Evening Star Newspaper, November 12, 1881, Page 2

THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, SATURDAY, N OV CITY AND DISTRICT. Renkh ot the District. VITAL STATISTICS FOR OCTOBER. ‘The total mortality in the District of Columbia for the month of Ortober, 1881, was 43, (an ine crease of 38a compared with the corresponding menth of last year, and 66 more than the avi Bevmber Of deaths tor the mouth of Oetober for € eight years.) or at the rate of S445 per | muth, Feckoning th utation to have | Jat the sam taking the last t it dtd ten years’ between | The death-rate for the month of othe past four years has been steadlly und! for the past eight for Octover for total ded this monti’s that of the colored 49, iho mortality, as dipbtherta from 8 couch decreased from Ypbold fever remains | fevers Increased from | diseases decreased from 117 to of these latter 61 were under five years of rhe deaths frou = Increased from 4 to | esot the ner- israses of the cireula 8; dh Sof ebtidren ine i ses of women decreased {10 rom 13 tol Of tt lite Is; puer- 75, and > femal females, ne White fon de populat put 5. py 80. BI pairot twins, col- Ored. wats reported. Murriages reported, 48—white, | 31; colored, Organized Charities. A PLAN PROPOSED FORK THE SUBDIVISION OF TRE erry. At the recent meeting of the hoard of managers | associated cha Commissioner Dent in | | he Pu S6th street. $hode Istand avenue. Fou York avenues, enne and 16th h—Betw: d 16th street and Bound: ew York avenue and B stre . Sixth— st Maryland Fitth—Between north ul 15th street and Ist street es ngle formed by Ist nd the Boundary. Maryland and Penn: tern elty limits, E Seventh—The triangle tvanla avenues ‘The terri- nm the ween Pennsylvania a the Eastern Branch on the sor tol street. and the James Creek on the west. Ninth—The triangle formed by South Capitol street and the James Creek canal, ‘the Potomac river and B street north. The tenth and ali the remaining districts are all located tn the county, Tenth—West of Rock FS at_Tennallytown. “k Creek to 7th street road, quarters at Mt Pleasant and Bright- Twelfth—Esst of 7th street road to the wood. Queen Chapel road, headquarters at Gurley Mis- sion and Fort Si ‘Thirteenth—East of Queen Chapel road or Bladensburg turn-pike, to a dividing Ine half way between Bennings and Uniontown. »th—Uniontown and vicinity. taking in all the territory to of the insane asyluan a8 referred to a committe, that Major views thereon might be obteined. The Yacaneles existing in the board Were filled by the election of Mrs. Gen. S. A. M. Caniield and Mrs. M. F. Wailing. Messrs. 3, Pratt and Cook, Were appelnted by the chair sa permanent board to audit all bills inst the association. Mrs. Spencer, who represented the association at the con rence of state charities, held recently in madea brief statement of the work ac- complished there. Work Building Inspector Entwisie has addressed a letter to the Commissioners, in which he states that he has made a close examination of the Plans of the two public school buildings now in cours of erection In the 2d division, and finds ft necessary to make several alterations in their construction. On building corner 1th and H Streets Inerease the piers in the interior walls be- ‘tween the hall and the smell rooms, and to wall Up two of the openings next to stair platiorms; fire-proof the floors of small rooms over boller, Teoms with tron beams and brick arches; insert four iron girders and four cold-atr chambers, with Ftitions and giass doors, and to the four win- WS at cold ducts fo use fine crimped wire grat- ings in addition t the gratings as in contract, all at an estimated cost of 2465.70. At tie building corner of Ist street and Massa- cbusetts avenue—to increase the size of the piers in brick walls between small rooms and play rooms; Wall up two openings adjotning stair platform; In- Sert iron girders te carry the walls over the hot-air chambers: glass doors In partition, formi cold a! erS;put in tine crimped wire guards fn ‘the two windows at coli-air chambers in addition ty at an estimated ort of $16.75. He says the chahges in the plans | Baye been approved by the architect. He alsocalls | attention to the cost of the foundation of these Some buildings The one at 10th and H streets Was found to be “filled tn” earth at the south rT tion of the building fora depth of four feet. "The cost torxcavat= and bring the walls to the level Specified in the contract ts $176.77. At the Massachusetts avenue and 1st street building it was found necessary to excavate the ‘Western portion ten feet below the specified depth, and at that point the foundation was so detective that ft was necessary to put in_concrete‘founda- tion six feet broail. ‘This work was attended to With great difficulty on acceunt of the loose nature of the soll causing it to slide in and the quantity of water making constently tn the trenches. This | Work has cost the sur 9.40, making, with the | changes as stated, an expenditure beyond the | amount of the contract on those two buildings the ‘smn Of $1.<95.52. Inspector Entwisle also states that there is only about $500 unex (of the appropriation for re- Pairs to public sthoois for the present fiscal year, Amd it ts necessary that further work on repairs be | nded, unless it be for broken windows and sinall matters absolutely necessary to keep the buildings comfortabie, and as there are nearly etght months of the year remaining tt would be ad- to ask adstitional appropriation as consid- erable more repairs are ‘THE DELAY IN HEATING THE ASS0TT scHOOL BUILDING. In reply to a communication from School Superintendent J. ©. Wilson, relative to the twisie states that a rule of the fines him to the making of such ‘hall be requested by the member m buildings and repairs in their spective divisions: that these requests are | Bsusliy made in July, in order that the work may | be done during the Vacation; that the request to Make these repalrs was not made at his office Unt September 2st, a time when en Gaurd on Such work ate overcrowded; that as soon as they could be defined and estimated for an eed With It as speedily as | Possible, as there was extensive repairs to make, | amd one of the sta vi to be renewed tn the | Tratlating shaft. ‘Fhe contractor being pressed | with other work, Its completion was delayed than it shouk! ve n, although urged Dy his (the inspector's) office several times to push the work. onter was ziven to pr — Anwx OxpERs.