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WHEAT PRODUCTION.
7-H •
A VAIUADLE STATEMENT FROM
, RRITISH INDIA.
How the "Ryots" Raise Their Grain—Each
of Machinery and Intelligence, hut Sur
plus of Labor—Comparative Cost of the
Crop in India and America—Some Sug
gestion as to How This Country Can
Maintain Her Supremacy.
Col. Hans Mattson, of this state, who is
consul general of the United States, at
Calcutta, India, has made a valuable re
port to the state department relative to
' the wheat production of India as contrast
ed with that of the United States. The
document is of sufficient interest to war
rant its reproduction entire. It is as fol
lows:
The annual production of wheat in Brit
ish India has of late years increased, until
it now reaches about 240 million bushels,*
and the export for the last five years has
been as follows:
Bushels. Bushels.
1877-78 12,175.853 1880-81 14,012,291
1878-79 2,170,681 1881-82 37,185,481
1879-80 4,312,418
of which Great Britain and France have
taken the following quantities:
Great Britain, France,
Bushels. Bushels.
1877-73 10,698,518 217,792
1878-79 1,597,273 20,656
1879-80 8,037,022 138,439
1880-81 8,964,168 2,513,933
1881-82 17,507,907 9,908,403
Assuming that 28 million bushels are
hud forseed,thare will be left a home sup
ply of 175 million bushels; how much of
this is actually consumed, and how much
stored away in reserve, it is impossible to
ascertain: but it is well known that the
quantity held in reserve is very large and
usually estimated, with other bread-stuffs,
sufficient for one whole year's consump
tion, and that it requires from two or three
years' accumulated surplus to make up
such reserve.
The total area devoted to wheat each
year is now a little over 20 million acres,
of which 7 million acres are in the Province
of Punjab, 6J£ million in the Northwestern
Provinces and < >udh,3 million in the Cen
tral,^ millionlin Bombay.l million|in Ben
gal, and the remainder divided among the
Provinces of Berar, Sindh,'Madras.Ajmere,
Mysore and British Barman in the relative
order named. The best, average yield is
obtained in the Punjab, where it is esti
mated at 13 l bushels per acre, and in the
Northwestern Provinces at 11% bushels;
the general average is about 12 bushels per
acre, though by high cultivation and use
of irrigation and manure, instances are
not uncommon of a yield as high as 25 and
even 30 bushels per acre.
CULTIVATION AND COST.
The latitude has but little influence on
the wheat crop in India compared with
differences in soil and mode of cultivation
the crop requires a great deal of moisture,
hence irrigation is of special importance,
and various m'-thods are employed for
that purpose; the one destined to become
a leading factor in the production of
wheat is that of canal irrigation, which is
now receiving the special attention of the
general and local Governments, and im
portant works are being made and pro
jected for an extensive system of canal ir
rigation. One of these, the "Sirhind"
canal in the Punjab, has just been com
pleted; it was built mainly by prison labor,
is 502 miles long, and will irrigate 780,000
acres through 2.500 miles of minor canals.
The wheat is sown in the autumn and
harvested in March or April; it is usually
sown in drill.- or rows, and weeded like gar
den stuf ,tnd in quantities not much larger
than garden patches in the United States,
but the agricultural population numbers
nearly 200 millions, and it is tho aggregate
of innumerable little units which in agri
culture, as in everything else in India,
brings the country into importance, and
this fact is so closely interwoven with the
whole social, industrial and legal network
of India, that it bears a strong influence
even upon the future question of Indian
versus American wheat.
The Indian agriculturist "Ryot" can
in no seme be compared to the American
farmer, but rather to the late serf of Rus
sia. lie is a tenant on hard conditions,
and is by custom and bigotry almost a fix
ture en tho particular spot of land where
he was born; his farming is done on a
very small scale and according to old
methods, to which he clings with religious
veneration; his wants are very few, and he
endures poverty and even hunger with pa
tience; he cultivates his patch of 5 to 15
acres on shares for the landed proprietor,
"zemindar," who holds under rental to the
Government, and the better half of his
gross income generally goes to the zemin
dar, the priest ("brahmin") and thejusurer,
in the form of rent, presents, offerings and
interest, and if he can net 10 cents a day
by his hard and hopeless labor, that will
suffice for the most pressing wants of his
househo J.jHis home isja mud—or bamboo
hut, his property a pair of small bullocks,
a few cows,calves and goats, a wooden cart
and a few brass and earthen pots, in all
worth about fifty dollars, and his imple
ments and tools are of the rudest kind,
such as his ancestors used a
thousand years ago; and yet he
is making some progress under
British rule, and finds his wants increas
ing, and at the same time better outlets for
his produce and more recompense for his
labor, and on the whole, is so independent
on ten cents a day, that he will eat or store
his wheat rather than Bell it below a cer
tain price. Of course he does not employ
machinery in farming, but ploughs his
land with a crooked piece of iron-pointed
wood, harrows it with an implement re
sembling a common ladder laid flat on the
ground and dragged by the little bullocks
crossways over the field; he sows by hand,
reaps with a rude sickle, carries the
sheaves home on his back or in the bul
lock cart, threshes them with a wooden
club, or lets the cattle tramp out the grain,
and cleans it by hand-winnowing.
Under these conditions the ryot can
afford to sell his wheat at the nearest mar
ket place, if within a day's journey of his
home, for 50 to CO cents per bushel; but
when it does not bring that price, or very
near it, he consumes his small supply or
stores it in a hole under ground until a
more favorable time shall come, and when
it comes, he sells very short and uses mil
let and inferior grains for his family sub
sistence, bo that a great elasticity in the
amount of surplus is constantly kept up
by the countless hjst of the ryots them
selves.
