St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-08-24
FOREIGN GOSSIP.


an important new railway line
has now bcen commenced in Siam.
Commencing at the Siamesc seaport
town of Alor Star, the line will pro-
ceed some eighty miles in q northeast
direction to its terminus At Singorah,
on the gulf of Siam. When this Sec
tion is finished. southerly extension
is to be commenced, which will finally
be extended to Perak.
The number Of unfortunates ban
ished to Siberia last year in Russia, in
cluding those who followed the prison
ers voluntarily. was 1,5SO-7.5 $40 men,
1,1l5 women and $3.50 children. Ac-
cording TO their religious creeds there
were s,s31 Orthodox, 1924 Mahome-
dams. $40 Jews, SOC Catholics, 274
Lutherans. 1lS Roskolnikis. So Gre
gorians. 30 Skopzes and So ''heathen."
The Prussian state railroads during
1884 gave long-service allowances to
1910 laborers who had served IS years,
to :77 who had served 35 years, and to
IA who had served so years. Moreover,
seven of the oldest were decorated.
These men do not belong to the class
of regular employees, but are engaged
as employees and are liable to dis
missal at any time. The allowances
vary from 25 to 100 marks-s6 to se4.
Sir Joshua Reynolds Portrait OF
Lady Smythe and Her Children"
which in 1878 was sold for Sc, $50,
brought 81. 900 at the Montrose sale.
On the other hand. his Mrs. Pownal
as Hebe," bought in last year for s3.-
600. fetched only Sl,5oO, and Gains
borough's mime. Lebrun," bought in
at SIS, 500, was sold for Sl0,750. Rey-
nolds' Lady Ann Fitzpatrick as Syl-
via" brought s7,750, and his "Nelly
O'Bricn" S9s5.
-Bagdad date mark is the name
given to a mysterious disease that at
tacks nearly everyone who stays in
Bagdad for any length of time, and is
found also at Aleppo and other places
in Turkish Asia. 1t is . sore that
comes only once, but lasts . year. leav-
ing a scar the shape of . date. Nearly
all the natives are marked with it. No
has been found for it, but
Of soda seems to have
some effect on the mark.
An means of forecasting the weather
from a morning cup Of coffee is given
by the Leeds Mercury, which asserts
that it has proved more Trustworthy
than the official guesses. Drop two
Jumps of sugar carefully into the mid
die of the cup; if the air bubbles re-
main in the center Of the cup it will be
fine: if they rise rapidly and 60 at once
10 the sides it will rain all day; if they
gather in the center and then go in a
cluster to one side, look out for show
rs.
People are not much better and not
much worse than they have always
,een. The earliest form of insurance
vas marine insurance. and the first in |
'urer was Emperor Claudius, who in
'ured the vessels bringing wheat to
Rome. And alas! they used to put up
obs on the emperor. They loaded up
I'D hulks with weevily grain. sunk |
hem and claimed the insurance. That |
5 1850 years ago or thereabouts, and it |
s suspected that similar schemes are |
worked on the marine companies to- |
lay.
Divorce petitions in England for
he ten years from 1883 to 1892 aver
lged 533 a year. there being nothing |
o indicate a progressive increase; the
owest number, $50 in 1885. was fol-
owed by the highest, 5s1 in 1856; the
number for 1892 was 539. The same
lolds true for divorces granted, the
Iverage being 366. with the extremes
# SIC in 1855 and 400 in 1890. The re-
marriages Of divorced persons, how
ver, show 4 steady increase year by
ear. from I2e in 1883 to 100 in 1892, the
Iverage being 163.