The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-10-27

Ao1O Y CiSuI per CcuG, dIu Is HOW
twenty-five. There are only seventeen
States with more people than New
York city.
The growth Of American public
libraries since the revolution has been
something phenomenal. There were
in the country in 1875 but twenty of
these institutions, with an aggregate
of 1923 volumes. At the present
time there are. nearly 1900, containing
more than 100000 volumes.
Paper Is made in France from hop
vines, and it is claimed that the fibre
secured Is the best substitute for rags
yet obtained, as it possesses great
length, strength, flexibility and deli
cacy. Papermakers near hop-growing
districts should investigate this mat
ter, for the vines are now a waste
product.
The boundary between Massachu-
sets and New Hampshire has been in
dispute 160 years. No strictly legal
line exists. In l741 the King of Eng
land directed representatives of both
provinces to jointly make a map, in
accord with some general directions,
but Massachusetts did not obey, and
New Hampshire did the work alone.
A strip of Merrimac valley is the
doubtful ground.
The center of population is moving
rapidly westward. It is now a little
to the south of Cincinnati, having long
since crossed the Alleghenies. The
movement has been about 44.5 miles
west for every mile south. In 1890
the movement westward will probably
DO even greater, and, so rapid has
been the settlement of the Northwest,
the center of population will be far
Their north than at present.
One of the most interesting features
of the big cranberry marshes of Wis
consin are the pumps used to food the
ground. The Sacket marsh near
Berlin has two that draw their supply
from the Fox river and throw $4,000
gallons a minute. The stream is 20
feet wide, 4 deep and moves at the
rate of l6O feet a minute, flooding the
lOOO-acre marsh to a depth of IL to
Is inches in 10 hours. The water is
depended on as a protection against
frost, also to drown the insects which
infest the cranberry blossoms in May.
The British colonies include the
richest and largest forests in the
world. extending over millions of
square acres. In India alone about
$4,000 square miles are afforested, and
the forests of Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and Cape Colony are second
to none in size and the variety and
value of their productions. But there
Is no knowledge Of forestry and no
school Of the art in France and Ger
many. Consequently the acreage
under timber there and in Great
Britain itself is small and constantly
decreasing. OF the 10000, 900 square
acres of Scotland. only about 100000
to 100000 acres are woodland.
NJ. Delaunay of Paris predicts that
earthquakes on a grand scale will oc-
u next year either when the earth is
uuder the influence of a planet Of the
first rank, like Jupiter, or under that
of a group of asteroids, or at a time
when the sun and moon are nearest to
our planet simultaneously. This spe-
cialist in earthquakes foretold the
frightful catastrophes which occurred
in South America in 1877. He an
nounced a vast seizmic disturbance in
1883, and the appalling disasters in
the Indian Archipelago followed. He
raised his voice of warning also before
the late extensive shaking of the earth
In Spain. 1t is no wonder that his
latest utterances have caused consider
able attention in various countries.
An Englishwoman just home from
America sends to the Pail Mall Ga