The morning news., 1897-04-13
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

OF a Roman temple which was converted
70 Christian uses in the Merovingian era.
in spite of much red tape, the revision
of the service for the queens accession
in order to fit it for the jubilee celebration
is going on. The convocation of York has
approved the revised from, and the convo-
cation of Canterbury will probably do so
at its May meeting.
Not yet extinguished is the spirit of the
Indian warriors death chant in the north
west. Charcoal, an Indian murderer of one
of the mounted police at Mcleod, Mani
toba. was so infirm in the legs that he had
to be carried to the scaffold. but he died
fun of defiance, giving three ringing war
whoops as he was taken up the stairs.
The British treasury authorities have
just received from the chief constable of
Buckingham remarkable collection of
coins, which were recently discovered at
the village of Whitechurch, through the
falling of the ceiling in an old house, says
London Truth. They are all silver coins,
and number twenty-eight, belonging en-
tirely to the period covered by the reign
of Elizabeth James 1 and Charles I. The
bulk of them are in an excellent state of
preservation.s The Oldest date deciphera-
BILE is 1865.
No one can prophesy the future of
Germany, says a writer in the Forum;
but so much, at least seems clear. that it
will largely depend on the course pursued
by the socialists. Three alternatives
seem open to them. They may Indefinite
ly continue their present opposition TO
the government, and then they can only
be a source of weakness; or they may alb
sorb the empire, Transforming it into a
feudal state, fatal to liberty, and, there
fore, unstable; or they may, in return for
certain timely concessions, place their
powerful organization at the service of
the empire, and be its chief pillar of
strength. This is the consummation that
every friend of Germany and of humanity
must devoutly wish. 1t would bring ad-
vantage to both sides and put an end to
autocracy. The empire would have to
abandon its attempt to return to mediae-
val military despotism, and allow it's sub
jects large liberty of thought speech and
action; while the socialists would have to
abandon their notion of the state as a
mere economic beehive, and accept it as
the great institution for raising man above
slavery to physical needs into spiritual
freedom and culture. In this way Ger
many might be strong without being en-
slaved; and the present condition of
things, against which all thoughtful men
rebel, might come to an end.
"A significant fact in the industrial
world of Europe is the steadily increas-
ing demand for hard woods that are indi-
genous TO the soil of America, says the
Chicago Chronicle AS may be supposed,
oak leads the foreign shipments, although
tulip, poplar, ash, gum and black wal
nut, whenever good quality can be Sc
cured, are in some demand. European
consumers like the quality of American
oak, and, since it is known TO be plentI-
full here, it will probably be in increasing
demand. Cottonwood has been shipped to
Germany in considerable quantities, Wnere
cheap wood is required for furniture and
other uses. Much of this lumber is for
warded from New Orleans, and since
great part of the oak ash, poplar. cotton
wood and other timbers demanded by the
foreign market is in the southern states,
it is not improbable that lumber for for
eign markets will be largely shipped in fu-
ture from the Gulf ports. In speaking of
this matter the Northwestern Lumber
man says that the European market re-
quireS lumber cut to exact thickness, and
of accurate length. trimmed so as to nave
the butts square and true. Space for pill
ing in the yards of the old world is an OBJ
ject so that random, uneven lengths are
Objectionable, and, since the foreign buyer
insists that he shall have just what he
bargains for, quality should be strictly at
tended to.
scientifically inclined persons in South
ern California are pondering deeply over
the discovery, in Elysian Park here, of a
distinct imprint in solid stone of a shoe
worn by human being, says the Los An
geles Herald. This discovery is certain to
excite no little comment, for there ap-
pears to be no authentic record of a fos-
silized footprint of a human being of or
Iriu
fore. The peculiar feature of this find
is that the owner Of the foot wore a shoe
of antique Mexican fashion, with high
narrow heel and broad, fiat sole. The
imprint is perfectly clear and looks as
though the owner had unwittingly put his
right foot into soft mud but day or two
ago and left his mark, to be dried by the
sun and preserved for future generations
The fossil imprint was discovered by la
borers who are making a deep cut for the
new wagon road northeast of the park
1t was cut out of solid rock four feet or
thereabouts below the surface soil and
from a point on the hillside at least sew
enty feet above the bottom of the little
canyon at the hills base The stone is
fine-grained shale impregnated with
lime. An interesting fact in connection
with the find is this: Several other ex-
cellently preserved and clearly delineated
organic remains. such as ferns, leaves and
twigs, have been found in the same depos-
IT, and, stranger STILL but few days ago
the complete outline of a fish was taken
from the same stratum of stone not many
feet distant from this last find The
fish's remains were twenty feet below the
surface.
The recent industrial growth of Rus
sia has been one of the marvels of the
present decade, says the Chicago Chroni-
Gle. In addition to her extensive sulphu-
ric acid industry Russia is opelng up
important manufactures of chromate
salts, vitriol, phosphates. lead, zinc, tin
strontium and copper salts and mineral
dyes, and platinum is almost a Russian
monopoly. In medicinal plant growing
the progress in Russia is very great Six
castor oil factories, all working from ma
tive-grown seed, were represented at the
exhibition, and oils of peppermint, worm
wood, caraway, fennel, anse and pine
needles were also shown. The OUTPUT of
Russian benzine has grown from 81. 800
gallons In 1882 to nearly 1,57O0O0 gallons in
1894. The petroleum industry is the second
largest In the world. one firm alone owns
1888 miles OF petroleum pipe lines. II has
an enormous fleet and owns 1.157 tank
wagons for the conveyance of its products
bV rail. The industry az tho dry diotffIa