The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1894-03-17
FOREIGN GOSSIP.


men went to the front. Of whom :, 400
were killed in battle, S9.s70 were
wounded, of whom 11,750 died in the
hospital, 75,375 died of diseases con-
tracted during the campaign. The
war cost ss05, 900, 900.
Nero was no monster. His mother,
Agrippina. was not put to death by his
order, nor did he play upon his harp
and sing 1.-THE Burning of Troy" while
Rome was on fire. Our knowledge OF
him is gained from Tacitus, who hated
him. and from Petronius Arbiter, who
was put to death for conspiring against
him.
The Krupp steel l3o-ton gun has 9
range of fifteen miles, and can fire two
shots a minute. The shot weighs 1880
pounds and zoo pounds of powder are
required for charge. The cost of a
single round from this gun is sl.50o,
and it is said that the gun can not be
fred more than fifty or sixty times.
The cost of the piece is s475, 900.
"A well-known authority on nervous
and mental diseases says that these
disorders are increasing at terrible
rate in France, and attributes the fact
to the increase of beer drinking. alb
sinthe drinking and bars There was
scarcely such a thing as bar twenty
three years ago, he says, but now they
! are all over the towns and always
crowded.
Frost bells are tofled in some OF
! the wine districts of France when
| there is likely to be a severe frost.
The inhabitants at once hurry out OF
their houses and place quantities OF
| tar between the rows of vines. Then
a signal is given to light the tar, and
| in a few minutes q dense cloud Of
smoke arise which completely protects
the vines from the frost
The citizens of Dion, France, have
Just voted tax for putting railing
around tree which stands within tho
city limits. The tree bears labe
! which informs the sightseer that 1t Il
the oldest poplar in France. The towr
council has record tracing the his
tory of the tree since the year T2s A
i d. II is l22 feet in height and 70 fee
in circumference at the base.
The official Gazette of Pekin pub
lished six columns in a recent issue il
which were enumerated the emolu
ments and honors conferred on the ~
physicians who attended the emperor
mother in her recent serious illness
The Gazette protests against the doing
of the Buddhist priests, who. during
: her illness, were continually denoune
ing the locomotives. to whose smok
and whistling they ascribed the illness
The Javancse musical instrument
are made mostly of bamboo. They ais
played upon pipe, or whistle, whic
e ! was about three feet long and 81
inches across, This sounded like tn
, hollow roar of lion. Another was
5 bundle of tubes of different lengths
! which covered tue small boy who ca
i ried it like big saddle. A log hew
out with two strings stretched acro'
: it served as drum. A either of si'
! teen strings and a mandolin OF tw
I completed their outdoor band. viii
!! inside one could hear other music mao
o by gongs of wonderfully pure and bea1
e tiful tone.
y Owing to the enormous mortalit
q of newly-born Parisians put out
nurse, and owing to the great morta
y ity of infants. principally among II
1aboring classes, from diphtheria ar
n measles, and the high mortality OF Il
It citizens from consumption, the averai
e life, or average Of those who die
+ Paris, appears to be only twenty-eig
y years, while for the whole OF Franz
o the average age is forty. Nevertheless
Q the population of Paris increases mo
7 and more by the incessant immigrati'
s of provincials and foreigners, wi
y make up two-thirds as against on
d third of natives. But owing to The
70 feeble natality and high mortality, 7
IS families which are not united to the
X immigrants die out in three, four or,
IS most, five generations.