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The Commoner.
7.
FEBRUARY 20, 1903. - ""
States, and that 20,000 o them are In San Fran
cisco. There is a considerable Chinese colony in
New York and there are small colonies in Phila--delphia,
Boston and Chicago. Though they do not
belong to the educated classes, 95 per cent o them
can read and write. A daily paper in the Chinese
language is. published in San Francisco and an
other in New York. Nearly all the Chinamen in
the United States came from the single province
of Kwong Tung, the most populous of the eigh
teen provinces of the Chlneso empire. Its capital
is Canton. lx counties of this province send out
m5st of the emigrants to the United States.- Tho
inhabitants of this province have for centuries
heen more adventurous and fonder of traveling
than the rest of their fellow countrymen, 'and
they are always ready to face danger inhere is
a good chance for profit." " l .
AN INTERESTING STORY SHOWING HOW
bread cast upon the waters returned after
many days is related by the London Express:
"During the distress among the Copenhagen work
men, on account of a lockout, in 1887, the public
was appealed to for contributions. " An old couple
in Jutland, having no money, sent in thejr, wed
ding rings as their humble contribution, for. tho
relief of the starving people. The organization
kept the rings as a memento of this kind net.
Recently the old couple celebrated their golden
wedding under very distressing circumstances.
They were actually starving. This camp to the
knowledge of the Copenhagen workmen. , A col
lection was organized, and in a few days the old
couple received 80 in cash and two .new wedding
rings, with a "grateful acknowledgement of their
kindness during the time of trouble."
& a
FIVE WOMEN IMMIGRANT INSPECTORS
are soon to be appointed by the' United
States government These positions were created
in order that young women immigrants could b'e
provided with proper protection and advice on
their arrival in this country. It will be the duty
of these women Inspectors to board the vessels at
'sea. They will be taken out on a government
tug and will be required to mount the perpendic
ular side of ocean liners often at times when tho
great ships are rolling in the heavy swells. It is
generally believed that Mrs. Annie C. Wilson will
be appointed to one of thes'e places and the- Roch
ester (N. Y.) Democrat and Chronicle tells an in
teresting story relating to Mrs. Wilson. SJie is the
daughter of a sailor, was born at sea and become
the wife of a sailor. According vto the story Mrs.
Wilson has been wrecked, has once escaped from
a burning vessel, and on one occasion saved her
.husband's ship. The story of the last named
,adventure has been told as follows: When she
was 21 years of age , her husband's vessel,- the
Sharon,' was caught .in a terrific gale off New
foundland. In that crisis her husband and the
other officers capable pf command were all dis
abled by injuries, and Mrs. Wilson took command
of the ship, stimulated tho courage of the crew,
and after a three weeks' battle with the storm
brought the Sharon into port at St. Thomas, Dan
ish West Indies. For her heroic conduct in that
icase the British government gave, Mrs. Wilson a
gold medal and the merchants of Liverpool pre
sented her with .a silver service. rOf course other
than the qualities of coolness and herqism are
required in the office of immigration inspector ,put
'it seems to be taken for granted that Mrs. Wilson
has them. ... 'a
A RESIDENT OF NEW ORLEANS WHO IS
fond of things historical has provided the
Tirnes-Democrat of that city with an interesting
statement to sustain his claim that the month of
April has played a more conspicuous part in
American history than any other month of tho
year. According to this gentleman April is about
tho only month which has really settled the great
problems with which the American people have
had to deal. It is pointed out that the war of
the revolution began April 19, 1775, and ended
April 11, 1783. Coming on down we find the
Sabine disturbance, involving the southwestern
frontier, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, and
which began in April, 1836, running through to
June of tho next year. The Mexican war began
April 24, 1846. The Yuma expedition into Cali
fornia ended in April, 1852, having begun in De
cember the year previous. The Gila expedition in
. to New Mexico was launched April 16, 1857. The
Colorado river expedition in California ended
April 28, 1859. The Pecos expedition into Texas
was launched April 16, 1859. There was the war
or the rebellion, which started April 19, 1861.
