The herald., 1896-09-30
NOTES OF THE DAY

A free feast of African oysters was
offered to the men and boys on one of
the Liverpool docks recently. The kwar-
ra, 900-ton steamer that had been enl-
ployed for couple of years at Lagos, on
the west coast of Africa, had been put
into dry dock, when her bottom was
found to be covered with large oysters.
The crowd rushed in before the water
was all drawn off, standing waist high
in it to reach the oysters and making
a solid line on either side of the vessel
in the bottom of the dock All sorts
of implements were used to knock the
shells off, and it took the whole force
of the dock employees to prevent damage
being done to the ship.
During the last twenty years the total
acreage of land devoted to the growth
of cotton in the southern states has
been more than doubled; but production
has been increased in a still greater pro-
portion. There has been a wonderful
improvement in the methods of cotton
farming as well as in the extent of cot
ton lands. While the acreage has in
creased 128 per cent in twenty years, the
product has increased 1873 per cent. In
1875 the average yield per acre was 210
pounds, in 1895 the average yield had
Increased to 260 pounds.
A peep at the new ballroom in the
w 4NSN IOih ulSClOStS d
beautiful apartment. 1t is finished in
white and gold a la Louis XVI, with
stained glass let into some of the panels
of the ceiling. Two sides of the room
are covered with mirrors, a third con-
tains six great windows to be hung with
rnauve satin, and o fourth side is occu-
pied by deep gallery, behind which are
the dressing rooms Four hundred gilt
chairs will surround the room, which is
,.A An,-1yr f,tr;pa Low INoI
too large, in fact, for dance of not more
than 250 persons
A queer insurance case is now before
the Vienna courts. A young artillery
officer became engaged to young wom-
an with a dowry of 100000 forms, and
in order to make the marriage possible
had first to settle with his creditors. This
he did by insuring his life for 300, 900 flor
ms and raising the money he needed on
the insurance. The engagement, how
ever, was broken off, whereupon the
officer blew his brains out and the COM
panies refuse to pay on the ground that
he contemplated suicide when he took
out his policies.
Davies county is the banner tobacco
county in Kentucky. Her product for
1895 is reported at 13,575,120 pounds.
Graves county is a good second, with
12,416,9 pounds, and Henderson comes
third With IL ,931 $50 pounds. Hopkins
county shows up with 9,103,000 pounds,
with Webster close up with S,2S5966.
Logan county reports 7,642, 800, and sew
eral counties are credited with over
100000 pounds. The total yield of the
state for 1895 was 229,972,4s2 pounds.
The grape growers of northern Ohio
are afflicted with a big crop. The vines
are black with the fruit, which is selling
at cents basket of ten pounds in the
vineyards. There is no profit in such
price, for the basket costs 21A cents and
the picking as much more. 1t is said
that no more grapes will be sent to mar
ket, but that the remainder of the crop
will be sold to winemakers. This years
crop is the heaviest ever known in that
section of the country.
With an ordinary steel pen, and with.
out the aid Of a glass, Miss Frances La
fayette of San Francisco, has written
959S words on postal card. A cursory
glance at the card reveals nothing but
q shaded surface but by placing 1t under
a microscope the writing looms up with
surprising distinctness and one wonders
how the feat can possibly have been per-