And this same coarse will necessarily be
pursued in the main for a long time to
come, because the social and religious con
dition of the agricultural classes is such
that it will take generations to make any
material change among them. Then again,
the cutting up of the land into small
patches to suit the rapidly increasing pop
ulation and for irrigation purposes, the
*Note.—There are as yet no complete agri- !
cultural statistics for Indis^and the figures given j
in this report, except those relating to exports,
are based partly upon load returns, hat mostly
npon official estimates.—If is hoped, however, J
that for the objects in view they will be found
quite sufficient. —They are given in round num
bers for the take of convenience.. j
absence of roads and bridges, the want of
strength in draught animals, the poverty
of the people, and other reasons, make it
impossible to farm on a larger scale and j
to use .machinery but even if all these
objections were removed, the present cost
of labor is too low even for the successful
competition of farm machinery, and it
may be regarded as certain that the cost of
wheat as now produced is at, or near, the
very lowest minimum, and when, it does
not bring 50 cents a bushel to the ryot, it
will be consumed at home in lieu of other
bread-stuffs aad the wheat area will be
temporarily diminished.
QUALITY.
There are a great many varieties of
wheat produced in India, and they have
become more or less intermixed, though
efforts are being made to separate and se
lect the best of those most suitable for the
European market. These have been divid
ed into four principal groups, viz:—
1. The soft, white wheat of a bright
straw color and a white floury fracture.
This variety is most suitable for the Lon
don market, and is in great demand by
English millers on account of its dryness,
to mix with the moist English wheat.
2. The hard, white wheat, with a brittle
grain of a flinty or ricy appearance. This
brings a higher price in Italy for the man
ufacture of macaroni than in London.
3. The soft, red wheat, which differs
from the soft white only by the reddish
color of the skin and a smaller berry; it is
also very suitable for the English market.
■ 4. The hard, red wheat, which is of a
dark brown color, translucent in appear
ance, with a smooth and glass-like frac
ture. It stands lowest in the London j
market.
Compared by English standard in qual
ity and value to American wheat, select lots
of first group have been equal to the best
Californian and Oregon, but the average
best grade between No. 1 and No. 2 Mil
waukee, and the relative values of the four
Indian groups are as follows: —
2nd group 5 cents per bushel less than 1st.
3 " 8 " " "' " " 2nd.
4 " 6 " " " " " 3rd.
The standard of all the groups is being
gradually raised by more care in separat
ing varieties, more thorough cleaning and
the use of better seed.
TBANSPOBTATION.
The facilities for handling and trans
porting grain are very poor compared to
the United States; there are no grain ele
vators and no facilities for shipping in
bulk, but all the grain must be put in bags,
handled and carted by manual labor. The
cost of ocean freight depends upon the
fluctuations of the general steamship car
rying trade, # and varies bo considerably
that exporters can make no definite calcu
lations ahead, but are obliged to watch
their opportunities from week to week and
day to day. Nearly all the wheat exported
goes through in steamers via
Suez Canal, and the time required for
transit to London is, from Calcutta,
35 to 40 days, from Bombay 28 to 33 days,
and from Kurrai de 30 to 35 days. While
the wheat is exposed to the air during in
land transit and storage at the sea-port, it
is liable to serious damage by the weevil,
aa insect germinating in the grain itself
under the influence of heat; but when
stored under ground it will keep in good
condition for years, and even in a ship's
hold it is comparatively safe during the
time required for transit.
The money exchange market between
London and India is constantly fluctuat
ing, which causes another serious draw
back to the export trade. The cost of in
land freight, so far as the railroads extend,
is fixed by government and not liable to
any material fluctuations. Trunk lines
are already in operation through all the
wheat producing provinces, and several
branch lines have been built, while others
are being constructed or projected; but
compared to the principal wheat districts
in the United States, Indian railroads are
few and far between, and the work of con
struction is very slow. A very important
line, the "Indus Valley." has lately been
completed, and brings the Punjab in direct
communication with the sea at Kurrachee,
which is destined to become an important
sea-port for the exportation of wheat. The
following table gives the cost of transpor
tation from the principal wheat districts
to the port:
From Punjab to Kurrachee —Average
distance 800 miles, freight per bushel, 25
cents.
From N. W. Provinces and Oudh to Cal
cutta —Average distance 700 miles, freight
per bushel, 18 cents.
From Central Provinces to Bombay—
Average distance 460 miles, freight per
bushel, 1C cents.
From Province — City—of Bombay —
Average distance 150 miles, freight per
bushel, 8 cents.
To this cost must be added the charges
of the middle-men at the inland bazar,
which will average 5 cents per bushel, and
the cost of bagging, shipping and com
mission to the exporter at the sea-port, 8
cents more; ditto insurance and landing
charges in London, 5 cents, and ocean
re;ght, which averages from Calcutta to
London, 30 cents, and from Bombay and
Kurrachee, 25 cents. Thus it will be seen
that the actual cost of Indian standard
wheat from the Punjab, N. W. Provinces
and Oudh, where two-thirds of the wheat is
produced, will average from $1.16 to $1.28
per bushel laid down in London, and while
the wheat from the other provinces i6
somewhat cheaper, on account of the
shorter distance to the sea-board, it is also
relatively inferior in quality.
About seven-twentieths of the export to
Europe goes over Calcutta.
About eleven-twentieths of the export to
Europe goes over Bombay.
About -twentieths of the export to
Europe goes over Kurrachee.
UNDEVELOPED WHEAT BESOUBCES.
