The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-01-29
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

IUflCS VI lhE Da1s
A Washington correspondent sug.
gests that it would be good idea for
the United States to have national
mausoleum, like minister Abbey,
in which the 40 could be buried
and statues Of a erected
The shipbuildi 'ry in Maine
is reported to be ,,ly depressed.
The coming prominent
shipbuilder o. ses to be one
Of the hardesC k N Of that
business in reia stsvo Or half a
century,
The Philadelphia Press AYERS that
the city of Mexico has five railroads, a
splendid street-car system, telegraph |
wires to all the world, a telephone SER
vice with 700 subscribers, six daily |
newspapers, electric lights and the best
lighthouses in America.
The United States contains six Won
ders which may we'll be called wonders
Of the world, being. whether natural
or artificial. without any rivals any
where. They are the Yosemite Valley,
Niagara Falls, Natural Bridge. Mann
moth Cave. New York and Brooklyn
Bridge and Washington Monument.
"A woodenware manufactory started
In San Francisco three years ago, is
still the only factory of its kind on the
Pacific Coast, but it has managed to al
most wholly shut off the importation of
wooden ware from the East. 1t makes
annually 5000 fish and 1000 oil barrels
for Alaska, and has lately begun send
ing syrup kegs and butter molds to
the East. A large increase i'll the
working force for the coming year is
looked for.
Sir William Thomson, in q recent
lecture in Baltimore. held that the
theory of the geologists that the inter
ior Of the world is liquid, whether fire
or otherwise, is not true, and the other
theory that the earth has been inhabit-
ed for unknown millions of years, was
contrary to known physical laws. The
interior of the earth, he thinks, is
probably mortared rocks, with limited
spaces of liquid matter. and earth
quakes are probably due to the falling
] of the rocks. and their occurrence he.
regarded as evidence for this theory.
The Brazilian law of 1871, provides
that all children born to slave mothers
shall be free, but cannot obtain their
freedom until they are twenty-one
years old. and must serve their mothers
owner until that time. Consequently
children are worked to death, and only
a small proportion of them live to So
cure their freedom. A traveller says
there "never was nation on the globe
in which slaves were treated with more
diabolical cruelty than they are
today in the coffee-producing prov
inces of Brazil. The punishments
practiced are simply barbarous."
There are still 100000 slaves in the
empire. In two provinces abolition
sentiment is so strong that all of the
slaves have been freed.
A trial for so-called blasphemy, re-
minding one of the religious perse-
cutions in the Middle Ages. has taken
place at Odessa. The criminal court
has sentenced a peasant, member of
the Bible-reading sect known as Stud
dists, to imprisonment for three years
and nine months, and loss of his per-
sonal rights, for having preached
against the image worship of the
Russian Church The trial was held
with closed doors; and although the
majority of the witnesses swore that
the accused had not used the words
imputed to him, the jury, composed of
four intelligent men and eight ignorant
peasants, found him guilty. Another
strange feature of the trial was his
being defended by Jewish advocate;
whereas, Russian law forbids Jews tC
hold briefs in cases of heresy or bias
phemy committed by Christians.
The state department at Washington
furnishes the following statement with
regard to swindle. originating in
Spain, which still finds victims in the
United States "a system of swind
ling has long been in vogue in certain
portions of Spain, to which publicity
has been before given by the depart
ment of State. The continued success!
of the fraud makes another warning
necessary. A family in America re
ceiyes letter from Ceuta, in whici
the writer says that he is IA cure of ont
of the Spanish churches; that he at
tended in his last moments q General
confined in prison, who was near rela
tive of the family he addresses, ant
that he was intrusted with the guar
. dianship of a child and large property
, which was secreted to prevent confisca
tion. Sufficient money is asked for t.
, send the child to the United States
! The cure always impresses upon tn
, person written to that, being Spanisl
, priest, it is expedient that he shall no
be known, and that his promise to tn
departed alone causes him THUS to com