—The following officers are de- | tulied for instruction at the school of application | for infantry and cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and will report not Ister than December 2: ist cav.,2i Lieut. W. C. Brown; 21 cav., 2t Liewt. F. 1: 0 cay. zi Lieut ‘Thomas Con- J We ADDO fre 13h hin, 21 Lieut. W. ; 16th |. Cunningham; 20th in., Ist in..2d Lieut. EH. Brooke; J.J. Crittenden; 24d in., 24 Lieut. chols, and th in., 22 Lieut. H. D. Reed. ‘ved from rtment ent to duty. Major Ely Mellan, surgeon, will report to the commandl Phe leave granted Ma “8. army, 18 exter m to go be William S. King, surgecn, Six months on account of sickness. A Case or Heantiiss Catxnry to Boro- Lars occured in Madison the other night. Mr. C. Laurence entered his office on Sunday morn- | first rule—the dependence of all | tress, and upon them the hardship will fall. n Rhode Island and New | het THE DROUTH AND Its EFFECTS. The Rise in the Prices of V: es and Cther Provisions—4& Winter of i for Poor Predicted— Hardships What Market People Say. “This will be a very hard winter,” said a gen- tleman whose official connection with the market gives weight to his opinion. “There will be a demard upon all our charities.” The Temark was called forth by an inquiry made by | a Star reporter as to the cause of the rise of | prices in provisions and the probabilities of a | further rise. The country seems about to take a grim lesson in political economy. That great classes upon the toilers of the field, and the bounties of nature—will be the text. The vegetation was withered by the burning summer sun, rich meadows were laid waste by the lingering drouth, as though a destroying army had swept over the land, and the husband- man found little reward for his months of weat labor in the scanty crops that he garnered. Where the hot dry breath of the summer winds did not parch the land, hosts of insects ravaged the fields and left to the farmers but a moiety of the proaucts of their toil. The cry of the fam- ished poor will be heard, it is teared, before the winter is well set in, tor it is the poor that suffer when drouth and scourges visit tae country. THE COMPLAINT UNIVERSAL. The farmer, the drover, the butcher, the gro- cer, the huckster, all have the same tale. The scarcity of supplies is their excuse for raising Prices. Stock is being sold for slauchter be- cause the farmers’ cribs and mows aretoo scant- ily supplied to keep a drove of hungry cattle during the winter. From the grain districts of the west come re- ports of poor crops, and prediciions that high prices will rule in bread stuifs before the winter isover. While our farms were burned up by drought the grain fields of Europe were de- luged with the rain, denied us. The waters did great damage. An unusual demand will come across the Atlantic, it is expected, for cargoes of weat to replenish the exhausted granaries of Europe. The country is enjoying great prosperity, it is argued; gold and silver are plenty, and it can easily provide against the emergencies brought upon it by an inclement season. The poor,how- ever, are as poor now as in years of general dis- Famine and tribulation will betheirgloomycom- panions through the winter. Our own beautiful city will not be spared. Already, in the markets, one can find ominous signs of the hard winter that is closing upon us. Vegetables, which in seasons of plenty, afford cheap living to those who canill-afford anything | tter, are scarce and high in price. Cabbages, | turnips, and other produce, that in former years would have been thrown aside as unmarketable, now find ready sale at good prices. A Star re- porter on an expedition through the market made various inqui as to the present condi- tion of affairs and the outlook for the winter. “Yes, this will be A VERY HARD WINTER,” said the market official, sadly shaking his head. “The cost of living, I think, will be at least one-third higher than last winter. The price of apples has doubled. The yegetables, on which many poor have subsisted almost entirely in the winter, are high. Cabbage, turnips and beats have all nearly doubled in price. There is scareely any kale. The best beef is being sent to Europe. The destruction of cattle food by the drouth and other causes. is going to make all kinds of meat high. The prices are going to be higher even than now. Whether there is a scarcity of wheat or not, there is no question that the scantiness of the supply of vegetables creating a demand for breadstufts will tend to keep up the pricé of wheat. The whole situation is summed up im saying that the drouth and recent floods have depleted the pro- duets of the season. The prospects are that there will be higher prices. The tendency is up- ward.” WHAT THE VEGETABLE DEALERS SAY. “There has not been a third of a crop about here.” said a vegetable dealer. “We are al- ready importing cabbage. There is no winter cabbage here to speak of and no potatoes. The Potatoes are coming from the north. The kale and spinach saved from the dronth has been eaten up by worms. Turnips that could be bought last season for $1a barrel now com- mand $3.50. Cabbage that would last year have been considered dear at $4 per hundred are now sold for $10. The same proportion of prices exists respecting parsnips and carrots. The celery has been aimost completely destroyed by the worms. On account of the drouth farmers are selling their stock early, Shotes are being brought to town much earlier than usual. “Why,” continued the dealer, “some gardeners who depended on their celery have not one dollar’s worth saved from the ray- ages of the worms. I was talking to a gar- dener yesterday who has fifty acres of land not far from the city, and he said he would not have $5 worth of truck to sell, all told. Last Friday there was not half a dozen barrels of turnips in the whole market.” THE REPORT FROM THE BUTCHERS AND BUTTER DEALERS. “Stock is selling early.” said a butcher. “All the drovers say that there is a disposition to get rid of cattle now. What the effect will be dur- ing the winter it is hard to say.” The butter merchant confirmed the reports of general advance im prices. “All country pro- duce.” he said, ‘is dear, and will be dearer this winter.” The general testimony of