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ALL THE WORLD OVER FE interesting Items About Our Own Country. Great Britain, the United States. and Ali Parts of the Globe. Condensed and Assorted for Easy Reading. CANADA. OOrnwall's new hospital was formalâ€" ly opened on Wednesday. Brantford is to have a. free postal delivery in a few days. Fire has destroyed one of the. O. P. R. steamers on Koortenay Lake. Burglars stole 12,000 cigars from Clarke's Mountain Hotel on \Vedncsâ€" day night. William Moore was found dead in his bed at his home in Welland on Tuesâ€" day. . llh‘e C. P. R per cent. Hamilton fisIermcn have been grantâ€" ed the privilege of spearing fish in the bay this winter. ('llhe Hamilton Acetylene Gas Machâ€", the Company bias been inc/)i‘porated.‘ with apr'apital of $45,000. John Hall, private banker of Hol- land, near Winnipeg. has assigned, wit‘h liabilities at $33,000. Frank Rosa. an Italian was sentient» ad to seven months imprisonment for forgery at Cornwall on W'edniesdiay. Mr. James \Vard ,a Saltfleet farmer. was thrown from his Waggon on Sun- day. near his farm gate and killed. It is reported at Halifax that anew company‘is about establishing a line of steamers between that port and Liverpool. Bishop DuMoulin has teen advised by his physician to refrain from preach- ing for a. time, owing to the condition of his health. [1. H. Harding. the American. forger, “rested at Regina, consents to be taken back. He said he had $81, but police found upon him $8,000. , Chas. Moore, 8. Westminster farm- land, has been sent for trial on the charge of setting fire to a. vacant building, owned by M. N-emo. ' The cabled reports of the seizure of Hal Nan Island by the French and the requisition of the CPR. steamers by the British Admiralty are denied. l Gideon chuire and JosephjLa Londe ‘ have been committed for trial at Montreal on the change of murdering. an Italian in a fight at Coteau du Lac. Robert McGee, of Guelph township, who was recently released from To- ronto asylum. has again been arrested :6 he has been annoying the neighâ€" ors. Police Magistrate Jelfs of Hamilton has taken proceedings against The Herâ€" ald and Mrs. John Billings for criticiz- ing his decision in a case. of cruelty to animals. John G'aynor has been given one month’s imprisonment and fined $50. at Carberry. Main, on a charge of sand- baggiing and robbing himself with in- tent to defraud his creditors. id number of models have been re- ceivitd at the Public \Vorks Depart- ment. Ottawa, for statues to Queen Victoria and the late Alexander Macâ€" kenzie on Parliament square. Judgment has been given at Hamil- ton dismissing the Canada Life's ap- peal agaiinst income mssment on its policy-holders profits; also reducing the assessment of the Street Railway and Gas Companies. 1 1A number of boot andshoe merchants olf Hamilton have been summoned to answer charges of violating a city by- law by keeping their places of business open after 7 o’clock in theveveninzg. dur- inlg‘ Christmas week. John Scott of Owen Sound.; is suing a. number of citizens for damages for ma- licious libel in burning his effigy. The defendants had been celebrating the acquittal of a bank clerk whom Mr. Scott unsuccessfully charged with forgery. GREAT BRITAIN. Fire in Norfolk, Eng, on Monday caused $500,000 damage. Thirteen buildings were destroyed. Lord Salisbury has written to United States-Ambassador Hay in response to America's latest proposals that Great Britain should enter into an agreement with the United States, Russia. and Japan to stop sealing, declining to en-- tcr into such an agreement. UNITED STATES. The Merchants‘ and Trades' Bank of Brunswick, Ga., has closed its doors. Col. \V. D. Hagar. one of the manaâ€" gers of the Barmu‘m's show. is dead at \Vammen, Ohio. Rev. \Vi‘lliaim Corby, head of the Order of Holy Cross in America, is (lead at South Bend. Ind. Stenographem employed by the de~ fence in the Luetgert murder trial' at Chicago have gone on strike. The will ofCharles Contoit. ofNew York. leaves $1,500,000- to charitable institutions and foreign missions. It is reported at \Vasiliimgton that great distress exists in Cuba, and the American Department of State. is takâ€" ing steps to distribute relief as it is subscribed in the United States. \Umler the new not; of the United States Congress sealsk‘ins and articles mode therefrom are not allowed to enâ€" ter the country unless taken at the Pribyloff Islands. Gustav Thelan. president of the Stark Exchange Bank at Fnl Reno. Okla., send twu of the directors have been arâ€" rested charged with receiving deposits when the bank was insolvent. It is reported that H. M. Hersey. of New York, American {agent of the White Star Line, has resigned to join twin. ins VERY IATEST PROM: l .'s half yearly dividend l to be paid in February may reach 21-2 a syndicate of Am‘zri'ui'n and British capitalists in a Klondike scheme. The United State; Government‘s suits against the Arniours of Chicago. 