The free press., 1895-07-25
NOTES AND COMMENTS.


Just at the moment of the execution the
victims hands nervously srasped the gar
ment of the cyetuti0ner and held on after
decaptatioa Before the grip could be
loesened the executioner died of fright.
THREE-wHEELED vehicles are the rage.
The latest carriage invention is a three
wheel affair. The newest cycle has the
same number of wheels. Each seats two
persons and threatens to unseat the reason
of a lot of people who already have too
many wheels,
II man is a pessimist lie is sure to
grumble continually at the weather. The
optimist, on the other hand, always sees
the bright side of the subject. If 1t rams
with him it is L" good weather for ducks,
and if it's so sultry he can't sleep nights,
he consoles himself with the thought that
at any rate it's good corn weather"
TIE war department has Just granted
medal of honor to Alonzo IL. Pickle, ser
geant of Company b, First Battalion, Mih-
nesota Infantry, for saving the life oil an
officer who fell desperately wounded be-
tween the lines in battle of the late war.
Mr. Pickle ought to be thankful that he
lived long enough to give the government
sufficient time to find out that he had done
d heroic deed.
The Belgians are careful of their his
toric souvenirs. In the front OF house
situated in the Faubourg de Shaerbuch, in
Brussels, there is to be seen, half buried
in the plaster, cannon ball which was
fired from Dutch cannon at the period
of the revolution of 1890, and has ever
since been permitted to remain. Recently
it was determined to restore and refront
the house, and it was decided to make the
repairs without disturbing the canon ball.
Ar the recent Sloane Burden wedding.
two of the richest families in America
were united-the Nanderbilts and the Bur-
dens. The guests represented $500, O0O,-
600. Quite S. 900, 900 was spent In we'd
ding arrangements. The brides trous-
seau cost $40 COO; the wedding presents
were valued at 500, 90; $50 carriages were
placed at the service of the guests, and the
largest hotel in Lennox Mass, was chart
cred for their use.
In 1894 the railways killed 1898 OF
their employees, or 904 less than in 1898,
and injured z3, 422, or S,307 less than in
1898 The passengers killed numbered 1924,
an increase of 25, and the injured numbered
3,034, decrease of 1875. This commend
able saving in lives and limbs of railway
employees is ascribed by the Interstate
Commission in part to the decreased num-
Der employed and in part to the increased
use of automatic appliances that have reii-
dcred railway employment much less
dangerous.
AMONG IFS babies exhibited at the re-
cent New York baby shov, IA bore the
name of Dorothy. Ney, in favor came
Marjorie, Hcfeu, katherlne and Marie. 1t
wouid appear, then, that Dorothy is the
fashionable name just now, at least in
Gotham. This matter of baby-naming
should be carefully considered. Sup
posing Miss Trilby Trotter in the year 1880
is sensitive about her age. She will have
hard work convincing the wise ones that
she was not born during the Trilby craze
of 1895.
The current number of Harper's
Weekly contains a particularly interest
ing article by Mr.. Edward Atkinson on
"The Cost of Our Government" in which
he analyses the figures of revenue and ex-
penses for the last fifteen years, and shows
the average cost of different branches of
the public service and the expense for pen
sions and clearing off war debt. In 1880
the revenue per head was $6.S25 and the
expense S5.29S. In 1888 the revenue was
81. 5S7 and the expense $4.9l6. In 1890
I'll
and 81. 749, and in 1894 $4.455 and So
346.
If you want to know the character of
your friends, just study their thumbs.
The conditions are simplicity itself. The
weak mans thumb is weak and pendent;
the strong mans thumb is strong and erect.
The paralelsm is SO marked that you can
tell from a glance at mans thumbs
whether he is an aimless thinker or a man
who carries his ideas or somebody else's
into action Men should mark well the
thumbs of the women of their choice. IL
girls thumb, be it ever so prettily rosy,
has a tendency to stand at right angles to
the and-well, the gray mare will need
bit, that's all, while if it lies flat or
droops little you can count on marital
submission to the master mind, and that's
the sort of domestic paradise all you sons
of Adam are looking for, isn't it? With
the waning of the powers of frame and
brain comes the depression of the thumb,
and whether in senility or idiocy the
thumb is always turned in. And then,
when you turn your face to the wall and
know no more summers heat nor winters
cold, those that stand about you and say:
Well, poor old chap, he's gone at last"
will find that you have tucked your thumbs
away in the shelter of your hands, just as
you had them when you were little baby
TIE business men of Boston have been
giving attention of late to the conditions
which surround the foreign and domestic
commerce of that port. There has been
some talk in the newspapers of Bostons
d" decaying commerce" and it was perhaps
the sting of this unwecome phrase which
led the Chamber of Commerce to consult
concerning possible means of improving
the harbor, and induced the Boston Adver-
tiser to make careful comparison of the