El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-01-06

French sovereignty. Still, I'd like to
see something happen to Liberia for
purely local reasons. Years ago, be-
fore the big war, there was a move
ment to colonize the negroes and fund
was started for that purpose. This
was in charge of crowd called the
Colonization Bureau or society or
something. Well. the fund Is still in
existence and must be of MANN tn
proportions by this time and the colo
nization outfit Is naturally also in exis-
tence. Once in while, great while,
they send negro or two somewhere,
but mainly 1 think they draw salaries
from the fund. 1t is one of the softest
things in the country for mebody. II
Liberia is transmogrified some way,
maybe some of the facts in the case
will leak out and I'm inclined to think
they'll be interesting reading.
A retired army officer, Major Armes,
who once pulled the nose of the gov
ernor of Pennsylvania at an Inaugural
ton and has been generally behaving
like a pyrotechnical show ever since,
has published a book containing his
views regarding the other army Off
GERS. 1t is Interesting reading for
them, but not so much so for the rest
of us. He is to be courtmsrtialed.
Another man on the retired list has
been q party to a divorce suit in Mary
land aud the war department. ordered
him to put himself within the jurisdic-
tion of the Maryland courts. He
pointed out that if he did, he would be
Imprisoned for contempt of court and
declined to obey. And he is to be
courtmartialed also.
The Geological Society of America IL
in session here at present. 1 have the
greatest possible respect for the Geo
logical society, but 1t doesn't seem to
be up to date; not within million
years, or a million million, may be-.
The papers which have been read so
far are interesting, but not thrilling.
l don't suppose 1 would recognize a
brontosaur-which is pleasant thirty
ton beast of Prof. billiards. acquaint-
auce-if l met it on the street-which
l hope I don't-and as for the paleozoic
age the only use can see for it is that
it might possibly be made to trot along
in rhyme to ''heroic age" If it sounds
as it looks. However, at the banquet
at the Raleigh one of the members
came down to my level with paper
beginning:
II l had a plesiosaurus.
I think I'd christen him Maurice.
AMI feed him on teffy
And table G'hote muffy cafe,
And clothe his purple fippers
In the whitest of satin slippers.
The board OF visitors of the naval
observatory has recommended that the
institution be removed from the juris-
diction OF the navy. A large part of
its work at present is the pre- paration
of the naval almanac aud the qusl;fica-
tions necessary for that staid publics-
TONS editorsbip are not the same as
those necessary for an astronomer.
The director at present, in the boards
altogether too much. 1t is inter esting
to note by the way that Uncle Sam is
more generous to his observatory than
others are to theirs. The Paris OBJ
servasory gets $4,000 year: Green
wich, $40, 900: Pulkowa, Russia, $40. 900;
observatory is in trouble. For many
years observations have been made
and recorded of the daily and yearly
variations of the compass for this
locality. Then a trolley road was put
through in the neighborhood and the
compssses quit work On earth magnet
ism and began to record passage of
cars. AS there were other ways of
obtaining the car schedule the innova-
ton was decid eddy unpopular among
the astronomers. Probably new
location will be found where trolley
roads cease from bothering and the
compass is at rest, but 1t breaks the
con 4nuity of the series Of observations
from this locality. The London mag
netic observatory is in the same fix.
An underground electric road was put
through directly underneath it aud the
compasses at once switched off from
their old love and on to new.
AL the congressman from neighbour
ing states are out of town but those
from distant parts are spending a more
or less boresOme week in vibrating
between their second story front
rooms lit is illegal Tor representa-
tive to have any other) at the boarding
houses and the hotel corridors. Plen-
ty OF legislation is being incubatea,