St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-08-12
NOTES AND COMMENTS.

IT IS a matter for some national pride
is the opinion of the New York Times
that the "world's record for the spcce
of railway train should pass to tn
United States. "Bcfore the Empir
State Express made its mile in thirty-tiv
seconds on Tuesday, the best American
record for mile was thirtv-seyc,
seconds. made on the New Jersey Cen
trail last November on down grade o
twenty-five feet to the mile Even will
conditions SO favorable this was a won
derful performance, being at the rate o
973 miles an hour. The difference Of
two seconds in favor of the Empire State
Express on the Newly ork Central was
very remarkable advance, being the
equivalent of a reduction of eight seconds
in the emile record of trotting horses
But Wednesdays performance of the
same train over the same road and the
same division of the road was far more
wonderful, being reduction of three
seconds and the attainment of a speed
Of over 112 miles an hour
"a FEW days ago. says travelling
man, Sin passing through a town which
had been badly wrecked by small
hurricane, | met a man who had pro-
tectcd himself against loss by cyclone,
and who was able to survey the ruin of
all he possessed on earth with the utmost
| complacency. while his ncighbors were
| almost distracted with grief | asked
him casually why he had taken the pre-
caution, having learned that he was the
only man in town who had such policy.
He told me that when boy he had
narrowly escaped being killed by a cy-
clone, and the danger had 50 impressed
him that lie had carried cyclone insur-
nnce ever since he had started house
keeping, which was wcll-nigh genera
ton ago. The sentiments of the neigh
bors toward this fortunate man were
quite interesting. One or two, of course,
were small enough to be Jealous of him
and to tell anecdotes of how some folks
had more luck than they deserved, but
the majority spoke more in admiration
than envy, and there seemed to be a
general sentiment that the man who had
thus provided against danger in the
midst of safety was the most suitable
man III the district to run for Congress"
One of the wisest precautions that
have been adopted by the government to
restrict the field of any possible epidemic.
and more particularly of cholera, has
been to take steps to call in all ragged,
worn and soiled paper money and to
furnish new bills in place of the old and
uncican notes. The disease spreading
power of this unwholesome paper is be
yond question. 1t is now known that
the germs Of disease which are present
in slck-chambers may be carried on par
ticles of dust and become attached to the
walls of the room, to carpets, the cloth
ing OF persons passing in and out of the
room, and carried out in countless WAYS.
They may be detained in dormant CON
dition for months on any surface that
catches them, and when released bv a
brush or current of air they may drop
lntoa substance that affords them nourish-
ment, where they multiply with incalcu-
Liable rapldlty. That such germs may,
and in thousands of cases do, become
attached to the tibers of worn and soiled
bank notes, and that they do, in fact, in
a great many instances, constitute large
part of the matter which gives the notes
their uncleau and rcpulsivo appearance,
is now conclusively proved.
AMONG other exhibits shown at the
Worlds Fair by the Smithsonian Institu-
ton is series of skulls showing the
cranla of all the classes of mammals.
The type specimens chosen are the skulls
of tho mon l-aI- tho ho
gum, the alligator, the boa constructor,
the turtle, the bullfrog, the hellbendcr,
the grouper fish, the alligator garfsh and
the sturgeon. TIE alligator-gar is the
tyrant of southern watcrs-an armorcd
survival of the sort of fishes which were
the tcrrors Of ocean in an ancient epoch
before there were any mammals 1t will
be observed that the list given is in q
descending scale from the geological
point of view. The different bones of
the skulls are painted with different
colors, so as to show how they CORE
spond through all of the crania. For
example, the temporal bone is blue in
every one of the skulls. Thus the casual
observer is enabled to see at a glance
how nearly the osseous structure of man
is related to that of the other vertebrate
animals.
A UNIQUE feature of the Worlds Col
umbian Exposition is the cooperative
exhibit of the Agricultural Colleges and
Experiment Stations of the United States,
which is under the general management
of Major Henry E. Alvord. This ex:
hibit is in the southwest corner of the
great agricultural building, occupying
about quarter of an acre on the main
floor. The object is to give visitors
complete insight into the educational
methods adopted at our agricultural col
leges, and the scientific and experimental
work done at our. stations. Every one
interested in our foundation industry
will find it an exhibit worthy of a weeks
observation and study.
One of the sights at night in the streets
of New York just now are the temper
ance lunch wagons introduced by the
Woman's Auxiliary of the Church Tenn
perance Society. The object of the
wagon is to counteract the influence of
the cheap lunch, or free lunch, counters
in the saloons. The WAGON is a curiosity