The total area of India under British ad
ministration, is 904,000 square miles, and
that of the native states 575,000 square
miles, but the latter area is not dealt with
in this report. The following table gives
the area in each of the four principal wheat
producing provinces, with the proportion
of cultivated, cnlturable and unculturable
areas, so far as can be ascertained:
Hi-3 SO SO »ej
eg. "SB s£ s =
9 8. PS a *? Pe
: p »I a> g cS
Provinces. -"3 E? B £ jL'3
• p e& -9 5? 5.
• m o 2 2 S
• ,3 » ? ? a
: c . » : e : e
.p.i . t . n
: 5 : j ____>
Punjab 107,010 36,656 36,706 83,648
North Western & Oudh..l05,031 61,000 20.139 33,892
Central 84,208 22,840 26,755 34.613
Bombay 73,609 35,053 4,022 34,533
from which it appears that in those four
provinces alone there are nearly 88,000
square miles or 56,000,000 acres virgin
land, the larger portion of which can be
made suitable for the cultivation of wheat.
It should be remembered, however, that
this land is overgrown with jungle, and
the process of clearing is very slow and
expensive, and that nearly all of it re
quires irrigation.
In order to facilitate the development of
the wheat resources, and to assist the
wheat export trade, the government of In
dia is pursuing a policy of encouragement,
! which has already resulted in better facili
*Note —Tin only exception would be in favor ,
of a light, cheap hand-fanning mill, and that !
only because the grain cannot be properly i
cleaned and separated by present methods for j
the English market; and here is a good opportu
nity for some American manufacturers, th« ;
English fanning mills 6ent here for trial having i
proved too heavy and expensive. •',? ;Ji .
the saint paul daily globe, Saturday morning, mabch 24,1886
ties of transit to the sea-board by the con
struction of new railways, and in reduction
of reigh*; it has removed taxes, export
and octroi duty it is diffusing knowledge
and instruction in the cultivation of wheat
and the improvement of the soil; con
structing canals for irrigation and trans
portation, and in many other ways giving
moral and material aid to this great cause,
in the hope that India may ultimately be
come the granary of Great Britain.
When all these facts are summarized it
will be found:
That India can produce an average
quality of wheat at as low cost to the pro
ducer as the most favored locality in the
United States. : !•
That she can now supply the European
market with about 40 million bushels an
nually, and possesses facilties for increas
ing the supply to an almost unlimited ex
tent, owing to the great elasticity of the
home consumption and to the vast amount
of land awaiting cultivation.
That in quality, cheapness of trans
portation, facilities for handling, safety
against damage daring transit, and stabil
ity of money exchange, the American
wheat, especially that from the new North
west, has such advantages that there need
be no serious apprehension on account of
Indian competition at legitimate prices;
but that in order to maintain this advan
tage, it is absolutely necessary that Ameri
ca should keep pace with India in the
efforts to reduce and maintain freights at
the lowest possible minimum. .
On the other hand, it is an indisputable
fact that Indian wheat has already become,
and will continue to be, a very important
factor in the grain markets of Europe, and
a check against high prices, brought about
either by speculation, or any other un
necessary or artificial means.
And finally, that upon the basis of a fair
average crop throughout the • world, the
American farmer will have to prepare him
self to reduce the cost of production to the
lowest minimum, and be content with small
profits, or else wheat growing in India
may be stimulated to such an extent that
subsequent competition would become ex
tremely formidable.
MINNESOTA NEWS.
The Caledonia Journal is offered for
sale.
A state teachers' institute wifl convene
at Kasson, Dodge county, April 7.
On a vote in Worthington license was
carried by a majority of fifty-two.
The new village of Gaylord, Sibley coun
ty, has a newspaper and a lawyer, and is
happy.
Street cars are soon to be in operation in
St. Cloud. Parties have gone to Chicago
to purchase the rolling stock.
The Register says: "Grlencoe has abun
dant banking facilities and has clearly be
come a monied center for a large section
of country."
Col. J. W. Polleys, of Wells, has been
awarded a pension. He has received
$3,400 back pay, and is henceforth to re
ceive $22 a month.
It is reported that the ■ treasurer of the
Methodist Sunday school of Lake City has
been arrested for embezzling the funds
belonging to the school.
Four hundred and fifty-six citizens of
Albert Lea have subscribed an aggregate
amount of something over $5,000 as a
bonus for the establishment of a mill in
that place.
A wild goose weighing twelve and a half
pounds and measuring six feet from tip to
tip of wings was killed the other day in
Whitefield, Kandiyohi county. Old hunters
say it was the largest goose they ever saw.
Red Wing Argus: A man about twenty
four years of age broke his left thigh
bone last Sunday evening while coasting
down Pine street. It is supposed the sled
was overturned by striking an obstruction
in the street.
The safe in W. E. Porter's lumber office
in Kasson was blown open by gunpowder
last week, by burglarious villains, who got
no money for their criminal exploit. The
books and contents of the safe were a good
deal damaged.
Gloncoe Register: They send nearly
everything by mail nowadays. On Friday
last, when one of the mail bags was open
ed at this office, some two or three pounds
of snuff was spilled out upon the "floor,
causing a general sneeze all around.
St. Charles Union: fire started Mon
day morning in the roof of the Thibau
building, south of the depot, now occupied
by B. N. Miller as sewing machine and or
gan store. About four feet square of the
roof was burned. Promptly extinguished
by the bucket brigade.
The Catholic fair in Le Sueur, for the
parish school, which was kept open'one
week, netted, above all expenses, $1,800.
A beautiful gold watch was presented by
Mr. P. H. 'Kelly, of St. Paul, to be voted
for, and it was voted to one of the priests,
the Rev. Max Wurst, of Le Sueur.
