The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-02-24
VARIETIES,

Tomorrow the anniversary of Washing
toms birth, will be legal holiday in twenty
four states.
A German chemist has succeeded in MAX
ing cocaine out OF chemicals, thereby cheap
ening the drug.
1t is reported that Julian Hawthorne and
his brother-in-law George Parsons Lathrop
are about to start weekly journal in New
York, which will specially publish stories
and poetry.
Beginning Tuesday at Washington there
will be an important conference of New
England Superintendent of Education.
Doubtless the Blair Educational bill will be
carefully considered.
A London publisher, who prints six hun
dred thousand books a year, reports that
Robinson Crusoe" and Monte Christie
lead all others in the sales. Among the
poets, the demand for Longfellow is greater
than for Scott Shakespeare or Byron.
Massachusetts, last year spent 81 ,020, 430 on
her public schools, an average to each child
of $20.42, an increase of $1.0S over that of
the previous year. The Secretary of the State
Board of Education declares the free text
book law of the State to be one of the best
legislative acts of recent years. He traces to
the operation of the law the increase in en-
rollment in all the schools.
The advocates of the twenty-four hour sys-
making rapid progress in introducing it. The
Canada & Pacific railroad company is said to
have adopted it and at the last meeting of
the American Society of Civil Engineers, the
committee on standard time reported its
belief that the railroads generally will have
adopted it within the coming year.
sworthless as weed" does not apply to
sea-weed. A hundred tons of air-dried sea-
weed will yield, besides its salts twenty tons
of algin and fifteen tons of cellulose. The
algin is glutinous substance with fourteen
times the viscosity of starch, or thirty-seven
times that of gum-arabic. 1t is used for siz-
ing, as a mordant in dyeing, in cooking and
the making of confectionery, the manu-
facture of paper, to prevent the incrustation
in steam boilers, and many other uses.
A prominent divine was the invited guest
ing daughter of the host, was grazing the
festiylty, and said impulsively: "Oh, mother,
I've been roasting up in my room all after
noon. It's hotter than" "Alice!" said the
father sternly. II say it's hotter than ---n
alice" said her mother excitedly, and the
hotter than / ever saw it before" continued
the young lady cody, land just sat there
without thing on % "Oh, Alicel' said
her father in alarm. This time the divine
was thoroughly frightened. 81 just sat there
without thing on" "Oh, Alice" said the
mother almost crying. 81 say just sat
there" continued the girl, not noticing the
thing on but my very lightest summer cloth
ing, and read my Bible all the afternoon.
Will you have some more soup, doctor"
An interesting homemade method of nat
ural decoration consists simply in taking a
glass or goblet and placing in the interior a
little common salt water. In day or so
a slight mist will be seen upon the glass
1.
time the glass will present beautiful APP
pearance, the glass being enlarged to twice
its thicknesr, and covered with beautiful salt
crystals, packed one upon another exactly
like some peculiar fungus or animal growth.
1t is necessary to place dish beneath the
glass as the crystals will run over. The glass
can be made additionally beautiful by plac-
ing in the salt and water some common red
ink; this will be absorbed, and the white sur
face covered. No more simple method of
producing inexpensive or beautiful Orna-
ments can be imagined, and by using differ
ent shapes of vases and shades, an endless
variety of beautiful forms can be produced.
Scientific American.
Ersstus Corning, of Albany, has two curl
Gus hobbies. Just at present, says the Al
bany Journal, he spends his spare moments
in endeavoring to augment his rare col
lection of about twelve hundred orchids.
About fifteen years ago he busted himself
for long time in getting together fifty
thousand butterflies. His collection of but
terfiies is perhaps the second or third best in
the United States. A stone-cutter named
StrecBer, OF Reading, Pa, possesses the finest
collection of these insects in this country,
and Henry Edwards, the actor, of New York,
who has collection of over three hundred
thousand butterflies thinks he has second
best. Mr.. Corning keeps his butterflies IN
case that looks very much like a double let
ter file, down in the Office OF his great green
houses on the farm two and one-half miles
south of the city. Some of the flies meas
ure ten inches from tip to tip of the wings.
Others are only the size OF big pinhead,
wings and all. Two of the flies came from
Siberia, and cost large amount OF money.
Most of the insects were taken in exchange