.

to her husband, the distinguished ma
turalist. She is an accomplished artist,
and taking the keenest interest in his
pursuits, she often assists him in illus
trating his works.
The proportion Of soldiers who can
read and write in the several armies of
Europe is as follows: Germany, 965 in
1000; Sweden, $50; England, $50; Hol-
land, 750; Belgium, 700; France, 635;
Portugal, 495; Spain, 490; Austria,
400; Italy, 450; Russia, lis; Turkey, rs.
In Mecklenburg-Schwerin capital
punishment had been virtually aban-
doned for 20 years, the Grand Duke hav-
ing uniformly commuted all sentences,
but owing TO the increase of serious
crimes this practice has has been given
up and one execution has alread been
performed.
The pavement Of London is one of
the greatest marvels of our time. 1t
covers nearly 5000 acres, two-thirds
of which consist Of what may be called
mosaic work, done in the plain style,
and the other third of smooth tagging.
The paved streets number over 5000,
and exceed 1900 miles in length.
-Luther's house at Mansfield, which
remained in the possession Of his des-
cendants till the middle of last cen
tury, has been bought by a person who
intends turning it into public-house.
To avert this catastrophe committee
has been appointed to raise fund for
the purchase and preservation of the
building.
An eagle measuring eighty-fOur
inches from tip to tip of wings swooped
down upon flock of geese on the farm
of Samuel McCune, in Logan county,
Ohio, few days ago, when a terrible
combat ensued for twenty minutes.
Feathers flew in all directions, the
geese standing up heroically to the
work. The eagle succeeded in killing
one and wounding several others, but
was itself captured by farmer, in a
condition Of sore distress.
DR.. Abel, the Berlin correspond
ent OF the London Times. is remark
able scholar, reading and translating
at sight upwards Of seventy different
languages. Though by birth Ger
man, his English writing, especially in
his letters to the Times, is almost per-
feet in style and diction. During the
Berlin Congress Lord Beaconstield was
personally introduced to the scholar,
to whom he said: ''Dr. Abel, you are
the author whom have most studied. "
-Coal-armor is the newest idea
among English naval constructors. A
coal-bunker eight or ten feet wide,
filled with coal, has been found to re-
sist the projectiles of A ton gun
NEARLY seven inches bore), even when
fired under conditions most favorable
for penetration, and experiments have
been tried by exploding shells with in
creased bursting charges in the coal
without setting it on fire. For con-
verted merchant steamers and vessels
where the greater part Of the machine
ry is placed above the water line these
bunkers are likely to be employed.
There is a club in Philadelphia
which has been in existence since long
before the Revolution. 1t is called the
Fishing Club, and its members, twen-
ty-five in number, meet once a month
i'll quaint old house on the Schuylkill,
built ID the days ofQueen Anne, which
consists only of kitchen and dining
room. They are all men of wealth and
epieures, who practice cookery as fine
art. This monthly dinner consists of
but three dishes, which are cooked by
the members in turn, the whole day
being devoted to the preparation and
eating of them. Members are received
as probationers for year, waiting on
the others in white aprons during that
time.
-Tontine Clubs originated in Italy.
They are usually composed of twelve
men, who each contribute annually a
certain sum, and meet for yearly
dinner. The last living member re-
celves the whole amount. A curious
story is told of one of these Clubs,
which met for thirty years in Penn
sylvania town. The last survivor. an
old, decrepit man, dined alone. When
the dinner was over he was to receive
the money, but the lawyer found him
cold and stiff. The excitement had
been too much for his feeble frame. He
was dead.
The will of Martin Luther, which
has long been in the archives of the
Evangelical Church Of Hungary, has
been critically examined by a COM
mittee of experts, who, after compar-
ing every word of the manuscript with
number of original letters in Luther's
handwriting, have unanimously agreed
that it is the genuine handiwork of the
Reformer. Up to this time there had
been shadow of doubt as to its gen.
uineness. Concerning wills it is q Gu
rious fact that not scrap of Shak-
speare's handwriting is in existence
excepting his will (which is by no
means very creditable to himl.