The Northfield Journal says the "new
Ladies' hall (not the old Ladies' hall), was
dedicated.on Wednesday, March 21. This
"new hall" for young lady students cost in
round numbers $60,000, is a very fine
structure, and well adapted in all its ap
pointments for the purposes of the
school.
Princeton Union: Mr. Halett's house, in i
East Baldwin, was completely destroyed
by fire Sunday forenoon. The family were
. off visiting at a neighbors when the fire
broke out, and it is not known how it
originated. A dog, three cats and a pig
perished in the flames. Nothing was saved
and there was no insurance.
A state exchange says: B. B. Herbert,
editor of the Red Wing Advance and Re
publican, will go to St. Paul in a short time
to engage in the real estate business. He
will, however, continue to devote consider
able time editing his journals; that is, re
turn to Red Wing once a week to let Win
dom and the postmasters know that he still
holds them in sweet remembrance. We
hope Mr. Herbert will strike it rich in St.
Paul.
Red Wing Argus: Mr. John Wilkinson
removes to St. Paul about the 1st of April,
he having bought an interest in the house
of Powers, Durkee & Co., wholesale dry
goods, notions, etc., at Nos. 230 and 232
East Fourth street. Mr. Wilkinson has
had extensive experience in the dry goods
line, and will make a valuable addition to
the firm. He will have the best wishes of
a host of friends in Red Wing for success
in his new departure.
The bank of Herman has suspended. It
had on deposit of county funds $6,300, and
$3,200 of general deposits. C. Q. Wash
burn, state senator, and F. W. Webster
were the proprietors. Arrangements have
been made to secure the loss, and the assets
will ultimately pay the general depositors,
though not at present available in cash.
Intention of fraud is not imputed to the
proprietors. The excitement at first pro
duced by the suspension has subsided.
Waseca Radical: A Bad accident occurred
on Friday night last, whereby Matthew Ma
loney, of Otisco, brother of Mr. John Ma
loney of this place, lost his life. Nothing
whatever is known as to how the accident
occurred, the remains, in a horribly mutil
ated condition, being found on the M. & S.
track just south of the union depot, at
about midnight. Mr. Maloney had been
in New Richland during the day and it is
supposed took a freight train late at night
for this place, though the train men and
railroad employes claim to know nothing
of the matter. In getting from the train
he must have fallen under the wheels,
which cut off the left arm and mashed the
body below the breast into fragments.;
The remains were interred in Iosco ceme
tery on Monday. ..." I
*Jit. AN APOEOGY NEEDED.
Wliy a Roston Paper Neglected the Usual
Editorial on Washington.
An apology is due our readers, says the
Boston Globe, editorially, Feb. 22, for the
absence of the usual editorial reminder of
the significance of the day. To pass over
the 22d of February without a recapitula
tion of the greatness and goodness of
Washington and his times, and the weak
ness and wickedness of the present is, we
know, an outrage upon journalistic pro
priety. But we are led to commit it through
a series of mishaps and mistaken confi
dences to which any newspaper office is
liable, but the heneousness of the offense
can be condoned only by relating how it
came about.
The statistical editor was requested to
write an editorial about Washington's
birthday, and told to ring in the proper
proportions of proud and tender gratitude
excited by the fact that we live in a coun
try once governed by so great and good a
man, and aesthetic sorrow that it qas so de
teriorated. The statistical editor was
chosen for this duty because the remainder
of the staff, in anticipation of some such
edict, "had folded their canes about them
and silently stolen away." But he, in his
figure-guarded innocence, had never
thought of such a possibilisy, and was
deeply immersed in the just-received cen
sus compendium, by the aid of figures
from which he was about to prove
that the number of sheep dying in the state
c>f Oregon during the year -1879 bears a
striking proportion to the number of Re
publican votes cast daring the present ses
sion of the Massachusetts legislature. Ow
ing to this interruption of his labors it is
not known what ominous conclusion he
might have drawn.
He began his work by calculating what
Washington's age would have been if he
had lived to the present time. Using this
as a starting point, he gave his vivid im
agination full rein and computed the num
ber of times, approximately, that Washing
ton's Mount Vernon constituency would
have persuaded him to represent them
in congress, the number of times his
seat would have been contested
by his opponent, the . probable
charges of bribery and, looked at merely
as a question of averages, tbe probable re
ports of the investigating committees.
When he had reached this point, having
traveled thereto through several miles of
figures, he was told he might return to his
census compendium, and the financial
editor having just made his appearance he
was requested to pay his respects in proper
form to the memory of George Washing
ton.
He had just come up from State street,
and the result of his unaccustomed effort
to transfer his point of view from the
board of trade to the pinnacle of patriot
ism was that after several hours' labor he
submitted a few pages of manuscript
which set forth the statements that the
iron market was not affected
by the decline of public con
fidence in the little hatchet story;
that the principal reason this country has
for holding the memory of Washington in
proud and grateful remembrance is that
he always bought on a rising market, to
which fact is due the vast moral influence
he has always wielded; that, contrary to
general opinion, this is not due to his
having refused a crown, for it is evident
he know the stock thereof was watered. It
was feared the dash of cynicism in these
opinions would not have a beneficial in
fluence, and the hesitating entrance of the
aesthetic editor gave a new ground of hope.
Thinking all danger was over he had in
cautiously returned, but before he could
retreat he was seized and told to write
something about Washington's birthday.
