The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-05-19
EDITORIAL. NOTES.

day, while the ex-President and hi.
railroad are left in mournful soil.
tude. r r-r ID,
English exchanges tell us thai
steel scale, which has been almost
entirely worthless, is now used for
the manufac ture of paint for the pro.
lection of iron and steel from cor.
rosion, in any position and in any
climate.
Sterile tracts of land have been
converted into fertile plains near
Paris, il is stated, by the experiment
of irrigating lands with water from
the sewers, and that too without any
Increase Ofsickncss i'm the neighbor-
hood. 81
The Standard Oil Company OF
Pennsylvania owes the state S3,l4I.-
SI3 of back taxes. Being n gigantic
corporation, however, il has man
aged TO defy the authorities so tar.
The auditor Will make another at
tempt 10 collect the money, but he
is not very hopeful. ..
The New Hampshire courts have
discovered that church property in
that state is not exempt from taxa
ton by the constitution, and il will
accordingly be assessed and taxed.
A similar move will be made, it is
said, in New York aud other North
ern States. which expect to derive
considerable revenue from this
Source. .- ta.-.f
The proportion of foreigners in
the total population OF this country
is one in seven.. Id is very uneqmlly
distributed, however, being one in
two in California and Minnesota.
one in two and one-fourth in Wis
consin and Utah, and one in .377
IN North Carolina. In the cotton
states IL is one in twenty-five; in
the Northern states one in five AMI a
half rtt
"A project for holding an inter
national exhibition in Dublin in 1888,
commemorative OF the thirtieth an
niversary of the great exhibition of
1868, is under consideration in Eng
Iish and other foreign newspapers.
Most of the Irish manufacturers are
said TO be favorable to the idea.
Since 1858 there have been held two
international eXhibitions.in Dublin,
one in 1865 and one in 1872. :
"A company with capital of 3
100000 francs has been organized IN
Paris to develop the workings of Nj.
Malhcrc's newly invented lace loom.
The loom is said to be marvel of
mechanism, having from 1900 to 1000
spindles, and il is claimed that all
kinds OF lace can be produced by il,
and in such Il perfect imitation of
hand work rs to defy detection even
by competent judges and lace
makers. ,.
AT the recent launching of the
huge Cunarder Servia, built on the
Clyde, one. OF the builders stated
that the first vessel his firm con-
structed for the Cunard Company
measured 1928 feet long, so feet beam
and ten feet deep, with a gross ton
age of 175 tons. That vessel is still
working, and likely to work for
long time, In contrast with this in
FAINT Cunar,ler, it may be mentioned
that the Servia is nearly 500 feet
long, and measures 5000 tons. Z
o.. "A telegram. from Cairo. Egypt,
on May 3, speaks. of a remarkable
discovery made by Maspero in the
opening up of the pyramids of Sup
Rara, inclosing the tombs of the
kings of the fifth dynasty. The dis
patch states that mortuary chapels
of each contain about eighty square
metres of the smallest and .most
closely written lexis, giving precise
details of the religious belief of that
age. IL is complete coup de grace
to Osiris; Masonic theory and all
previous conceptions are entirely up
set. Except the finding of the Ro-
setta stone in 1899, no discovery i'm
Egypt equals this in scientific value.
In n rocky stronghold in sandy
desert of Arizona lives tribe ofthe
Pueblos called the Moquis, about
which but little has ever been writ
ten in the history of the aboriginal
races of this country. a cores
pondent states that this people num- |
Der about two thousand five hun |
dred, occupy six villages, with houses |
built OF stone cemented with sanl |
clay, and have, probably Inhabited |
that particul ar region Tor thousand |
years. In appearance the MOquis |
come rather nearer to the Caucasian
than the resi-, OF his race These In
dams are unlike most ofIndians, be-
ing rather industriOusly inclined. /
They live well, go respectfully clad,
but have neither church nor any
other place ct worship = being
wicked and inclined to profanity.
The prospects of aerial naviga-
ton, Judging irum reports from bal
loon ansl laYyiaI associations OF
Europe, aEc growing more favorable
each sucSgeding, year, aud il is
Thought bt'many-that the day is NOT
iar distant when Iuan will have 4su :
pessiully accomplished the wonder
fill feat of travelling through the air
by machinery. DIR, Belk Pettigrew,
+. X. s., who has given the subject
much attention, states that aerial
navigatioa may wellappear Utopian
20 the mass of mankind. II is not
however, ON that account impossible.
It is a question oftime, perseverance,
aud ingenuity, simply very com
plex physical problem, and the data
'or its solution are being slowly but
surely accumulated. y ! /
M. Charley, on HE return freIn
! tour. of antiquarian research in
southern Mexico, reports the dis
'oveEy of n ruined Toltec city, in To-
)asco, near the gulf coast; a city I
which covers a wide area and must
AVE bsen in its day u place of con
iderablc Importance. The greatest
'uriosities existing in and around
he. long forgotten town are. u NUM-
Der of temples, pyramids and pal |
ices. The largest OF uhe pyrami1S i
5 described as being 500 feet in
height, and second is said TO be
100. From careful study of the re-
Mains of this ancient city, NJ. Char
icy Is of the opinion that il was
bundled between 1850 and 1880, and
hat il was in perfect state ofpres-
'rvation at the time that Cortez in
aided Mexico. II is thought that
)ther Toltec cities exist further up \
n the adjacent mountains, and other
Investigations Of the Territory viii II
De made shortly. /
In the report of the Bureau OF
for the quarter ending De-
'ember 81, 1880, Is an interesting
tatement regarding the quantities
II coffee raised IN the various coffee
countries in 1865, 1865,
md the average amount raised am
lually from 1876 TO 1873. the home
of producing countries
'eing excluded. 1t appears that the I
aggregate production was $50, les, 900
in 1855, 421, 950,0 kilol
rams in 1865, and that 490, $40, 900 +