1501‘ $1.700,00(l in damages for violations of the. dairy laws in distributing oleo margarine throughout various States. will be dropped. GENERAL. The plague has l‘rokcn out again in the district of Bombay. Port au Prince, Hayti, has been part.- ly destroyed by fire. Over 800 horses were burned . i The estate of. Dr. Thomas \V. Evans, the American dentist, at Paris, France, amounts to four million dolâ€" lars. His brother, who gets ten : thonsand dollars, will protest the wit . . of the powers Turkish time- The representatives have refused to permit the Government to replace 4,500 exhired troops on the Island of Crete. . Sir Henry Havolock-Allan, com- mander of thil Royal Irish Regiment in the frontierl of India, is I‘EIIOFtEd missing. His horse was found stripped and shot. The Italian Ministeit of Finance re- commends his Government to estab- = lish a brink} in New York, to protect his countrymen from being robbed by absconding bankers. ‘ Four of tlilt’t deputies and others ac- cused of participating. in the Panama canal intrigues have been acquitted at Paris' and four found guilty. They have not yet. been sentenced. . CLOSE AND MEAN. Relng the Story at 3 Man Who lied Ills 0w “'3! of Tent-lung Economy llhe patient was doing even better than could be expected, and as the phy- sician noted his pulse, and the clear- ness of his eye he shoved his chair back with a satisfied expression, and began to talk about something cheerful. "It’s a funny world we live in, when We aren’t sick," he said with a smile, at the patient, "and I had a touch of it on my way here. I have a. pa.- tient at a house where I had one last winter, and I stopped in to see how he was getting along. He is a lad of 17, not very bright. and still quite shrewd as persons of his mental cali- her often are, and this-man with whom he lives, who is his stepâ€"uncle. I be- lieve. is about the closest and mean- est old fellow I ever heard. of. One day last winter, and it was a cold day. too, I happened to be paging back of the house where he lived, going to see a. poor woman in the alley, when Ino- ticed this boy standing in the yard blue with cold. He Was stamping his feet and blowing on his fingers, but there “as small comfort in that, and I called to him through the alley gate. " ‘What are you domg out; here?" I , asked. “ ‘I’m economizing,‘ hie shivered and smiled as though there was a. joke in his mind somewhere. “\Vhat do you mean?" “‘I‘Vell, I built up a good big fire in the house when Uncle John was away. and when he came back and saw how much coal I had burnt up he got mad and sent me out here to econo- mize for an hour or two. He said be guessed I'd learn how to be more care- ful of my heat if I got a real good chill clean through.’ "Of course," concluded the physician, "1 put an end to that sort of econo- miziug in very short order, but I didn’t do it soon enough, for the boy was taken down a day or so later and he was sick in bed for three weeks." â€"â€"â€"â€".â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" SWINDLED THE JEWS. --I A German wllh a Genius for Operation Does Sharp “’ork In England. A fraud resembling somewhat the gold brick swindle perpetrated on cer- tain Calgary gentlemen has just been practiced on‘ the pawnbrokcrs of Lon- don, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and the large cities of England. The pre- siding demon in this case was a German With a genius for observation. lie had noticed that in testing watches the pawnbrokers used their acid only on the stem. So he set to work and had some thousands of watches constructed with gold stems, but otherwise valueless, These he palmed off on the unsuspect- ing Isaacs and Jacobs and Israels in the Secondâ€"hand jewellery trade with enormous profits. The phrophets in fact, fell into his hands. and they are not likely to forget it. The London detectives are now on the German's tracks. _..