Morning journal and courier., 1884-05-24

It is estimated that fve-shilling fee would
 be very readily paid by thirty cyclists the
 day during eight months of the year for ex-
 cursion tickets from London to Brighton and
 back, besides hundreds of smaller fees for
 intermediate distances.
 Robert Purvis, of Philadelphia, now in his
 seVenty-fourth year, who has been leader
 of the eolored race for half century and
 friend of all the abolition leaders, has been
 talking in an interesting way abont the poli-
 tical situation. He said: Personally am for
 Arthur, though few of the colored people
 are. I like him because of what he has not
 done. As Beecher said about Hayes, there
 are times when the nation needs poultice.
 But if Butler skould run on any ticket, the Republican candidate would not have much show. How comes it. I once asked Wen dell Phillips, that you uphold man like Butler?' Well, know he's demagogue,' said Mir. Phillips, but there's one thing about him--he'n do as he says We'll, the colored people feel that they have 8 great friend in Butler. He is sort of idol with them. It
 was he who invented the term 'contr aband'; it was he who put former colored slaves to guard their Confederate masters; it was he who imprisoned southern aristocrats for brutalities to servants, and, as governor of Massachusetts, he was the first te put colored judge upon the bench. Oh yes, if Butler will be in the field he will take much of the colored vote. As for Blaine, the colored people like him, and the leading men among them, who are active in political life, like him extremely. He has bssn very kind to many of them and gone out of his way on occasions to do things for them. I think that the leading coIored men of the South, to great extent, prefer Blaine.
 The new kind of powder introduced by Krupp, the great gunmaker, is creating quite 8 sensation among experts, inasmuoh as it may lead to the disuse of black powder. It is known under the modest name of brown powder, owing to it's peculiar color, which resembles that of chocolate or cocoa, and owes it's discovery to mere accident. Ac- cording to the reports on the trials hitherto made, the brown powder hss decided ad- vantage over the black in producing great CT velocity. with an equal pressure of gas, and being applicable to guns of every caliber. The remarkable fact about it Is that 1t ex- plodes only in tightly closed space, while in the open air or in the powder box it ig- mites slowly and without explosion, although it is said to consist of saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, like the black powder, the difer- ence consisting in the relative proportions of these ingredients. It is supposed that the degree of authorization of the wood from which the charcoal is made plays 8 prom inent part in the new discovery, as the color of the powder seems to indicate; as also that the dangerous explosions in mixing and pre- pairing it may heneeforth be prevented. Of special strategic importance is the fact that the smoke of the brown powder is much | and hence will more quickly dis | appear than that produced by the black powder. Trials are now making in all the ! larger artillery services on the continent, and if they confirm the improvements | claimed there can be no doubt that the new l invention may produce an entire revolution l in the military world