The Portland daily press., 1888-11-01
PERSONAL AND PECULIAR.

A touching picture of party loyalty was
presented at the Union depot at st. Louis
the other day by woman with two sets Of
twins, the younger being about two months
old. The elder pair she said were called
Blaine and Logan and the other two Harri-
son and Morton.
Daniel Hands noble gift of million dol
lars for the education of coored people in
the South will educate 800 pupils year.
Mrs. U. s. Grants new home in West End
avenue, New York. is picturesque struc-
ture of brick and graystone. When fully
finished its cost, it is stated, will be not far
from 100000.
The late official returns, which are for 1886,
show that 24,S41 persons were killed by wild
beasts in that year in British India. OF
these 22.130 were killed by snakes, 92S by
tigers, 222 by wolves, 1914 by leopards, 113 by
bears, 81 by elephants. "a by hyenas, and
1.169 by other animals, including scorpions,
1ackals, lizards. boars, erocodiles, buffalos,
mad dogs and foxes. In the case both of
human beings and animals the destruction
appears to be on the increase. During the
past nine years rewards we're paid for 49,
$50 wild animals, and for 2,672, ,467 snakes.
Emperor Williams tour in Austria and
Italy is said to have cost not less than e4o,- :
600. The amount given TO servants of the
sovereigns whom he visits is something fab
ulous, and other presents cost frightful
sum. For example, when the Emperor
Nicholas visited Windsor in 1843, he gave the
housekeeper $1,000 William took with him
from Berlin eighty diamond rings, 15O silver
stars. fifty scarf pins, all richly jeWeled I;
thirty diamond bracelets, six splendid pres
sentation swords, thirty large photographs Of
himself, with the empress and their chill
dren, all In gold frames; thirty gold watches,
100 cigar cases, with the imperial arms and
monogram in gold, and twenty stars in dia-
monds of the Orders of the Black and Red
Eagle.
The first attempt to record public speech
by means of the phonograph was made last
Thursday evening at Democratic rally in
the Park Rink in Orange, N. Y. The funnel
seven feet long, looking like huge cornu-
copia, was placed in front of the platform.
with the large end pointing toward it. The
small end was connected with the transmit
ter of the phonograph, which stood upon
table about nineteen feet distant from the
mouth of the speaker. Eighteen cylinders
were used, and the portions o. speeches
which were taken occupied nearly two hours.
utes, and then it had to be replaced with a
new one. There was slight break caused
by the changing of the cylinders. but this
difficulty can easily be obviated by using two
machines. The breaks, hover, are not seri-
Gus. At the Edison laboratory the phono-
graph was put in operation, and a reporter,
by putting the tubes to his ears, heard the
peroratlOn of the speech. Protection Pro-
lection! Protection for monopolies and
trusts! said the phonograph; At the con-
cluslon OF the speakers remarks, there arose
storm OF cheers, mingled with the clapping
OF hands and the stamping of feet There
could be heard a confused mass of sounds as
OF an audience rising to their feet and dis
persing, amid conversation, laughter and the
playing of band.
Japan writes the journalist "Carp" to
the Boston Globe, sis land made and run
by human muscle. The cattle and horses
are few, end human sweat makes Japan's
bread. The mail wagons are pulled by men,
and the streets and the castle grounds are
watered by push carts. 1t is human muscle
that cultiyates Japan. Cattle and horses are
no part of Japanese country scenes, and an
American plough which saw in Toxic
store v as pointed out as a curiosity. If it is
used at all it will probably be pulled by men.
As 1t is, the land is made hollow with sort
of a mattock, which is very heavy, and
which has blade about six in shes wide and
two feet long. The rice fields of Japan are
living monuments of human labor, and every
grain of rice you eat represents a certain
amount of human muscle. The fields must
be flooded again and again with water and
the plants are transplanted from their first
growth into rows. l have seen men and
women by scores bending their backs and
hoeing this rice. and am told that their
wages run from 10 to 20 cents day."
The horseshoes of Japan are very queer
contrivances, though they are not very diff
ferent from the shoes of the men who drive
the horses. The feet of both horse and
driver are shod with straw, and the straw
shoes are in both cases tied around the ankle
with straw rope, and are made of ordinary
rice straw braided so that they form a sole
tor the foot about half an inch thick. These
shoes cost about cent pair and when they
are worn off they are thrown away Every
cart has stock of fresh new shoes tied to
the horse or to the front part of the cart, and
in the country here it was formerly the Gus
tom TO measure distance large v by the num-
Der of h0rseshoes it took to make the dis
tance. so many horseshoes make davis
journey, and the average shoe lasts for abont
eight miles of travel. 1t is the same with
the coolies They throw away their shoes
when they are worn out.