The Van Buren press., 1895-06-01
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Michael Angelo had a face as rug
ged as his genius. His forehead was
low and broad, his eyes were full, his
nose thick and strong. His face was
irregular, but full OF power.
-Germany has one doctor to every
3,03s of populations; France, one to
2,766; England, one to l,7O7; Russia,
one to 1851, and the United States, one
to 626. No wonder Russian women
now outnumber those of every other
nation as medical students
Although this is an unusually good
shad season in the Delaware, fisher
men are complaining that the middle
men consume mostof the profits. Shad
wholesale at from eight to ten cents,
while the retail price seldom gets be-
low twenty-five cents apiece, and roe
shad usually fetch rather more.
Although rubber horseshoe has
been invented for use on icy pave
ments, nothing satisfactory seems to
have been found for horses compelled
to travel upon wet asphalt. 1t is no.
ticeable that horses accustomed to
asphalt learn the trick of stepping care
fully. as men learn to walk with stiff
fened ankles on ice.
In Italy in the last ten years e47
duels have been fought over newspaper
articles, 730 on account of rivalry in
love, BIT for political differences, 2s9
for insulting words, and the smallest
number, 10, for disputes at cards. Ac.
cording to the figures, journalists are
most apt to fight, and actors least of
those who fought at all, but there is
not single banker or capitalist in the
list.
"A number Of saloons in New York
sell drinks at the rate of two for a
quarter even when one is bought at a
time. The buyer Of one drink receives.
on payment of fifteen cents for it q
check marked: Good for ~ cents"
Or sometimes, simply: "e1l cents,' with
the name of the saloonkeeper under
meath. When the customer gets an
other drink he turns in the check, to-
gether with dime, in payment.
Even artists sometimes fail of that
intelligent observation in which thew
think the general public is SO much
lacking. A picture at the current ex-
hibition OF the Society of American
Artists was actually hung upside down
at first. 1t represents pool of water
rejecting an invisible sky and the OBJ
jects on one bank. The picture is
properly hung now, though to the lay
men at first sight it looks upside down.
Queen Margherita of Italy has a
curious hobby, the collection of shoes.
She has pair that belonged to Joan
OF Arc, those worn by Mary, queen OF
Scots, on her way to the scatfold,
pair Of slippers of Marie Antoinette,
and shoes once owned by Ninon Len
clos and by Queen Louise of Prussia
Her dearest treasures, however, are
the knitted silk socks and the little
leather shoes first worn by the prince
of Naples.
When the representatives of the
Postal union meet at Berne this year,
Switzerland will propose that the
weight of letters carried for single
postage be increased by fifteen
grammes, half an ounce. This will
make the weight allowed one ounce,
the same as for domestic letters in the
United States The higher rate at
present does not compensate for the
annoyance to the public and the
trouble to the post Office of collecting
extra postage on overweight letters.
"A rejection at the Salon of the
Champs Elysees has raised storm in
Paris. The Duchesse 'Uzes, who sup
piled Gen. Boulanger with funds, is
also sculptor. She made statue of
Emile Augier, which his native town,
Valence, selected from among dozen
other competing models as the best,
and which will be set up there. This
statue she sent under an assumed
name, to the Salon, where it was al
most unanimously rejected She has
applied to the prefect of the Seine for
permission to set up her work at the
entrance to the exhibition, and will
probably get it.