The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1894-04-14
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

I'm no country has the marriage
rate declined so greatly in recent years
rs in Ireland.
lin England the blind form .0s per
cent. of the population, in Scotland OF
Der cent. and in Ireland IL per cent
or, in England and Wales one person
in every 1896 is blind, in Scotland one
in every 1.439 and in Ireland one in
sS1.
according to an advertisement con-
tanned in the Danish government Ga
zette. published in Copenhagen, two
big volcanoes are for sale- They are
situated in Iceland and are the princi-
pal attractions of the island The
owner asks for them the sum OF s40o
apiece.
The Saracens burned the Alexan-
drian library and the great library of
Matthew Corviras, king of Hungary,
which contained 100000 volumes.
When Granada was taken Cardinal
Ximenes retorted in kind by destroy
ing all the Korans and Moorish books
to be found in the city.
A French mill hand has before go
ing to work piece of bread and two
cents worth of brandy; at breakfast,
bread crumbled into bowl of coffee;
for dinner, a piece of bread and cheese
or an apple, or gill of red wine; for
supper. piece of bread and sausage.
or oftener, herring and a cup Of cof-
| zee.
The highest pressure used to drive
a water wheel is claimed by a valley
near Grenoble, France. where tur-
bine ten feet in diameter has been
operated since 1875 with a head of one
thousand six hundred and thirty-eight
feet. A flow of about seventy-five gal
ions of water per water second gives a
force of one Thousand and five hun
dred horsepower.
The street money-clianger is an in
tercsting character in Spanish cities.
He stations himself at principal
street corner early every morning, and
exchanges bag of coppcrs for silver.
By ten o'clock his bag is exhausted
and he goes home. All the servants
on their way to market get their
money changed by him, as they are
not skilled in counting and afraid o
false coins He gives them full count
his coppers being obtained from thu
bakers. vino get rid of their coins at
! discount.
Whatever is most degraded ant
most superstitious In the religious sys
, tens of China owes its origin II
Taoism. If an ignorant girl wishes t.
have her horoscope cast, or shop
keeper desires to fix upon fortunat
1 dav on which to marry his daughte
or to bury his wife, application is in
. variably made to Taoist priest,
7 who, combining the professions of fol-
, tune teller and spiritual guide, unhes
5 tatingly returns oracular answers
! which more or less satisfy the DE-
7 mands of the inquirer.
One of the most interesting relic
of old London is st. Johns gate
Clerkenwell. 1t is the only remainin
= portion of the important priory OF 5
John, which dates from the fourteent
century. The old gateway has
literary interest attached to it. for
the room above the archway DIR. Johi
q son worked for Cave. the printer, for
e weekly stipend: and the Gentleman
Magazine. which to this day bears
e picture of the archway on its cove
u was first printed there. The archwa
e had latterly become much defaced an
u weather-worn, but it has recently bee
restored as memorial to the duke
IL Clarence. who was the first sub-prit
of the Order of st. John.
A shoemaker, Kavol Kowates, VIII
:. in 1928, lived at Pesth, the capital
- Hungary. smoked the first meerscau
~ pipe. Besides being shoemaker, ho'
- ever, he was one of natures hant
" craftsmen, being gifted with an init
tive genius for carving in wood al
~ other material This brought him
:. contact with Count Andrassy, wi
~ whom he became great favorite. L
count, on his return from mission
!, Turkey, brought with him piece
- whitish clay, which hadsbeen prese'
~ ed to him as curiosity on account
its extraordinarily light specific gra
"a ty. 1t struck the shoemaker that,
ing porous, it must be well adapted
- pipes, as it would absorb the nicotil
The experiment was tried and ka'
i. cut a pipe for the count and one
:. himself, The first meerschaum pi
- made and smoked by Kavol Kowat
has been preserved in the museum