He emerged from his sacred sanctum
just as the paper was going to press, with
the following opinions transcribed upon
paper: "If Washington had lived to the
present time his moral influence upon the
people at large, great as that has always
been, would have been immeasurably in
creased by his adherence to knee-breeches
and the consequent educating of the peo
ple in the principles of restheticism as ap
plied to apparel. If there is anything in
his life to be regretted it is the fact that he
once allowed himself to be photographed
beside his horse at Valley Forge, and, pho
tography not having then reached its pres
ent state of excellence, the pictures then
produced have done much to hinder the
artistic development of the people. It is
strange that a man so great, good and far
seeing with regard to all matters of politi
cal importance did not entertain a more
tender regard for the artistic welfare of
coming generations." And the aesthetic
editor refused to believe that he had not
done just what he had been ordered to do,
and done it well.
"GOOD QUEEN BESS."
Her Indelicacy With Her Host of Suitors.
Elizabeth, according to a writer in the
Gentleman's Magazine, when the delicate
matter was broached to her of marriage
with the duke of Anjou,was not unwilling to
entertain the idea; indeed, her majesty
of England was seldom unwilling to think
of any man. She would think, and that
was all; thought never developed into ac
tion or led to any practical result. The
queen liked what she called a "proper
man"—one handsome in face, graceful in
carriage, tall in stature, sound in limb, and
who excelled in all manly exercises.
Among all the aspirants whom she had at
one time or another encouraged there was
not a —and from Courtenay to Essex
the list is a crowded one—who was not
pleasing to look upon. Now, the duke of
Anjon was essentially a "proper man."
"He is taller than I am by an inch," writes
Walsingham to Leicester, who had been
somewhat curious as to the appearance of
his successor, "rather pale, well made, and
with long limbs. If all that one does not
see is as good as what one does see, he is
healthy enough. At first sight he seems
haughty, but on acquaintance he is cour
teous and far more easy of access than
either of his brothers. He has numerous
friends, partly for his own sake
and partly to humor his mother,
with whom he is the - favorite son." Tall,
with well-cut features, and the dark lan
guishing eyes, which made the women of
the Valois race so bewitching, the young
duke was the most favored of all the fa
vored gallants in the loosest court of
Europe. He had begun life as a soldier
and had brilliantly distinguished himself
in two battles; but he soon permitted him
self —after his sword had been sheathed in
his scabbard —to be corrupted by the idle
and voluptuous life which then made Paris
the most courted city on the continent.
His early manhood was passed in one suc
cession of what are called "conquests"—
though when the citadel is ever
ready to surrender, conquest is
perhaps too strong a word to em
ploy. He was a great dandy and spent
enormous sums upon his wardrobe; he was
given to much jewelry, and his hands, of
which he was justly proud, were covered
with brilliants. His disposition was gen
erous, and the presents he bestowed upon
the frail beauties who attended upon
Catherine de Medicis were said to be lavish
in the extreme. "If the queen, your mis
tress," said a great French seigneur to
Walsingham, who had gone over to Paris
to sound the queen-mother, "is not content
with monseigneur, she should never marry,
but at once take the oath of perpetual vir
ginity." Elizabeth was, however, perfect
ly willing to be contented — least for a
time.
She carefully studied the portrait of the
young . duke, considered '. him handsomer
than the duke ' de ' Nemours, and hoped
that he would take boat and pay her a visit
at Greenwich. Lord Buckhnrst was dis
patched upon a special mission to Cather
ine to support Walsingham, and to give
expression" to the views of Elizabeth upon
the matter, Her majesty, he said, was de
sirous of entering into an alliance with
France; she was honored with the atten
tions of the duke of Anjon, and it was her
wish seriously to consider them. The
queen-mother, who was perfectly aware of
the weakness of the daughter of Anne
Boleyn for tempting . a man on by
false promises to a certain point, and then
quietly deserting him for a newer and
therefore more fascinating rival, was re
solved, now that her favorite son was con
cerned, to tolerate no feminine trickery in
the matter. She replied that if she was
sure that Elizabeth really intended mar
riage and would not behave to the duke of
Anjon as she had behaved to the others
who pretended to her hand, both she and
the king of France were in favor of the
match; but she must be assured that there
would be no evasion in the negotiations, no
giving of promises and then backing out
of them, as had been the case with the
brother of monseignenr. Buckhnrst there
upon declared that he had been especially
charged to say that the queen
of England had resolved upon mar
riage; that she would not marry one of her
subjects, and that she was desirous of unit
ing herself with one of the royal houses on
the continent. The duke of Anjon, he
urged, pleased her, and the alliance was in
every way a suitable one. Her other royal
suitors, the kings of Sweden and Denmark
and the Archduke Charles, were poor and
belonged to countries at a great distance
from England. The duke of acjou, on
the contrary, was the near nei^hL-»r and
the dependant of a great king; in the pres
ent state of Europe an alliance between
England and France was most desirable.
Catherine, thus reassured, was of the same
opinion; she entered into details with
Buckhurst, and drew up a series of articles
upon which the proposed marriage was
based, which she requested the envoy on
his return to England to place in the hands
of Elizabeth. Tho interview then ended.
BUCHANAN'S ESCAPE.
A Story of Slapjacks and Scandal.
[Washington Letter.]
James Buchanan, when president, had a
very narrow escape from being mixed up in
the Sickles-Key scandal. When Buchanan
was minister to England, Sickles was his
secretary of legation. Mrs. Sickles was
from Pennsylvania, and one of Buchanan's
pets. He thought as much of her as he
would of his own daughter, and when he
became president he was very intimate
with the Sickles family. Whenever he was
tired he had the habit of slipping out of
the White house, and walking through La
fayette park for a chat with Gen. Sickles
and his wife. The day before Key was shot
was Saturday. Saturday morning Mrs.
Sickles came over to the White house and
called upon the president. Buchanan was
very fond of buckwheat cakes. Mrs.
