Morning journal and courier., 1888-02-11
EDITORIAL NOTES.

A western judge has decided that a man
 in duty bound to tell his wife where he spend
 his evenings when he is away from home This decision won't trouble the western mel
 much. They had to say something before. If the President makes a supplementar,
 message revising his position on the tobacco
 tax he will please the Virginia Democrats | who have been much displeased with what h. | said before. And he can console himsel | with the thought that it isn't the first tim
 great man has "fopped."
 The special delivery system is said to b.
 regarded by the postofioe department as al l assured success, from the fact that the busi ness is increasing nearly twice as fast as the general business of the p1stofices. There have been some complaints of ineficiency ol tardiness in the delivery of letters, but as s rule the special delivery is prompt.
 Edison's new photograph, which is expect. ed to make havoc with stenography and type writing, will be ready for business soon. The sound will be impressed upon 8 little wax cylinder about the diameter of silver dollar, one thousand words to the cylinder. These can be sent by mail in little boxes, the receiv- ST being provided with a duplicate machine into which the cylinder fits.
 The late pr. Asa Gray could be funny. One summer not long ago he was with his pupils looking at the Babylonian willows in the Bo- tanical gardens. The willows were very small and Dr. Gray, regarding them critically for 8 moment, remarked: "Well, all I have to say is that if the children of Israel hung their harps on the willows of Babylon when they sat down to weep, as the scriptures tell us, then they must have been jewsharps.
 The Parisians throw away annually more than 300, 900 tons of material which is picked up by the chiffoniers and sold by them for upwards of 25,000, ,000f. per annum. The daily commerce of the chiffoniers amounts to more than 7O,0O0f, which is shared by 40, 900 men, whose occupation consists in wandering about the streets at night with lantern in hand and bod on their backs and picking all kinds of scraps out of the dust bins and the gutters.
 The business of fire insurance isn't what it has been. Insurance companies of Montreal are in a bad condition if the reports concern ing them are true. They are said to have lost during the last year $1, 500,000 by fires in that city, which is more by two or three times than the premiums which they received and they must raise their rates in order to make both ends meet. Some companies are already closing up business, which cannot, under existing conditions, be continued prof itably.
 No wonder coal is high. According to an English chemist ton of coal contains 1 ,500 pounds of coke, 20 gallons of ammonia water and 40 pounds of tar, from which we may distill 70 pounds of pitch, r pounds of oreo- sote. IA pounds of heavy oils, 91z pounds of yellow naphtha, ,6.3 pounds of naphthaline, AZ pounds of naphthol, 21z pounds of alizarine. 2.4 pounds of fsolventnaphtha,1 111z of phenol,1 pound each of aurine and analine, besides smaller quantities of toludine, anthracine, toluene and saccharine, the latter 230 times as sweet as sugar.
 A postmaster in a small village in Missis- sippi has written to the postmaster general asking him to discontinue the office. He explains that his neighbors, who are wool growers, became distrustful of his rabbit dog, and in consequence, he states, ''It turn ed up missing. So am left here," continues the postmaster pathetically, 'twithout the means of sustenance. So if you expect me to get up nights for the train you will have to forward at once some pork and beans or some other nourishment or 6 new postmaster will have to be appointed at this place." He adds in postscript: 'tMr. - wants me to split some rails for him if can get rid of this office; so hurry up with the grub or the discharge" The office was discontinued in response to his appeal