__,_.._..__ TEHE RUSTING OI“ PAINTED IRON. 1t is known that iron, even when carefully covered with a coating of paint, still shows a tendency to rust. This has usually been attributed to minute cracks in the paint caused by f the action of cold and heat under whose influence the iron and paint do not: expand and contract; equally. But ex- ‘ periman in Germany have led tothe conclusion that. there is another cause at, work. namely, that paint when swollen by moisture is pervious to both water and gases. Under such cirâ€" cumstances oxidation can take place lemth it. I‘aint that contains the largest possible quantity of oil test for protecting iron. EAGLE \VEARS A VEIL. The eagle is! able to look at the sun without blinking by means of a thin, semitransparent veil, which the bird cam draw instantaneously over its eye. sight It does not obstruct: the an is the: THE BEGINNING OF TRADE IN THE FAR NORTH. w (‘onfllcls “'lih the North West Company, llml ot‘llic Struggle and Amnlgamnllnn â€" l'rz'scul Status of the l‘ompnny. The Hudson Bay Ccmpa my first came into existence thout 1830, though it dirl not. receive royal incorporation under the norm ithas since been known by till 1670. In that year Prince Rupert. the cousin of the King of England. Charles II.. together with certain speci- fied associates. was granted a charter investing the "Hudson Bay Company” with the absolute proprietorsbip, subâ€" ordinate sovereig‘nty, and exclusive traffic of an undefined country which. under the name of Rupert's Land, comprised all the East, region that poured its waters into Hudson Bay on the straits leading thereto. The company promptly went to work to establish itself solidly and securely iinits territories. Substantial forts and trading posts were built on the Rupert and Nelson Rivers, and 3. Governor was sent out from England to take charge of them. In these operations the comâ€" pany was greatly assisted by adven- turers from New York and Massachuâ€" setts, who were already well acquaint- ed. with all the details of the fur trade. A very profitable trade was soon esâ€" tablished, and within the first twelve years three other fortified posts were established, and the scope of the com- pany’s operations correspondingly exâ€" tended. All this while Canada. or at. least that: portion of it now, approximately. comprised of the present Provinces of Quebec and Ontario, was in the pos- session of France, and the jealousy of the French traders Mas naturally aroused 'by the lucrative traffic being done by an English company in the north.) England claimed the Hudson Bay district by right of discovery and possession» but in 1682 the French Gov- ernor of Canada. Le Barre, counten- anced an expedition fitted out by La Chesnaye against the Hudson Bay Company posts. This expedition cap- tured and burned Forts Nelson. estabâ€" lished rival trading pasts at different points. and. almost wholly ruined the Hudson. Bay Company’s Lusiness for that season. In the following year. however, the French were driven out: of the bay and the company's forts made stronger than ever. THE STRUGGLE CONTINUED. But the struggle continued on the sea, and under the pretext that the company was unlawfully trading in HudsonBay. LeBarre caused the seiz- ure of one of its ships, laden with a cargo of valuable furs, while on its way bomeward through the straits. The vessel was brought as a prize to Que- for eleven months and afterwards sent as slaves to Martinique. in the West Indies, so as to prevent the news being carried to England. The mate of the vessel, however, managed to escape, reached. England, and acquainted the officers of the company with the loss of the vessel. Le ’Barre's'recall did not end the company’s misfortunes at this period. De Denonville, his successor in the Govâ€" ernment of Quebec, revived the suppos- ed French claims on Hudson Bay, and sent: patron-g naval force into its waters, Which, after a good deal of hard fighting. captured three of the company’s forts, three of its ships, and a large quantity of provisions, stores, and merchandise, Fifty non- combatantsâ€"men. women and chil- drenâ€"were sent to sea. in asmall ves- sel, to get to England or elsewhere as best: they could. and the remainder were detained as prisoners. Such were some of the early troubles of the Hudson Bay Company of which history tells. Of their struggles with the Indians and against the