Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-11-03
OLD WORLD ECHOES.
A SUFREME INTERNATIONAL HIGH
COURT.
The Railroad Race-A Tough Old
Toad-Victoria's Hoardings-
Markham on Manitoba.
written for the RECORD UY1ov.

the journals OF that nation are fond OF IN |
dulging in One Of these processes to see
in the establishment of a Supreme Inter |
national High Court, in Ehich both the
empire and the republic would be repre-
sented, the forstsilment 'ef any step in the
direction Of Canadian saBnexation of the
kind foreshadowed IN Senator SherEaan's
speech The ties Of language, however,
though strong, must yield superiority to
those ties which core of living on par
ticular continent or island, under particu-
lar institutions OF laws, which are often
Numerically opposed to tong'le sympa
thies, as past events have proved The
latter have never knit us very close to-
gether, and in the light of national pstri-
otism can be i'll depended on for furnish
ing that mortar of solidity which will
unite the stones Of republic and a mon-
archY. The dream is wild one, and events
are moving fast which, while showing the
impossibility Of its fulfllment, point to the
dawn of that reality hinted at by General
Sherman as being something more sub
stantial than Il statesman's vision.
Alta recent meeting of the Royal Geo
graphical Society, paper was read by
Commodore Markham, which has hardly
less interest for his countrymen than for
those on whom devolve the profits of fur
nishing the latter with bread. The vast
grain-producipg districts of Manitoba are
to be brought nearer to the mother country
by means of line of steamers running
direct from Liverpool to Fort Churchill in
Hudson Cav. Promoters of this scheme
contend that the physical obstacle in the
way of it being carried out, viz: ice, is by
no means insurmountable, and that with
steamers built for the purpose, the straits
would be open for navigation for four
months in the year. From Winnipeg to
Fort Churchill, the point Of shipment, is
700 miles, distance which the Canadian
Government is willing to devote no less
than 1000 000 acres for subsidigins . rail-
road for the purpose OF spanning. All
the routes from Nanitoba at pres
ent involve many transhipments, the cost
of which is, of course, added to the grain
By the new short cut there will be only one
transhipment, while the Manitoban me-
tropolis will be brought 900 miles nearer
Liverpool than by any other route at
present traversed. Last season 10000 900
bushels of wheat were produced in these
regions, and when the British assert that
of the undeveloped wheat fields of North
America as much as three-fourths are
north of the American boundary line, the
statement may be received as an adumbra-
tion Of the truth. From whatever quarter
England gets her wheat is really matter
of very little consequence to us, for as this
country gets more thickly settled ample
mouths will be found at home for the sur
plus which has hitherto been exported.
After being maintained with brisk vigor
for three months, the British railroad race
has collapsed by mutual consent of the
various competing companies. On the
whole, the London and Northwestern
comes out most victorious in a contest
which, for speed, has never been paral-
leled. All the companies records are
creditable, but perhaps the feat of the
Northwestern running 1881 miles without
Il stop in l7S minutes, is the most marvel
ous Its rival, the Great Northern, has
run 1913 miles in 124 minutes, and the Cal
edonian 100 miles in 104 minutes, ten con.
secutive miles in this case being over q
been abandoned for the season, and for the
remainder of the fall and winter the Brit
ish expresses will settle down to their joe
trot average of fifty miles an hour.
The Shambles is the sinister appellation
given to a tribunal in London presided
over by a Draco whose name (Hardman)
seems to have specially fitted HIM for
dealing out drastic drafts of justice. Sir
William of the Surrey Sessions, treads in
the footsteps of Sir Henry Hawkins, who
with Lord Coleridge are the poles of JUS
tice as she is meted The amiable and ac-
complished Lord Chief Justice reflects his
character in his sentences, which have
ever been as mild and salutory, as those OF
the former have been harsh and undis-
eliminating For offenses against prop
erty, long terms of imprisonment are going
out of fashion in England, belief there
holding current, that OF all influences in
lmical TO reformation in the malefactor.
that of long sentences is most.
The equine form divine is about to be
modified, at least if the suggesti ons of a
certain Mr. Fawcus, given in the Alnwick
Guardian, are permitted to have play.
The gentleman complains that the contem-
porary horse is 'too stilted an animal" !"
and would remedy this defect by shorten
ing the cannon bones by about one-half,
an Improvement in the osseuns structure
of the quadruped by which it would be the
gamer both in power and speed Mr..
Fawcus contends that this abridgment of
the cannon bone would be compensated by
mo coH tl,a a.
thigh and shin bones), thus lengthening
the stride, and giving ease to the pace.
What have breeders and their theory OF
artificial selection to say to this? If it win
result in the production of an ideal
quadruped, why cannot Mr.. Darwin's ex-
periments in the case of pigeons be sue
cessfully initiated il the case of horses?
The discovery of a prehistoric toad in
some stratifed clay in railroad cutting in
the north ofEngland has revived interest
IN this the most extraordinary form ot
suspended animation of which science has
experience. The disentombed batrachian
IN this instance. was accorded longevity
of between 10000 and 10000 years, OF
ctevat with the occurrence of the last glacial
period Z geological landmark the precise
N<AtS Vi faaitNu NC determined VIII
accuracy. Unfortunately his premature
exhumation prove the death of him. foa
the toad survived but three days en- ex
posure to,shat light TO which he had beer
bind fer twenty-five oenturiesi Resurree
ton in the frogs case was clearly create.
calamity than being buried alive.
One Of her Majesty's loyal subjects
alarmed by reports of the depreciation il
value of eartain securities in which tn,
hoardings of Queen Victoria are supposed
to be invested, has recently made calcu
lation of th2t lady's wealth, said calcula
ton being Of u nature at once reassurins
and instructiEe. From this it.seems tha
Mrs Guelph enjoys an annuity of s.. .925.
coo, only aboet $400,e00 of which goe.
into her privy purse, the remainder being
absorbed by the expenses incident to sup
porting her high position. In addition
to this, however. the new Domesday
Book shows Queen Victoria to be seized
of some 10000 acres Of land, from
which source she derives an I'D.
ditional 100000 annually. With that
thrift for which the royal lady Is remark,
ahIo bo- ,,,rohar., af (siayauont 1,,, -