Morning journal and courier., 1894-04-05

were maoe ln Egypt rom the elme or me
 beginning of the art of embalming until
 Its discontinuance in the seventh century.
 Herodotus and Diodorus both agree in the
 statement that there were three grades in
 the embalming process, the first oosting
 not lees than 6 sum equal to q ,225, ths,
 second about one-fifth that amount, and
 the third cheaper than common earth
 burial.
 The census report on farm ownership
 and cultivation recently published shows
 noteworthy increase in the number of
 farms and decrease in their average size
 throughout the South. In the South At
 lsntic states the average number of acres to farm dsaxessed from 157 to 134 be- tween 1880 and 1890. In the same states the number of farms increased 16 per cent, and the number of owners 12 per cent. Of farm tenants A per cent. more paid their rent In money In 1890 than 1880.
 Congressman Henderson of North Car olina shows that the postal service can be made not only self f-sustaining, but rev. enue- producing by cutting down the mat ter that is sent free, or requiring postage
 to be paid on 1t. It appears that s7.o00,- 900 pounds of free matter pass through
 the mails yearly, on which, at regular rates, the postage would amount to over $7,000, 900. Much of this free matter is never delivered, and nobody wants 1t. A vast number of public doeumsnts>are sent out from Washington which eventually go to the junkshop.
 It Is reported by correspondents that great changes are rapidly taking place In western Palestine. Ancient cities are ris- ing from their ruins, while such towns as Haifa and Jaffa are increasing both in sizs and population. The Jewish colonies, founded by the Rothschilds, are in four ishing condition. Similar changes are re- ported in the country east of the Jordan. The sovernor-general of Damascus has late ly reepened the old fortress, which stood so long in the solitudes at Karak, on the noun tains which skirt the southeastern part of thC bSat ctot anu atihSck kaI4Aboa NAt14u the walls thereof. The region has long been under the control of the Bedouins, and abandoned to lawleesnsas.
 The general impression h that the Dutch are slow, but 1t has recently been ascer- tained by Commander Robinson of the British navy that the first ironclsd war ship was built at Antwerp in 1885, during the seige of the oity by the Duke of Par ma. The people were making an heroic defense, and an ingenious naval construc- tor proposed to cover a large vessel with iron plates, and sailing through the ene- my's cordon, raise the siege. The vessel | was duly armored and manned but proved quite manageable upon the flooded lands about the city, and finally grounded. | After all efforts to relieve the ship had failed, she was abandoned and fell into the hands of the Spaniards. Soon after Ant werp was captured. According to the de- scription by Commander Robinson the Dutch ironclad was provided with militia ry tops for sharpshooters. like the modern vessels of war.
 The suit agsinat Prince Sciarrs, accused of breaking an old law by selling certain works of art and allowing them to go out of Italy, which has been pending for the last two years in the Roman courts, has been decided, subject to an appeal in the Court of Last Instance, against him; and he has been ordered to restore the pic | lures, or, in default, to pay 800. 900 lire, the additional penalty of imprisonment, prescribed by the law, being cancelled by amnesty. The judgment was obtained under an old ediot, dating from the last which, pending the enactment of 6 law by the Italian government, remains in force la the former states of the church. Under this edict the gallery was declared trust, to be held for the | enjoyment of the people of Rome, this being the condition on which the | gallery was bequesthed to the family of Solsrra by lis founder. There has been no law enacted on this subject by the present Italian government. Professor Villsri, when minister of public instruo- tiop, introduced law which would have regulated the traffic in works of ancient art, but his efforts came to nothing. One law prevails in Naples, another in the ex- Pontifcal dominions, another in Tuscany, and others still in the kingdom of Sardinis and in the former Austrian provinces. The Fide-commiessi, or trusts for the en- joyment of the public, exist only in the states of the church, and the prohibition against selling applies only to them. The principal pictures covered by the judgment against Prince Sciarra are the "violinist" of Raphael, the "Aodesty and Vanity" at tributsd to Leonardo, but really by Luini, and portrait by Titan. They are sup posed to be now in Paris.