Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-11-07
TOPICS OF TIE DAY.

w HAZE lllllh ID HOW ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
for certain inyalds by physicians The
principal difficulty appears to be to
find a man who cares to undertake
the perilous task of milking the whale.
II is no wonder that foreigners be-
leve that our western lands are still
given over to the unsophisticated
savage and the red-handed bandits
when we find such names as these on
the map of Dakota Shirttail Bend,
Whiskey Flat, Puppytown, Wild Yam
kee Ranch, Loafers Ravine, Squitch
Gulch, Toenal Lake.
Fifty thousand Francs (SlO,OOO) is
the prize which France offers for the
discovery which shall enable electricity
to be applied economically i'll one of
the following directions: AS a source
of heat, Of light, of chemical action,
Of mechanical power, as a means Of
the transmission of intelligence, or of
the treatment of disease-the prize
being open to all nationalities, and to
be awarded in December, 1887.
Christopher Columbus does not rest
in his grave as quietly as William
Shakespeare The ashes of the great
discoverer first buried at Seville, have
been moved about till they finally lie
in the Cathedral of Saint Domingo, and
now they are to be turned out of their
resting place and enclosed in plate
glass urn. This urn is to hold the
casket containing the actual ashes, in
such manner that the remains will
be plainly visible.
Statisticians have pronounced the
United States to be not only potential
ly but actually richer than the United
Kingdom. Counting the houses, fur
niture, manufactures, railways, ship
ping, bullion, lands, cattle, crops, in
vestments and roads, it is estimated
that there is grand total in the
United States of $40, 100000 900
Great Britain is credited with some
thing less than $4,000, 000,0 900, or
nearly Sl0,000,000,0G0 less than the
United States. The wealth per in
habitant in Great Britain is estimated
at Sll60, and in the United States at
1895.
1t may not be generally known that
there is a society in the United States
known as the "Shut ms" 1t is COM
posed of people confined to their
homes by chronic diseases, who are
not, however, incapaciated from writ
ing and reading. Through the efforts
of this society shut ms are intro
duced to each other by letter, and
many pleasant friendships are formed
in this way, and many weary hour
whiled away by the writing and read
ing of letters. Sometimes Il "Shut In
so far RECEIVERS that he or she can 60
ont of town to visit another with whom
he has become acquainted by letter,
and who has not been SO fortunate in
bodily improvement.
Some curious experiments have late
V been made to show the connection
between colOrS and sounds. The blind,
it is well known, often translate sound
into color. An opthalmOgist of Nantes
discovered that sharp note produced
on one Of his patients brighter and a
fiat note darker impression of color.
Different musical instruments gave
different results The saxophone
brought out sense of yellow; the
clarionet of red; the piano of blue.
The impressions produced by the
human voice were more delicate shades
of yellow, green, red and blue. The
seat of the color was always in the
direction of the sound. In choir-sing-
ing NJ. Pedrono's patient noticed a
multitude of colors formed in small
points above the heads of the chorist
ers."
The appointment clerk of the treas.
ury department is preparing state,
ment which the secretary will submit
to Congress, specifying in detail the
number and class of officers and en-
ployees of every grade and nature
with the rate of compensation to each
that may in his Judgment be necessary
to properly conduct the business Of
the collection of custom duties at eacl
point of entry in the United States, to
gether with an estimate of the
amounts required for contingent eX
penses at each of said ports, and fol
such additional expenses of the ser
vice as cannot be otherwise specifically
provided for. This statement will bt
of use in connection with the recon-
mendation that Secretary FOlger vii
make that a number of useless ant
expensive custom districts be abolish
ed.
During the past year the construc
ton of the Lick observatory on Noun
Hamilton, Santa Clara county, Cal.
has advanced rapidly, and it is nov
possible to gain an idea of the magni
tude of the undertaking. OF tn
100000 bequeathed for the purpose
for $350,000 to 100000 will he ex
pended upon buildings and apparatus