provision dealers of all kinds favors the conclusion that high prices will rule during the winter. Dealers in the markets have recourse to commission houses for supplies, which in former seasons farmers and gardeners have de- livered in great abundance at the doors of the market. The supplies of the northern markets, upon which a drain is made to replenish the slender stores hereabout, are but scanty, and already complaints are made in the north or the searcity of vegetables. The loss to the farmers and market gardeners on Long Island hasbeen carefully estimated to be £200,000, and through- out the northern and middle states the same state of facts existed,—crops almost utterly destroyed by the drouth or ruined by worms. THERE IS 4 GOOD MARKET now for medium produce, and vegetables that would once have been discarded as unsaleable, find ready purchasers. THE BUTTER SUPPLY. “There is plenty of butter in the country just now,” said a dealer in dairy products. “The and sold at 93¢ cents alive at the pens. Old ms have been entirely sold out. cured western rs | Lard is high. “Pork might be hizher,” said the dealer, “but at the present prices there is not much being exported. ‘Theres apt to be plenty, therefore, for consuinption, and prices, think, will not be much higher than now.” POULTRY AND Eccs. The poultrymen say that there is little or no change in the usual prices. An egg dealer who was spoken to did not anticipate any great rise in the price of eggs. Last winter eggs brot %5 cents a dozen. Now they are selling at from 30 to 35 cents. VIEWS OF 4 COMMISSION MERCHANT. A commission merchant who watehes the general markets very carefully was asked his views on the situation and said: “I do not take much stock in this talk of scarcity. Our coun- try is too big for that. It is the gambling in the necessaries of life that puts up the prices. The Poor have to ruffer on that aceount. There is another thing that consumers have to suffer, and that isthe OUTRAGEOUS DEMANDS OF THE RAILROAD COMPA- IES. Tt costs as much to get produce from western New York to Washington as it does to ship from England. The New York Central railroad last year delivered New York apples in Liver- pool at the same rates that the same apples were delivered here. The freight rates from Rochester to New York city are just one half of what they are from Rochester to Washington. The people of Washington are paying a good Ideal more fortheir produce on this account than they ought. Why POTATOES ARE BEING SHIPPED NOW FROM IRE- LAND TO NEW YORK. They have been in the New York markets for more than a month. They are brought from Ireland at 10 cents abushel. It costs us 15centsa bushel to get potatoes from western New York. The freight rates from Europe are so cheap that Isee some one in Liverpool has contracted to lay potatoes down in New York for 40 cents a bushel. He buys them in Ireland for 15 cents. BEANS ARE BEING BROUGHT FROM GERMANY, although many are shipped across the country from California. There is no real scarcity,” con- tinued the commission merchant; “this rise is all due to speculation. Some one tried to make @ corner in beans a little while ago, and the prices went up, but ft broke, and they arecheap again. Rufus Hatch went to the produce ex- change in New York, a little while ago, and bought half a million bushels of corn. Every- body believed that there was to be a corner, and prices went tp, upon which he sold out. Some people think they can get up corners in produce, mut they find soon that supplies keep coming in, which they have not the means to control, and prices go down.” THE APPLE CROP. “The Virginia apple crop” has been good, said awholesale produce dealer, “so we have had apples cheaper here than in other parts of the country, but that supply is about given out. It is not a bearing year in other parts of the country. It is hard to get New York and Ohio apples. I understand most of the supply is con- sumed right in New York city. Cider is high too. What we paid 12 and 15 cents for last year we have to give 20 cents for now. A man who lives in Garfield’s old home, in Ohio, has been in the habit of making cider for me. Finding tnere were no apples in Ohio he went early to Michigan, leased mills and prepared to go to work. Uhaye just received word from him that there are no apples there. Cranberries are searce, too, and they want more for them in Bos- ton than we can get for them here. THE CATTLE SUPPLY. A well-to-do farmer, of Loudon county, Va., who ships his produce all over the east, was interviewed by Tux Srar man on the same gen- eral subject. “It has been a very hard year on farmers,” he said. ‘They have lost heavily on their cattle. The loss is in the weight as well as the quality. Cattle generally fatten in September and Octo- ber, but.the pastures were burned up by the drouth, so they had to feed them on long feed at a time when they are usually pastured. In good seasons cattie in Virginia are pastured as late, very often, as the first of December. The farmers lose from $6 to $10 a head on their cattle on this account, and were forced to sell by lack of means to keep them during the winter. The western cattle men are not much better off, s0 you can look for very high prices during the winter. Maryland and Virginia both suffered severely by the drouth. Loudon did not sutfer as much as other counties, for we had rains there in September, and had a very good corn crop. The lower counties suffered most. ‘The farmers there have had to buy corn. There is no hay to sell, for the farmers have to feed it to their stock, and the wheat crop in Virginia is very short.” PRICES LAST YEAR AND THIS. In the lists given below an opportunity is afforded of comparing the prices asked at the present time for leading staples in the provision and produce markets with those asked a year ago in the same grades. The quotations used are those of the general wholesale market: [This beautiful and familiar line will be found in a song of two stanzas, written about the year 1700, by Ruthven Jerhyns, an obscure poet, and published im the Greenwich Magazine for Mariners. It is a gem for the serap-book.