New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1899-11-15
SlBERlA'S BIG GOLD CROP.
Large Quantities of 1t Struggled Out
of the Country.

Large Quantities of 1t Struggled Out
of the Country.
In spite of the most stringent Rus
sian laws on the SUBJECTIVE taking
away Of gold without government con-
sent-there is an enormous business
done all over Siberia in gold, both dust
and, especially, nuggets stolen from
the workings. 1t is criminal offense
to be found in possession Of gold; but
as SO large a proportion Of the popula-
ton of Siberia consists of those sent
there for punishment, and the only
further punishment they have to fear
is deportation to some yet more distant
region of the same barren and joyless
land, the deterrent is by no means so
formidable as mere perusal of the
awful menaces of the statutes at first
sight seems to convey. Moreover, the
successful dealer in stolen gold rarely
fails to escape the penalties Of his Of
tense, even when caught redhanded.
The Russian official even in Russia
proper, is seldom altogether unreason-
able; and in Siberia, where the preg-
nant saying of the dishonest ''chinov-
Mix" It's long way to Peter'-that
is, st. Petersburg-is especially signif-
cant, the official is good natured' in
ways be bought to accept unpleasant
responsibilities.
A great part of the gold is conveyed
over the Chinese frontier-that is,
across the river Amur, which is the
sole defense of the frontier against
smuggling from both sides-and finds
a ready sale at ruinous sacrifices in eX-
change for a certain fiery Chinese
vodka. The valuable properties Of this
spirit, much esteemed by Russian and
native alike, are that it gives the Gus
toner the beatitude of intOXicatiOn one
day, and on the next he can attain the
same exalted state by the cheap expe
dent of drinking water.-Chambers'
Journal
The BetrOthal Ring.
The early history of the wedding
ring is not easy to trace, as it was apt
to be confused with the betrOthal ring.
This was once the more important Of
the two, for in the days of our fOrefa-
theirs the betrOthal was the great cere-
mony and marriage only the ratifca-
ton of the contract. Then a spouse
was a betrothed person, and to esDouse
was to be betrOthed. The ceremony
Of espousal or betrothal was celebrat-
ed with all possible solemnity as the
contract of a future eternal bond Of
love-" No doubt the reason for thus
solemnizing an engagement was that
in times of violence and laWlesSnesS
the church thought it needful to pro-
tect the woman and therefore made
the betrothal SO sacred that a violation
of the contract was punished with ex-
communication. A betrothal service
was used, which still forms part of the
French and Italian ritual, and, indeed,
the first part of the Anglican mar
riage rite down to the woman's Il
will'' is simply the old betrothal serv-
ice.
Remarkable Tumors.
Some remarkable records of tumors
are given in The Lancet The largest
known is a uterine tumor that weighed
1875 pounds, described by a doctor Of
Bucharest. Hunter removed one
weighing 40 pounds from a woman
whose weight without the tumor was
95 pounds. The largest solid tumor of
this class weighed 1O6 pounds. The
record for ovarian tumors is held by
Chinese patient, who had one weigh
ing 169 pounds; without it she weighed
II pounds. There is a New York one
Of 149 pounds and a German one Of
146. For mammary tumors a case is
on record where the growth in one