hardships of a pioneer life in a land. so far reâ€" moved from the outside world we have as yet no written account. FIGHT \VlTII ’I‘HE NORTH-Vi" EST COMPANY. I 0111: of the most interesting epochs 1 in the history of the Hudson Bay Com- pany was its fight for surpe-macy with the "Northwest Company." a fight which developed into fare barbarous as any" ever waged by hostile savage tribes. The North- west Company was formed in 1783, with ‘Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher and lSimon. McTav'Ls'h, all Scotchmen, at its i head. It reg-established the old lines parlor and the [lake of the Woods to Lake Winnipeg. and at once commenc- ed to reap a rich harvest of furs. In 1797 the Northwest Company had in its employ (it) clerks, 81 interpreters, 1230 H-anue men, and 40 guides. The principal post of the Northâ€"West Company was at Fort \Villiain, on Lake Superior, and from that point all its ‘ all its grand business parliaments were held; and on occasions of special im- portance as many as 1200 persons con- nected with the company. composed of , its principal chiefs, its clerks, its facâ€"‘ tors, and others who also shared in its .‘prufits, as well] as its mere servants, l the voyagcrs, trappers and canoe men, have assembled to hold high council l and to determine on future operations. ,The heads of this company travelled upward from Montreal in feudal state. attended, by a retinue of boatmen and servants. From Fort William the operations of l thccompany spnead out like a. fan over bee. where the crew was kept prisoners .of travel by way of the Ottawa river: L0 Macmmw’ and “hence by Luke 811' 1‘ River settlement." that twenty-six of 1 active operations were directed. There, an open \var- ' all the Northâ€"'West. In 1789 one of it» agents, Alexander Mackenzie, after- ward knighted for his discoveries. travâ€" oiled down the noble river that no“ tears his name. from its source, in Great Slave Lake to the Arr-tic Sea: and four years afterward was the first White man to cross the. Rocky Mnun» mini; and Casr-atte Range 10 the Pacific Ocean. The rivalry between the Hullwn Ila} Company and the Northâ€"“est Company “as, as may be imagir: l, exceedingly keem but, so long as the rivalry conâ€" sisterl simply in exertions to obtain the largest. quantity of furs, only benefit to the mmntry at large resulted. llnv fortunately, the struggle soon a>sum-- ed a fur graver aspect. A COLONY IS FORMED. In 1810 Thomas Douglas, fifth Earl of Selkirk, a. philanthropist. who felt deep compassion for the. poverty of his countrymen, estatdished. with the aid of the Hudson BayCcmpany, in w hich he was himself largely interested. a colony of Scotch cutters in the Northâ€" VI’est-Territories. Ten million acres of lanitl. in the neighborhood of the Red River were set aside by the com- pany for the cotters, and all the exâ€" pensesconnected with the scltEvment were borne by Selkirk. Kildtiii in »\”\.K this name given to the villag» built for the mew settlers, and on its Si1-' present City of Winnipeg now stands. lt'orl’. Douglas was built, to {rive it; pro- tection, andarmed with a few light guns. The new colony was planted in a dis- trict, which the officials of the North- VVest'. Company considered as particu- larly within. their own sphere of inâ€" fluence, and, notwithstanding that; the colonists were their own countrymen. they at once prepared to break the colony up. The Indians were repeatâ€" edly urged to assail it, but: without sus- cess. The red men were more compas- sionate to the poor settlers than were their own. brethren. Then the Gover- nor of the new colony, Miles Macdonell. was arrested on a trumped up charge of having taken a quantity of provis- ionsbelonging to the North-\Vest Com- pany, and sent to Montreal for trial. The infant colony was subjected to this most wanton outrages on the part of the Northâ€"W'est; Company's officials wndMetls. or half-breeds, 1'whom they ineti ated to attack the newâ€"comers. The atter were openin fired upon and shot down, houses were broken open and pillaged. this workmen in tha fields made prisoners, and their horses and cattle stolen. Finally, the colonists were ordered to abandon their homes or remain there at the peril of their lives. Manly fled, and those who re- mained, to the number of 134, were tak- en prisoners by clerks and retainers of the North-West Company. Who afterâ€" ward burned down every building in the