Morning journal and courier., 1882-07-18


 Prince Krapotkin, the Russian Nihilist, writes to the St. Jamaes' Gazette: During Nicholas reign men were killed by tho ad- ministration of 1000 strokes of the rod but a special imperial order was necessary for that, and the chief of police knew perfectly well that he might himself share the same fate for abuse of authority. Now the chief of police murders peaceful men with his revolver, perfectly sure that he will not be prosecuted if he says that he suspected the peaceful man to be rsvolutionist. If I could reproduce here mere list of such deeds as occasionally find record in the Russian newspapers during fortnight, the English reader would shudder at it. could reproduce long catalogue of peasants fog Red, put into cold holes, ordered to walk on their knees over dry peas for the purpose of exacting taxes of other peasants beaten, killed, thrown into prisons, or exported by hundreds every week to Siberia, under the pretext of disobedience of men torn away from their occupations, ruined and exiled at the whim of a chief of police; of arrests on false accusations; of briberies and robbsries committed in low and high placss-all under ! the pretext of saving society from Nihilism. 1 This would give true picture of tho realities of Russian life
 Some interesting experiments have been made under the auspices of the Western ! Union Telegraph company to verify the pre- 1 tensions of patent for an underground tel ephone bought by the corporation two years ago. The mode of insulation in this system consists essentially in filling the iron pipes that form the casing of the cable and incloss the wires with paraf- fine oil-the residue that is left after the first | distillation of petroleum. This residue is now used mainly for lubricating purposes, and contains traces of soda and aulphuric acid that have to be eliminated before it can be used as an insulator. The wires, wound with cotton or juts, are draws into the pips in sections 5000 feet in length, and all that remains to be done is to fill the pipe with oil ! so that all moisture is permanently excluded. To compensate for the difference in volume in the insulating agent, caused by alterations l of summer heat and winter cold, perma.
 nent tank of oil upon higher level than the pipe exercises the constant pressure of few
 barrels upon the quantity inclosed. Simple
 as this mode of insulation seems, and inex
 pensive as it is, not costing more than one
 fifth what it costs to erect high air lines, it ii
 striking novelty in telegraphic engineering
 It is said that the test of the invention made
 by the Western Union company was 6 very
 severe one and also very successful.
 The Vienna theatre fire and the revelations
 of the trial recently concluded have borne
 fruit in plan for establishing official con
 trol over all the theatres of the Empire 80 fa
 as public security is concerned. The Minis ! ter of the Interior has sent out to all the pro } vincial governors the framework of bill t. , be submitted to the several Diets, of whicl the following are the main provisions Ii ? every town where there is theatre a loca , commission is to be appoin ted, composed o representatives of the municipal authorities
 the police, the medical profession, the fir
 brigade and impartial experts These are t.
 exercise general supervision. Further. similar local commission, but comprisin