Sickles called on him to tell him that she
had received some very nice buckwheat
flour from Pennsylvania, and that she was
going to have some hot cakes for their
Sunday breakfast at the Sickles residence.
She invited the president to attend the ob
sequies of the heated "slap jack," and he
consented. Harriet Lane was then mis
tress at the White house, and when she
heard of the invitation she advised the
president not to go. At that time Wash*
ington society understood fully the nature
of the intrigue which was being carried on
between Key and Mrs. Sickles, but Gen.
Sickles and Mr. Buchanan were the two
last men to learn of the scandal. Miss
Lane was asked by the president to give a
reason for his declining to go to break
fast. Said she: "I do not care to give my
reasons. Act on my judgment and you
will not regret it." Buchanan was more
impressed by her manner than by her
words. When the tragedy took place
Buchanan fairly shuddered at his escape.
If had been at the breakfast he would have
been with Mrs. Sickles at the time of the
shooting of Key, and he would have been
dragged into the scandal beyond all hope
of escape.
Private Life of Royalty.
[New York World.!
An American lady who has been passing
some time in a circle very close to the
crown in England sends some curious and
entertaining details of the private life of
royalty to a friend in this country. She
writes: "The personal attendants of her
Britannic majesty have a pretty hard life
of it." They are not as badly treated as
poor Miss Barney when she went into
bondage as second keeper of the robes to
Queen Victoria's grandmother, but, "tak
ing one consideration with another," their
lot is not a happy one. The Hon. Horatia
Stopf a cousin of the earl of Courtown
and one of the queen's bedchamber women,
is the queen's favorite amanuensis,
writing most of her letters and taking
down whatever she dictates,
and, as etiquette requires Miss Stopford to
stand while thus engaged, she passes
whole hours sometimes writing at an up
right desk when her majesty happens to
be in an epistolary mood. On the recent
confinement of the duchess of Albany, the
queen, who took a very particular interest
in the event, never sat down from 9 in the
morning till 6 in the evening, to the in
tense weariness and disgust of the unlucky
maids of honor in attendance. Trie mother
of the duchess of Albany, the princess of
Waldeck-Pyrmont, was equally provoked,
as she thought herself as much entitled as
the queen, if one may use such very low
language in such a very high connection,
to "boss the job;" and the two mothers-in
law kept politely and persistently inviting
one another to take a rest and let the poor
duchess enjoy a little quiet. When
it was all over, and a little princess of Al
bany had come into the world, it was the
turn of the father. His royal highness,
the duke of Albany, on being informed of
the result, quite lost his temper and
stamped on the floor with rage that the
child should not have been a prince. As a
general thing, however, the duke of Albany
gives less trouble to those about him than
any of the royal family. His elder broth
er, the prince of Wales, exacts constant
and assiduous attendance of his household,
but he is personally considerate of them,
and changes his equerries once a month in
order to relieve the strain put on them.
He never opens a book or so much as
glances at a newspaper, but bis officers are
all bright and clever, and keep him accu
rately informed of everything that is go
ing on in politics and in society.
Gxstixxes —Your Hop Bitters have been of
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lief until I tried your Hop Bitters. To those
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J. C. Stoktzel, 683 Fulton street,Chicago, 111.
She stood in the middle of a Richmond
street helpless from terror, while a drove
of untamed mules, ears dormant and ta ils
rampant, bore down upon her like a hur
ricane. He dropped his valise, sprang to
her side, whirled her over the gutter,. and
the mules rushed past in the darkness—
Miss Alice Beauchamp, of Boston, is about
to become Mrs. Louis Shearer, of West
Point, Miss., and at last a credit can be
entered on the mule's debt-burdened ledger.
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CBTSTAE COFFINS.
TJie New Burial System, to be Organised on
the Show-Case Principle. "''
An invention has been recently patented
. by which glass is to be substituted , for
wood in the manufacture of coffins: "It's
almost worth while dying to be buried in
one of them," said the inventor to a Phila
delphia Times reporter. Henry H. Barry, i
the speaker, who lives on Fifth street, just
below Spruce, has for many years inter
ested himself in transparent systems of
burial. After conceiving the glass casket
he kept it a secret until Oct. 24 of last year,
when it was patented. "Yes," continued
the inventor, "I believe the success of this
thing is going to be immense. There is
one San Francisco firm will take thousands
of the coffins to sell to Chinamen."
"What is the advantage of glass for
domiciles of the dead?"
"In the first place, one has perfect pres
ervation. Before, being placed in the vial
the patient is embalmed. I may say that
the coffin is devised on the walnut-shell
principle, in two halves. After my cus
tomers are once securely packed in coffins
I apply an exhaust pump, take out all the
air, and hermetically seal up the aperture.
Then the thing is accomplished. There is
the advantage that no infectious disease
can come through the glass. The flesh of
the subject will preserve its natural tints,
and relatives and friends will be able to
view the deceased for years to come.
"As a sanitary reform it is unparal
leled," he went on. "Tenanted coffins can
be piled up like any other merchandise
anywhere, and stay there for years. Some
people might prefer to keep relatives in
their own houses, nicely put away in the
coffins. There is nothing objectionable
about the idea. When buried in cemeter
ies there will be no exhalations whatever,
and in case of the removal of graveyards
the coffins can be taken up and carried
away with no more offense than would be
given by so many kegs of nails."
"What are the dimensions and shape of
the coffins?" asked the reporter.
"They can be made of all sizes. The
glass is three-eighths of an inch thick, and
the coffin is oval with a concave top. It
would not do to have it flat, as with a va
cuum inside it the glass would collapse."
