The Northern Pacific farmer., 1882-11-09
Miscellany.

There is great alarm among the sponge
fishermen of the Florida reefs and the
Bahamas at the introduction Of patent
ed drcdSe> for brin. ring up the sponges
from the bottom Of the SEA waters.
They have pctitionc1 the governor Of
the Bahamas to convene the, legislature,
and urge the passage of a law prohibit
ing fishing with Il dredgr. TA,,se petit
TONERS have been Using apole and hooks
in their work, and declare that the
dredges will ruin them and exterminate
the sponge insects.
The Virginia City Chronicle says a
miner was frightened Oft the Gillis
mountains few days ago by a shower
the sops of e h MiS wSsn RSsS'f h. "1ns %as
startled by number of fragments Of
rock falling all about him. a large piece
fell upon a ledge Of rock near him and
was shattered into thousand fragments,
one of which struck the handle of his
shovel and left mark nearly a quarter
of an inch deep. He got off the noun
tain as quickly as possible. The shy
was perfectly clear and he heard no ex-
plosion, but it was doubtlessa shower Of
aerolites.
A Puget Sound letter says the distri.
button Of lumber from that point is very
wide. In one day vessels were seen
loading for Boston, San Francisco, VAL
paraiso, the Sandwich Islands, Vallejo,
Mexico, Japan, China, France, England
and Australia. The export in 1881 was
about l75, 900, 900 feet, valued at 81 ,705,-
O0T. Some Of the logs are immense
Many measure five feet in diameter,
From one tree lately cut there were sawed
two logs of 81 and 2e, and two Of 80 :ect,
in all llS feet in length. The top of the
tree measured 81 inches across.
Since 1850 England has reduced her
national debt about ne-tenth, although
she has several times been engaged in
costly wars. During the same time the
combined Indebtedness of the other
nations of Europe has increased two-foid.
Spain, Italy and Russia have s1one the
worst, the increase in Rlssia's obi ,;Hions
being something like 250 per cent. The
European ded,s, in round numbers, a.
mount to about 81, 800, 0,000, ,0G0, 600.
The new province of Assiniboinia lies
directly west OF Manitoba, and most OF
it is north OF Dakota. From the city Of
Winnipeg one who follows up the river
westerly till he reaches the mouth of the
Assiniboine, and then follows that up,
will come to the Qu' Appelle river, on
which is situated the now capital Of the
new province. 9he new name of this
city is Regina. It is in a valley by the
line of the Canada Pacific Railroad. but
seems to have no natural advantages
Ehatever. There is no water there, for
the creek is dry in the summer and
frozen hard in the winter. There is
no wood-no: a tree within eight miles,
AS it lies at the bottom of a small valley.
drainage is next to impossible
English clerks are suffering severely
from the competition of Germans. No
matter how small a salary the English
clerk will work for, there may always be
found a German who will do the same
work for less money. Furthermore, the
Germans, as Il rule. offer far better value
for the money than their English "om-
petitors. The German clerk is indus
THOUSAND, though Il Teutonic teetoteller
is an undiscovered animal. he nevcrrc,s
drink. He is almost invariably a good
llnguist. while EHglislmen of his class
he is generally reliable and not afraid OF
work.
The magistrates at Dumfermline, Scot.
land, recently proclaimed that the police
should no longer protect the Salvationists,
whereupon the mob acted upon the hint:
smashed the doors and windows of the
headquarters of the army, and afterward
took possession of the town, DESTROYING
all sorts Of movable property. Stones,
bricks, boxes, barrels, etc, were freely
used, and many people were badly in.
jured. The main streets were blocked
the police being utterly powerless to ex:
ercise the least authority, and for hours
the widest disorder prevailed. The
proclamation was bad mistake for the
town authorities.