Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-03-15

ate. As q last resource the monarch
armed 1900 women and sent them out to
do battle with the enemy. The female
legion retrieved the fortunes Of their
king by the display Of valor which the
ful day ON which they swept % victors
through the dismayed ranks Of Daho-
mey's invaders the amazons OF the house
hold guard have been the chief reliance
Of the potentates who have succeeded
King Agaja ON the throne.
The corps of amaxons consists of 1000
women who are sworn to chastity. No
female OF the country can marry until
she has the kings consent, and II, upon
view, no decides that she Ii better suited
for war than for wedlock, her engage.
ment is annulled, and she Is entered on
the roll Of soldiers. From that on till
the day Of her death she IL more closely
guarded from temptation than the fair
est bud in the highest social circles Of
civilization. II is death for her to violate
any Of the rules to which she is subject
ed, and she Ii more isolated from the
other sex than nun. The man who
dares keep the road when a squad Of
amazons approaches, does 30 at tho peril
OF his life. The tinkle Of tho amazon
bell warns all males to retreat or dodge
down some byway until the warrior
women have passed on. Only the IA.
vored few who are allowed to carry the
lion stick Of the king dare meet his ma
jesty's body guard face TO face
Although the amazons can never wed,
married women who enter tho regiments
arc allowed to keep up their domestic re-
lations. but all their female children arc
amazons from birth. and the only future
before them is the celibate life Of the SOL
der.
Although Il is . capital crime TO ap-
proach or court q member Of this famous
body guard Of Dahomcy's monarch, love 10
the same the world over and laughs alike
at locksmiths or the most dreadful penal.
ties. Not along ago the king learned
that 100 of his amaxons had entered into
matrimonial relations In violation of the
laws and without his consent. All the
guilty women were killed at AgbOme.
and their husbands shared their fate.
On their march inland the French will
find themselves much troubled by the
lack OF water. It is scarcer and gener.
ally worse than the rum, being half mud.
II they catch the king Of the country
they will secure q man who has long
string OF titles He is described a. "big-
ness with no way OF lifting;" "a rock the
finger nail cannot scratch;" "the lion Of
lions"
In the French chamber Of deputies re-
Gently N. Etienne stated tho cause Of
the disagreement between the two ma
tions. He said that the king OF Da.
honey had refused to recognize the
French protectorate over the slave coast,
and had invaded that territory, but had
been repulsed. He also said that IL the
king refused TO satisfy the demands of
France 1t would be necessary to take
vigorous measures, not with view to
the conquest Of Dahomey, but for pur-
pose OF giving salutary lesson TO the
king and people.
Tho Coming Census.
The count Of people In tho United
States will be made for certain day in
midsummer, probably late In June, and
experts are already giving some ingeni-
ous estimates Of the result. They vary
from "a ,000, 900 to 8s 1000, 900. One part
OF the latter estimate Is Of great interest.
1t is As follows: Since 1880 the number
OF immigrants in any one year has only
twice fallen below 40O. 900. and that but
trife, while IL has risen as high az
788, ,992 In 1889. The registered immi.
grafton for the ten years Is certainly
above 100000. Add the unregistered
from Canada and elsewhere, and the
total cannot fall below Q, 800, 600, Of whom
at least 5000, 900 were between the ages
Of 10 and 40.
OF so many at the marrying ages QfoE
child Of 10 in 1881 is now aged 19) there
must have been at least .000, 900 mar.
riages, averaging five years duration
each; and previous censuses show that
OF such newly formed families Of for.
eigners the average is two children each
living at the end Of five years. Add,
therefore, 1000, 600 for the native child
rem Of newly arrived foreigners Total
100000 added by foreigners alone. DE.
Quoting their deaths-and the great mass
OF them como In the prime Of life and
health-the total would still remain above
100000. II Is assumed that the increase
Of the $4,000, 900 and odd Of 1880 has
been at least 22 per cent, while some put
1t as high as 25 per cent. Thus they
make the total 1900, 900 or GS, ,OOO, 900.
t.S.s