} Sweetheart, good-by! The fluttering satt reason ts there is not so great a demand for ex- portation. Oleomargarine is taking the place of butter in the foreign market. In Manchester and other manufacturing places of England, oleomargarine is sold in great quantities. But- ter is now about five cents a pound higher than at the saine time last year” “ This country is so large,” sald a market of- ficer, who was Standing near by, “and there are so many different conditions and climates, that when one region fails another furnishes the supply. I have known California butter to be sold in this market.” 3T DEPENDS UPON THE WINTER. “If there is an open winter,” said another dealer, “butter will be cheap, but if the coi winter is as severe as the last winter, butter will be very high. The supply of butter during the summer was used up and there is no reserve ;to draw on. ‘The pastures were burnt up by the drouth. The only crop that amounted to anything was the hay crop, which was taken in before the drouth came on.” CONCERNING BEEF. “Beef,” said a butcher, “is a little higher now | than it was last year at this time, but the rise is | #!¢: neither of which statements not in proportion to that in general provisions, nor is it near so high as it was a month ago. The reason is that just now the market is glut- ted, in consequence of the country people being forced to get rid of their stock. This won't last, though. Now butchers are buying beef at 31; to 5 cents per pound on the hoof. but I know ot offers of 645 cents per pound for éattle te be de- phe pagers glace easy ngs Price of beefa month ago igher than ever knew it to be before, even during the war.” Vell, sheep are selling at a low figure. imgand found his safe door open, wit holes drilied in the door. U had left the @oor of the safe aniecked the night before, and after the burglars had drilled the seven holes ‘they also noticed that it was unlocked. Itis a The Mizecukee Sun. A dealer in pork and lard having been solic- ited for some remarks on the state and outlook Hereabouts the country people have nothing to | the ducks, ‘which, Is spread to waft me far from. thee; And soon before the favoring gale My ship shall bound across thesea. Perehance, all desolate and forlorn, ‘These eyes shall iniss thee many & year; But unt mb every charm— Though to sight, to memory dear, Sweetheart, good-byt one last embracet O cruel fate, two souls to sever! ‘Yet in this heart’s most sacred place ‘Thou, thou alone shalt dwell forever, and still shall recollection trace, In Fancy’s mirror ever Each smile, each tear ‘Though tost to sight, near, that face memory dear, Defence of the “Big Gunners.” ‘To the Editor of Tux Evextxe Star: In last Saturday’s edition of Tux Evexrxa ‘Srar an article appeared which reflects very un- Justly on a class of honest, hard-working men, Le. “Big Gunners,” so called. In the article headed “Murderous Ducking Guns,” “Hope- fu" asserts they are too lazy to do anything bat shoot big guns. “‘Ho also states that said “Murderous Duck Guns” are immoy- men who shoot big suns fo support themselves 10 shoo! gans and families in the winter months, follow fish- ing for a living during the remainder of the year. There isno work more laborious than either. As for the law in regard to shoot! big guns, it has the effect of driving them their homes in winter to seek an honest living for their wives and children on the waters of our neighboring states, while the sportsmen who were instrumental in haying the law enacted, are protected in doing just what the big gunners were charged . with, viz: “killing and driving the ducks from the waters of the District.” On last Sunday morning there were &@ dozen skiffs with sportsmen who shoot double-barreled breach-loading guns above the at goog rate at e away THE ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM. SOME CURIOUS THINGS EXHIBITED THERE—GRIM RELICS OF BATTLE-FISLDS—REMAINS OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH AND HENRY’ WIRZ—SPECIMENS OF SINGULAR GUN-SHOT WOUNDS—THE HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTION, About ninetcen years ago the nucleus of what is probably the finest medical museum in the world was formod under the administration or Surgeon General Hammond, in one of the rooms over Riggs & Co.'s Bank, corner of Pennsylvania avenue and 15th street. The first specimens were prepared by the late Dr. F. Schafhirt, and the museum was then and for several years in charge of Dr. J. H. Britton. It grew but slowly for few wet ae and the whole collection wa confi to the sides of a room not over twenty feet equare, some of the clerks of the office occupying the center of the room with their desks. In the second year of the war it was found necessary to look for larger quarters, for ina few months interesting specimens had accumulated in such numbers that beside the shelves in_ the specimen room every nook and corner about the few rooms then occupied by the office was made a reposi- tory for the relics. The building on H street, between 13th and 14th streets, erected by Mr. W. W. Corcoran as anart museum, was pressed into service, and_in September, 1853, with the specimens only 1,000 or 1,200 in number, ar- ranged on the shelves, the Army Medical Mu- Seum may be said to haye become A PERMANEXT INSTITUTION. Fostered by the government, under - the Spectal care of Surgeon General J. K. Barnes, the museum added to fts store of treasure, and this building also becaine too small. After the close of the war and the ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, | at Ford's theater (10th street, between E and F,) the government purchased the theater building, and it was remodelled for the use of the surgeon general’s office—the upper story being set apart for the museum and the other portions for the clerks and archives of the office. To this place the museum was removed. In 1866 it was opened to the public. Here have been gathered nearly 20,000 specimens, all of them interesting to the medical ‘or surgical student and many to the non-professionals. Gradually the museum has become a point of attraction and the number of visitors increase yearly. It is not uncommon for some students of nature to make daily visits, carefully study- ing the subjects and making notes thereon. There is but little doubt that it isa valuable edu- cator of the people. THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE MUSEUM. Entering the building by the south door and ascending by an iron stairway to thethird story, the visitor finds himself in the museum. On the