Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1880-02-12
TIMELY TOPICS.

n TtpleW Oh the morse and mule
market in st. Louis shows an unpre-
cedented increase in that branch of busi-
ness. The receipts for the last month,
by river and rail, were $4,000 head,
against 1000 the corresponding month
last year. In addition to these receipts,
it is estimated that enough animals
were driven into the city to swell the
total arrivals to $4,000. BUYERS were
present from all parts Of this country.
Canada, Mexico, the West Indies,
France, Germany and England, all of
whom bought literally at prices salts
factory to the sellers. The shipments
by rail alone, for the time mentioned.
were 800 head. 70 Lesrl15 af4
As evidence OF extravaganza in fash
ionable life in New York the present
season, it is stated in Formey's PROGRESS
that the amount of money spent in balls,
parties and receptions in New York
during a recent week was about $780,
600. This estimate included entertain
ments in aid of deserving and charitable
objects, IN which many fashionable
ladies participated, and especially one
In which they arranged tableau de-
pictlng the presentation of BENJAMIN
4 Nv
and employed in this undertaking q
large amount of antique costumes and
glittering diamonds, which were more
costly than those displayed in the orig
inal scene.
A writer in the Hour, who lived at
Naples from 1870 to 1873, says that he
found all through that period that the
molten lava in the crater of Vesuyius
rose and fell with the phases of the
moon. At the time of new moon the
lava almost disappeared from the era
ter and the flashes of fire were few and
far between. As the moon grew toward
her full phase, the height of the lava
and brilliancy and frequency of the
flashes increased, and after she had
passed that point they gradually de
creased. He suggests that these facts
tend to strengthen the theory held BY
some scientific men that volcanic erup-
tions are caused by an inflow of the
sea to the bowels of the earth.
The present condition of the Pacific
railroads may be summed up as follows:
Complete or in more or less advanced
stages of construction are: First, the
Union and Central Pacifcs, from
Omaha to San Francisco; second, the
Texas and Southern Pacifics, from
Texarkana to Los Angeles and San
Francisco; third, the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe, from Kansas City to
Guaymas; fourth, the Northern Pacific,
from Duluth to Puget Sound and Port
land; fifth, the Canada Pacific, extend
ing through the Br -tish Territory from
Fort William on Lake Superior, to some
point on the Gulf of Georgia. To these
may be added two other important out
let's to the Pacific, viz: Jay Gould's
Northwestern line from Ogden to the
Columbiariver, and the proposed branch
of the Atchison,, Topeka and Santa Fe
from the Rio Grande to the Pacific, on
a line at or near the thirty-fifth parallel,
after possible extension of the Kansas
Pacific from Denver to Ogden City.
The general opinion of scientific men
as to the possibility of change in the
position ofthe earth S axis has undergone,
recently, notifications somewhat anal
ogous in character to those which, in
the opinion of some geologists, the posi-
tion of the axis itself has undergone.
Instead Of the fixed law or rules as to
the impossibility of change, there is
now divergence of mathematical
opinion-all agreeing in the theoretical
possibility Of change in the geographi-
cal position of the e;uth's axis Of rota-
ton being effected by a redistribution
of matter on the surface, but, as to the
extent Of such changes, there are DIFF
ferent opinions. Some hold, for in
stance. that the elevation of belt
twenty degrees in width would displace
the axis by about ten miles only; Others
maintain that the elevation of two such
continents as Europe and Asia would
displace it by about sixty-nine miles;
and some, again, regard it as highly
probable that the poles may have been,
in ancient times, very far from their
present geographical position, and may
have gradually shifted through 10, 20,