The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1897-06-17
NOTES AND COMMENTS.

mentS 10 IuOTe Vi lS5S ulopih "i'iAS"
Frenchmen during the last twenty-five
years, and there are now 1877 commit
tees collecting money for more.
The railway companies of Great
Britain carried $50, 100000 passengers
in 1895, of whom 1856 were killed. Dur
ing the same year, in the city OF Lon
don alone, $50 persons were killed by
falling from buildings or out OF win
dows.
A projectile from the new English
wire guns in recent trial at Shoe-
buryness completely penetrated an
eighteen-inch steel-faced compound
armor plate backed by six-inch
wrought iron plate, by eight feet OF
solid oak and three inches of iron, ana
was found imbedded in a clay bank
thirty-fve yards behind the target.
Spain, according to the war office
statistics, had sent, up to the end OF
1897. 1884 men and 40 generals to
Cuba. The deaths in the field and
from yellow fever and other diseases
were four generals and %, 731 men and
officers. No account is given of the
men sent home invaded, but at least
1000 have returned many OF whom
have since died.
The new transatlantic cable, which
is to be laid between Brest and New
York during the coming summer, Will,
Il h. lanrnot nyIltpnce
The length will be $3.50 nautical
miles, and the total weight OF the
cable with its envelope is estimated at
1000 tons. Four large ships are to
be employed in stretching it across the
oceans bottom.
A flock of wild pigeons so numerous
as to recall the hunting stories OF days
that were supposed to have passed for
ever has taken possession of grove IN
Shasta county, Cal. When the birds
are on their foraging expeditions they
are said to form line mile in length
and from 100 to 200 yards wide, while
the sound of their wings is like that OF
furious storm. At night they gather
in a black oak forest, where, over an
area of about 100 acres, they seem to
cover every twig and Dough.
It may be of interest to know what
church in the world is accounted the
wealthiest. This recognition is gen
orally assigned to the Orthodox Church
of Russia. As an evidence of this, 1t.
is stated 'that it could easily pay the
national debt of the empire, amount
ing to about f200, 100000, or nearly
81 900, 600, 900, and yet not be impover-
ished." This seems almost incredible,
but it must be remembered that it has
some very lucrative sources OF rev.
enue. One of the most profitable IS
the sale of candles.
A Floating church, has just been
built in the English fen country. The
parish of Holme, in the diocese of Ely,
has, in consequence of the drainage OF
the fens, especially the famous Whit
tlesea Mere, so extended itself that
about half the population are practi-
cally out of reach of their parish
church. To assist him in getting at
these outside parishioners, the vicar is
trying the experiment of using kind
of houseboat, which can be moved
from point to point on the large fen
dyke, or canalized river, surrounding
three-fourths of the parish.
The towns of Woodsdale, Moscow,
Springfield and Fargo, in Kansas,
which had population of eleven hun
bred in 1890, have now only popula-
ton of eighteen, according to a cor
respondent of "The United States In
weston" Hugoton has three families
out of the four hundred that used to
live there. Nine children 60 to the
$4,000 schoolhouse, and there j.
standing, like monument of fplly'
waterworks system that ="
prtrJcFat $50, 66oSe ~,
never paid cent of principa wn
est on all this and never will -
Inc Agricultural Departments ii
pertinent Station Record states tbatl
colony OF bees, of which there al
peared to be at the beginning aboE
Io'ooc bees, was watched from JAM
airy to December, 1891, and at the eJ
OF the season it had about 20. 900. ri
the whole time there were about 81
eggs laid per day; for the season
the honey flow March 3 to August
the number of eggs per day averaph
i'I6O. The highest daily average VII
between March IS and April 10 a,t
was 1900. The colony did not swarrh
over 800, 600 bees were Matched aI
passed away. The colony made 1ad
pounds of honey. "a
Some idea of the rapid growth
the telephone service in this countrhf
may be obtained from the stateme,tv
recently made ON good authority tho u
the number of telephone stations in fl \
United States has reached 352 S1ou.,
Estimating the population of the conn
Try at 62, 622, $50, the figures given h,
the last census, there is one telenbonS
70 every 1872 inhabitants. Consider
ing the short length of time which ba,