Arizona silver belt., 1900-07-12
GENERAL NEWS.
Brief Mention of Interesting Facts and Happenings
 of the Universe.
THEY OCCUR WEEKL Y.
A Condensation of Telegraph and Cable Messages, Giving Prefer red Space to the News of
 Our Own Land.

There was not mile Of railroad in 1900. The first line built was the Bal timore X Ohio in iS,,0. It was four teen miles long.
 The illiteracy of Russia exceeds that of any other country claiming to have a civilized government. In 10000 viii lages of the vast empire there is not a school and it is estimated that not 20 per cent of the population of the em- pire has acquired even the rudiments of common school education.
 The system of hiring out convicts has been abandoned by Texas, Missis sippi and Georgia, and the experiment. has oeen made of employing them on farms owned by the state and devoted exclusively to cotton culture. This form of employment has worked satis- factorily, interfering less with free labor than the abandoned contract sys- tenn and yielding better returns to the state.
 Professor D. A. Kent of Jewell, Ia. has been appointed by the sultan of Turkey instructor of farming for the entire Turkish empire. Professor Kent was recommended for the po- sition year ago but on account of the usual oriental dilatoriness did not receive the appointment until few days ago. He is now a member of the faculty of the Iowa state agricultural college.
 It is announced from New York that one-third of the 10000, ,00O called for by the bishops of the Methodist Epis- copal church as a 20th century thank offering has been raised, and it is pro- posed to raise the entire amount dur ing this year and next. The denomi- national seminaries have subscribed S3,000,000 of which amount S505, ,000 came from the Ohio Wesleyan Uni versity.
 Letters and dispatches from Paris tell of the magnificent showing made there by American agriculture, to which is allotted more than half the en- tire space awarded to the United States. The chief exhibit is, of course, that of grains, of which magnificent display is made. There is, besides, corn kitchen, at which over 700 people are served daily to all sorts of delicious corn foods. The display of canned and dried fruits, mostly from Califor- mia. is attractive in he extreme and California makes the only exhibit of olive oil from the United States.
 One American exhibit at Paris attracting tremendous crowds is a huge octagonal refrigerator nows shown in the agricultural building. Europe has never suspected the use we make of refrigerators. Here meat is killed from day to day, and it is impossible to preserve eggs and butter. There fore the great American ice-box ere ates much wonder. It is constructed of plate glass on all sides, and all kinds of food are artistically displayed. The whole refrigerator, though as big as house, revolves on pivot so that it's contents are completely shown to every bystander every two minutes.
 \ preacher once said: "Editors dare not tell the truth. If you did you would not live. Your newspaper would be big failnre." The editor replied: "You are right. And the minister who will at all times tell the truth about his members, alive or dead, will not occupy the pulpit more than one Sunday, and he will find it necessary to leave town in hurry. The press and pulpit go hand in hand with the whitewash brushes, magnify ing little virtues into big ones. The press, the pulpit and the grave stones are the great saint-makers.' The min ister went away looking very thought 1uI, Wnlle Iut tulOoi IuihCu Oo bio work telling the surpassing beauty of the bride, when in fact she is as ugly as mud fence. -Ex.
 Some uncomfortable statistics have been published recently showing that lightning had more victims in the United States in 1899 than in any pre- yious year since record of such fatal ities has been kept. The yearly aver age is from loo to l50 deaths from this cause, or about one to every seven or eight hundred thousand of the popula- tion. The chances against death by lightning are consequently enormous; but still people are prone to be timor- ous; and seek featherbeds during thun- der-storms. The most widespread faith in lightning rods exists, but without much foundation, as it is req sonably certain that the ordinary rod is without value. It is, of course, i'm possible to prove that lightning rods have ever been of use, since no one knows what would have happened to the premises now adorned with them if they had been absent. At least