The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-05-03

1AGtl1ODO1Io NNuS W Nc UllC 11uD OIL hdnSuS,
and eastern capitalists, some of them
men Of note, invested literally in the
future of the town. To-day it's ambi-
tious capitol square is used for a sheep
pasture, and the train rushes by as
though it were a tank station. South
Hutchinson furnishes another illustra-
ton. 1t was a young giant at it's
zenith, with brick hotels, churches,
schoolhouses and a street-car line.
Prairie dogs now u about the chancel
of the biggest church, and the hotel
door is hidden by a sand bank.
THE ANNUAL RAINFALL.
Some Curious Facts Cleaned Through
Scientific Research.
There is always more or less guess
work concerning the amount of rain
that falls during any storm period.
Throughout the United States the
amount that falls on any one day rare
ly exceeds l inch. There are certain
portions Of the globe, however, that
arc frequently, and others only occa-
%sioually, deluged with water. On the
southern slopes Of the Himalaya noun
tains, at at altitude of 1850 feet, go
inches of rainfall nave been registered
in a single year, of which amount LAT
inches (12 feet 5 inches) fell in the
month of June. At a meteorological
station in latitude Is degrees, near the
western boundary of H~indoostan, the
average rainfall for the fifteen years
ending with 1898 was 254 inches. In
the northwestern part Of England, at an
altitude of 1900 feet, the average an
nual rainfall is 146 inches, Ill inchesin
excess of the mean for st. Louis, which
is but 81 inches and q fraction.
The wonderful record given above is
still more phenomenal when we con-
slider the fact that all the moisture the
atmosphere is capable of holding at
any one time would cover the entire
surface of the globe to a depth of less
than 4 inches should it all be instantly
precipitatcd.
Antelope Preserve In Africa.
An effort is being made in England
to form a society with the object of
preserving macy of the species of
South African antelopes, which are in
danger of soon becoming extinct.
The scheme, which is being promoted
and supported by a number Of we'll
known sportsmen and scientists, is to
inclose a suitable tract of country in
the district near Fort Salisbury with a
wire fencing of, say, forty-ive miles in
circumference, and drive into this in
closure small herds of the still exist
ing species Of antelopes which it is de-
sired to preserve. At certain seasons
OF the year, to prevent overcrowding,
a number of specimens would be let
loose or exported for the use of zoolog-
lcal societies. To carry out the plan a
comparatively moderate capital would
be required; and it is said that the
British South African company will re-
ceive 6. petition before long asking their
consent to the fencing in of the pro-
posed preserve.
Two Great Post Omces.
For several years past,the post office
department at Washington has been
protesting against the inferior accom-
modaJions Of the New York and Chi
cago Offices, which are the govern
ment's chief money makers. Both
buildings arc owned by the fedora.
government, and both are conducted
not from their liberal postal revenues,
but by appropriation made by congress.
The New York post Office, in use since
1878, is on land coded by New York to
the federal government. The receipts
of the New York Office in a year ore
ncven million dollars. The expenses,
including eight thousand dollars to the
postmaster and sevcnty-fve thousand
dollars for gas, fuel and other detailed
items, are two million fves hundred
thousand dollars, leaving a net profit
to the government from its operation
of four million five hundred thousand
dollars. The receipts Of the Chicago
-ncc arc four million dollars a year,
and tho expenses Including six thou
sand dollars for postmastcr) are one
million i've hundred thousand dollars,
leaving a net profit to the government
of two million five hundred thousand
dollars; so that New York and Chicago