Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-01-17


live so rs to show the world my contempt
for wealth." remarked young philoso-
pher, lust recovering from the effects of
so cent cigar. That's easy enough" said
the old man; "bccome IN editor. '-Broob-
Ign Eagle.
The weather in California this winter
has been most delightful. The first part
of the season was characterized by gentle
| rains, and since then it has been dry
| enough for ladies to enjoy their Christmas
md New Years shopping without
umbrellas.
Vanity Fair tells a story of how Anthony
rrolope once heard two novel.readine
Youths in wayside inn discussing one of
his ''cternal" characters. of whom they
were tired He rose, acknowledged him
self to be the author, and promised to 90
home and kill the character. In the fol-
lowing installment she diedo apopleXy.
"What do you call themo' asked a
| small brother" of young Blown who was
making call. "What do you call them?
Why. should call them beans" "There," ,"
said the small brother turning triumphant.
ly to his sister, you said that Mr.. Brown
ddn' know beans, but he does" And a
| nine year old boy left the room with n
twelve year old SMILE
The anthracite coal trade of eastern
Pennsylvania has now reached nearly
thirty millions of tons annually, Il gain of
fully on s-third during the past decade,
and the prospects ahead are unprecedently
bright for much more rapid extension of
business by means of the new lines of
railroad in progress from the Snsquehanna
river to the principal cities of the great
west, which promise to make the western
trade in anthracite large and important,
The following current paragraph is
attributed to the late DR.. j. V. G. Smith,
once the honored mayor of Boston. 1t is
an important truth, and also u deserved
tribute 10 country naothers "women in
health are the hope of the nation. Men
who exercise controlling intluence-the
master spirits-with a few exceptions,
have had country born mothers. They
transmit to their sons those traits of char
acter-moral, intellectual and physical
which give stability to institutions and
promote order, security and justice"
Some ofthe southern railroad companies
have gone into the business of raising for
ests, and the results are likely to be advan-
tageous. 1t has been discovered that the
moisture of the soil in many parts OF the
south is very destructive to the ties, and
the creosoting process to protect the wood
has proven so expensive that the companies
have determined to use the wood of the
catalpa and ailantus trees. These woods
are said to be more durable in moist soil
than any others now used, and to secure
a supply large plantations have been seed
ed for both varieties in equal proportion.
Upon the Iron Mountain road catalpa ties
have lasted nearly fifteen years. Both
trees are rapid in growth and easy of pro-
pagation, and flourish in the moist soils of
Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. They,
however, are not likely to turn the prairies
into sW eetsmellng forests.
Apurchaser of land in California always
stands a chance of finding it turn out to
be gold-bearng, or to possess stores of
quicksilver, copper, or other hidden min
eral wealth. One of these surprises has
befallen DIR. T.. T. Burnette of Oakland,
who bought hill near Los Gatos. about
sixty miles below San Francisco, for use
as pasture ground. 1t was necessary to
dig, in order to deepen Il well, and
large number of blocks that looked like
ordinary stones were taken out and thrown
on one side in heaps. Some of these
stones, being afterward used to build
fire upon for cooking purposes, were
found to be highly combustible, burning
rapidly with blush flame. Further
examination showed that they were simply
solid blocks of sulphur, and that the whole
hill is substantially an immense mass of
this mineral. With sulphur selling at
$50 a ton, Mr.. Burnette's purchase has
turned out to be greater mass of treas
ure than many gold mines.
The dispatch announcing that the brain
of M. Gambetta weighed 100 grammes
is received with much doubt by scientific
men, who had been led to look for
weightv brain from the Uranium of the
greqt French leader. The French gramme
is equal to 15,433 Troy: grains, and as
there are 4S0 grains in an ounce, the
measure by which American autopists
compare brains, the weight of the Gam.
BETA brain would be but 1886 ounces.
This would mean brain close to the
idiItic standard, for the average brain of
an adult man is set down at 40 ounces by
most authorities on the nerves. Cromwell
was credited with a brain Of 2.29 ounces,
but this figure is dscredited by modern
Psychologists. So also is the weight of 70
ounces given the brain of Byron according
to some authorities. According to the
latest writer's on this subject, the brain of
Cuvier is regarded as the heaviest on
record, reaching G4.33 ounces. Following
this came that of Abercrombe at 63
ounces The brain of Webster is put
down at GS ounces, but as it was not
weighed until some time after its removal
from the skull, the weight given was
regarded rs too small. Edward II. Ruloff,
who was sentenced in 1871 in New York
state, had 50 ounce brain, and James
Fisk, shot by Edward Stokes, had brain
which weighed 50 ounces.