The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-04-19
NEWS HND COMMENT

SUI, writes from Manila, Philippine |
Islands, as follows to the state depart !
ment regarding the health conditions Of
that city: 81 wish to refutc the state |
ments generally circulated in regard TO |
the health and climate of the Philippine |
Islands. Being within the tropics, they, |
or course. lack the invgorating effects OF
frost, and tho temperature averages high |
at Manila about 1S.3 degrees Fahrenheit;
but extremes are not Wide apart. ana
during the last wear | heard Of no tenn
perature below 81 degrees Fahrenheit IN
the island. and none below the sixties IN
Manila. Mercury in the shade rarely
rises above 81 degrees nor above 20 de-
grees In the sun. Being on the coast OF
bay so large as to be almost an inland
sea, and having eight miles to the east
a lake with 100 miles of shore, whose
waters seek the bay through the large
and rapid Pasig, the city of Manila has
tresh air constantly, as well as sea
breezes. The sewers of Manila are not
good and can never be hrst-class, be-
cause of Its low level; but the rainfall
here Is above ten feet per annum ana
quite evenly distributed. so that the
streets are rain swept and the sewers
well flushed almost every day. There is
also an advantage in hot, wet weather,
which hastens the decay of vegetable and
animal matter, this soon rotting and be-
ing washed away. The city water sup
ply is abundant. The water is carried
in large iron pipes about seven miles
from springs, and is exceptionally pure
and agreeable to taste. ! use IL every
day as a beverage. and have never eN-
perienced i'll effects therefrom. | have
not been sick q minute since | left the
United States in 1897. In filthy quarters
smallpox may be found almost any day;
but few deaths result, and the sanitary
measures of the present government
have been of benefit The death rate is
small, and it is only necessary to live
properly to be entirely healthy"
Rudyard Kipling did not at all like the
United States when he first visited the
country; but that was I'm 1850, when he
was going out to India to become sub
editor on the Lahore News. Years later,
when he was writing "Thc Light That
Failed he met in LCndOn. a citizen of
Illinois who had read the Lahore News
in 1850, and who resented the imputations
found there. 1t was at friendly and
informal meeting of American and Eng
lish newspaper men and writer's of more
serious matter, and the critic called Kip
| lng's attention to some errors In his 'im-
prcssions."
Il think" said he. "mcn are much the
| same everywhere A weak man in Amer
lea would be a weak man in London-or
Zululand. And there are strong men east
and west. and everywhere"
Mr. Kiping, who had admitted his er-
ror, rolled clumsily on his side, and wrote
! on the fyleaf of a book:
| For there is neither East nor West
| Border, nor breed, nor birth,
| When two strong men stand face to face
| Though they come from the ends of the
| earth"
And this he tore out and handed to his
| American critic.
| That's a good sentiment" said the lat
| ter; land it's the truth
! The incident was closed" after that,
| and party dispersed. But wnen East
| and West appeared later in the ballads.
the Illinois man found himself in possess
sion of the original draft of that prelude.
Saturday Evening Post
A Mobile Ala, dispatch to the sun
| tells this interesting story: IN. Il.
| Hutchinson consulting and supervising
| electrical engineer for the Seventh ana
| Eighth lighthouse districts and for the
| Mobile Light and Railroad company. a
| native of this city and graduate of the
| Alabama Polytechnic institute, placed an
| exhibition today an instrument ne calls
| the akoulallion, which enabled Lyman
| Gould and Martin Durant, two YoulE
| men born totally deaf, TO hear and ar
| tiCulate as far as they wero able. Hutch
| irson is only q years old and has de-
| voted nearly three years to tn" ncrfec
ion of local medical men. Is the most per-
| feet instrument invented for the purpose
! of enabling tn" deui to hear on the
| same electrical principle employed is a
larger apparatus by which an instructor
can communicate speech to amy number
of pupils at one time without confusion.
Hutchinson has put together Il portable
instrument with a smal1 pocket battery,
| by means Of which a dcaf-mute was en-
| abled to hear the playing Of piano at il
distance of sixty feet and To distinguish
! a voice in ordinary conversational tones
The young inventor had previously made
"a reputation here as an expert electrician
and had also learned what to avoid as
injurious to subjects by studying the for
nation of the ear at the Alabama Mcdi-
| cal college"
According to the Railway Age the
present year is likely To see Il great re-
Vival of railroad building. 1t estimates
| that j,WO miles VIII be added to the mile
age of the United States, which would he
4 greater record than that of any year
since 1880 According To the Railway
Age, the building of 5000 miles of rail-
road means the investment of about Sl5o,-
100000 and the permanent employment of
25,000 men. Tables show tnat there are
800 new lines projected OF under con-
strIction, with a total length of 10 jj3
miles. OF these lines less than $500 miles
of railroad is in the New England or Mid
die states. In the Southwt stern states
there are 10 new roads under way. with
q length of 12,2ll miles. rhe South At
lantic. Gulf and Mississippi Valley states
have an equal mileage Of new roads in
prospect, the Central Northern and
! Northwestern states have nearly 1900
miles projected, and more than 4,00 miles
Of railroads ere To be built in the Pa
ciflc states. The 1900 miles of new track
h,,tI l. l,,-g L. .
extensions and links for the large West
ern systems. With these additions the
railroads in operation i'm the United
States will be in the neEhbOrhood Of
$4,000 miles long, of a total value OF
about si2, 300. OOcO, and employing a mil
lion men i'm their operation.
VIII Allen White, the editor of the EN-
poria Gazette, and the author of What
Is the Matter with Kansas and other
productions of widespread fame, recently
got into collision with an irate subscriber,
a politician named Severy' whom White
had scalped editorially. In the miX-up
White was knocked down. Now the
| question arises was White attacked
from the front or the rear? Two citi-
zens Of Emporia have made an affidavit
that Colonel Severy struck Editor White
| in the face and not in the back. Editor
White makes reply as follows: without
| desiring to question the VeraCity Of the
two gentlemen who sworc that Sevcry
was standing I'm front of w. a. White
when he struck the blow that fclled him,
the Gazette desires to offer in evidence,
as exhibit A one head, size 1as, with a
large lump directly in the back and one
sS5 suit of clothes with mud down the
front and not a spot behind as exhibit
b When a man is sluggcd from the
back he falls forward. The lump
and clothes are better than stack of