The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-02-22

We have received with much pleasure bulky
and uncommonly handsome pamphlet entitled
s'Hand Book of the American Republics, being
bulletin No. l of the Bureau of American Re-
publics. 1t is highly creditable first attempt
on the part of this new publishing house, and it
looks as if it might become dangerous rival to
the Government Printing Office. This hand
book has its front-page title printed in
two colors-plain black and particu-
larly fetching shade of red-while down
on the left-hand corner is highly
artistic medallion portrait Of Columbus.
These are, however, mere triling externals. The
solid information must be sought within.
Among the exquisitely-tinted maps are the
dainty illustrations. The frontispiece is a
charm ing seascape, entitled ''Wattings Island,
the first land seen by Columbus" After read
ing this title one is tempted to look again for
the land and there, sure enough, it is, away off
on the dim horizon's verge, so faint
that Columbus must have strained his
eyes in making it out. Opposite page
"A is map of South America, a brief ex-
animation of which reveals to the
observant person that that division
of the Continent strongly resembles in
ou 49,; 'l lHI pre-
empted all that portion in which the choicest
frying cuts are ordinarily located. Glancing at
random through the clearly-printed pages of
the volume, we learn on page 543 that ''the
highest tides in the world is in the Bay of Ben
gal-seventy feet;'' on page So that ''coffee
was not known to the Greeks and Romans;'
for the reason, doubtless, as stated further on
that it was only introduced ''into Arabia
from Abyssinia in the early part Of the fifteenth
century" An item of news found on page 81
will no doubt be read with great interest by
many persons in Washington. tits that 'snearly
all the great mercantile houses in Mexico City
and State sell largely on credits of from four,
six to eight months and often for longer
periods" On page 135 another item that will
cause visions of languid existence to fit
| through weary brains is found as follows: "The
manner in which the banana is cultivated
is certainly the easiest kind as very
little skill or labor is demanded, nature doing
almost all the work" Those who have pro-
fessed such consuming love of nature must
have lived in banana-producing country. Be-
ginning with page 165 large mass of statisti-
cal information is given about the earth. which,
it is to be hoped, none of Mr.. Blaines enemies
will attempt to construe into an indication
that the gentleman wants the EARTH or has had
preliminary survey made with view to ac-
quiring it later on. From these statistics we
learn that the earth's diameter at
the pole is, to be precise, exactly
| 1888 $500 statute miles; it's circumference round
the equator 24,S96.s2l4 miles; its population
about / 46S, 100000, and that one-fourth of the
population die before the seventh year. On
page l67 we are informed without hesitation OF
qualification that the river Euphrates has an
outflow of 42O,0O0,00O cubic feet per hour and
all thro ugh the two hundred and eighty-odd
cages are to be found hundreds-nay, thou,
sands, of other equally curious and instructive
! facts about the American republies