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

A Massachusetts, paper mill has adopt
ed safety paper which will make It ak
tremeIy difficult for any one to famper
with bank notes or checks printed upon
IL. The cOloring matter Of the paper is
so prepared that the application Of any
chemical to remove ink will permanent
~ change the color of the paper, and an
ingenious device is added which betrays
ct once any attempt to make an erasnre.
Between the two the enterprising forger
will be sure to come TO grief
The people Of Arkansas have sent
memorial to the legis ature of the State
asking for the enactment of law to pre-
vent the destruction Of insectiyorous
birds. The immense annual loss inflicted
on grain, cotton and other crops by nox-
ious insects is keenly felt, and the farm
ers and planters of Arkansas think it is
about time to protect their friends, the
birds, or at least those that feed in part
or wholly on insects. Experience has
shown that insectivorous birds are the
greatest protection known against nox-
ions insects, but it is often difficult to en-
courage the visitsOf the beneficial species
and to discourage those that feed ex-
clusively on seeds and fruits. It is
probably better to protect all than to
destroy those known TO be of great
value in destroying insect pests.
The Fakir OF Ava, so called, famous
as performing necromancer some twen-
ty years ago, il now retired at the age of
seventy. His name is Isaac Hughes,
and he got his Oriental title from an
other Snowman, one Marshall. who made
much money by feats of legerdemain,
but drowned himself on account of fami-
" troubles The duplicate Fakir has
been explaining how he advertised him
self and achieved his tricks. On one oc-
casion he borrowed, at Nashville, Tenn,
the bonnet of the widow of James X.
Polk. who was in the audience, tore it
J to pieces before her eyes, and then re-
turned it, whole, shooting it out of y
conjuror's gun. He had caused COM
plete copy of her bonnet to be made by
amilliner in town. after seeing the orig
inal in the street one day. and had de-
pended on her coming to his entertain
tainment. That cheat established his
reputation in the South.
The soothing effect of oil on the sea
has been made the subject of especial
attention by the photographic office of
the United States navy department.
Some of the data collected are printed
on the pilot chart of the North Atlantic.
The experiments tried by several Ameri-
can and English shipmasters are de-
scribed and the results related. In each
case the angry waves were stilled and
the ship went on her way as steadily as
though no stiff winds were blowing or
heavy seas running. The photographic
officer requests shipmasters to make ex-
periments in the matter whenever the
opportunity occurs, and to report the
results to one of the branch photograph.
ic Offices, or directly to the central Office
at Washington. When sufficient data
have been collected pamphlet will be.
issued giving such directions in regard
to the use of oil as the common expert
ence of seamen may determine to be the
best.
References have been made from time
to time to the large number of foreign
ers and Christians in Egypt in danger Of
being massacred. should the struggle
once become one of Mussulman against
Christian. Two years ago census was
taken in Egypt and the results have just
been published. North of Wady Halfa
the whole population of Egypt is 9, sos,
SS1, and of q greater density than even
Belgium, namely, 527 to tho square mile,
against 4S5 in Belgium. The foreign
element is much larger than is generally
supposed, amounting to e0,88U The
larger portion Of this number Is Of Greek
origin, namely 81, 301; Italian, rs, 605;
French, IS, TO; Austrian, S,022; Brit
ism, 6,11S, after which the nationalities
are small. In Alexandria there are As, :
672 foreign residents; in Cairo, q, $50,
and IN Port Sid. 5,S67. In the Soudan
there was also q good sprinkling of
Greeks, Armenians and others. priEci-
pally in the towns.
It IS perhaps not generally known that
q large ruby is of more value than
large diamond. Mr.. Streetcr. who wrote
book about iewe.s, states that the
ruby ranks FOR price and beauty above
all other stones. When q perfect ruby
Of five carats is brought into the market
i sum will he offered for IL ten times the
price given for q diamond Of the same
weight: but should it reach the weight
Of ten carats it is almost invaluable
With respect to the romance Of precious
stones the author just quoted tells q Gu
ri0ns story about sapphires. a native
Of India loaded one hundred goats with
these gems, and reached Simla after 3