Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-12-22
TOPICS or THE DAY.

New York city has appropriated
81, 900 for street cleaning in 1882.
Her police viii cost 50. 800, $50, the fire
department calls for 81, ,464, $50, the
schools will have s3,50O,O0O, the de-
partment Of charities and correction
can be run for si,312,50O and the de.
partment Of public works will com
mand s2. .9s9, 300
The city Of Klingenberg, in Lower
Franconia in Germany, not only i'm
poses no municipal tax, but every voter
receives an annual dividend from the
city treasury OF sum ranging from
s2250 to s25. The city recently cele-
brated the Sedan anniversary by giving
every citizen fifty cents, with fifty cents
extra TO every soldier Of the war with
France.
The New York Hour says that "Sid-
ney Dillon, one Of jar Gould's partners,
is about to build the costliest and most
ornate private residence on this cont.
nent. 1t il to be erected at the corner
OF Fifth avenue and Seventy-sixfh
street, and the house, with the grounds
surrounding IT, will cover thirteen full
city lote, four of which will be on Fifth
avenue"
a pathway only eighteen inches wide
is cut into the side Of Slate mountain,
near Leadyille, at a height, over an
almost perpendicular chasm, Of 800
feet. Few men who use Il have stron g
enough nerves TO walk upright, but in
stinctiyely crouch or .'coon it, as the
local saying is. The foolhardiness Of
James Zern in attempting the passage
when the ground was a glare Of ice
may, therefore, be imagined. He
slipped, fell. and was dashed to pieces
on the frozen ground more than a quar-
ter Of mile below.
The king Of Ashantce, like his neigh
Dor, the despot of Dahomey, Is an adept
at human sacrifices, but the latest ex-
plot attributed to him, Of killing two
hundred young girls in order TO get
their blood for mixing mortar in the re.
pair of q building, Is almost past belief.
In civilized countries. monarchs, TO be
sure, fend tens Of thousands Of young
men 10 die the battlefield in order "a
build up aud cement their power with
warm blood, but the barbarities OF the
/ ruler Of CoolnAssie are Of different sort.
The eagerness for inHicting vioien;
death is, however, such a passion with
the Ashsntees, as their wars with the
/ Fautees show. that probably this lateri
atrocity on tho Gold Coast does not pro
duce raueh emotion there
The italian newspapers have fast in
creased in number OF late years, ami
for hali-cansury show progress
which in a measure has KEEP. pase with
the other countries Of Earope. Pre-
vious 10 1897 ;here vas not one iourn Il
in the entire county. ia 1896 there
were only 1S5, aud of these 10 we're
in Rome. NoE there are
1,45i, Of which I49 are daiiiez, but
Rome no longer has the lead. Il is
1 Milan, with ZIG, that comes first. Rome
Nhen follows with III. Naples with ia,
Florence with Ito. Genoa with 6fty.
six, and Venice with thirty-two. Rome
has eighteen daily papers, \ Aplcs six.
teen, Palermo thirteen, Milaa twelve.
Florence nine, Turin six. aa1 Venice
Ave. On an average, there s, COO read.
ers for each Italian newspaper.
The New York postofiee has a man
whose business for The past twenty Eve
years has been to decipher bad al.
dresses. He has collected directions o.
the various cities Of the country. and is
said to know ali the streets and q great
number Of the residences of New York
city. Some time ago foreign letter
came dirested to Patrick Mahoney
first house in America" Thelesler was
from ireland, and after the usual iaqui.
ries, the clerk learned the time that the
vessel bearing the letter arrived. AS an
experiment, he placed 1t in the hands of
q carrier, who was instructed to deliver
1t at the end Of - pier. Tho house
was sailors boarding-house. and
strange as it may seem. Patrick Maho-
ney was found. When the letter was