Morning journal and courier., 1885-09-24
EDITORIAL NOTES.

Albany.
 
 EDITORIAL NOTES.
 The school meeting held yesterday was not quite as much of farce as former meetings have been, but it was, nevertheless, rather funny.
 Somebody proposes to introduce Spanish in the public schools of Boston. Here is an idea for our New Haven "educators,' who are much given to tsnew wrinkles"
 We publish this morning the reply of the mugwumps to whom the Hon. Lynde Harri sons recent letter was addressed It is in teresting, but, like the mugwumps them selves, rather unsatisfactory.
 A case involving the use of the King James bible in the public schools has just been de cided by Judge Mehard of Mercer county, Pennsylvania He holds that it is for the advantage of the community to support by taxation schools in which morality as & means of safety and stability is taught, that the bible stands in the front rank of books that some English bible must be used in schools where English is spoken and that the most generally accepted version may bs chosen. The case has been appealed to the Supreme court.
 preacher at a camp meeting fervidly said, when proposition was made to shut the gates on Sunday Brethren: there are souls that will be damned if you don't hold over Sunday. They are almost persuaded by Saturday. Sunday will bring their convic- tions to crisis. Ol brethren, let us savs them!- Thousands, too, will come then that will come at no other time." The Christian Advocate makes the report, and it's editor adds that by personal investigation he fou md out that the urgent speaker owned the re freshment stand.
 There has been a great change in the in- dustrial affairs of Cali fornia, and this change is forcibly illustrated by the display at the Mechanics fair in San Francisco. A few years ago the machinery hall resounded with the din of quartz mills and other machinery devoted to mining purposes. There were amalgamators, pumps and an infinite variety of contrivances for the extraction of the precious metals. Now there is scarcely any thing to remind one that California is min ing country except few models of mining machinery and handsome display of min eral specimens. There is machinery enougl in the building, however, but it is mostly O. an agricultural character. This industry ha displaced mining as the chief business of thu State.
 ho conara11y knnwn that th District of Columbia is more plentifully en l dowed with female population than any othe l State or territory, having 112, ,524 females t' 1 100, ,OOO males Next comes Rhode Island l with 1O7, ,57O females to 100000 males, fol | lowed by Massachusetts, with 107,712 fe ! males to 100,0 males. Connecticut, Ney Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carroll na, New York, Virginia and Alabama .aver age about 103, 900 females to 100, ,O00 males or an excess of 2115 per cent. to per cent. c the males. Then come Maryland, Georgia 1 New Jersey, Louisiana, Tennessee, Maine an l Pennsylvania, where the excess is less tha l 215 per cent. of the males, Pennsylvania hay | ing 100, AS females to 100, ,O00 males. In tn remaining States and territories the male 1 predominate.
 l A queer story comes from New Zealand The owls in that island used to be as harm less as doves. Indeed, they were "mousin ! owls," and therefore, useful. But one nigh a settler left sheepskin ailed to his roc and an owl came along and tasted of the ia mutton left thereon. That owl became sheep killer, alighting on lambs back thre ' l.Aa .%r ell f1o ntI, l CT owls began to like mutton, and now tn New Zealand bird of that species stays thou sands upon thousands of sheep, their appe tites growing by what they feed on, an their numbers increasing in proportion t their prosperity. They alight on the backs o the poor sheep and tear the poor beasts wit
 their peaks, going at once down through tn carcass to the kidney fat, which to the owl tongue is the daintiest of morsels.
 At the recent railway congress at Brussel | the question whether it would be economica 1 and desirable to use iron or steel instead o wooden sleepers was fully discussed. l was stated that metal sleepers of various pat terms are being used in Holland and India t a considerable extent and that they are beinl tried experimentally in Belgium, Englan' and other countries. An opinion was ex pressed that sleepers of the description whicl is being tried in England would afford goo' material support for the rails on main lines although some inconvenience might be fel from quoin of wood being used with it It was also considered that other meta sleepers which are being tried in Hollan' and elsewhere have given satisfactory re suits. The cost of metal sleepers is highe than that of wood. They require good bal last, and there has not been sufficient experi | ence for their use, in regard to their dura l tion and maintenance, to enable the section to state specifically their relative advantages It was therefore considered that further ex perience is necessary. The difficulty of ar irving at conclusion as to what would b l applicable in all countries and under all cir I cumstances was exemplifed in the discussion of this subject by the representative of tn Egyptian railways. He stated that iron O ! steel sleepers cannot be economically used il \ Egypt, because they become corrodsd by th