The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-07-25
HERE AND THERE.

We were soberiy asked the other DAY
why chickens are the most pious fowls
tn the world. and giving the matter UP
is despair. were informed that a large
number of them are lay members. and
a great many o. taem enter h minis
try. which Is easy enough to under
stand when you get the hang of 1T
Charity and ChilGIsn
There il to be a great reduction in the
price of electricity IN New York after
September /. so that a. VIII be almost
as cheap as gas. and in time will be
cheaper. The singular thing as that the
reduction Is brought about BY n Combi-
nation OF the two leading electric COM
panIes. II is made possible BY increase
in the facilities OF production. The
electric companies want more custo-
merS-News and Courier.
A well knowna and respected fireworks
manufacturer died recently In the north
OF England. His wife ORDERED an ex-
pensive tombstone 20 be erected In his
memory She was much perturbed. for
no epitaph submitted to rer did she con-
slider suitable. After n prolonged and
dil,gent search she discovered one she
thought TO be appropriate on the tomb
stone of a prominent musician In a
Manchester cemetery. Now on the me-
mortal stone OF this noted fireworks
manufacturer IL Is stated that III has
gone to the one place where his works
are excelled."-New York Tribune.
We have been hearing a great deal
Of late about bulletins" In connection
with the health II King Edward and
Queen Wilhelmina- The word has been
in use for purpose OF medicine for
about $50 years. TIL first occasion
thnf Is uuu annnfn-TH u-S m spnnaC-
tion with the illness of the French
d%auphin. father OF King Louis XVI. in
1865. OF him Walpole wrote In one or
mis- letters: Every morning the physi-
clans frame an -ccount OF him. and
happy are those who a produce a
copy of this lie called a bulletin -
Washington Post.
After the heart OF battle Is over Is the
time To get facts. 1t Is stated on the
authority of the officials or the Red
Cross identity depot that only i.+e0
Beers lost their lives in the entire South
African war. OF these $500 were killed
in fight or died from the effcts OF their
Wounds, while ociy about 200 died af-
ter becoming prisoners of war. About
%. ZOO British soldiers were either killed
outright in battle. died or wounds. or
OF sea during the war. The many
stories OF how the Beers concealed a
great proportion Of their dead are de-
MED most positively by the Rec Cross
Society.-GreensboTo Record.
At a banquet some time z a crowd
of men OF real capacity decided to
put up a job on Mr.. WI. the Chinese
minister, and drink HIM undet the table.
They started with him early. and work
ed the game by relays, and mixed
drinks like chow-chow. but Mr.. WI
was always at the counter when they
came. One after another went TO the
pump. and Mr.. WI hadn't thought OF
h water-wagon. About 2 O'Clock
when some OF us left tire building. the
last thing we heard Mr. WI say was:
Where have so many OF de men gone?
If o don't mind / believe I would like
a little of dat first Ne had De flavor
was e.''-Baltimorc Correspondent
Charlotte Observer.
a Canadian has invented a machine
for laying bricks which does the worlE
Of six or seven skilled bricklayers and
costs $500. In common house walls q
b~ricklayer, with a laborer to keep him
supplied with materials will lay on an
average about 1900 bricks In a day OF
ten hours. In the neater outer faces of
brick buildings he Will lay 100; in
good, ordinary street fronts, 500 to 900,
and of the very finest W story faces.
from $50 to 300, depending on the num-
Der of angles, etc. In plain massive en-
cheering he should average about 1900
a day. The new machine is adapted
only TO plain work, and should lay from
5000 to 1900 bricks q day. Two men
and a lad are required to operate it
Greensboro Record.
The fall of the ancient campanile. or
bell tower. OF st. Marks church in
Venice, which occurred a few days ago,
is for several reasons an event of ex-
traordinary interest. in the first place,
the collapse Is almost without pEece-
dent in constructions which have stood
for a thousand years. In the second.
the campanile was ore OF the most
famous architectural monuments OF
Europe, unique in It's type. In the
third place, it recalled the glorious his
tory of the Venetian repub.c as none
other of it's works. save st. Marks it.
self, could do. Finally. the disaster
suggests the possibility that Venice the
illustrious may be striking to its final
doom. Few Americans except those
who have travelled in Europe realize the
stately height Of this wonderful cam
panile, a work hoJe construction
would do credit to the builders of the
present time, although Its founda-
tons were laid more than a thousand
years ago. The tower was 322 feet I'm
height and was AZ fee. square at the
base.-Columbia State.