The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-26
SCOTLAND NECK, HALIFAX THURSDAY 26,
TIMELY TOPICS.

TIMELY TOPICS.
The suicide of children is sngularly
painful phenomenon of modern high
pressure. Vital statistics show that in
/ 1884 ninety-five children under fourteen
years of age committed suicide in the
i United States.
In Maricopa county, Arizona. there is
considerable barbed fence, and the vast
f1ocks of wild ducks which frequent the
valley often fly low and, striking the
j barbed fences, become imraled thereon
1t is said that tons of ducks are gathered
daily by boys from the fences and sent
to market
The New York World calls attention
to the fact that the most malig' ant
cholera that we ever had in this country
was imported in 1882 on sailing vessel
This pretty eifectually squelchcs the
theory recently put forth by DR.. Pctten-
kofer that cholera germs could not out
live atwenty-day sea voyage.
Still the orchid war continues. A
lady in New York who raises orchids has
already two thousand specimens, and is
/ constantly on the lookout for more va
rieties. Among them is plant that sells
for fifty guineas in London. The rage
for orchids is now at its height, and the
rivalry among fashionable growers wakes
hot. -.
A physician connected with one of the
hospitals in New York where children
receive special attention, says that many
! of the cases of spinal trouble brought to
! his notice are the direct result of the
careless handling of baby carriages. The
matter Of how nurses and others handle
| these little vehicles is one to which par
ents may we'll pay attention.
A New Orleans doctor calls attention
to very simple fact which merits atten-
ton from medicine takers. If the medi-
cine is mixed with very cold water, and
a few swallows of the water be taken as
preparatory dose, the nerves of the
+, organ of taste become sufficiently be-
numbed to make the medicine nearly
tasteless. The method will not disguise
bitter taste, but acts we'll in oils and
salines.
"Undoubtedly the oldest apple trees
west of the Missouri river" says the
Lewiston Gdaho) Nens ''are those On the
| Alpowai. Some of them are over a foot
in diameter. These seeds were brought
out by the Rev. Mr.. Spaulding, the mis-
sionary who was stationed at Lanwai
many years ago, and the father of Mrs,
Eliza Warren, the first white children
born on the Pacific slope, and who visited
this city last fall, in the year 1886"
That standard publication, the cal
manack de Gotha," for 1885, shows that
Norway has The smallest number of in
habitaEts to the square mile, with Rus
s;a second, of all the countries of Europe.
Portugal has 1,0S4 women to every 900
men, the largest preponderancc of any
country. Germany comes next with
1.O29 women to every 1000 men. The
: greatest surplusage of men is found in
Greece, where to every 1,Oo0 men there
are only 900 women.
Some speculative individual has pro-
mulgated queer story about, eyes, bv
which one can be made to see without
them His theory is to place a piece of
copper above the tongue and one of zinc
beneath it, and then by closing the eyes
and letting the tips of the pieces of
metal touch each other flash of light
,can,be detected. The eyes do not see,
but the sensation Of seeing is a vivid
one, and the impression thus transmitted
to the optic nerve, and thence to the
brain, would, with blind persons, answer
the same purpose as eyes.
When Grover Cleveland became Presi-
dent of the United States he lacked
fourteen days of being forty eight years
old. Only one younger man has been
inaugurate6 President, and that is Grant,
who lacked some six weeks of being
forty seven years old when he entered
the White House. Franklin Pierce was
three months over forty eight, and Ar
thur and Garfield were each trile less
than fifty. All the other Presidents have
been older. William Henry Harrison,
with his sixty eight years, being the
oldest of them all at taking the oath of
office.
A young American surgeon has lately
received high honors in Belgium. This
IS Francis w. Strain, a graduate of the
Jefferson Medical college. of Philadel-
phia, and surgeon of the Red. Star
steamer Nordland. He lately removed
from the face of lady connected with
the court of Brussels tumor which had
dcfed the skill of the royal physician.
In recognition of his skill, the Young
surgeon has been elected an honorary
member of the Royal Suciety of Surgeons
in Belgium, and has been presented with
a royas gold medal, appended to fac
simile of King Leopold's crown and
colors. ...-..--
Mrs. Alice n. Lincoln is one of the
most energetic, practical and business
like women in Boston. She is also one
of the wealthest. She has magnificent
home in Commonwealth avenue and
possesses an income of about $12, 900 a
year. She has always taken a great in
terest in sanitary matters, and since the
newspapers began their crusade against
filthy tenements she. has been running