Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-11-27

transmission by wire. The telegraph op
orator sent it off, leaving off the last two
words, and making tbs telegram read: Il
have suspended" The excitement caused
knows no bounds, because Mr.. Wanamaker
was known to have been ''long" on Read
ing.
A CHILD's fancy that she sees and talks
with the Virgin Mary III wood near the
Syrian village of Gutenberg has created
a great commotion among the peasantry
of the surrounding country. Pilgrims to
the number Of 500 on a week day and 5000
on a Sunday are said to march in process
sion to the sacred spot. The little girl,
once in the afternoon and again in the
early evening, appears dressed in white,
and going to the tree communicates with
the Virgin in behalf of the assembled
multitude.
ELECTRICITY will yet illumine all the
recesses of civilization. Some one has in
vented mode of inclosing an electric light
in canes and umbrella handles. Unscrew
ing lid on the end reveals an incandesc
ent light operated by tiny battery IN
the stick. 1t will burn good many hours
without renewal. 1t will be very conven-
lent for the man who has trouble to dis
tinguish his own house as he comes no IN
late from the club or lodge.
Mo, ", ,-C,,o IVIr, ADJ, ,oroci don't of
the woman Christian temperance union,
may be bishop before many years. The
admission of women as delegates to the
general conference of the Methodist
church, it is said, would make her a. for
midabe candidate for such an ecclesiasti-
cal office. But Miss Willard can be a bishop
under the present condition if the men
will vote for her. 1t usually takes $50
votes to secure bishopric and there is no
constitutional objection to her being voted
for by anyone, man or woman.
IT is not altogether encouraging to
government feels that it must increase
the military strength of the country on
account Of the added armament of Ger
many. The Emperor William may be
deeply interested in the condition of the
working people of his kingdom, may be
Inclined to experiment with socialism and
may encourage consumptive hospitals and
other philanthropic schemes. At the
same time the rest of Europe feels it nee
essary to keep sharp eye upon the young
kaiser.
AMERICANS have often been amused by
English accounts of current and historical
events in the United States Since the
days of Arrowsmith's famous journeys IN
search of American horrors there has not
been anything in the line of malapropos
narrative to excel a passage IN preten
tious article published by Moreton Frewen
In the November number of the Fortnight
ly Review. The article is a dissertation on
1.-The National Policy of the United
States. and in describing how our coun
try became a union it says this: But
Rhode Island-perhaps because she was an
island declined to accept the constitution
Six months later. finding that every port on
the mainland was closed to her surplus
products, Rhode Island came into the
union" The good citizens of Prov
idence should especially enjoy this wis
dom of an insular embarrassment.
BEsANCoN and Hermits, respectively an
aeronaut and astronomer of Paris, are still
considering the feasibility of a trip to the
north pole by means of a balloon. They
propose to start from Spitzbergin in ! ia
vorable wind and expect to be about 10
days in the air, making good use of the
time mean while in photographing the
country or sea bel W. They have no idea
where they would finally descend-and
probably the world would never know.
Their balloon will be made of two thick
neeyot Chinese silk. and will hold AZ,
600 cubic feet of hydrogen gas. With
provisions for month they expect to do
something if the balloon will stay up long
enough. That is the point that puzzles
the aerial voyagers just now, but they hope
to decide by tests of such problems of navi
cation before May, 1892 when they propose
to start. The most facinating feature o
this scheme is its theoretical plausibility.
ALTHoUGH Jay Gould denies the story
that he intended to succeed Charles Fran
els Adams as president of the Union
Pacific, it is generally believed that he and
others interested with him have picked up
a large amount of that stock at the present
panic prices for the purpose Of forcing
a big combination of the southwestern and
transcontinental roads. Since the alliance
with the Northwestern, the Union Pacific
has not been a particularly peaceful ele
ment in the western railway situation and
the Gould story is PLAUSIBLE. Things are
undoubtedly shaping for consolidation
of these clashing interests, and the money
and stock markets have probably been
manipulated to some extent, for the pur-
pose among other things of making I'm
ion Pacific cheap purchase. Bet it would
be strange did Gould become president of
the road, should 1t prove that he obtained
controlling interest. He knows as we'll as
any boCy else that the present mainstay
against government foreclosure is the