Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-04-21


each regiment having its own. and, In
fact, being known by its color Deeds
Of bravery are rewarded By 4 present Of
golG, and any private may By continued
! UaIlantrv raise himself to the rank Of
emir. When the Mahdi commands in
person. be Is accompanied BY ten emiEs.
who constitute his staff. by ten officers
who act e. aids de camp. and by four
mounted standard bearers. These TWEEN
tv-four immediate companions Of the
general in chief are alone eligible to sit
On courts marital and councils Of war.
But the Mahdi has several unofficial
councillors. and among these doubtless
are the two Frenchmen, who. according
to the Paris papers, have thrown in their
lot with him.
ssOf course, observes the Troy Times,
1.-THE rollcr-skating Kinks cannot escape
the statistics fiend any more than they
can the criticisms Of people who can't
skate. This pestiferous calculator now
tells US that there are in round numbers
80, 600 roller-skating Kinks in the United
States. Allowing six persons to each
rink as fair estimate for the force neces-
sary to manage the concerns. we have
$50. 900 employees attached to the Kinks.
There are from 80, 900 to 40, 900 pairs Of
skates sold each week, turned out from
| 500 establishments. which keep 200, 900
hands at work. Adding these to the
rink attaches we have $50, 900 persons
making living out of the roller craze.
The number of skaters is not easily COM
puted, but our calculator puts it among
the millions, and it is probable that
! 3, 900, 900 is a low estimate. Each skater
is supposed to pay at least 81 per week
for the amusement, and we have the sum
of at least So, 600, 900 weekly spent for
this purpose To this is to be added the
the first cost of the skates, which is paid
either by the skaters or the rink proprie-
tors The price of these articles ranges
from thirty cents for the cheapest side
walk rollers to So for fancy, highly-fn-
ished skates, and even more in excep-
tional cases. Beside this is to be con-
sidered the cost of erecting, fitting up
and maintaining the Kinks. Thus large
capital is invested in this amusement
plant. so to speak.
The wickedest boy, says the Boston
journal, lives in Washington. He Wis
tied the observatory few days ago with
large fire fly he had caught, and with
the aid of some mucilage stuck it in the
centre of the largest lens of the telescope.
That night, when the astronomer went
to work he perceived blaze of light APP
parently in the heavens, and what
amazed him the more was that it
would give couple of spurts and then
die out. only to burst forth again In
second or two. He examined it care
fully for few minutes, and then began
to do sums to find out where In the
heavens that extraordinary star was
placed. He thought he found the local
itv, and next morning he telegraphed all
over the universe that he had discovered
new and remarkable star OF the third
magnitude in Orion. In q day or two
all the astronomers of Europe and Amer
lea were studying Orion they gazed at It
for hours until they were mad, and then
they began to telegraph to the man in
Washington to know what he meant.
The discoverer took another look, and
found that the new star had moved
18, 900, 600, 600 miles in twenty-four
hours, and upon examining it closely he
was alarmed to perceive that it had legs.
w ASu 4G tfCuJO tA4C NAOuAC ACAb 11AUA
to polish up the glass he found the light
ming bug. The bill for telegraphing
dispatches amounted to 50, 600, and now
the astronomer wants tn find that boy.
This story isrelated by an exchange, and
/ of course is true.
Can q desert be rendered fertile and
fruitful By putting portion Of it under
water2 On the supposItion that such a
desirable result is attainable, the French
are about to carry out the long-talked of
scheme of flooding that portion of the
Sahara which is below the sea level, by
means of canal which will admit the
u aters of the Mediterranean to the de-
pressed basins Of the great African des-
ert. which are Immediately south Of the
French possessions Of Tunis and Algeria.
1 Bv this means it is expected to overflow