sides of the room there is shelving, and ar- ranged in rows are cases containing every conceivable kind of specimen, some mounted on stands and others in jars, while ,hang- ing to the ceiling or standing on the tops of the cases are to be seen other speci- mens, models of instruments and vehicles, including hospital cars and steamboats, bes, etc., showing the approved plans and devices for the care and comfort of the wounded. THE SPECIMENS. Tn all there are now oyer 7,000 surgical speci- mens, 2,000 under the head of anatomical, 2,500 comparative anatomy, 6,000 microscopical, anda. thousand or two of a miscellaneous character. These are all neatly numbered, and in a few minutes, by reference to the catalogues, a full history of any case may be had. There are, as may be expected. many specimens serving as examples of bad surgery. Many of: the speci- mens have an historical interest attached to them. To the outsiders the attendants are not allowed to give information or to point out par- ticular cases, giving the names of the individual, but when specific inquiry is made the specimen is cheerfully pointed out. Probably those which are asked for more than others are the RELICS OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH, the assassin of President Lincoln. On a little stand mounted on wire, (labelled 4,085) are three human vertebrae (the third, fourth and fifth), through an aperture in whieh a thin wire is placed, showing the course of the ball. Near this, ina wide mouth phial, labelled 4,037, is suspended in alcohol a.piece of white matter about three inches long, through which is an opening. Referring to the catalogue under the head of 4,086 is the following:—The third, fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae. A conoidal carbine ball entered the right side, comminuting the base of the right lamina of the fourth verte- brae, fracturing it longitudinally and separating it from the spinons process at the same time. fracturing the fifth through its pediele and in- volving that transverse process. The missile passed directly throuzh the canal, with a slight inclination downward, and to the rear, emers- ing through the left bases of the fourth and fifth Jaminae,which are comminuted and from which fragments were imbedded in the muscles of the neck. The bullet in its course avoided the large cervical vessels. (From a case where death occurred a few hours after injury, April 26, 1865.)” No. 4087 hag this entry: *°A portion of the spinal cord from the cervical region, transversely perforated from right to left by a earbine bullet whieh fractured the laminae of the fourth and fifth vertebree. The cord is much torn and is discolored by blood. (From a ease where death occurred a few hours after the injury, April 26, 1865.)”. These are all the re- mains of Booth now above ground, so far known. By a strange freak of fate they are now on exhibition in the very building where he had often appeared before delighted audiences, and where the tragedy in which he performed only too well the role of assassin was enacted. Not far away is the spot to which Booth’s body was taken after its disinterment at the arsenal four years later, and where it was placed in a coffin before its removal to the family lot of the Booths in Baltimore. GENERAL SICKLES’ SHATTERED LEG. Another specimen, No. 1335, is the lower por- tion of aright leg, both bones, the tibia and fibula, having been fearfally shattered by a round shot. The entry shows that it is from Major General D. E. S., U. 8. V., Gettysburg, July 2d, 1863, amputated by Surgeon T. Sim; that the stump healed rapidly, so that he mounted his horse in September, 1863, and that the pecimen was contributed by the subject. The reader will, of course, recognize this as the leg given to his country by General D. E. Sicktes. RELICS OF WIRz. Another specimen is the forearm of Henry Wirz, of Andersonville notoriety, who was exe- cuted in the Old Capitol prison, November 10th, 1865, and near it is asmall bone from the root of the tongue and a small portion of the rope with which he was hanged. The first of these specimens (the bones of the forearm) shows that instead of Wirz having had a fractured arm which had not united, rendering it impossible to use a revolver (as was testified by witnesses for the | pie pod the ball between the two 8 of the forearm, and the flesh wound only disabled him. The bones of the neck showing that it was not broken in the hanging and the flesh of the neck showing where the knot cut through the skin, are near by. These Specimens are numbered 299, 300, 301 and 303. «S80ME CURIOUS GUN SHOT WOUNDS, Prior to and In the early part of the war, it was said and generally believed that Minnie balls would not split from the point, but there are several specimens which disprove this theory. One has a ball split from the point about 3 its length on the left orbit of the eye, where it was tightly wedged. There are sey- eral specimens showing that bullets have been carried into the brain,'gndthe patient lived. In one of these cases, a soldier was shot in the eye and lived several afterward. After his death, the ball was Pattie flattened against the interior of the skull over the opposite eye. The most remarkable caseja, perhaps, that of a candidate for death by’ hl own election by the jugular vein shooting. The ball and aan in some bones in’ such a wi to the fi of Somme ashe ee ee -| between four and five inches of the bone was removed. Remaining in the hospital till April, 1865, he was discharged, well and able to use the limb (minus a portion of the bone.) This man was lost sight of for ae time, but ft be- ing an interesting case to follow, inquiries were made, and it was found that he was in 1866 in a peor-house, but two years after he could walk Without a cane, and was at work as a hod-car- rier. Subsequen tly he was given a pension of @15. per month, a MAN, BONE AND MISSILE. There are several other cases of excisions on exhibition. Oneisthat of the shoulder joint and seven inches of the shaft of John F. Rear- don, one of those now on duty at the Museum, who as a soldier of the 6th New York cavalry, was wounded at Culpeper, Va, October 11, 1868. The operation was by Dr. D: W. Bliss on the following day, and Mr. Reardon recovered and is now able to use the wounded arm quite as well as the other. He was struck with