Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-29
TOPICAL TALKS.

Judge Banks-Mexico is country of extremes. You see In striking contrast the highest and the lowest civilizations: the greatest wealth and the deepest pow erty; the highest mountains and the broadest valleys; the coldest and the hot est climate; the fruits-of the north and of the tropics. For some articles you pay an eXtrayagant price, and for others an insignificant sum. For instance. cotton
 and cotton goods cost twice what you pay in the United States. This must be
 due to the high protective tariff that Mexico puts on cotton. There Is Texas
 just across the Rio Grande, with her
 crop of 2,500,000 bales, and but for tho
 high tariff she would find in Mexico a good customer. l saw very little cotton growing while I was in Mexico. think
 Mexico will wake up to the fact that she
 is taxing her people unnecessarily and
 will reduce the tariff on cotton Tn n corn sells for $1 per bushel. Why this Is l cannot see, for there seems to be plenty
 of corn growing in Mexico. In the cost of many necessaries of life there is but
 little difference between Mexico and the
 United States. Woolen goods are a lit
 tie cheaper. I paid $7 in Mexican money
 for pair of patent leather shoes. Cigars
 are cheaper and so are diamonds and
 other precious stones. Labor is paid
 much less. For an American silver dol
 lar you will get s1.S7 in Mexican silver.
 Fruits and vegetables are cheap. The
 gardens near the City of Mexico are sur
 rounded by canals and are very produc-
 tive. The boats come to the city loaded
 down with fruits, flowers and vegeta-
 bles. The City of Mexico is located in the dry bed of a lake. It would be sic'tly
 but for its high altitude. The climate is
 deal-the thermometer ranges from 90
 to 70 degrees the year round. sewer-
 age system is being constructed in the
 City of Mexico, which will add to the gea-
 eral health.
 Mir. Ivey Lewis-While down on the plantation this summer l studied the hab- it's of bees. Nearly every one is afraid of being stung by bee, but they won't sting except in defense of their home. When bee stings he dies. He will not give up his life except in defense of home. Every bee hive has a guard sta
 toned just inside the opening This guard
 is under control of a leader. When a man approaches the leader darts out fol-
 lowed by the guard If the leader flies
 at your head and passes on his followers
 do the same, If the leader strikes you so do bis followers. It was dangerous
 to handle bees until 1t was discovered that they would succumb to smoke. Since then it Is comparatively easy to
 handle them. After they are smoked into insensibility their stings can be eX- lTdCleu Mlln lWeeZtIS. l He StlDSS are put in glass jars and sold for poison. The smell of the stngs is sickening. The wild | bee hunter will go out in the woods | and lie down on his back. When he sees | bee strike bee line he knows there is | a bee tree in that direction, and he is l sure to find it before going very far. Tho | workers among the bees are females, and | the drones are males. The queen rules | the hive until she is driven out to give | place to new queen. The best queen | bees come from Italy and are shipped in | little boxes.
 | Judge P.-The difference between the | federal constitution and the state con. | stitutions is mainly this: Congress can | do only that permitted by the consttu-
 tion, while the legislatures can do any,
 thing not prohibited by the state con- | stitutions
 | Teacher-The three months vacation | is too long; the children forget all they | have learned. The vacation should be | divided into six weeks in the winter and l six weeks in the summer During all | the long summer the children rarely look | into book-they are turned loose on | the streets or into the woods and they
 neglect the habits of study they have | been taught and degenerate into wild
 arabs. They lose the good associations
 they have formed at school, and much of | the work must be gone over again. But l while I do not believe in long vacations l for children, do think the teachers need
 a long vacation Many people think a
 teacher has an easy time of 1t, as their
 hours are from to o'clock and they | have Saturday holidays, but really a | teachers life is hard one. It is such | strain on the nervous system to keep | thirty or forty children quiet and atten-
 tive. They are regular little vampires.
 sucking the life-blood out of their teach 1 CTS heart And a teachers duties are not confined to the school room-she must | visit the parents of the children at their l homes and consult with them IS to the | progress of the children and their va | fious necessities