The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1911-07-28
TIMELY BREvITIES

Scottish iron and coal mines.
The only famous painting owned by
Cecil Rhodes was one by Sir Joshua
Reynolds.
A New York beggar carrying a sign,
II need bread" was found to have $64
IN his clothes.
Daniel Frohman, the theater mana
ger. complains that the galleries are no
longer occupied
Rents of working class dwellings are
,bout 25 per cent lower in Belgium
than in England.
The wealth of Japan is over 30,000,-
100000 yen &15,000,000,O00). ranking
seventh in the wealth of the world.
Fifty additional postal savings banks
have been designated by the postmas.
! ter general, making total of 700 es-
tablshed
Switzerland with a population of
only 3.50O,000, can put 100000 men into
the field. Her army costs her only
S5,O00000 year.
A miners safety lamp has been in
vented which automatically indicates
the presence of even a small quantity
of fire damp gases.
The departments in Washington are
full of negroes who have rendered long
and honorable service for many dis
tinguisheJ public men and their fam
flies.
Used cans are systematically collect
ed in Germany, and the tin recovered
amounts to ! per cent of the total
weight The iron is disposed of as old
scrap.
The total life insurance carried in
the United States today is about $50
head of the population, sum con-
siderably greater than that Of any 9th
er country in the world.
After occupying the same premises
for forty-five years Vienna goldsmith
on removing recovered gold, silver
and platinum dust worth $1,000 from
the floor and walls Of his workrcom.
A glove given by Mary, queen of
Scots, to her master of the household
as she went to the block and the silk
vest worn by Charles l. when he was
executed were recently exhibited at
Cambridge, England.
A train two minutes late caused M.
Louchet a French artist, to miss a
chance of painting the. sunrise at Fon-
tainebleau, and in consequence he Is
suing the Paris Metropolitan Railway
company for damages.
The inventor of the first lawn mower
) has recently died at the age of sew
enty-seven. The lawn mower is the
razor of the American dooryard and
has tided up the home plot as moth
ing else could have done.
Ten years ago Scotland had a popu-
! lation, In round numbers. of 4500,000.
Now 1t has 4.S00,000, so that the in
crease in ten years has been less than
per cent as compared with more
than IL per cent for the previous dec
ade.
Ireland has 10000 less inhabitants
than 1t bad ten years ago. The birth
rate in the Emerald Isle has not de-
clined, and births far exceed deaths,
but the progressive young Irishmen
desert their native island for the Unit
ed States, Canada and Australia.
An egg of the aepyornis or flying
elephant of Madagascar has been OBJ
, tanned by the American Museum Of
Natural History. The shell of the egg
would hold two gallons There are no
survivals of the creatures which pro
duced such eggs. but the shells are
often found in beds of fossils.
yat,, r;nt, ~
zoology at Jena. fractured his hip bone
a short time ago and may be cripple
for the remainder of his life. The
!, collapse of stool on which he was
: standing to reach book on a high
shelf caused the accident. Professor
Haeckel Is seventy-seven years old
Last years imports of ivory into In
dia amounted TO 2,sOo.OOO pounds, an
increase of 100000 pounds over the
4 previous year. Most of these imports
= come from the Zambezi region. Much
, of this ivory is made into bangles ant
rings for Hindu women and finds &
:, market mainly In Clutch and Kathi
= = wor in northwest India.
Since the Spanish conquest the
tunes The Tabanco and Rosalif
mines have yielded 1887 ounces of sill
yer to the ton. others $1,000 to the ton
4 and not infrequently 35 to 40 per CEN
of the metal is gold. That the indus
r try is not developed further than it Il
o Is due to lack of enterprise.
John Muir of California is true
Q naturalist. He is going all the way Il
n southern Chile to examine one tree
The fact that he has never seen thii
particular species has troubled hin
for long time. 1t is rare species
q Of the betel nut tree and Is found II
Il the jungles. particularly where mon
keys abound, and grows partly unde
=. water
y No New YORK building has retained
o for long the rank of highest In th,
IS city. The Singer building was SooI
outdistanced i the tower of the Met
ropolltan Life Insurance company's of
a.