The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-11

which Is the minimum compensation for state executives.
 From financial standpoint the best office within the gift of the President or the United States is that of consul gen eral of London, which pays In salary ana fees about $25000 a year. The office was formerly worth between s50,O00 and S6O,- GOO but President Cleveland cut off a part of the fees.
 In the diplomatic service of the United States there are seven ambassadors ex- traordinary and plenipotentiary ana twenty-seven envoys extraordinary anu ministers plenpotentiary. All the am bassadors receive $17,oOo year except those to Austria and Italy, who get $l2- GOO each. The salaries of the ministers range from s12.000 to 5000.
 fCopyright, 1905, by J. E. Brighamo
 Wives can be purchased in China for a few shillings.
 A school for brides-elect has been es- tablished at Logan, Pa.
 Books were originally made of boards or of the inner bark of trees
 Canada has twice as much standing timber as the United States. American bicycles and sewing machines are now being used extensively In Siam.
 Horses were domesticated and used by the Egyptians as early as 1900 B. c.
 The use of envelopes was scarcely knOWn unlll aIltF ttlc penny posta6o was introduced.
 From coal tar chemists now extract a great variety of drugs, dyes, acids. oils. and perfumes,
 The newest telephone system has an automatic connector which does away with the "hello girl"
 The Czar of Russia employs 5000 serv- ants, and his stables contain 300 horses for his personal use.
 Queen Margaret of Anjou died of lep- rosy and Robert Bruce, beloved of all Scottish hearts, was a leper. A Hessian claims that Yankee Doodle" came from Germany, 1t being q tune used for certain pleasant dance. Calumet and Hecla, copper mine on Lake Superior, Mich, has paid In divi- dends $32 900, 900 in twenty years
 Salt produced in the United States in 1904 was valued at s6021, ,222 there being
 22. 2.090,002 barrels of 2s0 pounds each.
 In 1904 the value of clay products in
 the United States was s131 1.023,24S. Of
 common brick, 6665.171.000, valued at s51,- 76S.55S, were produced. Mother Goose was a real character a Miss Elizabeth Foster, born in 1665 and who lived in Boston, where she com 1 piled those famous rhymes. | In the seventeenth century Quakers were known as the Friends of Truth" | which has since been abbreviated to the l one word Friends" 1t is said that Antigones, Roman Elm I peror, was the first to have his profile l taken, which was done to hide the fact | that he had but one eye. l It is stated that if all the gold in the 1 world were melted into ingots 1t might | be contained in cellar 23 feet square
 and 16 feet high.
 | Lead pencils contain no lead, the ma | terial used is neither a metal nor com | pound of metal; 1t is plumbago or graphite, one of the forms of carbon. | Baseball, the second great American
 game, is said to have originated from | the old games called lone old cat'' and | two old cat.'' The first match game | was played in 1s46
 l In olden times barbers also practiced l surgery, and were called barber sur geons. Barbers were known in Greece in the fifth century and at Rome in the third century.
 milan. Emperor of Germany. was gov erness of the Netherlands 1507-1530 and rejoiced in the possession of a very long, | stiff beard.
 Mexico pays her president s50,0O0 l year. the same as the United States. Each member of the Mexican cabinet. However. | receives $15.000 a year, as against s8000 | in the United States. l Before the advent of clocks in London
 the hour of the night was proclaimed by bellmen. who rang a bell and cried: Take care of your fire and candle be charit
 able to the poor, and pray for the dead" l The approximate value of natural gas annually produced in the United States | Is s3s, ,496.760 There are ninteen states and territories which produce natural gas. of which Pennsylvania leads with an ar1-
 nual production of s1s139.914 l Delicacy regarding woman's age seems | to have dated back even 70 Biblical l times, since out of all the women men tioned in the Old Testament Sarah, wife