The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-03-23
GENERAL SECULAR NEWS.
Domestic.

the stage of one of the popular theatres,
says
"a large troupe of young ladies, good look
ing, in short clothes, and that is all. Beyond its
undress, the play has little merit. Decent
people are tired of it."
And of another it remarks:
The scenery was only passable, but the
pistol firing and the frequent flourish of bowie
knives were as effective as ever in thrilling the
gallery and amusing the spectators throughout
the house"
Such is the civilization of the hour.
Some generous friend whose name
has not been made public has promised to give
Harvard College $l25,000 for building and
apparatus for physical laboratory, provided
other friends of the college raise $4,000, the
income of which shall bed evoted to its running
expenses.
AN AVALANCHE OF DoCToRs.- 1t is
estimated by those who have carefully examined
the statistics, that there are nearly one hundred
thousand doctors IN the country, or one to ev ry
SIX hundred of the fifty millions of population
but, according to the rate at which they are
made, we shall ere long have one for each
family. Three Medical Colleges of this CITY
last week graduated 372 new members of the
profession, viz; The Bellevue Medical College,
iISi the University of the City of New York,
l99; the homeopathic College, So
Jefferson Medical College in PHILADELPHIA
on Saturday last, graduated 205 Doctors of
Medicine making ST. in all.
Many of the Summer hotels in the
North refuse to take Hebrews because they are
more or less offensive in manner to their other
guests. plan is on foot to build up water
ing place for Hebrews below Rockawav beach.
But birds of feather do not always like flock
ing together, and it is a question whether the
modern Israelites will care to be Gagged in a car
avansery by the sea.
The people of Illinois appreciate
horse thieves. A noted member of the fraterni
ty was recently captured and sent to Ell Paso,
ILL.,, where the townspeople celebrated the occa-
sion with general rejoicing. A cannon was fired
twenty times, and the town was visitei by hun
dreds of people who focked thither to see the
rascal. The fellow would not have received
more attention had he been chosen Governor.
Chicago proposes to commemorate
the great fire by erecting public library
building costing 100000, the money! to be
raised by subscription. This is vastly more
sensible and creditable than to get up process
sion and make costly display which would do
no good to anyb body. 1t will be remembered
that after the great fire Thomas Hughes M. P.
obtained among his English friends 5000 vol
umes to form the nucleus of new public library
in that city
FIGHTING THE SNow.-The North
western Railway Company has spent over three
hundred thousand dollars in the fight against
snow, since October last. Thirty-fonr immense
snow plows have had plenty of work, and these
have been backed up" tremendously by from
two to six locomotives each The might of
these plows and the great power of snow drift
may be estimated from the facts that one plow
weighing forth eight thousand pounds. ballasted
by eighty thousand pounds of railway iron and
driven i
choked cuttng,-bmt toas deteatedi The drift
was fifty-two feet high. When the workmen
after the tremendous charge caught glimpse
OF the immense plow they found that it with
all Its one hundred and twenty eight thousand
pounds had been repealed as if it were a feather
and that 1t had rolled disconsolately over the
drift and had lodged against some forest trees
where 1t proposes to remain until summer. One
bridge on the road crosses a gully seventeen
feet deep. This gully filled up and the snow was
piled fifteen feet over bridge and stream. From
one cut three hundred and twenty four thousand
cubic yards of snow were taken, bat in eiobt
hours the wind had piled it up full again Nine
separate trains Of cars with an average of sew
enty-fve workmen each cleared the way between
Chicago and Elgin, one day Nine thousand
men have been employed from time to time
during the winter as shovelers.-N Y. Observer.
Foreign
Lord Beaconsfeld is likely to catch
1t now, as one of the peers is writing a novel in
which the author Of Endymion figures as the
nero In not very enviable plight
There are in India $4,000 schools
and colleges, and the scholars number ono
OOo. The instruction includes all tbs branches
that comes properly under the name of hu.
manities"
"A remarkable case has lust termi.
mated at the lunatic asylum at Bicetre France
IN the death of maniac at the age of iO3 who
was admitted to the asylum eghtv-four years
ago. Shortly after his admission he became
possessed by the deusion that he was made NJ
glass, and from that time down to the dav of
his death he never spoke word nor moved Of
his own accord from a crouching attitude in one
corner OF his room, except for a few DAYS DURING
the bombardment Of Paris when the noise If
the cannon appeared to agtate him distressing.
ly. ''''"S
Mr.. J. NJ Cuouwer, a HolIander
proposes to traverse Africa from the Mediterrane'
an to the Cape of Good Hope. He possesseq
considerable fortune and has had much exneri.
ence as traveller. After spending the autumn
IN preparation at Alexandria and Cairo he cot
forth on his expedition, taking with him onlv q
servant and little baggage. 1t is annonceJ
that he will be joined by a Frencbman who hos
lived long while in Abyssnia Before setting
out he secured from the Egyptian govern
ment promises of such facilities as IL coul3 afTord
for his journey as far as the limits of the Eovp.
tain territory. If he succeeds in his endesyyaar
his N anna vyit1 bo r,lacaJ -,