The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-03-13
GLEANINGS.

The German War Department is busy with
II plan for the fortitcation of Berlin after the
fashion of Paris. Several of the Continental
newspapers are already discussing the details
The detences will include some twenty outly
ng forts.
Ruskin's Notes on Sheeptolds" were large
y purchased by the pastoral interest, under
the impression that it dealt with sheep, and a
work entitled THE Book of the Axe" describ
ing the country around Administer whence
the famous carpets) found many purchasers
among those interested, like MIR. Gladstone, in
timber telling.
A business nan IN Atlanta has purchased
Confederate currency, once representing over
81 100000 which he will use rs circulars
printing his advertisement on the back of each
bill.
Sunday Feb %, was busy day in the Post
Office. SIX ocean steamers arrived, and brought
big mails. These vessels were the Donau,
from Bremen and Southampton; Germanic,
from Liverpool and Queenstown; City OF
Montreal, from those ports; Niagara, from
Havana Bahama from the Wlndward Islands,
and the Hadji, from Porto Rico The EN-.
ployees of the Post Office worked steadily from
o'clock in the morning until half past 7
o'clock at night, with only thirty minutes in.
PERMISSION. Three hundred thousand letters
were distributed IN the early morning deli1-
cry, and there remained 10000 circulars, and
2O9 sacks OF newspapers, containing between
40 and 800 papers in Il sack. During the day
the mail for the outgoing steamer City of New
York containing $4,000 letters, was made up
MIR. George Young, Assistant Superintendent
OF the Foreign Department, says that in his
experience OF twenty eight years he has known
n slIrh Sn in his lnportmpnt. anl nn
Forrest OF the Newspaper Department, who
has been in that office fifty years, says he never
saw the office so busy.-N. y. SIN.
February 25th was celebrated in Paris as the
fttieth anniversary of the first production of
Hugo's Hermann" and was of the rare instan.
ces on record of an author being present at
work of his own brought out half century
before On this occasion Mile. Sarah Bern
hardt reclted some lines written by Francois
Ceppee in celebration of the poets dramatic
golden wedding
Quincy, Ill.,, is reasonably sure of $4,000
beet-sugar factory.
The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail.
road Company has just completed contract
for the construction Of eighteen full iron
bridges TO be erected at various points on its
main line and southwestern branch, at cost
Pi S~ooVVV. his company mas also been very
active during the last year in replacing its iron
rails with steel, and It has now a continuous
steel track from this city to the Missouri
River, being the first road IN the field with a
continuous track of this description. The
greater portions OF its second track have also
been laid with steel rails, and in few months
not single iron rail, except on slderacks,
Will be on the lines of this Company
fact probably but little known is that the
United States nickel Scent piece furnishes
key to metric measures and weights. This
coin Is two Centlmeters in diameter, and its
weight is five grammes. Five of them placed
in row Will give the length of the de:lmettr
and two of them Will weigh decagramme.
AS kiloliter Is cubic meter, the key to the
measure Of length is also the Key to measures
of capacity