Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1885-10-23
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.
Few persons who adOrn their hats /
in the Alps with edelweiss are aware
of its fragrance, which, however, is |
exceedingly evanescent; it rarely lasts
more than an hour after the flower
has been plucked.
Less than four out Of each hundred
Americans lived in cities in 1880
The city population had increased in
1910 to eight per cent, and is now
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 1776 but twenty of
these institutions, with an aggregate
of 45,623 volumes. At the present
time there arei nearly 1920, 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 100 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. 1t is now little
to the south of Cincinnati, having long
since crossed the Alleghenies. The
movement has been about 445 miles
west for every mile south. In 1890
the movement westward will probably
be 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 flood the
ground. The Sacket marsh near
Berlin has two that draw their supply
from the Fox river and throw 10000
gallons minute. The stream is q
feet wide, deep and moves at the
rate of 100 feet a minute, flooding th'
IO00-acre marsh to a depth of II t.
Is inches in 10 hours. The water is
depended on as a protection agains
frost, also to drown the insects which
infest the cranberry blossoms in May
The British colonies include thu
richest and largest forests in thu
world, extending over millions o
square acres. In India alone abOu
10000 square miles are affOrested, and
the forests of Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and Cape Colony are seconC
to none in size and the variety anC
value of their productions. But there
is no knowledge of forestry and nj
school of the art in France and Ger
many. Consequently the acreage
under timber there and in Grea
Britain itself is small and constantly
decreasing. OF the 100000 squar
acres of Scotland, only about 100000
to 100000 acres are woodland.
NJ. Delaunay of Paris predicts tina
earthquakes on grand scale will &C
cur next year either when the earth j
uuder the influence of a planet of tn
first rank, like Jupiter, or under tina
of a group of asteroids, or at tim
when the sun and moon are nearest {
our planet simultaneously. This spC
cialist in earthquakes foretOld tn
frightful catastrophes which occurre
in South America in 1877. He an
nounced a vast seizmic disturbance il
, 1883, and the appalling disasters i
the Indian Archipelago followed HI
raised his voice Of warning also befoF
the late extensive shaking Of the cart
n in Spain. 1t is no wonder that hi
latest utterances have caused consider
able attention in various countries.
( An Englishwoman just home froI
America sends to the Pail Mall Ga
!. zette her opinion that an influx {
! highly cultured Englishwomen int
1 Canada and the United States woul
4 be as great boon to those countri'
! as it would be a relief to Gree
o Britain. ALTHOUGH the ladies in tn
h older cities of the North America
n continent are" she says, "with scare