"Wouldn't they get smashed in cemeter
ies?" queried the incipient investor.
"On the contrary, we have a system of
toughening the glass that makes it like
iron. A spade struck against the coffin
with a good deal of force will not break it.
Body snatcbers would get their fingers cut.
There is no end to the variations which
can be made on these coffins. The glass
can be clouded, bo that only the face is
visible. It can be colored, or butterflies
and weeping willows can be placed at in
tervals all over the surface. There are a
thousand ways of ornamenting the ex
terior."
"What will they cost?" was the next
question.
"From seven up. Seven dollars I mean,
of course. They could possibly be manu
factured of such choice material and so
beautifully etched as to cost as much as
$1,000 each. I have often wished that at
the time of President Garfield's death I
had had a glass coffin. I am sure it would
have been used. I propose to form a com
pany, with a capital of some $500,000.
"This casket was invented as much with
the idea of benefiting the poor'as anything
else. Of course, there will be money in it
for me."
Mr. Barry then proceeded to unfold the
particulars of a remarkable scheme. "We
should have a vast system of vaults," ho
explained, "in which coffins would be
placed. Space could be reserved for fam
ilies. Here, in a stall.would be a father; by
his side his wife; on the upper shelf
the grandmother and grandfather, and
above that the other ancestors. Each coffin
would have a number at its foot, and cata
logues would be issued giving the names
of the occupants, for instance, 'Henry
Jones, 251.' Above the vaults would be a
suite cf elegant reception rooms, into
which visitors would bo invited. They
could sit down and call for, say: 'No. fill.'
An attendant would go down stairs, slide
the casket indicated up on to a little bar
row, come bank again and leave it with
them as long as they liked. They could
look at it, have it taken to its shelf when
they were through and return home. A
certain amount of rent would, of course,
have to bo exacted. What do you say to
going into the enterprise ? It will 'take,'
assuredly. There are lot of millionaires
thinking the matter over."
I'restidiffitationl
[Chamber's Journal.
Robert Houdin no doubt raised presti
digitation to the science in which it stands
at the present day, when the Royal society
does not disdain to listen to speculations
as to the real nature of some of its recent
manifestations; and chemistry, electricity,
optics, pneumatics, and most of the ologies
are pressed into its service. He was the
first to discard the flowing robe and other
traditional paraphernalia and reduce the
accoutrement of the modern sorcerer to
ordinary evening dress with a skeleton
table, holding that true skill lay in con
cealing not only "how it is done," but "how
it might be done." But as an actual per
former it is questionable if he was the
equal of Herrman and several of the more
modern professors. The paternal mantle
has fallen upon the shoulders of M. Robert
Houdin fils, who, as a little boy, used to
assist his father in many illusions which
he created; but the ron devotes his talent
chiefly to the construction of exquisite au
tomata, which he exhibits, in conjunction
with Blight-of-hnnd, nt his pretty little bou
doir theater in Paris. His countrymen seem
to be born conjurers. Only a short time
ago I saw one of them execute a very pret
ty little trick, solely, I might say, by virtue
of his being a Frenchman; a trick, at any
rate, which would not have been so char
acteristic of an Englishman. Coming
forward on the stage as the curtain rose he
made an amusing introductory speech with
much characteristic gesticulation, hands
extended and shoulders shrugged up to his
ears; then he breathed on his gloves, and,
presto! they vanished. The gloves— got
it from him afterwardhad no backs to
them, and were secured only by the tips of
the fingers, which barely covered the nails;
a piece of strong elastic ran in a hem
around the margin of each and kept them
in position, the end passing up the sleeve,
to be attached to the back of the waistcoat.
A slight flextnre of the fingers, therefore,
freed them and caused them to fly away
with lightning rapidity. But everything
depended upon the palms being alone ex
posed, Frenchman-like all the time.
The Stately Women of Hungary.
The women of Hungary are the most
magnificent specimens we have yet en
countered, confesses Nasby, in the Toledo
Blade. They are tall, stately creatures,
with figures that the women of no other
country yet explored possess. They have j
generally black or dark brown hair, regu j
lar features, with a complexion that is a
delight to look upon. It is not the start- |
ling red and white of the English woman, j
but . a delicate pink tint that :
shades off into a pearly white, j
the blending so delicate that it is impos- i
sible to determine where the red ends and <
the white begins. Their lips are invaria- ;
bly red, a healthy, natural red, and their :
teeth always regular and of a dazzling
whiteness, their necks as graceful as a
swan's, the busts magnificent, their waists '
small, naturally, not artificially so, hands \
and feetjvery small, and always exquisitely
dressed. In two weeks in Stuhlwoissen-
burg we did not see a homely girl, or one:
that would not attract attention on Broad
way. . j Even the peasant girls in their enor- :
mous boots—the peasant'" women g wear
boots the same as men—the figures and.
faces are pretty.
i.i; A NEW USE FOR RABBITS.
A New York Stationer Proposes to Utilize
the Shins of About Five Thousand.
Mr. A. G. Brown, a stationer at 50 Beek
man street, has a plan for adorning and or
namenting writing-desks and work-boxes '■-
which is both novel and interesting. A re
porter of the New York World called at
Mr. Brown's office. Writing-desks are seen
on every side. They are all rich and artis
tic, and are covered with plush and velvets
of every color, from bright red with streaks
of blue and a blue streaked with gold to
somber brown velvet. Some of these desks,.
although scarcely one foot long by
a foot wide, cost $25 or $30 each at retail.