settlement. Meanwhile, Selkirk, apprised of the hostility of the North-“West Company toward his colony. had proreedeil to Canada, and, aided by the Hudson Bay officials, a nucleus of a new Kildonan was collected. FortGi‘oraltar, aNorthâ€" \Vest Company's post, near Kildonan. l w captured by surprise and three ment was Northâ€"\Vest Company came to on end. Is a result of the amalgamation the took of the Hudson Bay Company at: once row to a premium. I l? fur trade, freel from a. disastrous riialry, again. be rims exoccdinufily lucrative. Once more the Hudson Bay Company became supreme in the lone north land, and all the vast domains of the Canaâ€" 'llun Northâ€"I‘Vest, wit it the exvept'ion of ll» Assinihoia district, where a form‘ tit popular government was introduced. continued under the despotic, although mtcrnal, rule of the compan '5 of- fiv~ialsx , The company's preteus‘ ons to :1. monopoly from the Atlantic to the I’acifi' had been indorsed by the Imperâ€" lit-l Government, and the companyt speedily set. its face against. immigrau l.l()ll as being injurious to its own special. interests. But little news oi the North-\Vest was allowed to reach the public ear, being forwarded to the officials in London, and there filed carefully away. The people of the Northâ€"“'th lived by the Hudson Bay Company, and that company was King. The transfer of the colony in the Red. River district to Canada. i.1 1870, and its rapid settlement following the reâ€" reports of the wonderful fertility of its soil, greatly reduced the prestige of the Hudson Bay Company in the imâ€" media-be neighimrliood of the present} pity of \Vinnipeg, but in the still vast ‘ tracts tothe northward and east and vi .st. from ocean to ocean, the Hudson Bay Company is powerful. The head; offices of the Company are still int London, and in Canada its representa- tives may be found in every large city of the. Dominion. In its employ there are no fewer than 5,000 persons, while those who are less immediately de- pendent upon it, but; whose business dealings are almost: exclusively with this company, number many thousands more. " CARE OF THE PIANO. It is hardly an. exaggeration to say that in every house there is a piano- forte. and it is not extravagant to say that only one person in five hundred can take the proper care of this in- strumenlt. It should be placed in. a dry room. quite away from possible drafts and not too near a fire. Heat: not only Lends to warp and crack the case, which, being highly inflammable, is apt to ignite, but any increase or decrease of temperature affects the strings and brings them out of tune, exactly as does excessive dryness or excessive moisture. Pianofortes should never be kept open, either; for dust is just as injurâ€" ious as dampness. and, in fact, the air is always an. enemy to the great mass of strings, the nerves of the instruâ€" ment. An upright pianoforte sounds better lif placed about two inches from the all. and sometimes it; is an. improve- if it is allowed to rest upon glass field pieces and several stand of arms blocks. brought back to the new Fort Doug- Ias. THE RIVALS, AT, \V’AR. This action was the signal for 'a (liâ€" re/ct and bitter war between the two rival trading companies. \Vhile de- scending the Qu'Appelle River with :; boatload of furs and supplies, the serâ€" vants " Hudson Bay Company were suddenly a; tacked and made pris- oners. A Hudson Bay Company post was also captured and destroyed, and preparations were made for another at:â€" tack on the Red River settlement. A force of Metis and Canadians, under Cuth'bert Grant, a Scotchman, suddenâ€" ly made its appearance before Fort; Douglas and demanded its surrender. Governor Sample, with tfenty-seven men, left the fort to protect the outly- ing settlers. and was at once attacked by Grant and his party. , , The action which ensued resulted inl this slaughter of Semple and twenty of his men. several of whom were sculp- ed and otherwise disfigured. No quarter was given. and the wound- ed, among whom was Semple. were all, with the exception. of two men. mur- dered. The surrender of the fort was demanded. with the threat that its feeble remaining garrison would be massacred if any resistance were made. For the second time. the unhappy set.