Connecticut western news., 1880-01-14
NOTES AND COMMENTS.


 Atlanta, Georgia, it is very difficult to secure the regular attendance of the req uisite number of factory girls. There are plenty of applicants, but few who will labor with the steadiness that dis tinguishes the women employed in simi- lar northern establishments. The owner of one of the mills says that {" girl will come to the mill for work she will work for g few days, and will then get tired of it, and say, I am going to quit : my daddy has supported me all my life, and I reckon he can do it yet" It is only by close observation and inspection of such records as census returns or other important reports relating to industrial occupations, that an adequate idea can be formed of the immense amount of faithful labor that is performed by the women of the Northern States.
 A correspondent of the Figaro tells sad story of an actors death. It oc- cured at the Batignolles on the first night of the patriotic drama, Hoche." One of the parts, that of an old miser, was played by an aged actor called Lucas. Lucas had been long ill, and his illness had weakened him considera- bly,. He refused, however, to resign his part, and made his entry as best he might, working his way from chair to chair, and stammering his speeches rather than saying them. He had to feign alarm at the progress of riot by which he was threatened with the loss of his money, and he was applauded to the echo. In the next act tho Bastile cannon sound, and the miser, despairing of his treasures, has to fall into the arms of somebody near him. Lucas fell, as his cue obliged him but he fell to rise no more. Five minutes after he was dead. Since Mollere played Argan in the Malade Imaginaire," dissembling his convulsions in a shriek of comic laughter, and going off to die that night, no actor has come to so professional an end as Lucas at the Batignolles.
 Castle Garden, N. IT,, figures show that the flow of immigration, somewhat checked during the several recent years, is full again. The arrivals for 1879 numbered 175. .58s; those for 1878 had been but 121, ,869. These totals included many returning citizens. Subtracting the latter, we find the alien arrivals to be 137, ,O70 for the past year, against 75, BAY the year previous-an enormous increase in twelvemonth, we'll worthy of reflection. The four countries now sending us the most immigrants are Germany, Ireland, England, and Sweden. Their figures at Castle Garden for the past year were: Germany, 33,574; re- land, 22, 624; England, 21,555; Sweden, 12, ,394-or, with Norway, 17,3S7. All other countries fell far below these, the next highest Italy, sending $7,220. Francs sent but 2,331 :; even Denmark surpassed her.
 A case worthy the consideration of the 'fPied Piper of Hamelin" has just occurred in Paderborn, Prussia. Rats seem to have established themselves so solidly there that the municipal author. 1ties found it necessary to adopt extreme
 measures for their expulsion. A short
 time ago the Burgomaster entered into
 contract with the eminent ratcatcher,
 Baum, by which the latter bound him.
 self to deliver Paderborn of it's rodent
 population for the pecuniary considera,
 tion of six hundred marks. Every facil
 ity was given him by the citizens, and
 after fortnight's remorseless campaign
 during which thousands of victims suc
 cumbed to his skill, he declared Pader
 born to be absolutely ratless and mouse less. But he had to do with Burgo master wilier than any rat that ever wore whiskers. This sagacious functionary forthwith issued a proclamation exhort ing every burgess of Paderborn still cog
 nizant of the presence of rat or mouse il : his domicile to make declaration thereo at the Town Hall within nfour-and-twentJ hours. So many citizens appeared nex morning in response to this appeal tha the Town Council of Paderborn has beer deliberat1ng ever since whether or no Baum's fee shall be paid to him, and according to the latest accounts, canno come to any decision.
 f One of last years burst bubbles wa l a search for Cocos Island gold. Coco
 Island, on the Central American coast
 is reputed, with or without reason, t
 have been the resort of buccaneers i , ancient days. To hunt for treasure a supposed to be buried by them, two ez petitions left San Francisco in tn :. schooner Vanderbilt and the steame
 Rescue. The former spent three month
 in digging and tunnelling the island the other was earlier disgusted. Tn Vanderbilt got back to Santa Barbar. 5 after perilous return voyage of sixt, six days, during twelve of which tn gold seekers lived on flour and tea. .. is astonishing to what outlay of none n and time, and through what toll an privation men will go, on the ghost of Y chance of digging up rumored piratic h treasure. They presuppose the exis
 ence of treasure, it's burial if it exis 70 ed, the exact place of burial, and u Q death of all it's original holders witho1 a taking the trouble to dig it up. Prob f. ply for this year, at least, Cocos Islan will be left in peace.
 Z, The expense of trip around tl J. world is calculated by tho Roilwo 1t Age, on the basis of 18O days, as $84 n for frst-class and $6O8 for second-ola IS accommodations. Under the first hea e are included these entries New Yo1 E. to San Francisco, $129; sleeping ca