The evening times., 1898-11-04
NOTES aF THE DAY.

Inc Russian forests Iare larger, but less
accessible
mixture of oil and graphite will pro.
tect screws against rust, and prevent
them from becoming liked.
Lord Wolseey takes keen interest in
all literary matters, and is often seen in
gatherings of men of letters.
Jehan Rictus, of Paris who has been
called the Poet of the Submerged Tenth,
is coming to America next month.
The baya bird of India has a curious
habit of fastening firefiies to its nest with
moist clay. The appearance of the nest
on dark night Is slightly startling.
In olden times they had contrivance
for winding a clock by an attachment to
the hall door. Every time anyone opened
| the door II helped to wind the timepiece.
| In New Zealand there is a law which
| allows a. yearly pension of about 500 to
needy and respectable persons past the
age of siXty-five years, who lived for
| twenty years in the colony.
| More than half the lord chancellors of
England in the last fifty years were sons
| of poor men. One was the son of a coun-
| try barber, and the father of another
| was coal HEAVIER at Newcastle.
/ A Paris paper says: England is the
refuge of liberty in the universal reac-
| tionary movement. A war with England
| would mean a catastrophe for humanity ;
1t would mean utter ruin to France.
'Ducky,' the royal parrot of England,
| presented to the King by Pitt, died re-
| Gently at the age OF 124. The bird was at
| one time CiS50) banished from the court
because of its inconvenient frankness.
| Wire fences, which the American army
utilized for telephone lines in Cuba, are
| now serving the same purpose in Aus
| tralia, thus enabling farmers TO COM
| municate with each other over distances
| extending to i3 miles.
A Bavarian steamboat company has
| taken to regulating chiidren's fares by
size instead of age. Children under six
| " centimeters in height are to go free;
| children over sixty and under l3O cent?
meters must pay half price.
When the prime minister of China dis
| likes man he advises the Emperor TO
| pay him "a visit. The Emperor travels
| With a retinue of 10,000 persons, and a
protracted visit, or rather visitation, from
| him would ruin anybody but a Croesus.
When DR.. Creighton was offered the
| bishopric of London a lady happened 10
! meet MS uduEnltf ana dShGu "ilCtitI biit
offer had been accepted. well, / don't
know" was the answer. Papa is in the
| study praying for guidance and mamma
| is upstairs packing the trunks.
1t is said that Hall Caine has been Of
| fered for the English and American
rights of his unwritten novel the largest
sum ever offered for a work of fiction.
| He was paid $50, 600 for the English and
American rights in THE Christian" 1t
may be two years before the new novel
is completed.
When the Empress of China married
Queen Victoria sent the bride beauti-
full clock, five feet high and made of sill
YER The clock was made TO chime the
same chords as big. Ben" and by the
Queens desire, a Chinese inscription was
added. expressing the hope that it might
always chime happy hours for the young
Empress The only ornament of the
clock was finely modelled figure of Brit
annia.
II is said that corn is to be to America
what the palm tree is to the tropics. or
the bamboo grasses 10 China and Japan.
Ingenuity has gone far with the grain
itself in food preparations, in starch max
ing in alcoholic beverages, but the stalk
the silk the pith are all finding wonder
full economic uses. Outside the manufac-
ture of cellulose from the pith. use
has been made of the shive. Now it
seems that the latter can be cheaply
made into fine grade of paper.
Spiders webs are now used in making
strong cords for military balloons. AT
the professional schools of ChalaIs-Me
don. France, spiders are bred and trained
for the purpose of furnishing the lines.
\ dozen spiders are grouped before a reel,
which withdraws the delicate thread. and
each insect is released when II has yielded
20 to 40 yards of line. Each fiber is of a
pinkish hue and is washed to remove the
sticky matter on its surface Eight of
these are next combined into a thread,
which is lighter and stronged than silk.
In a recent number of the London H.
Iustrated News it is suggested that Ste
venson's house at Samoa should be re-
moved TO Edinburgh. The Academy sug-
gests a somewhat curious obstacle in the
way. 1t says that the house cost in tim
ber alone-the finest California redwood
about 81, 900. and the dining-roem is
fifty feet long, twenty-five feet broad
and fifteen feet high, and is capable of
seating a considerable dining cub. Thus
the Edinburg ground rent involved would
speedily swallow the funds already sub
scribed toward the Stevenson memorial
Three ex-ministers of the French Re
public are giving their time to literary
pursuits. NJ. HanotauX approaches the
completion of the third volume of Cardi-
raj Richelieu's biography, and in idle mo-
ments amuses himself by a days shoot
ing. NJ. Cavaignac is engaged in tracing
the growth of contemporary Germany
NJ. Rambaud has returned to his monu-
mental work on general history and
hopes soon to finish the closing volumes
Another candidate for literary fame is
Mile Lucie Faure, who is understood
to be writing her fathers memoirs with
his own sanction and assistance. She has
already made her debut anonymously in
two three volumes of verse.
The London Times tells a little story
about the Gloucester festival. re-
Gently held. 1t says: Some crank
has been writing to the local pa
pers complaining that during the
festival he is not admitted to the cathe-
dral free, that being a place of worship.
The crank turned up at the cathedral
the other day, and was told he could not
be admitted without a ticket Do you
mean to tell me-, he excitedly argued.
that l shall require ticket to enter the
kingdom of heaven?' Well no. explain
ed the polite steward. but you won't
hear Nine. Albani in heaven And then,
when the enormity of his remark dawned
upon him, that steward turned and fled"
A story which g the Westminster Ga
zette tells of the South African elections
is as follows: Two Dutchmen at a board
ing house dinner tabIel were eulogizing
the superior virtues of their race as op-
posed to the English. Presently Queen
Victoria was mentioned, when one ex-
claimed, Damn Victoria With that
the Engishman who sat next to the Of
Tending Dutchman threw the whole con-