The morning news., 1891-05-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


| window. Somtimes he is the victim Of an un-
controllable fear Of carpets, and refuses TO step
on one lest he might plunge into the chasm
| which, he ima2ines, yawns before him.
THE THEORY that man can feel pain in an
amputated limb is still subject Of controversy.
A physician who believes it says: MANY of the
| nerves that furnish communication between the
brain are not injured in their activity by the
amputation of their lower portion, aud convey
| sensat on as readily as ever The brain fails n
recognize the fact that the function of the nerve
has changed, and that the part in which il
| formerly terminated exists no longer. There
fore, when sensation is felt conveyed by a
nerve that In the unnamed body led to the
loot, the feeling is the same as il the foot were
| still in place. If certain nerves in an amD,s-
| tated leg be touched the feeling is exactly the
same as If the foot were touched, and the
sensation of pain is felt, not where it is applied
but where the mind has been in the habit of
| receiving communications from the nerve in
| question"
''YEs, SIR, said an old Pennsylvania farmer,
as he busted the frost from his beard, where il
had collected in the course Of three hours
ride in the early morning. you can Just bet
your boots on what say, and that is that this
| year peaches is safe as If they was picked.
Il We watched that ere fruit this fifty year. and
| reckon know thing or two about the effect
OF frost on the blossoms. If you ketch It on the
| buds before they open look out. Like as not
your crops goner. Or if it strikes EN- when
| the buds is wet then you are sartan to miss
your crop. But once git 'em wide open an dry,
| like what they is now, an you has got sure
| thing of it. When once the fruit begins to form
| touch it. Tain't the same with plums an
cherries, which'll blight even after they has
| blossomed. No, kind sir, peaches is safe this
year. you take an old mans word for it. An |
| should say 1t is about time"
THE ENGLISH CONSUL has just presented some
statis .ics with regard to the Jewish population
of Warsaw. He says that in the city of War
| saw the Jews now number 10 per cent of the
population and that the average in all the other
| towns of Poland is so per cent, while in the
villages it falls TO per cent and in the rest of
| the country to nil Trades and industries in the
| city of Warsaw are almost entirely in the hands
OF the Hebrew population. In higher branches
OF commerce the ratio is 16 Jews to Chris
tiaDs IN lower branches, 19 Jews to 2 Christians;
| IN the agency and brokerage business, 43 Jews
| to Christian. Of the large industrial enter
prises of the city 63 per cent are in the hands
| OF Jews, and only Is per cent. belong to native
| Christians As common workmen and as do
| mestics the proportion is the other way, only
| 1l,OOO Jews, or per cent. of the total Jewish
population, being so employed, against 5000
Christians or 20 per cent. Of the total Christian
| population.
| THE 150th anniversary of st. Johns church is
soon to be celebrated at Richmond, Va. This
| shows what an old city Richmond is, and doubt.
! less other temporary houses of worship pre-
| ceded st. Johns. This was our first church
| aud from 1t all that large plateau known as
l
| late Thomas H. Wynne and of R. A. Brock have
| rescued from oblivion and decay the church S
| records, and having been edited. annotated and
published they are part and parcel of the glori-
| Gus history of this commonwealth 1t was in
| this church, before the Virginia convention that
| Patrick Henry uttered the trumpet note of the
revolution in the stirring sentence; Give me
| liberty or give me DEATH" and it has been the
scene of many other interesting occurrences.
| Though ofwood. it stands in good condition,
| having escaped multitudinous fires, including
/ hose 10 hn- lsnA -
great contagration Of 1885, and that of evacua-
| ton day.
''MosT PEOPLE SUPPOSE" says an assayer,
that all gold is alike when refined but such is
not the case. An experienced man can tell at a
glance from what part of the world gold piece
| comes, and in some cases from what part of q
particular gold district the metal was obtained.
The Australian gold for instance, is distinctly
| redder than the Californian, and this difference
| in color is always perceptbe, even when the
| gold is 1000 fine. Again, the gold obtained
| from the placsrs Is yellower than that which is
| taken directly from quartz. Why this should
be the case is one of the mysteries of metallurgy
| for the placer gold eli comes from the veins
| The Ural gold is the reddest found anywhere
Few people know tle rea color of gold. as it is
| seldom seen unless heavily alloyed, which ren
ders it redder than when pure. The pures
coins ever made were the $50 pieces that used
to be common in California. Their coinage was
abandoned for two reasons first, because the
| loss by abrasion was so great, and, secondly
because the interior would be bored out ano
| lead substituted the difference in weight being
too small to be readily noticed in so large q
piece. These octagonal coins were the mos,
valuable ever struck
Miss MARY SCHILLER, whom the worlds faiI
committee will nd as a commissioner tc
South America, is grandniece of the German
author bearing that name, and was for five
years school teacher in Pittsburg At the end
of that time she had saved sufficient money tc
go abroad and to remain there for three years
which she devoted to perfecting herself in the
modern languages and in the study of art aud
architecture. On her return to this country
Miss Schiller went to Washington to teach Ger,
man and Latin in the schools and English liz
the South American legations. She has also
acted as regular contributor to the Ledger OF
Philadelphia. During her daily intercourse
with tue legations of the Argentine Re oublc
Brazil, Chile, Colombia. Peru endIVenezuela the
determined little teacher seized the opportunity
not only to perfect herself In the Spanish
tongue, but to acquire thorough knowledge OF
the literature of South America at large and
especially of the efforts in prose and poem OF
its best known women. She has now in prepare
ton translation of popular novel written by
the Helen Hunt of South America, and BEARING
a strong resemblance in style to the exquisite
story of Ramona"
IT is in the streets of Syrian cities that we ar.
poost interested. Beyrout where the Turkish
jargon gives place to Arabic is our first point
of approach, and sailing down the coast in the
afternoon light, the setting OF the CITY is truly
superb. From the rocky harbor the graceful
beach OF St. Georges bay sweeps around to the
northeast, reminding one of the bay of NaIles
The houses, rising on terraces as they recedt
from the sea, are of varied architecture, pre-
senting colonnades of slender pillars cut from
Italian marble tall minarets or little square
dwellings with fiat roofs East of the CITY rises
to hight of more than 5000 feet the majestic
range of Lebanon, capped with snow in winter
and to the rugged slopes cling score of pretty
villages like swallows nests under the rocky
caves We can be quite resigned to the treeless
ness of the mountain-sides. What deIicately
tinted crags what alterations of light anc
shade as the deep chasms fill with evening sha-
dows, what gOrgeousness on clouds and peak,
as the sun pluuges finally into tbs blue wave,
of the Mediterranean! We find Beyrout a city
OF nearly a hundred thousand inhabitants
many of whom are Europeans, and have
: brought with them European houses and streets
and shops and costumes. But within the ole
city, inside the dngy walls that at the beginning
of this century inclosed all there was of Bey
rout, we can find the same queer, narrow
crooked streets and miniature shops as in Da
mascus or Hannah. Landing at the wooder
pier by small boat from the steamer, we NEE
our friends, the hawkers, in full, cry. Among
the jostling crowd of Travellers soldiers, porterS
and beggars, they sell and thrive.
FLAVORING EXTRACTS.
RREA A~