a piece of shell, which is also in the Museum. The bone and shell are numbered 1738. ‘The theory of these cases and similar gnes, is that the muscles and tendons became so hard- ened as to answer the purposes of the lost bone. GEN. FESSENDEN, The tibia, or large bone of the leg of Brig. Gen. Fessenden, (No. 3604), with a transverse frac— ture by rife ball, attracts attention, There was @ controversy as to whether amputation was necessary, and the leg settled the question that it was. This, with Gen. Sickles’ leg, and other specimens, show that the conservative treat- ment which, at one time during the war, was prevalent, gave way to radical treatment, and that in most cases of fracture it was best to aniputate or excise the bone. A SKULL CRUSHED BY A BUTTING MAN. One of the skulls—that of Charles Kane, col- ored, who was killed in an altercation near Bunker Hill, in the county, has been used sey- eral times in the Criminal Court. This skull was broken, it was claimed, by astick and shattered into twenty or more pieces, and, as may be sup- d. the work of mounting it required great . The fact is that the fracture was caused tokes, who was charged with the murder, giving Kane several butts with his own head. The only specimen which exceeds in the extent of the damage done is that of anold soldier, who ju out of the third story window of an asylum. Every bone in the head and face has one or more fractures. There are specimens here which have ofter done duty in the courts. Recently, when the grand Jury examined the case of Guiteau for the murder of President Gar- field, Dr. D. S. Lamb produced section of a human spinal column with the ribs, from the museum and marking where the ball struck, &c., made his testimony very clear. THE COLLECTION OF SKULLS or craniums numbers2,300, most of them beingof North American Indians, but there are included specimens of every race of man. At present there are measurements being taken of the In- dian cranium for the purpose of determining as to the capacity of intellect of the different tribes. In the jars are many of the organs of the human body, which afford a study, and even the casual visitor becomes interested. This is par- ticularly the case with the specimens ot the windpipe, showing how that dreaded disease, the diphtheria, fills up that organ, and causes death. COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. Not the least interesting portion of the mu- seum is the department of comparative anato- my, or “the menagerie in bone,” which em- braces some 2,500 specimens, some very rare, and representing extinct species of the lower order of animals. It is unnecessary to say that this museum has within the past few years be- come one of the features of the capital, and probably there has never been gathered in so short atime such @ complete and valuable col- lection. Within the past few years the officers in charge have received many compliments, es- pecially from foreigners. A Russian medical officer, who spent several weeks in studying the subjects, before leaving remarked that it was perfectly wonderful to find a collection of such magnitude and of so complete a character made in so short a time—this government hay- ing in twenty years done what the older coun- tries of Europe required one-half a century to accomplish. THE OFFICERS OF THE MUSEUM. The late Dr. George A. Otis was the first cur- ator, and, in addition to supervising this collec- tion, he wrote up volumes 1 and 2, and nearly the whole of volume 3 of the Medical History of the War. Dr. D. L. Huntingtonisthecurator, and Dr. Otis’ successor in the work, and has Dr. R.W. Shufeldt as bis assistant, in charge of the com- parative anatomy department. Dr. J. J. Wood- ward is in charge of the medical and mferoscop- ical departments,with Dr. D. 8. Lamb managing the former and Dr. J. C. MeConnell the latter department. Mr. E. F. Schafhirt isthe anatomist, having succeeded his father. the late Dr. F. Schaf- hirt, who mounted the firat specimen. Mr. E. T. Parker is the custodian. $e SOME NEW BOOKS. F. B. Mohun sends the following late publi- cations by D. Appleton & Co., New York: “Saints and Sinners,” from the French of Victor Cher- buliez; “Half-Hours with Greek and Latin Au- thors,” by G. H. Jennings and W. S. Johnetone; a “handy book,” in which the aim to popularize the Greek and Roman writers to the English reader and to include a wide range of informa- tion has beenadmirably carried out; ““Voleanoes: What they are and what they Teach,” by John W. Judd, embodying the results of modern re- search into the matter of voleanoes and the laws which govern their action; ‘*Florida for Tourists, Invalids and Settlers,” by George M. Barbour, containing | degen ite i neat : information ing climate, soil and productions, scen aaa short routes of travel, ete” “inthe Brush, or old-time Social, Political and Religi- ous Life in the Southwest,” by Rev. H.W. Pierson, an interesting narrative of auloslonay expe- riences in the region deseribed; ‘ jun,” by Professor C. A. Young. of the college of New Jersey, giving a general view (with illustra- nee) of what is known and believed about the sun, in language and manner as unprofeasional as is consistent with precision. Robert Beall sends some recent issues by the Scribner’s: “The Outbreak of Rebellion,” by John G. Nicolay, and “From Fort Henry to Corinth,” by M. F. Force, the two opening volumes of the series of ‘‘Campaigns of the Civil War,” to be issued by the Scribner’s with a view to bringing together for the first time, a full and suthoritative military history of the suppression of the rebellion; “Books and Read- ing, or What Books Shall I Read and How Shall 1 Read Them?” by Dr. Noah Porter, president of Yale College, with an appendix containing a se- lect catalogue of books. ~The Letters of Charles Dickens,” vol. 3, edited by his sister-in-law and his eldest daughter. This is a supplementary volume to the Narrative, and consists of letters only, emoracing the period from 1836 to 1870. “The Floating Prince, and othe Fairy Tales,” by Frank R. Stockton; a production in handsome form, suitable to the holiday season, of the droll fairy stories by this author in St. Nicholas. “Bitter Sweet,” a poem byJ. G. Hollan ‘Gold Foil Hammered from Popular Provet by Timothy Titcomb; ‘*Titcomb’s Letters to Young Eoogie, Single and married,” by Timothy Tit- col ‘These volumes are from the attractive re-issue of the complete writings of Dr. J. G. Holland. 