The Bossier banner., 1894-03-29
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

Italy in The last twelve years hss
had 2,573, 900 marriages and $3.50 d.
vorces.
Divorce in France is regulated by
law on the theory that wife is her
husbands equal; she does not promise
to obey; she retains her own property
and may dispose of it by will.
The habit of wearing the pigtail
has been universal in China since 1914,
when the present dynasty, which is
Tartar, came into power by conquest.
1t was then decreed that all men of
whatever degree of rank should wear
the pigtail to show their loyalty.
"A novel toboggan slide has been
built across the frozen River Neva at
st. Petersburg, partly for pleasure and
mainly for convenience in crossing the
river. High towers have been erected
on either bank, and from these a
steeply scaffolding carries track to
the opposite bank.
The silk hat continues to hold it's
ground in London, but in the provinces
it has lately been almost entirely dis
is brisk and increasing demand for
resuscitated chimney pots in south At
rica and Australia, whether by the ma
lives or the whites is not apparent.
The tax of ten francs a year ON
cycles, which was imposed in France
last April, Welded in the first half year
over 7SO, 900 francs. The tax on stock
ftan oh ha
brokers declared would surely ruin all
business on the bourse, yielded round
four million francs between June and
November 30.
In 1885 the Austrian press censor
refused to sanction the publication of
two books, one of which was "Princi-
pies of Trigonometry," which, he said,
discussed the Trinity, a forbidden SUBJ
ject. The other was scientific trea-
tise on the destruction of insects, which
he imagined made a concealed attack
on the church.
The costers and the cabmen of Lon
don have feud of long standing.
Many of the cabmen are Jews and the
costers taunt them about it. The cab
men jeer back, using the costers' loads
of onions and turnips as their text
Moreover, the cabmen manage to block
the way when the coster carts are COM
ing in to market in the morning. Ugly
little street affrays are the result.
"A Servian newspaper, which has
the reputation of being the best edited
and leading newspaper of the king
dom, came out recently with the an
nouncement on its first page that
"Owing to the intolerable laziness of
our editor-in-chief, Mr.. Zrak, who
spends his nights in feasting and sleeps
the whole day through, our number
this week is only half its usual size.''
Fewer German emigrants left the
port Of Hamburg, the great point of
embarkation, during last year than in
any year since 1870, The total number
was but 5s,S76, against 1OS, 500 in 1882
and LA, 1882 in 1891. During 1898, II ,319
Scandinavian emigrants left the port
of Christiana, and all but nine were
bound direct for North America. More
than five thousand had their passage
prepaid by friends in Amarica.
The English reformers adopted
some curious titles for their devotional
and controversial works. Matches
Lighted at the Divine Fire" THE Gun
of Penitence," "The Shop of the
Spiritual Apothecary," 1.-The Bank of
Faith" ''Sixpennyworth OF Divine
Spirit" 'Some Fine Biscuits Baked in
the Oven of Charity, Carefully Con-
served for the Chickens of the Church 81
"The Sparrows of Spirit and THE
Sweet Swallows of Spirit" are among
the number.
The most extraordinary biography
in existence is neither written nor
printed. tits painted. 1t contains the
life and adventures of Charles Magnes.
noble Venetian. Having been calum-
mated, he determined to set himself
right in the eyes of his contemporaries.
and employed Paul Veronese to paint
his biography. The volume has eight
cen pages of vellum; each has large
central picture. surrounded by ten
smaller, each having its appropriate
inscription. the whole recounting the
most notable scenes in his life.
"A dispute over Belgian estate
among disgruntled benefciaries has
resulted in curious disaster for the
dispptants. A year ago a widow died,
leaving an estate worth over six and a
half million francs. The immediate
relatives to whom it was left disputed
over the spoils, and suit was insti.
tuted in the Brussels courts to settle
their various claims The case at
tracted wide attention, and at the
trial it was proved that more than
three thousand five hundred persons
were related to the testatrix, and rela-
tives even twelve degrees removed
were adjudged entitled to some of the
fortune.