Morning journal and courier., 1885-05-08

gently decided to petition the Pennsylvania legislature to appropriate ten thousand dol lars per annum for the next two years to car " on the work of the typographical survey The commissioners of the second geological survey of Pennsylvania in it's last annual re- port called attention to the necessity of com pleting this work. It says that materials for permanent geological map of the State have been collected during the course of the sur vey, but there is no good typographical base for such map. is claimed that not single county in tue State is correctly map ped, and that the only serviceable map of the State now in existence was made as far back as 1916, and even that is filled with errors, Lebanon being placed two and one-half miles off from it's true position.
 Much was expected from the act passed by the Michigan legislature two years ago pro viding for the probate of wills during the life of the testator, but the law has just been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme court of that State. The ground on which the decision is based is that the law did not give wife an opportunity to be heard touching the disposition by the husband of property in which she has rights. "A wife's interests in her husbands estate,' says the court, 'fare not likely to be purely selfish and personal. The two cooperate in accum- ulating it, generally with an object in view that eventually it shall benefit children or others to whom they are mutually attached; and if the husband, while mentally incom- petent or in the hands and under the inhu- ence of scneming and mercenary persons, is making disposition of it, no person is so justly entitled as the wife to make a showing of the facts to defeat it."
 The New York Commercial Bulletin prints list of one hundred and ninety-si fires which occurred during the mcnth of April, each of which devoured property of a report ed value of over $10,000. The aggregate loss by these fires was over six and a half millions of dollars, and the Commercial Bull letin supposes that the countless smaller fires, all over the country, must have got away with million and quarter more, making the total April fire waste this year seven and three-quarters millions, as against an average of less than five e1nillions in the AprllS or the pfeceulnS ten years. IHe az gregate destruction of property by fire in the United States and Canada since New Years day-only four months time-is estimated at s35, ,25O, ,00O. In view of these figures the Commercial Bulletin very properly says: As long as carelessness almost criminal and de- sign, which actually is criminal, are allowed their own way in producing this enormous and increasing waste of national wealth, the evil will have to be endured, simply because there is no adequate attempt te cure it. *
 If most of this continuous waste were not preventible the would be diff ferent, or, if we were completely helpless against the fiend, there might be some sense
 in the apathy of despair. But, while we in vite fire by furnishing it food and are care less of common precautions against it's ray ages, the nation will keep on paying this $1OO, 1000, 900 year tribute to the worst mas ter free people ever served. And, yet, the American people call themselves free, and like to be thought shrewd!