The Northern Pacific farmer., 1882-10-05
Notes and News.

Since 1880 the number OF suicides in
France has trebled. In 1880 there were
five suicides for every 100, 900 inhabitants;
in 1880, ten; in 1860, eleven; in 1870.
thirteen; in 1880, fifteen. The total OF
suicides in the last year reached 6,G20 Of
whom ~ per cent. were men. The Seine
Department stands at the head Of the
gloomy list, and Corsica has the smallest
number of ofsuicides-only two per lOOr'
inhabitants. A painful fact is the gru"
ing frequency Of suicides among cii!
uren.
A Philadelphia clergyman preachcS,-
thirty-eight minute sermons to the entir>-
satisfaction of his congregation. He has
no watch; but one of his hearers whn
timed him six Sundays in succession j@
responsible for the statement that H.,
never exceeds the limit. Evidently h.
IS growing man.
The extravaganza of British colonial
governments is illustrated in the case
Of .Jamaicl. That island contains pop
1lation of less than GHO,0OO, 4 large lna-
jority poor blacks, and the governor
appointed by the Crown-receiyes =
salary Of $4,000 per annum. All other
official salaries are excessive. 1t l.
on the same order rs highway rob
berry, but the people protest III vain.
Boston is said to be the highest taxed
city in the world. 1t spends more Oh
Tie cd'lration Of its children alone than
Is raised torall purposes by birmingham,
f.nylan,l, though the latter is the larger.
city. There is no such city rs Boston
Ii has lW', 600 females to l'H),Ms males,
and yet So thrifty are her srinsters that
while II 600 people own the Si2, ,(NW,D1,
of government bones owned in New
York, Sin,Nh',T'n held in Massachusetts
are tiE,:led a;lrnng 1000 h',!ers.
The city debt of New IorI: has been
decreased during the last fiscal year in
the r"a;.,l sum of 81 $4,000. The net
debt Of the city at the present
time is 3n'7 800, 900; the real estate valua-
alton is over 81 900, 900, 900 and the tax
rate will be $2.25 on the 500 The Her
aid says the city has had 4 better and
purer government since BOSS Kelly"
and his gang were driven from power,
and that the tax payers are just begin
nlng to experience the benefits Of the
change.
In 1851 the lord mayor. at the instance
Of the privy council, took Il careful cen
sus Of London. The result showed l3O,-
2Gc inl,ahitauts. In 1896 what we know
collectively us London contained 7Dp,VUJ
inhabitants. Sir William Petty c;timat-
ed that by 1910 London would contain
lo,1lS.SOo souls, but that it would reach
It's maximum in 1850, and then begin to
decline; bat while it has only reached
ll;,li it.s estimate, it shows no signs Of de-
cline. The population of the ritv proper
has declined 5000 in twenty years, and
IS now 10000 less than in the reign of
James I.
The housekeeping Of Queen Victorias
establishment is cared for by butler
who has a salary of $500 per annum.
lie has four assistants who do the pur-
chasing and see that good measurs are
given by the tradesmen The chiefcoo,1
has salary of IS ,5N'and two pastry cooks
have 81 800 each. The gold and silver
plate, valued at fifteen millions of dol
lars, is cared for by three special ser
wants. The number of household ser
wants is ninety-four.
Up to last February Mexico had no
banks. Then concession was given to
French bankers with capital of $2O,-
100000. The government gave them the
privilege of issuing bills to the amount of
SOO,O0O.OOO. and promised to give the
banS the business OF the government Of
fees. In return for the concession the
bank gives the government credit for
Sl00OOOOO. There is now no fear of
further revolutions in the country, as
with this large credit the government
can at once find means to put down an
uprising. In the past the difficulty had
been lack of means to support an army.
A bank has also recently been estab-
iished in Sonora, one-fiEth of the capital
of which is held by Boston parties.