Hostilities actually began when Fort Sumpter -was
fired upon April 12, 1861.
ACCORDING TO THIS SAME AUTHORITY
tho Ute expedition in Colorado began April
" 3, 1873. It Is a rather curious coincidence that
the late war with Spain began April 21, in tho
same month that but two days later, with respect
to the day of tho month, than tho war of the
rebellion, which began April 19. Tho Spanish
American war began April 21, 1398, and ended
April 11, 1899. These 'are some of tho more Im
portant things which have takon placo in tho
month of April, and many of tho events have been
of deep import from the viewpoint of Americans.
COMMENTING UPON HIS OWN STATEMENT
this New Orleans citizen says: "What rea
son can you assign for the conspicuous part April
has played in the history of. America? Do men
feel moro like fighting in April than in the other
' months of tho year? Is tho spirit of war and
revolution influenced by the rising of tho sap?
1 do not know, but there must bo some good rea
son for the happening of these great things, wars,
explorations, adventures and events of this sort
in the month of April, It any rate they havo
happened in April, and it would be unreasonable
and altogether absurd to assume that these things
are due to haphazard, that they are mere coin
cidences. April cannot be explained out of its
rightful inheritance among the more important
months In American history."
THE DRYEST POT ON EARTH, ACCORDING
to the Liverpool Post, is Payta in Peru.
Payta is five degrees south of the equator on tho
coast that has risen forty feet in historic times.
Professor David U-. Fairfield, a recent visitor, re
. ports having reached there in February just after
a rain of more than twenty-four, hours, the first for
' eight years. The average interval between two
showers is seven years. Sea fogs are common.
Of about nine species of plants noticed seven were
annuals and their seeds must havo remained
dormant in the ground for eight years. In spito
of the lack of rain, the long rooted Peruvian cot
ton is grown in the dried-up river bed, furnishing
crops that yield subsistence to tho natives.
AN EMPLOYE OF THE CHICAGO BOARD OF
education is just now attracting general
attention because of his petition for a reduction in
his salary. John J. Kane chief clerk of the sup
ply department, recently requested the board that
ljls position, paying $900 a year, be given to an
other clerk in tlio supply department who re
ceives $800 a year and that Kane bo given the
?800 place together , with tho reduced salary, l.
seems, howevpr, that Kane was not particularly
anxious to secure a reduction in salary. At the
same time his action was suggested by conscien
tious motives. Long ago ho applied for an in
crease, in salary. The Increase was denied and ho
explains! his peculiar request by saying that "tho
responsibility of tho position id too great for the
amount of money the' board of education pays for
the services of tho man who fills tne place."
'.',. f
ORDERS REGULATING, SALUTES. TO BE
fired by f prjts. in, honor of guests on holidays
havo been recently tamended to include several
new functionaries. The Washington correspondent
of the Now York Tribune describes these amend
ments in this w,ay: r"The national salute Is twenty-one
guns. It is also the salute to a national
flag. The. salute to thp union, commemorative of
the Declaration pf Independence, and consisting
of one gun for each state, is, fired at noon on July
4 at every post provided with suitable artillery.
An ex-president of ,the United States receives a
salute of twenty-ono gufcs; the vice president and
president of the senate and American or foreign
ambassadors receive a salute of nineteen guns;
members of tho cabinet, the chief justice, the
speaker of the house of representatives, a commit
tee of congress officially visiting a military post,
governors within thejr respective states or terri
tories, and the civil governor of the Philippine
Islands receive seventeen guns. Tho vice governor
of the Philippine islands receives fifteen guns. A
governor general receives a salute of seventeen
guns. The term "governor general" shall be takon
to mean an administrative officer under whom
officers with the title of governor are acting.
The assistant secretary of war or the assistant
secretary of the navy, when officially viBiting a
military post, receives a salute of fifteen guns."
T) HE STATEMENT OF THE QUARTERMAS
. ter of the British army made before the war
inquiry commission shows that during the South
African war 349,728 hprses and- 53,339 jnules were
. destroyed, inside, frpmv these . numbers '. 15,960
horses and mules were lost on voyages to South
Africa. Evidently the war in South Africa did
something elso than stagger humanity.