5) The two bound volumes of Scribner's Monthly for the past year, just issued by the Century Aftairs on the Virginia Side. AN RXCEPTIONAL SEASON—THE NOT SEPTEMBER— KILLING FROST IN OCTOBER—FAILURE OF THE CROPS—REMINISCENCES OF THE FAMINE YEAR, 1816. Correspondence of Tar, Evestsa Stan. Fauus Cavacn, Va., Nov. 11, 1881. “While the earth remaineth seed-time and harvest, ete, * * shall not cease.” The man who reads his Bible, as he ought, knows this is Scripture. More than this; if he be an observ- ing man he relies upon its annual fulfillment with all the confidence that he has in a divine Promise. And thus it ts, if the seed-time Is late men say the harvest, or the season necessary to mature the crops, will be lengthened out—will be correspondingly late. Last spring farm- work, from the unfavorableness of the season, commenced from three to four weeks later than usual. I expected to see the summer lingering in thelap of autumn until all the crops should be matured and ready for harvesting. But the scripture was but partially fuldiied. not fully. September was the warmest one throughout, that I ever remember to have seen. There was intense summer heat from beinning to end, the two or three changes of temperature during the month were so short and so @ight as not to @cause of sensation physically. But the month was exceedingly dry. Late crops could not grow. Summer weather continued into October and until the 4th of the month, when a change came, but too slight to be apparent dur- ing the day. Duringthe night the tem ture fell faster. From, say 9o'clock a.m. to between 11 and 12, the heat was very op. pressive, when rain threatening clouds hove up inthe west, and in Washington for a few minutes the wind raised clouds of dust and was accompanied with a fine, brisk rain, During the night following, asstated above, the change of temperature was creat.so that just before sunrise onthe 5th. the mercury indicated 48 degrees, During that day, wind was strong from the horthwest and the temperature disagrevably cool. On the morning of October 6th, there was a frost,a “killing fro From the fore- noon of October 4th—mark it—with but slight change of temperature during the p.m. day—and an oppressive sum- mer heat, to the morning of the 6th, there wasthe very remarkable fail oftempera- ture of between 50° and 60°, resulting, as stated, in a killing frost. Late corn, late drilled fodder corn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes. common late potatoes, lima beans and cucumbers were, with rare exceptional cases, killed. I had had a sort of faith that the weather would continue mild and that rain would come and the late potatoes have time to form tubers fit for the harvest, but the promise does not seem to be le good this year. We had. however, only a partial failure of the “harvest.” By the way, there was a complete failure of the harvest according to the recollection of my paternal an- cestor. in 1816. There does not appear to have been but little summer weather that year. My father related to me the fact that during one day in June of that year he thought he suf- fered more from cold than he had in any day during his life. Corn froze when in the “‘roast- ing ear,” and though the people tried to cure it, it decayed. There were times duting that sum- mer when the ‘snow flew like great guns.” The winter following was one of great privation and distress among the people. LS. A. pei i te Song of the Bicycle. From Puck. ‘The coach and cart I llke nor loathe, Extremes are suited not for all; On steely cars, unlike them both, I surest sit and fear no fall. This ts my chotce—for me, I feel No ride is like the quiet wheel. I grind no scizzors, turn no mill Thear no goods or any trades” I skim the pian, Telimb the hill, But greatest cities T evade, And laugh at them in care and pain Who barter health for golden gain. Come up betimes, thou heavy wight, That kep'st the lower Ways of bri Rise now and walk the wites so Il While not too old to travel quick ‘Take to the saddle ere too late, ‘True live goes with the rapid wl on KI High Heels, Until the ladies of our day resumed the an- tiquated fashion of high heels, bunions were shown up only in burlesque, and there is more than their ridiculous absurdity to be condemned. in wearing them. The weight of the body is thrown upon the toes, which are thus unduly burdened, and thrown forward against the front of the shoe. But worse than this, the ankle has many a twist or wrick, the step is not firm or secure, and the further tendency of all this is to give to the spine more curvature than even fashion or- dains in the “Grecian bend.” Add to these unlovely results the clatter of the heel-blocks, and we have a total not less disagreeable than that of the pattensof our grand: which had at least the strong recommendation of utility. It is toue that high heels inake the instep seem higher; but surely no proper mind- ed person would be guilty ofa sham. And further, as the heel of the foot is kept up above its proper level, the muscies whose duty is to raise it are enfeebled by the loss of that exercise. These muscles are the calf of the legs, which will thus dwindle away to the leanness of de- erepit age and become a “shrunk shank,” if this unseemly distortion be long persisted in. “The animal machinery,” says Sir Charles Bell, ‘can be seen in fection only when it is kept in full activity. ercise unfolds the muscular sys- tem, producing a full, bold outline of the limbs, at the same time that the Joints are knit small and clean. Look at the legs of a poor Irishman traveling to the harvest with bare feet; the thicless and roundness of the calf show that the foot and toes are free to permit the ex- ercise of the muscles of the legs. Look, now, at the legs ofan English peasant whose foot and ankle are tly laced in a boot with an in- fiexible sole, and you will perceive, from the manner in which he lifts his les, that the play of the ankle, foot and toes is lost as much as if he went on stilts,and therefore are hislegs small and shapeless. short, the natural exercise of the parts, whether they be active Fred ings! is —— to the cotanener ets ron exercise being as necessary ie con- stitution of a bone as it is to the perfection of the muscular