Morning journal and courier., 1885-08-26


 because of dissatisfaction with the platform
 be too harshly judged. There is good deal of excuse for it.
 Railroad companies have done great deal for temperance in refusing to employ men who drink too much, and the Lehigh Valley railroad company has taken a step further and given strict orders to all conductors of passenger trains to see that tobacco is 'tnot used in any form by any person employed upon passenger train while on duty"
 Mr. Tilden is truly wonderful old man. Somebody said he physically and men,
 tally incapacitated from taking an interest in
 passing political events, and the usual refu- tation of this islander has been made. It ap- pears that with the exception of some trou-
 ble with his voice he still retains more abili- ty than is possessed by any other Democratic statesman.
 The municipal council of Milwaukee has set good example to other cities in adopting civil service reform restriction in regard to
 the tenure of position by the police and fire men and other employees in the city depart ments. They are to be appointed by exam ination as to fitness and without regard to political influence and are not to be removed
 without cause or manifest ineficiency.
 Still another explanation of seasickness was furnished by the explorer, Dr. R. Neuhauss,
 at recent meeting of the Berlin Medical so-
 ciety. He considers seasickness to be sim
 ply slight attack of uremia, blood poison
 ing caused, as his experiments go to show, by
 the diminished activity of the kidneys at sea.
 He recommends the use of the hydrate of chloral on the third or fourth day of the sickness, but condemns all other so-called remedies as useless. Alcoholic stimulants he considers injurious to seasick patients. Ac cordirg to Dr. Neuhauss only three per cent of mankind are proof against seasickness and about the same number resist all remedies. The military system of Germany is very complete affair. The railway regiment in the German army, whose duty it is to lay down railways for the conveyance of troops, now contains s'balloon detachment" which is provided with military balloons of various sizes for reconnoissances and other military purposes. The largest of these is the Barba-
 ra, which is attached by wire rope 300 me- tres long with cable for telephonic commit nication between the earth and the balloon. An electric lamp is carried in this balloon for lighting up the surrounding country in the night Smaller balloons are used for signalling. They are attached by rope of hemp in which there is a cable, by means of which an electric light can be produced in the balloon. The meaning of the signals is determined by the length of time during which the balloon is lighted up.
 The people of Massachusetts gre pleased with the working of their new law to facili- tate composition with creditors. This law permits an adjournment of the hearing for seven days, during which notice must be sent to all creditors and voluntary settle ment may be arranged. If composition is 1 seen to be impossible the debtor must file in court the written assent of a majority in number and value of creditors who have proved their claims. If the composition is | to be for less than fifty cents on the dollar | the assent of three-fourths of the creditors is ! necessary. No claim entitled to priority is I counted nor any creditor whose claim is less \ than fifty dollars. The court then deter mines whether the composition shall be con \ firmed, hearing any creditor who wishes to ! be heard and taking into consideration any ! matter that would prevent 8 discharge in l insolvency. No assignee is required and the | dividends are distributed by the register. l A gratifying proof of the development of the new South is found in it's rapidly increas- | ing railroad mileage. The total. number of
 miles of railroad constructed in the United
 States last year amounted to 3,977, which | was a considerable decline from 1882 with it's il ,6O2 miles, and even from 1883 with its 6, 800 miles. To this total the South con- tributed ,496 miles, or more than one- third. l North Carolina, which in 1883 made only 36
 miles of new railroad, built 174 miles last year. But the greatest relative progress was
 made in the long neglected State of Florida, l which last year constructed 182 miles of rail- I road and 790 miles in the last four years. ! With the exception of Texas and Arkansas l all the southern States have made notewor- \ thy progress in railroad construction. In | Texas there has been 8 material reaction l from the feverish activity of 1881 and 1889, when 3, 7o5 miles of railroad were construct ed in it's territory. Last year the number of l miles of new railroad constructed in Texas was only 113. In Arkansas the same reac- ' tion is visible, though in less degree, the mileage of new railroad in that State deciin- ' ing from 245 in 1883 to 33 miles in 1884, Japan is a very progressive country. It