The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-05
SCRAP BOOK FOR TO-DAY.

SCRAP BOOK FOR TO-DAY. q S----->---------~-~~~
 The first map of Chicago bears date or August 4. 1880, and was filed on sadr date, eighty-three years aEo to- day. by James Thompson, who had RSsa employed by the canal board to Hnrvey and lay out the town of Chica- @o- The United States Congress had granted to Illinois large tracts of land to aid in the construction of the pro- posed canal from Lake Michigan to the head of navigation on the Illin- o4s river. The state organized can al board. with power to lay out towns along the line, and Chicago was or Eanizsd by these commissioners. At that time the village contained about a dozen families, besides the officers and soldiers in Fort Dearborn In August, 1888. a municipal government Was formed by the election of five trustees There were then only twen- ty-eight voters in Chicago The Chi .cago Democrat, long leading daily lpaper of the Windy City, was found ed in 1888 The growth of the city was such that twenty years after the sncorporation of Chicago a city, in fSS7- there were six English and two German daily papers-the Demo crat Press and Tribune, Evening Fri s5une, Journal. Times, National Union, staats zeituns and National Demo Arat. i
 The first attempt to lay an Atlantic cable was commenced at Valentia.- In Ireland. ffty-six years ago today Aug 5, 1857 After sailing few miles the cable snapped. This break was soon repaired, but six days later, after SOO miles of wire had been laid out, it snapped again, and the vessels return cd to Plymouth A second attempt to lay the cable failed through vio- lent storm, but the third voyage was successful, and the junction between I the two continents was completed Dy the laying of 2,o5o miles of wire pe- tween Valentia and Newfoundland Oa1 August s, 1858, just year after the beginning of the great project, the first two messages, from the Queen or i England to the President of the Unit ed States and his reply, went over 4sse wires There was great rejoicing 4Sn both sides of the Atlantic, but It 7Sass premature, for within month | the cable ceased working owing 70 | faulty insulation After another Iail- lrre. a. successful cable was laid In 1sss The original projectors of the Atlantic cable were Cyrus ". Field, Peter Cooper Moses Taylor Prof Morse and other American capital-I fsts-
 For over s0os0oooOo of the worlds iahaBitants yesterday marked the be- ginning of the most sacred season Of the wear the 1IosIem month of Rama dan. the Mofammedan period of fast ing abstinence and prayer
 From this until the third of Sep tember the disciples of Allah and Mo rfsmxned, his prophet, will abstain from worldly pleasures and partake1 of only sufficient food to maintain life
 According to repofts from the Mos lem centers of population, this yearsl observance of Ramadan will be the strictest known in many cenrur7es- For a year past the priests of the Fro phet have been hurling verbal thun- derbolts at their followers, declaring that the defeat of the soldiers or the sultan. the head of the church, py TT-aIv and the Balkan states was a manifestation of the wrath of Allah, who was angered because Of the lax fly of the observance of Feaamdan. 1Ihe holy men have promised thar II MosIems will return to the fold, ana show their penitence by abstinence, rlfetv and prayer, the god of battle win again favor their cause, and the -fnfdeI eiaours'' will be driven out cS the territory they have occupied srhe faithful have been profoundly i'm pressed by these arguments, and in consequence sackcloth and ashes will be much in demand
 %Ramadan has few observers in America There are only a few thous- |. and followers of the Prophet in the [ United States, most of<them being ID New york and along the Pacific coast and less than a thousand in Canada, principally in British Columbia India has the largest dohamfnedan popu- latfon. about 6z,500, GOO China has S0.- eco Ooo and Europe, Russia heads the list with 3,Soo.0Oo MohamInedans, while t1 ere are 14.eo0.000 more in Russia Asia Turkey has 5000 600, Austria Hungary 800 ocO and the Balkan States1 had T5o.OOO before their. recent mani festation of the quality of Christian mercy, by which the number was con- ssderabIy reduced Estimates of the total MosIen popJla ton of the world range from 200. GOO 900 to z5o, 100000
 The fast of Ramadan, the month of raging heat" commemorates the period in which the first part of the Koran is said to have been received-I When observed according to the com rnands of the Prophet, as 1t probab- ly will be this year, it is fast of Extraordinary rigor. No food or drink of any kind is permitted to be taken from daybreak until the ap- pearance of the stars at night. This Abstinence is absolutely binding upon the faithful, whether at home or abroad and only those who are sert- s9rrsay ill are excepted from it's provis- ions Those must keep the fast as soon afterward as possible, for like number of days
 Local Italians, and especially those who hail from the province of Gala bria will celebrate to-day the festival Of Our Lady of the Snow The ob- Eervance in the Italian colony fol- lows as closely as possible those which take place annually in the basilic of st Mary Major. or St Mary ad Nives' In Rome, and in the town of Avelino. -.,-.1,ed aroidsf the snow-capped