Connecticut western news., 1879-02-26
3 NOTES AND COMMENTS.

some weeks since at Kiev, or banished l to Siberia in consequence of that event, have acutely felt the terrible persecu- tions, imprisonment and even murders
 to which their children have been sub- l jected. The Russian press belng gagged,
 and in order to present faithful ac-
 count of the terrible sufferings of their
 sons and daughters to the civilized
 world, 8 statement was drawn up by secret committee of the parents in St.
 Petersburg and brought to the United
 States by trustworthy agentA and has
 been published here. It is pathetic
 story, and will appeal powerfully to the
 sympathies of nation so confirmed as
 ours in it's faith in the rights of indi-
 viduals to make their grievances heard,
 and not to be butchered for the exercise
 of what seems to us less 0 mere right
 than an instinct.
 l The wife of miner in Hopewell,
 Pa, had yellow hair of wonderful length l and abundance. It was so heavy as to
 be bother, but her husband would not
 let her cut 1t off, even when offered a
 good price by dealers in hair. Lately l work became scarce with him, and he
 did not know how to make payment
 soon coming due on his little house.
 The loss of his home seemed probable.
 Then stranger came along and offered
 $20O for the treasured yellow hair. That
 amount of money would raise the mort
 gage on the homestead, and the husband
 reluctantly made the sale. He could not
 help shedding tears when he saw the
 strangers shears despoiling his wife's
 head of it's beauty, and she wept when
 she looked at herself in the glass but
 they consoled themselves with the crisp
 bank notes, and the buyer went away
 with the hair. A few days afterward the
 miner went to pay the debt, and learned
 that the bills were all counterfeit.
 | Michael Halls capacity as a thinker
 was under discussion in Sutro (Nev.)
 barroom when he entered. He was
 proud of the distinction accorded him,
 and offered to bet $10 that he could drink
 quart of whisky in ten minutes. The
 wager was made and the money put into
 the hands of stakeholder. A quart of
 such whisky as is sold in mining towns
 was measured out. Hall swallowed fully | pint at draught, but after that the
 fluid went down harder, and ten minutes
 and quarter had elapsed when the last
 was drank. So he lost his $10; but
 that was not the worst, for he immedi-
 ately fell to the floor, remained un-
 scious forty-eight hours, and then died.
 William Bell killed himself as foolishly
 in Waldron, Ark. He had been per
 former in circus, but intemperance had
 incapacitated him for such employment,
 and he became barroom hummer. His
 sole remaining gymnastic feat was to
 stand on his head, which he was ready
 to do for drink. Two men bet that he
 could not remain inverted an hour, and
 he attempted the feat, but 8 rush oi blood to his head resulted fatally.
 During the debate in the Senate concerning the proposed reduction oi the tax on tobacco, Senator Bayard said that 10, 100000 people in this country use that article, and that it can be pro duced in almost every county in the
 country. In the United States the amount of tobacco produced in 1877 was: Untaxed tobacco, in the leaf, 135,' 900, ,OOO pounds; in cigars, 2O,OO0,0O( pounds; in cigarettes, 500, 900 pounds untaxed tobacco, say, 40, 900, 900 pounds
 making total of no less tn an 195, 800,
 900 pounds. But of this gross amoun there were Il, ,50O,0 ,000 pounds of maau factured tobacco exported, which leave' balance of 1894, 900, ,000 pounds for con sumption. Estimating our population at 45, 900, ,O0O, we find that for each hea6 the average consumption is over pounds per annum. Assuming tha : three-ffths, at least, of our population 5 are women and children, we have bu IS, GOO, ,OOO adults, of whom not more
 than 5000, 900 do not use tobacco in any
 form. This leaves us 13, 900, 900 persons
 who consume yearly 16 2-3 pounds, ol very nearly ounces week apiece.
 : Howard o wen, of the Kennebec (Me . Journal, in lecture on 6 The Man wht . Makes Newspaper" comes across som' f frst-rate ideas. Most people imagin, that newspaper is huge fail witl : which certain individuals are to b, f lashed. The person on whom the hai l is to be used is very multitudinous. H - may be poor actor, Q tiresome lecturer I dull speaker, an unmusical singer, { t troublesome neighbor, in fact any on' . who happens to offend the man wh' @ comes up to get the paper to ego fo r him." Sometimes 8 person wishes t. l. use the paper against railroad com e pany, the management of steamboa '- line, the city council, or the Unitet d States Government. MT. Owen give g the following letter from 0 man wh' Q wanted the paper delicately to insinuat if that his neighbor is not the most desir 1T able person in the world to live next to @ and who writes the following unobstru l. sive note "Here, Mir. Editor, pleas # insert this item, and oblige 8 subscriber @ The rantankerous old curmudgeon e whose pestilential influence poisops tn l. air of Broad Street, has of late been en ,f gagged in questionable tranactions for tn p purpose of adding to his ill-gotton gains d Marder is in the heart of this pestiferou tt old cuss, but the miserable blatherskit 7, lacks the courage to execute it." Pu d thet in as editorial and don't let any on X know who wrote it."