A MARVEL OF ENGRAVING THAT HAS RE
contly been accomplished by a youth of
Odessa, in Russia, is described in a St Petersburg
cablegram to the Chicago Chronicle. This young
man is known throughout South Russia by the
extraordinary precision of his work. On a, grain
of wheat ho has engraved the music and words
of the Russian national anthem with the aid of
a loiis. .Every note is dotted and clearly defined.
He was called to tho imperial court to show,1 tho
czar tho wonderful pieco of work, which is framed
in a tiny silver setting. The czar, amazed at tho
production, gave tho engraver a gold watch with
his monogram on it Between tho "II's" of Nlch
. olas II. tho engraver in now engraving a long
prayer for tho czar's safety, takon from tho Rus
sian liturgy.
THE CONSUMPTION OF SUPPLIES IN A
London hospital for tho past year id re
garded as so extraordinary that it was deemed to
be of sufficient importance to bo made the subject
of a London cablegram to tho American newspa
pers, in this cablegram it is stated that during
the year 1902 two and one-half million pills Were
taken by people who camo to the hospital for
treatment, and that over three tons of cough' loz
enges were used by them. In dressing injuries
ninety-two miles of lnt, 476 miles of bandages,
six tons of cotton-wool and nine miles of plaster
were used. Every day half a ton of Ice and 400
syphons of soda water wore made away with.
Tho eggs consumed, if placed end to end, would
form a chain six and one-half miles long. Tho
year's, milk bill was over $15,000 and tho meat
bill oVer ?25,000. Tho hospital goes so far as to
estimate that if last year's patients could be stood
side by side they would make a lino sixty-six and
onie-half miles long.
nnHOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED WITH
X the largo number of people killed on Ameri
can railroads will bo interested in hearing some
thing4 of tho report made by H. W. Campbell, a
railroad official presiding at a meeting of tho
share-holders of tho London and Southwestern
railroad. - Mr. Campbell is quoted in a Londou
cablegram to tho 'Chicago Inter-Ocean as saying
that if the company did not adopt American meth
ods, it was simply because what was tanned econ
omy in the. United States would be rank extrava
gance in England. Tho officials had experimented
with largo freight cars, and they were found
quite unsuited for tho requirements. Regarding
tho passenger traffic", Mr. Campbell said, while tho
length of tho railroads in the United States was
nine times greater than those of Great Britain,
tho latter carried twice as many passengers, or
abqut eighteen times as many per mile of rail
road. The returns of accidents, Mr. Campbell
, furthqr remarked, .w.ore considered unusually in
structive. Not a single passenger was killed in
Great-Britain during 1901, while 249 were killed
in the United States that year, and 476 passengers
were injured in Great Britain in 1901, against
4,192 in that year In the United States.
ASTRANGU- STORY COMES FROM THE
Paris correspondent of tho St Louis Post
Dispatch to the effect that In certain districts of
France farmers have had tho habit of using old
boots and shoes as fertilizers. It is reported, how
ever, that since the advent of the bicycle tho num
ber of people who walk have steadily, diminished
and tho farmers are puzzled to know where the
supply of old shoes is to come from. It Is inter
esting to be told that as, a fertilizer old leather
which' lias been long worn and trodden upon
is vastly superior to artificial manure.'
a? sr
IT IS EVIDENT THAT THE BRITISH-GERMAN
alliance against Venezuela has not strength
ened the Balfour ministry in London. The London
Spectator; commenting upon tho public's attitude
toward tho Balfour government, says: "We havo
never known a more genuine and spontaneous
feeling df protest to be aroused among tho mem
bers of a party by tho blundering of its leaders.
They simply will not follow those leaders in tho
matter of the German alliance. It is hopeless to
wait for jsuch feeling to blow over. It will mere
ly become more Intense and more resolute through
waiting., The only wise course Is for the govern
ment to show that they are doing their best to get
as" quickly as possible out of the quagmire into
which they so heedlessly walked."
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