"I believe in originality," said Mr. Brown
to a World reporter. "See, here is an
Easter present which has never been seen
on the market," and he pointed to a box
on the lid of which stood a stuffed chicken
looking with curiosity into a broken egg
shell, on which was inscribed the words -
"Easter Greeting." The whole was very
pretty, and pleased Mr. Brown so much
that he stroked the little bird in a fatherly
manner, as if consoling it and reconciling
it to the wires which ran through its body
and the dark box which formed its hen
coop. "Now," said Mr. Brown, as he
closed the box with a snap, "I am going,
perhaps, to Btuff nice white rabbits, per
haps four or five thousand of them, and
put them on the tops of those writing
desks. How pretty a white rabbit will
look on a brown velvet box. I will
get .rabbits from two weeks to three
months old, and will use them not only
on writing desks but on bon-bon boxes and
children's toys. It is strange it was not
thought of before, and yet I am not cer
tain whether I will go into it at all; the
speculation is almost too risky. There is
no telling what people want in fashions.
The rabbits would cost, dead, about twenty
cents each, and a good hand could skin
about sixty of them a day, and prepare
them for the taxidermist, who could stuff
probably twelve in a day. We could have
them in every natural attitude. We could
have them running, hiding, every
way, eating graBs, and looking
for gress to eat. The ordinary
American hare, when young and 'cute,*
make very pretty stuffed ornaments. But,
then, they are extremely hard to get.
Great numbers, however, might be taken
on the prairies of the West, where they
share the underground houses of the prai
rie dogs. Every one is now wanting stuffed
articles, and I would not be surprised if a
number of men will be employed on the
coast of Labrador gathering the fuzzy
little young of the wild duck, which make
the most amusing and just now the most
popular of stuffed animals. When they
are ..en, their brains and tails being re
moved, they are sprinkled with arsenic and
are packed in straw, and in that condition
keep fresh for years."
MOTHKlt AND SON.
An Irreparab le Misfortune Lightened by a.
Mother's Devotion.
[New York Truth.
In one of a row of conventional brown
stone fronts in fashionable New York exists
a remarkable example of maternal devo
tion. No less so are the virtues of pa
tience and persistence in the face of the
worst human afflictions and misfortunes,
even though it be amid the surroundings
of luxury exemplified on the part of both a
mother and her idolized son.
The family of two, to whom the refer
ence is made, are wealthy. They are im
mediately connected with three families
living in the Bay and Empire states which
have furnished presidents, presidential
candidates, governors and statesmen as
well as honorable financiers.
The son, now about twenty years
of age, was seven or eight years ago a rep
resentative New York boy. He was intel
ligent, bright, with lots of vim and snap,
was called by his companions "a good fel
low," andjwas the pet of his widowed mother.
His fond parent supplied him liberally
with pocket money, and while his quondam
companions of his own age were still play
ing tag and prisoner's base in Union square,
he had precociously, to quote from the
venacular, "got on" to the town, and was
going it while he was young. His sporting
existence was cut short before he had reach
ed his majority by a fearfall stroke of
Providence. He was stricken blind.
The years of indulgence and pleasure
had deprived his mother of much of his
society. He returned to her side as help
less as a child. The mother, who had been
always a reader of books, had, during their
partial seperation, sought relief in literary'
pursuits. When her son came back to her
she found an unexpected use for her men
tal treasures, and applied them to lighten
ing his affliction. *
At her suggestion that he take up some
special study he chose that of medicine.
Beside bringing to him the best instruct
ors for the blind, she read all his medical
studies to and with him and accompanied
him through several courses of lectures.
For a companion for her son she secured a
gentleman of culture, who also studied
with him. Together the three made an ex
tended tour through Europe, spending a
great portion of their time in French and
German educational institutions.
In the frequent gatherings of literati,
with whom this particular house is a fa
vorite meeting place, it is said their sym
pathies are touched by a peculiar pathos
in the favorite phrase of the gifted young
man, whose life is forever darkened:
"What I saw in Europe." His memory of
the impressions received through the eyes
of his devoted companions of the art works
and historical remains of the old world are
better than their own.
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
Expenditures in TJte States and Territories.
A statement prepared in the treasury
department and now in the hands of the
printer shows the amounts appropriated
and expended by the national government
-for public buildings in the states and ter
ritories from March 4, 1789, to June 30,
1882. The total amount appropriated has
been $88,462,262, and the amount expend
ed has been $83,404,221, distributed as fol
lows: •
New York $14,314,6561 Georgia........ 498,648
Massachusetts. 7,670,023 North Carolina 454,005
Pennsylvania.. 7,482,469 West Virginia.. 384,903
Illinois 7,463,936.Rhode Island.. 329,463
Missouri 6,134,068! Arkansas 306,745
Ohio 6,796,968 Texas 299,722
Louisiana 4,972,368; Vermont .252,276
South Carolina 3,386,883 1 Kansas 205,834
California 2,115,622 New Hampshire 173,670
Maime 2,080,178 Florida 156,223 ,
Maryland 1,864,602 Mississippi.... 138,275
Tennessee 1,129,044 Delaware ...... 102,924
Connecticut... 1,074,925 New Mexico. 97,824
Virginia 847,442 Utah 64,998
Kentucky 793,029 Washington.... 61,753
Michigan ...... 781,673 Montana 48,772
Indiana 779,057 Colorado 44,154
New Jersey... 685,744 Idaho.......... 41,738
Nebraska 624.607 Wyoming 40,109
Wisconsin 601,723 Alaska 5,989
Oregon. 565,983 Dakota 533
Minnesota..... 531,602 |Kepairs, etc .... 6,947,868
Alabama 527.S9G — ,
Iowa 526,316 Total *8.*5,404,221
This statement does not include the cost I
of the mint buildings or tho cost of any of
the public buildings in the District of Co
lumbia. '>!_
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