powers.” Journal, ——<e-—____— Saddle Horses and Saddle Gaits, From the National Live-Stock Journal. There is an increasing demand of late for good saddle horses, and many of the fairs this season are paying much more attention than formerly to this class. The Chicago fair especially is giving great prominence to saddle horses in its premium list, which may be taken as some- Sine tse indication of the drift of popular de- uare walk, and the horse will usually take a four stepe at this gait when changing from a fast walk to a trot. eS a ae horses by urging them slightly beyond their or- dinary walking speed, and, when they strike the fox trot step, holding them to it. will soon learn to like it, and it is one of of gaits for both horse and rider. foot differs somewhat from been bed ine unusual crowds have RELIGIOUS NOTES. —A St. Louts paper says: “Whena Chicago | Preacher wants a new church all his own, anda Dig oe jon, he has himseif convicted of heresy. — Bishop Quinlan, of Mobile, accompanied by Ber. pather Basses, V.G., of Apalachicola, . has gone to Rome em to pay his visit ad Lim- — The new Catholie Theological Seminary for the archdiocese of Boston, to be built at Brigh- ton, will contain rooms fortwo hundred stud- ents and will-cost about $300,000, — A disrespectful theoiogical student in Shi- Joh Baptist seminary wrote an essay on “The Em of Baptism in an Ollcloth Suit.” F this he was turned out of the room nna ra — The Lutherans are very strong in Missouri. They have 630 ministers, S18 congregations and 224 “preaching stations.” Last year 18,735 a were baptised and 8,380 were cou- —Father Conway, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Chicago, has been appointed Vicor Gen- | eral of the Archdiocese of Chicago. His last act before leaving his church was to present it with $10,000, — Queen Victoria has sent a donation of 1,000 in aid of anew movement now in pro- | Sess for completing the capital fund for the | augmentation of smaller livings of the Church | Of Scotiand. —Mr. Gladstone about a yéat ago translated the hymn “Rock of Ages” into Latin verse. on various parts of the continent this version has | been ac das a genuine revival of a fayorite | orthodox anthem, — Dr. John Hall, of the Fifth Avenne Presby- terian Church, New York city, has not yet signi- | fied his determination in regard te the Chancel- | lorship of the university of New York,which has been offered to him. — Dr. H. H. Jessup, of Beirat, Syria, reports ending ser- vice in the Greek Chu and that it is the j bagrey! of Mr. Moody's sermons, obtained | from the Beirut press, thet has caused the stir, | — Within a year George Muller has received | for his orphan houses at Bristol, England, and | Several imissionary objects the extraordinary | ont’ $194.500, pireened was laid aside to Meet emergencies w balance of $15,000. Se —The Rev. J. 8. Ostrander, who was promi- nent in the Sunday school work of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, has become a Congrega- tionalist, and joined the Manhattan Association. Mr. Ostrander has acquired fame as a lecturer and an object lesson expounder. — The Presbyterian says: “How long can the church exist without growth by conversions is a question of intense practicalness in the pres- ence of the facts revealed by the statistics of late years? Our spiritual condition seems to correspond with the drought of the past sum- mer.” —In a couple of hundred years from this, if the Bible is again revised to suit the times, the passage in the parable of the ten virgins, which Treads thus: “Give us of your oil, for our lamps of your electric for our : rary broken.” : nog — The Methodist Recorder \s of opinion that if it were possible for some professing Christians to get to Heaven with their present tempers: and dispositions they would pick a quarrel with the angels or resurrect some old grudge with the glorified «<intsand create “unpleasantness,” as in olden times. — Mr. Spurgeon, who has a very peculiar and pointed way of putting things, recently said: — “Doubts about the fundamentals of the Gospel exist in certain churches, Iam told, to a large extent. My dear friends, where there isa warm- hearted church you do not bear of them. ‘They do not come near; it is too hot. I never saw @ fly alight on @ red-hot plate.” — The Congregational Jubilee gathering re- cently closed at Manchester, Eng., appears to have been fall of interest, and to have left only pleasantest remembrances. About $350,000 was raised for the jubilee fund, and according to the Non-conformist the denomination have caught a little of the Methodist “fervor and passion” and have entered upon a new epoch. —‘A Presbyterian takes water” is the way in which the New York Herald announces that the Rey. A. B. Simpson, pastor of the Thirteenth street Presbyterian church, of that city, has been immersed and has withdrawn from the Presby- terian church. Mr. Simpson Will probably en gage in mission work with Mr. Judson in the neglected portions of the oF. In view of his change of church relations the Baptist Minis said conference have invited him to its fellow- ip. — The international convention of the Young Men’s Christian Associations at Cleveland last June set apart the second Sabbath in November and the week following inraniict 13-19) asa feason of special prayer for iz men, and for Christian work in their . A similar recom- mendation was made by the world’s convention of the Young Men’s Christian Associations in London in August last. It is alao recommended that prayer be made for the Young Men's Christ- ian Association as an agency designed for and Teaching young men. There been a remark- able growth in these organizations in the past few years. There are now 210 young men em- ployed as general secretaries, giving all their time to association work, a growth from 3 in 1866 and 114 in 1878 and 161 in 1880. The value of property has increased from £90,000 in 1866 to early $3,000,000 in 1881, and the number of as- ‘ennessee, evan, $4,000; Weat Vinuinis, 5,000" Gal fornia, T ,000; West Virginia, $3,000; Cali $3,000; Colorado, $5,400; Columbia River, £5,000; Detroit, $3,500; East Maine, €1,000; Kansas, $5,500, and for the colored work, 000; Ne- braska, $2,200; North Nebraska, $2,200; Nevada, The opponents of the crinolette have taken advantage of the outcry against this insidious inh ety