- tlers had to accept the inevitable. and abandon the humble homes they had] made for themselves in the wilderness with so much toil and. privation. Selkirk, on learning the fate of his colonists, engaged the services of 100 soldiers of two Swiss regiments recent- ly disbanded in Canada. and adding to the force from the Hudson Bay Com- pany employes, proceeded to the Red River. settlement, where he made pris- oners of several Northâ€"\Vest Company officials amt sent them to Toronto for trial. Despite his efforts to secure their conviction. however, the latter were set; free. But although the ruthâ€" iless slayers of Semple and his Scotch - cotters escaped punishment; in the courts of Upper Canada, a. higher court decreed that they should not go un- punished even in this world. for it is recorded in Boss’s” “History of the Red their number met violent deaths, and “the damning taint of their foul crime," says McMullein in his history of Canada. "clung to this North-\‘l’est Company until it whlolly disappeared from public View. and clings to its memories still," THE FORTUNE OF THE C(il'l‘ERS'. Although the Red River settlement was reestablished for the third timei the h‘alrfleis man N‘piied that he was by Selkirk, ill fortune still pursued the poor cutters. Late on an afternoon in Hue last. week of July, 1818. the sun was suddenly obscured by a vast cloud of and in a single moment almost every- thing green had disappeared. The strife between the Hudson Bay C(unpany and the North-\Vest Com- pany was finally put an end to by this English Government. An amalgama- tion was enforced between the two, under the name of the older corpora- tiion. and the separate existence of the ' trained mind and careful fingers. drafted ornaments with 'A grand piano should stand with its curved side to the room, and its plain side next; the wall. Nothing should be placed on the pianoforte. No musical people ever put vases and ornaments and books upon this shrine of music. for they rattle, absorb the sound, deaden the tone, and worry the performer. The case and the key board should be kept free from. dust: To make the polish shine. rub the wood with an old soft silk handkerchief. and to clean a. pianoforte use warm water. soap, and a flannel rag. \Vet the latter. rub it on the soap, and apply it to the pia-noforte, asmall portion of the surface at a. time. W'et a sec- ond piece of flannel and wipe off the soap thoroughly. and with a. piece of Chamois skin rub the place perfectly dry. \Vipe the keys off with a. damp cloth, followed quickly with a. dry one. and if the ivory has bedtime yellow With age on usage, thlls' ma. be whitened by a good rubbing with ine sandpaper or moist powdered pumice stone. Persons who grumble at: the expense of a pianoforte ought to know that the instrument". is a most complicated piece of workmanship. A grand pisnoforte, which appears to be a. solid mass, 'is composed of tiny strips of wood laid togetherâ€"sometimes twenty lbyersâ€" like a jelly cake, glued together and then veneered. The wood has to be carefully selected and seasoned for many months and every part is finished separately, numbered. and then put together. When the mater- ials are at hand. six months are occu- pied to make a. good instrument. The softly padded hammers of felt gener- ally come from Paris, and are, With all the rest of the mechanism. very expen- sive. Another fact which adds to the costliniess is that no machinery is emâ€" ployed in a piano factory,.'for every- thing must be done by a. skilled ey$ha e few hints given above will contribute greatly toward keeping this represen- tative of labor and money in good con- dition. .__â€"â€"â€".â€"'â€"-â€"“ LIMBLESS FROM BIRTH. A strange sight was witnessed yes- terday in the Southwestern Police Court. London. Eng. An elderly man, armless and legless was carried into the witness ltox by a policeman, who held him as though he were a. laby. while he made an application to the Magistrate for an extensiJn of time under an ejectm-cnt order from the Court. Mr. Marsham askedhim how he lame, to be so afflicted, to which born so. He got his living by making, his mouth. His \Vorship allowed him a few addi- grasshoppcrs. which fell noiselessly up-‘ “dual days to find fresh accommoda' 0n the earth like a shower of snow} (ions. TESTING ST E I‘ll} BI TL I . ICES. A‘ new method of testing steel but- lets has beeni devised in Germany.The balls are dropped. from a fixed height on to a glass plate set at an angle. If properly tempered they rclound in- to one receptacle; if they are We soft they drop into another.