The Bossier banner., 1894-04-05
OF GENERAL INTEREST,

DOWl OF water ana set out IN the open
air the buds will open at sunrise and
the dish makes charming ornament
| for the breakfast table
A hawk was shot by Albert New
lin, of Lawrenceburg, Ind, the other
day. When he went to pick the body
up the birds mate attacked him with
| beak and wing and finally bore off the
body of its dead mate in triumph.
Musical culture among working
people has been tried successfully by
Charlotte Mulligan in Philadelphia
Beginning with a Sunday school class
| of bootblacks, she has had twelve thou
sand working men in the last TIVE nty-
eight years.
A canal connecting the Elbe and
Danube has been projected. 1t would
start near Vienna, near Kronnen burg,
extend 133 miles northwestward to-
ward Budweis, and from the latter
| point the channels of the Moldau and
Elbe would be ''canalized" for 1897
miles. The greatest difference in level
| along the route is 1912 feet 1t is esti-
mated that S0.000,OOO dorins ($32, OO0,-
| 000) would cover the cost.
"A widowers' association has been
formed in Dresden. No man can join
unless his wife is dead, and if he mar
| ries again he becomes an honorary
member merely. One of the chief pur-
poses of this association is to help
newly made widowers by looking after
| their wives funerals and caring for
their children Members will also
meet for mutual sympathy and enter
tainment. There are at present forty
members.
George Augustus Sala wants mems
evening dress reformed" and offered a
prize for the best suggestion to that
end The winner, a lady, suggests
that the present harmony in black and
white would be admirable with "a
trifling addition which would lend the
necessary touch of color and effect
namely: the gold embroidering of the
coat collar and waistcoat over colored
materials, such as crimson or dark blue
| velvet"
ANY persons interested in the
work of the vessels which surveyed
| the cable route between Hawaii and
| the California coast would be surprised
to see how very level the ocean bed is
| $50 level" as one of the survey
officers remarked, that if on dry land
a railroad train could run over a
stretch of five hundred miles of the
| bed at a speed of sixty miles an hour
without the grade belt being altered
anywhere.
The favorite repartee with the Ell
Dorado girl is ''shut up;" in Wichita it
is ring off, in Wellington it is rats"
| in Abilene it is "chestnuts;" in old
fashioned Topeka it is 'cheese it, in
Emporia it is ''go bag your head" in
Fort Scott it is claw. now, you don't
say" in Leavenworth it is quit your
| business, white man." in Garden City it
is you know it, in Salina it is that's
no lie" and in Lawrence-West Law
rence-it is 30, you make my legs
ache. kansas City Star.
Prof. Thomas Kirk, of Wellington,
| New Zealand, some time ago wrote to
one of the Harvard professors that he
| had selected two logs of the rata tree,
! Metrosideros robusto, for the college
museum. The logs arrived on Friday.
and AZ feet in diameter, respectively.
/ The seeds of the rata tree germinate in
! the forks of lofty trees, sending down
| aerial roots which reach the ground
and draw therefrom supply of moist
ure, while the young plant above sends
out branches with foliage to appropri-
ate from the air the other requisite
materials of food. The roots increase
in thickness, and the branches continue
/ their growth until this interloper
actually crowds out of existence the
! trees which Graded it in its infancy
! The wood is used for shipbuilding and
/ cabinet work.
! While much of the area of New
! Mexico and Arizona is "arid land" on
! which such hardy vegetation as can
exist is low, sparse and dry, wherever
! the soil is irrigated its enduring fertil-
| fly is revealed. The water turned over
the land in all the lower valleys carries
the detritus of mountain sides in solu-
ton, which makes fertilizing deposit
akin to that left by the annual inunda-
tions in the valley of the Nile. Such
a soil, in many places composed of dis
integrated volcanic matter, is natural
| ly favorable to the cultivation of the
/ vine, and the visitor is not surprised at
the fine quality of the Rio Grande
grapes, and-under proper vintage
| processes-the wines. Such fruits as
apples, peaches, nectarines and plums,
raised on the higher slopes and levels,
are unsurpassed anywhere in beauty
and flavor =
Maj. William Downie, one of the
most noted pioneers of 40, died in San
Francisco harbor under singularly pa,
thetic circumstances. One of the feat
ures of the midwinter fair is '49 min
ing camp, in which are the identica
cabins in which lived some of the mos
famous miners, now mostly million
aires, of those days, such as Mackay
Flood AMI O'Brien Maj Downie':
cabin is prominent in the camp, and h,
was on his way from Victoria, B. c., OF
the steamer City of Puebla to occupy i
during portion of the time the fair i
to be open. A committee went ABOARD
to welcome the old miner, and while
| thev were telling him of the grand olC