The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-01-19
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

POh6tSN GOSStPs
Frequently. kind of beryl wal
used in place of glasses. hence the Ger
m; name brille. The manufacture of
spcctacles was first carried on in Italy.
Hfterward in Middleburg. in Holland;
but as early as 1lSe we have spectacle
makers mentioned at Nuremburg.
Until recently all marriages in En-
gland were celebrated before noon. the
reason for which law was that the par
ties might be sober. II used to be the
custom to dine at noon. and. as il was
the proper thing to drink the health Of
bride and groom, frequently all par
ties would appear at the altar intoxi-
Gated.
England seems to be quite as pro-
cressivc. If not more so. than America
Professions to which American women
have scarcely turned their eyes are be-
ing rapidly taken possession of by their
English sisters. There are. for exam
pie, more than five thousand women
gardeners in England. Six women are
said to be engaged in town drainage
service.
drunkenness is more frequent in
cold than in warm countries, and -
more brutal nnd injurious in its effects
as We IN north Yet this is not always
true for. within the last ten years, al
coholism has decreased in Sweden, and
increased in southern France and
northern Italy. In tropical regions il
is at present spreading fast, and with
great injury.
The Congo natives. who have IT.
ways been opposed to the building Of
the Congo railroad. have at last begua
to show much interest in the undeR~
taking. and man. of them are now en-
ployed in the work. The natives veFa
always glad To engage in the carrier
service. but refused to dig. The eor.-
pany was, therefore. compelled 20 In
port all its railroad labor from Lsazi-
bar and ports along the gulf OF Guinea
The wife of a missionary 20 AfriSa
gives some amusing details of the nef
camille value of certain articles smonE
the natives. needles and cloth rankiHg
highest. They are absolutely current
coins. Three needles will purchase one
chicken. one needle two eggs. Old TIN
and empty bottles are also much in re-
quest. old cans taking the place OF
cups. A fowl can be had for
two yards of cotton or a small piece %
cloth.
-Bohres. who visited the Eastex
islands in 1722, saws: THE men Of those
islands average twelve feet in height
and are broad in proportion. The
tallest men on board our vessel could
pass between the legs of those chill
dren of Goliath without bending their
heads" Late discoveries in the island
mentioned go a long ways toward e.
the truth of Bohres' asser>
tions. Their burial places are huge
mounds Of stones covered over with
immense stone platforms. the whole
surmounted with images of human
beings carvel in stone. those statues
being in some cases rs much as eighty
feet in height
On the African shore. near the
gulf of Alden. and connecting the lake
of Assal with the main ocean. may Be
found one of the most wonderful rivers
in the world. This natural curiosity
in the shape Of a river does not fOv -
hut from the ocean toward the inland
The surface Of Lake Assal is nearly
seven hundred feet below the sea level.
and il is fed altogether By tAA
paradoxical river. the latter being
about twenty-ore miles in length. Ie
is said to be n wonderful fact that this
river Of immense volume especially st
high tideJ furnishes exactly enough
water to counterbalance the extraor-
binary evaporation of the lake. and
that in consequence the lakes surface
remains at a uniform level year after
year.
The wclI-Snoyvn ract tnat women
live longer than men is illustrated as
follows: The excess Of females of all
rges over males of al ages in England
and Wales is only about 81 per cent
lin round figures. $1,000. 900 minus So
BOO to $4,000. 900 plus O.OoOj. But
when we begin IN compare women
over 30 with men over 90 the female
majority becomes much greater, and
when we once pass IS the old men are
nowhere. The female nonOgenarians
nearly double the male: there are $50
women over o5 To 354 men. and Io4
gxmmers to ~ CATERS who OWE to 9
century.