The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1893-04-22
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

The subject of mems hats is engag-
ing the attention of a number of Lon
don newspapers and their readers Mr..
Labouchere has headed crusade
against the top hat" and speaks In
favor of some kind of a soft felt hat as
. substitute One correspondent urges
the adoption of the three-cornered
variety. as combining in the highest de.
gree all the qualities required in hat.
at is becoming to everybody" he says,
s'smart looking, compact, handy, warm,
waterproof, and is not easily blown
off," The prince of Wales is anxiously
looked to for sign on the proper
thing.
The largest hanging bell in the
world is in Buddhist monastery near
Canton, China. 1t is eighteen feet high
and forty-five feet in circumference,
and is of solid bronze. 1t is one OF
eight great bells which were cast by
command of Emperor Yungle about
A. ID. 140O. and is said to have cost the
lives of eight men, who were killed dur
ing the process of casting. The whole
bell, both inside and out, is covered
with an inscription in embossed Chi
nose characters about half an inch
long. covering even the handle, the
total number being $4,000. The char
acters tell single story-one OF the
Chinese classics.
The Russian budget for 1898 is. for
the first time, over thousand million
rubles, amounting in ordinary and ex-
traordinary receipts and expenditures
| to 1,u40, 45S,3S5 rubles. A deficit OF
something over 100000 rubles is
shown in the extraordinary revenue,
but this is covered by a surplus in the
ordinary revenue of an exactly similar
amount. This is financial feat accom-
plished pretty much every year by the
Russian national experts. The esti-
mates for the rearmament of the army
and navy are set down at 29,c07, 600
rubles. The extraordinary and grow
/! ing disparity between the expenditure
| on the army and navy and that on edu-
| cation continues to cause comment
among Russian political writers.
| The valley of the Amazon is not ad.
vancing in prosperity, in spite of the
fact that the value of its exports has in
creased from 81, III, 900 in 1851 to about
$40. oOo, 900 in 1890. This rise is due to
the circumstance that large proper
ton of the population has entered into
rubber gathering. These people for
merly depended upon the products o.
their own plantations for their support
whereas they now buy at large price
with the proceeds of their rubber. The
very things they could and should raiss
in abundance for themselves. Statistics
of the customhouse iat Para and thu
statements of merchants and steamboat
companies consequently indicate an en-
largement of trade, while the mass o
the people, if not actually faring worse
are at least enjoying no additional goot
fortunc.-Harper's Weekly.
| 1t is of considerable suggestive in
terest, in connection with the recen
decision by the British museum ex
iperts that all but one of the two hun
bred and two Burns, Scott and othel
manuscripts purchased by Mr.. John s
Kennedy and presented to the Lenno,
library are forgeries, to note the posi-
tive averment by an Australian news
paper that these same experts hav'
been fooled with a bogus Australian
historical document. The British mu
scum authorities recently purchased TO
twenty-five. pounds. and made quite
stir about it, the alleged original it'll
I, deed of the city of Melbourne. tn
agreement made with the aboriginal
Australasians. The Australian news
paper says the~document is "a palpabl
absurdity, inaslnuch as the origina
deed of conveyance of the site of Mel
bourne, from the native chiefs to JOIN
Batman, the founder of the colony o
Victoria, is and has been for man.
years one of the most precious posses
s;ons of the Melbourne public library