The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1883-06-29
Miscellaneous.

a twelve foot vein Of pure camel
coal is said to have been discovered
sixty miles up the river from Bis
maick. The excitement over the find
is very great.
The last spike on the Northern
Pacific railroad is expected to be
driven near Helena, NJ. r., the latter
part of August.
The Supreme Court of Vermont
holds that witness was competent,
although he was dumb, uneducated
in the use of signs, and only able to
assent or dissent I'm answer to direct
question by a nod or shake of the
head.
A story is all0at in Chicago that
two of the witnesses for McGeOch,
Everingham & Co., formerly employ
ed by Fowler Bros, who testified to
injecting lard, cotton seed oil and
other adulteratiOns into their lard
watts, went on the stand Thursday
and SwOre their former testimony was
false in every particular, and that
they were paid $50 each for their
false swearing.
The longest trestle in the world is
just being completed by the New
Orleans Northeastern railroad across
Lake Ponchatrain. 1t is % miles
long and contains over 5000, 900 feet
of lumber, without the piles. The
latter number 80 ga, are 80 feet in
length and are driven down 40 feet.
There are s, l8l bents, which are sit
uated Is feet apart. The ties are
placed four inches apart.
According to the Agricultural Blue
Book of the United Kingdom there
has been Il loss during the last six
years Of 1921 head of cattle. The
most alarming of all IS that during
the year past there has been de.
crease Of -. 500 head. With the pop
nlation of Great Britain increasing
constantly, and even more rapidly, it
is sad. than ever before, there is
every reason to believe that there
will be a great scarcity of meats for
some time tn come.
a new system of enumerating time
called the "twPnty.fOur system" has
been adopted She Cleveland, Akron
and Columbus railroad. by this plan
the day begins ut midnight, and the
hours are numbered cOnsecutively
from one to twenty-four. The object
is to prevent mistakes i'm time tables:
such us that Of il. M, being con.
founded with 8 y. NJ, by having the
same hours read O'Clock and 90
o'clock respectively-the distinctions
Il. m. and p. m. being dropped entire
ly.
Fast freight trains are source of
great benefit to the South. They
have created fnrore for what is
called struck farming" The plant.
ers have learned that it does not pay
to put all their eggs into one basket.
and while they will still plant cotton
"for revenue only" they are putting
i'm corn and garden truck in large
quantities. In Georgia. truck farm
ing has come to he great business.
and vegetables. melons. ETC., from
that State are seeking Northern mar
kets. Tennessee and some other States
are not far behind. Southern fruits
and vegetables reach the extreme
north in few days and in good con-
dition. The amount of money ex-
pended by northern people for these
southern productions received months
IN advance of the same articles raised
at home, can hardly he estimated and
will continue to increase.
About $4,000. 900 worth of printing
is annually done i'm the Government
printing Office. The documents are
printed under Il joint resolution OF
both Houses of Congress, and each
member is credited with proportion.
ate share. AS the close of the season
approaches the members 60 to the
document room and find out how their
account stands. 1t any books are still
to their credit, they order them sent
home or to their rooms in Washing
ton, or authorize some other diSposi
ton tn he made of them. Very fire.
quehtly members make exchanges,
and often the exchanges are in the
shape of cash from dealers. 1t is
frequently the case. again, that II
member can pay off some obligation
by load of valuable public docu.
ments. 1t is alleged that once sit
ting member, Who held contested
seat, SAW by the vote in progress on
his case that in u few more minutes
he would he nnse;,ted, and, wise in
time, he rushed to the document
room while the yeas and nays were
being called, drew all his books,
franked and directed them to IA
friends house. and saw them safely
off before the vote WAS announced.
a members share of public dOru-
mcnls is by no means an Insignificant
perquisite. He gets roughly Speaking
one four-hundreth part of the publ.
cations, or $1,000 worth, an amount
equal in value To his salary. The
collection would not sell for that SUN,
of course, and yet the cash value of
II complete set of public documents
fora year wOnld he considerable
While much rubbish is printed, some
of the hooks are valuable, and much
desired hy certain classes Of cOnsLiiu.
rE,s. The greatest demand is for
Agricultural Reports. An edition
OF 300.0 copies is ordered of this
volume, hut c,tn this enormous mum.
her IL insufficient To supply all. and.
in consequence members from rural
districts often exchange or buy large
quantities from city members ~ the
book stores. So large and steady is
the sale of these reports that they
have regular price. They are rated
ut ten cents Il piece, and at this pr:ce
some country member buy them by
the hundred dollars worth. One
member hnnsht 5000 copies last year
at his own exlense for distribution
among his constituents, in addition
to his own supply and all he could
get from fellow members. 1t is said
that some members supply constit'
uents with all public documents. even
though they have to purchase the
books, and that members sometimes
spend hundreds of dollars in this
way. They may have the means, and
rather than risk giving offence they
quietly buy the document, frank It,