The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-09-17
GOSSIP OF THE DAY.

cmm.rS Oh TIC world, even At ~ late day as
forty years after her ports were open 10 foreign
trade, IL significant act, The causes which
enable our Oriental sister nation 10 enter the
race for maritime glory should be carefully
sought Tor by the delegates TO the coming shin
png convention; they may furnish suggestion
Tor the rcpetion Of our steam merchant navy
TnE American Humane society offers a prize
al soOoo Tor an invention of an improved eat
tlecar, III which animals can lie down and be
watered and led on their Journey "a the mar
kets, 80 avoiding the suffering caused by un.
Loading from and again reloading the cattle
INTO the cars" Each inventor is advised 10 file
eaVeat at the United States patent Office. The
award viii I've reached as soon after October lst
1850, AZ practicable, which seems a very short
time The right is reserved Of dividing the
Sa'OoO INTO two or moro prizes, il il is thought
the end in view requires il. All competitors
are required to send models and plans Ia Edwin
Lee Brown, Chicago, Ill.
1T has doubtless been notcd MANY times vet
not many people realize that Texas is as large
as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, New York. New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North and South Carolinas, with enough 10
spare TO make another Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and Connecticut; or il is large enough TO
cut up INTO 80 states, each AZ large as Massa-
chusetts. Kansas is eleven times Ms large as
the Old bay state, and 50 is Minnesota. Dakota
Is twenty times rs large. The population Of
Kansas has increased nearly 800 per cent in the
mst decade, yet 1t is now only 996, 800. against
i,'SS, SD III Massachusetts.
iHE cuirass seems hLely to very shortly dir
appear altogether from the armies Of Europe.
NJ present II l. retained only III France, Ger
many, Russia and England: and III the two
latter the regiments Of cuirasscd horscmcn,
although they might doubtless he employed in
case OF emergency, are not generally considered
available ~ field troops. The Horse guards
''''u Lie guards, Tor instance, have never been
on Held OF battle since the day of Waterloo
When az a critical moment III the Russo Turkish
campaign, the Russian guard was hurried 10
The theater Of war, the four regiments Of
cuiraSSlerS forming part Of il were left behind
al II. Petersburg.
1T appears from French statistics that France
imported in the first four months Of the present
year $1,000 head Of horned cattle, $4,000
sheep, and $4,000 pigs. OF this number only
Isl oxen, LAOS sheep, and % pigs came from
TINS continent. These figures will give some
idea of the yastncss Of the European demand
for meat, outside Of the English. Doubtless
the consumption Of meat in France would he
greatly increased II the article were supplied Of
better quality, and at a cheaper rate than now
prevails. Al present-two thirds Of the foreign
supply comes from Italy. II is needless 10 point
ont that Italy could not compete with this con-
nnent in supplying meat, either as respects
quality or cheapness.
The annual reunion of the great smith family
of New Jersey was held recently, in a beautiful
grove OF apple trees on the site of the old
homestead of Zachariah Smith, al Peapack. II
was perhaps the biggist family gathering that
has ever taken place. There were fully 5000
persoSs present, all supposed To be- hneally
descended from or connected with the original
John Schmidt, of Holland, who settled III stan
ton, Huntington county, New jersey over l25
years ago, and changed his name 10 Smith after
he understood the ways Of the country. He
was a genuine Dutchman-slow plodding, i'll
dustrious and honest-and the impress of his
character is left on good portion of his vast
progeny Of to-day His descendants came from
near and far to the picnic.
VI. JOSEPH SISMo, JR, chief Of the bureau
Of statistics, has just made a showing which in
dicates that the United States would not gain
very great commercial advantage by the CONF
pletion OF tue proposed Panama canal. Tie
value Of the commodities transferred from New
York 10 San Francisco, and from san Francisco
10 New York, via Panama, for the year 1869
was S7O, 2O2 O29 against a, 947 7j5 for the year
1879. The trade between all Atlantic ports and
Pacific ports Of the United states by way Of
Cape Horn has corrcspondingly decreased. Mr..
NIInmo also points out that the trade between
AaEa n IL
slope and Chicago, 81. Louis, and other cities
Of the Mississippi Valley would not be at all
affected by the proposed canal.
LARGE refrigerating building has been
built near Smithiield market, L0ndon's great
est market, ia which the owners will test the
possibility Of keeping beef forty days the time
Of passage from Australia; and if successful
they will lit several steamers with their appa-
ratus. The temperature Is 10 be kept evenly
al 50 degrees by chemically made ice, the
machinery costing but $1,000 including Il gas
engine of eight horse power, which runs at q
cost Of so day, the ice costing twenty cents
ton. The same process will be- tested at
Boston before the warm weather i, over, with
view TO its application TO Atlantic steamers.
If meat can be brought to England from AUS
tralia, American shippers will meet with lively
competition
The significant confession is made by the
I'dR Nal Gdzette that. 80 far as military pre-
piratlons are concerned, England Is much be-
hind all tho great powers Of the continent and
even some OF the little ones. For continental
war Belgium or Switzerland, Ia ray nothing Of
Italy, could put larger forces III the field than
England, and can doubt that, were il
not for the practical immunity from invasion,
which the British islands possess by holding
the command Of the sea, and also by reason Of
the difficulty Of embarling and transporting in
ships very large force, continental nations
would soon regard them nh easy prey.
certain vague and unreasonable cOnSciousucss Of
the fact that England il the weakest ar well az
the wealthiest of great nations, leads 10 the
panics which prevail whenever the idea Of war
with such countries ar France or Germany gcts
into Englishmen's heads.
DR. ScHIIEMASN wss asked recently when he
thought Of returning to the United States aud
replied: "If that depended upon me would
go over Immediately, and would never again
leave the great country. But my days arc
numbered and my minutes are precious. BE-
sides, in America / cannot De OF any use 10
science, whereas may still be Of great use TO
II by continuing my explorations in the Orient
where Sardis in Asia Minor, Lycosura in Area
dia, and Orchomenos in BGotia impatiently
await their delivery by my pickaxo and spade
Sardis alone covers much space az the vide
spread city Of Berlin. My fellow-citizcns are by
far too intelligent not TO understand all this,
and feel that they would applaud and hail
with far greater enthusiasm any new archRolo-
gical discovery l might make than any lecture
i could deliver before them personally Oh my
old discoveries"
A MEDDLEsoME world which never gets
enough weather to suit il, il doomed 10 Jog
along for year or two longer without knowing
every morning how the thermometer stands at
either the north or the south pole The polar
conference recently held at Bernie has found il
necessary 10 defer the execution OF the plan re-
solved upon al last years meeting at Hamburg.
The resolution in question, il may be remem-
bered was, that in the year 1881 there should he
established in the north polar region eight mo
neurological ObseryatOrcS- namely, SptZbergen,
at the North cape, the mouth Of the Lena,
Point Barrow, at Uppcrnavik, and Jan Mayen,
on the east coast Of Greenland, and on one OF
the islands Of the North American Polar Archi-
pelago. In tho south polar regions the society
also contemplates establishing, as soon AZ cir
cumstances will permit, meteorological obserya-
tories nj South Georgia, Kerl1Clcn island and