The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1898-05-19

M ore men nave OloQ anu are UuTloU
on the Isthmus of Panama, along the
line of the proposed canal, than on
any equal amount of territory in the
world.
Race has a marked effect IN deter
mining forms of insanity. The leu
tonic and scandinavian races are more
subject to the morbid and melancholy
forms of mental disease, while the eX-
citabIe Celts are more liable to acute
mania.
1t is said that the castOr-Oil plant is
abhorred by nearly all members of the
animal world; that moles may be driven
from lawn by planting few castor
beans in it, and that neither the terri
BILE "army-worm," nor the all destroying
locust will eat it.
1t was on March 3, 1847, that the
Postmaster-general was authorized to
prepare postage stamps. The first uni
form rate, regardless of distance, was
established on June 8, 1872, when postal
cards were introduced at one cent each,
and in March 1885, when domestic let
tiers, not exceeding one-h half ounce in
weight, were carried for two cents, and
each additional ounce or fraction two
cents more.
The smallest COWS in the world are
to be found in the Samoan Islands.
The average weight of the males does
not exceed two hundred pounds. The
females usually average about one hun
dred pounds, and are very stocky
built, and are seldom taller than me-
rino sheep. The color of these cattle
is nearly all alike, reddish mouse
color marked with white. They have
very large heads, and their horns are
of exceptional length.
The air within the Mammoth Cave
of Kentucky has uniform tempera-
ture summer and winter of 81 degrees
Fahrenheit. The cave may be said to
breathe twice year, inhaling during
the winter and exhaling during the
summer. This breathing of the cave
and the purity of the air and its free
dom from germs, are among the most
interesting problems to be studied. BY
what process the air in the cave be-
comes sterilized remains to be deter.
mined.
Swiss funeral customs are peculiar
AT the death of person the family
inserts formal black edged announce
ment in the papers asking for sympa-
thy, and stating that "the mourning
urn" will be exhibited during certain
hours on special day. In front of
the house where the person died there
is placed little black table, on which
stands black jar. Into this the friends
and acquaintance of the family drop
little blackmargined visiting cards,
sometimes with a few words of SYM
pathy on them. The urn is put on the
table on the day of the funeral.
President William Henry Harrison
was first buried April :, 1871, in the
Congressional grounds at Washington,
u. {. In July of the same year his re-
mains were taken to North Bend, O.,
and with his wife and children, the
President now lies buried in a vault
located on the apex of all oblong
mound III the midst of pasture field
that oyerlOOks the Ohio river, near his
former residence at North Bend, O..
fifteen miles west of Cincinnati. The
hlllock consists of an enclosure of
about fifty feet square, shaded by two
or three old cedars, closed in from the
grazing ground by an ordinary board
fence
War with Mexico was formally de-
clared by the United States, May 13,
1916, the house voting la to fourteen
and Senate forty to two. War was for
mally declared by Mexico, May %, 1916.
The causes of the Mexican war may
be divided into three reasons: First,
Mexico claimed Texas as part of her
territory, Notwithstanding its indie
pendence was acknowledged by the
United States, England, France and
other governments. The United States,
by annexation, claimed the Rio Grande
as the Texas boundary, while Mexico
alleged the western limit of the PROV
ince never extended west of the Nueces
river. The crossing by General Taylor
was considered as the commencement
of war, and Mexico made the attack.
Second-Impoverished by civil war,
Mexico did not hesitate to replenish
her treasury hN Numbering A American