River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1899-05-11

No total eclipse will be visible in
New England or the middle states till
January "a, 1925. On June 90 1855,
will occur the longest eclipse for many
centuries, totality lasting more than
seven minutes in the Island of Luzon,
at or very near Manila.
AN Assyrian tablet in the cellar of
the British museum has on it a repre-
sentation of the hanging gardens of
Babylon, according to Herr Bruno
Meissner If he is right this is the
FIRST testimony to their existence
found among the cuneiform inscrip-
tons.
THE East Greenlanders journey
round to West Greenland to get snuff,
and will consume four years in a single
excursion there and back, often, ac-
cording to hansen, remaining no long
er than an hour at the trading sta
ton before taking up their homeward
march.
TIE life of an editor in Servia is not
a delightful one. Within the last two
years a weekly paper has had 16 edit
ors. Fifteen of them are in Jail for too
keenly commenting upon government
affairs; and the 10th has just been
hustled off to join them for the same
offense.
A WRITER in the Arena contends that
the death penalty has been failure in
this country, basing this conclusion on
the increase of homicides. The figures
given are somewhat startling, In 1850
there were only 4, 300 homicides in the
United States, but in Is years the num-
Der went up to 10, 500.
STATISTICS gathered regarding the
bubonic plague in India shows that
since the beginning of the last out
break at Bombay $50, 600 deaths have
been recorded. This number, how
ever, is believed to be much below the
actual total, because the natives are
known to have concealed deaths from
the disease.
In Japan most of the horses are shod
with straw. Even the clumsiest of
cart horses wear straw shoes, which,
in their cases, are tied round the ankle
with straw rope, and are made of the
ordinary rice straw, braided so as to
form a sole for the foot about half an
inch thick. These soles cost about one
cent a pair.
THE absence of child from school
in Switzerland. unless in case of i'll
ness, is punishable by fine, the
amount of which is daily increased. ~
it is suspected that the child's illness
is slammed doctor is sent by the
,,,1 l,at, u &c
viuced that the suspicion is correct,
the parents have TO pay his fee.
NEW YORK has numerous instances
where clergymen receive from $4,000
to $50. 900. The late DIR. Hall, of the
Fifth avenue Presbyterian church. had
$50, 600 and a mause. Henry Ward
Beecher was paid $4,000 a year, which
barely sufficed to maintain his Peeks-
kill farm. Bishop Potter has $4,000,
with a rectory, with its upkeep thrown
in.
LIZARDS crawl along the walls of the
habitations in the Philippines, disre-
garded by the human occupants, and
make themselves useful by catching
flies and mosquitoes
LIGHTNING recently brought about
the discovery of an Etruscan tomb near
Volterra. 1t struck an old pine tree
on hillock, and in cutting down the
tree the worlzmen found the top of the
sepulcher under the roots.
ONE of the largest and most cumber-
some forms of money is found in Cen
trail Africa, where the natives use a
cruciform ingot of copper ore, over ten
inches long. 1t is heavy enough to be
a formidable weapon.
SIMS REEVES says he lost $500, 600
during his career as a singer because
of his conscientiousness. He would
never appear on the stage unless he
felt he could do his best.