The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-07

this country. Recent letters from Mr.. Young speak
OF him as in the enjoyment of excellent health, but
lonesome and somewhat respondent.
LORD BRoUGHAM wrote a very ilegible hand, as did
also the late Walter Thornbury. The current hand of
George Cruikshank was an ~atrocious scrawl, and Balzac
wrote a hand nearly as execrable as that of Napoleon.
The handwriting of Mr.. I. Ii. Escott, of the Fort
nightly Review, locks lovely at a distance, but when
you strive to decipher it. then comes the tug of words.
In big writing of remarkable men. perhaps Fenelon's
hand was the finest. In small, the palm belongs to
Thackeray.
LORD CHARLES HAMILTON, the only brother and
heir to the dukedom of Hamilton. married some
years ago an obscure member of the foreign demi.
monde, and was refused a divorce, the judge saying
that Lord Charles knew perfectly well what she was
before he married her. She now lives with a relative
of Lord Lonsdale, and it is said that Lord Charles has
returned to a monastery. The Duke, meanwhile,
lately had a daughter. He can dispose of his great es-
tates precisely as he pleases.
In Mrs. Gardens Memorials of James Hogg. the
Ettrick Shepherd, " it is stated that Hogg's love for
life in London was not great. London impressed him;
but in a letter written home the 10th of January,
1882, he thus describes the metropolis: 'Notwith-
standing of all the caressing 1 have met with, which
is perfectly ridiculous, | nate London; and / do not
think that either hattery or profit can ever make me
love it. 1t is so boundless that I cannot for my life
get out of it, nor can l find any one place that /
want"
WHEN Thaddeus Stevens used to be brought up to
the House of Representatives he had to be carried by
two messengers from his carriage to the members
hall. Chauncey and a messenger by the name of Joe
Reese were detailed to the task of carrying Mr..
Stevens. Both were strong men, in the prime of
life. One day, as Mr.. Stevens was being carried by
them. Reese complained of fatigue, and asked to stop
and rest. While they were waiting, the querulous
invalid looked at his stout helpers as he said, with a
melancholy sigh, II wonder who will carry me when
you two are dead and gone"
EVERETT FARNHAM died at Richmond, Summit
county, o., a few days ago, at the age of eighty.four
years. He was the largest landowner in the county.
He was exceedingly eccentric. He called his lands his
domains. On his farm was a large tract of meadow
land which he called Gods Heart and of that he
took especial care. He was a great admirer of
England and British customs. and on a recent visit to
London he undertook to lecture in the streets on the
benefits of republicanism, and was arrested and
fined. Four or five of his acres were inclosed as a
park in which he kept deer, elk and buffalo.
THE force with which the gas issues from some of
the gas wells in Pittsburg is tremendous, and in one
instance q drilling machine weighing 5000 pounds
was thrown high in the air. The pressure is irregular,
too, and therein lies the chief difficulty in utilizing
the gas for household purposes, as the danger of leak.
age and explosion can hardly be overcome, though
various contrivances are employed to lessen it. The
gas.bearings stratum is here in a bed of soft, pebbly
sand stone, at a depth of 800 feet. underneath
solid rock. The rush of gas is weaker il the morning
and stronger in the afternoon, and there is also a
general fuotuation corresponding with the changes of
the moon.
In the current number of Science fresh interest is
given to the subject of earthquakes, which have
lately caused alarm in both hemispheres, by a state
ment of the number of noticeable shocks in this
country during the twelve years from 1872 to 1883,
inclusive. No less than 2O4 earthquakes are recorded
as occurring in Canada and the United States, not in
cluding Alaska. within the above period. OF these
the Pacific slope had ISL. the Atlantic coast 147, and
the Mississipri valley sc. Thus it appears that an
earthquake occurs about once in every twelve days
somewhere in the United States or Canada, and about
once a month on the Atlantic coast. These are exclu-
sive of the lighter treniors which do not make an i'm
preston on observers, but which would be recorded
by a properly constructed seismometer, an instrument
designed to detect the slighter shocks.