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42,686 122,280

181,782

1,802,882

Drontheim

Tromso...

Total.

Population.

489,293
236,216
841,879

metres.

sisted of 91 vessels with 146 guns. The commercial navy, in the same year, consisted of 7,664 vessels of 1,319,734 tons. The railroads in operation, in 1875, amounted to 557 kiloThe number of Government telegraph-stations, at the close of 1875, was 109; length of lines, 6,480, and of wires, 11,600 kilometres. The number of inland dispatches sent was 469,034; of foreign dispatches sent, 115,654; and of foreign dispatches received, 130,233: making a total of 714,921. Including the railroad-telegraphs, the length of lines amounted to 7,175 kilometres, and of wires to 12,405 kilometres; the number of stations.to 171, and the total number of dispatches to 781,482.

The Swedish Parliament was opened by the King on January 19th. In his speech from the throne, referring to his visit in 1875 to Denmark, Germany, and Russia, he laid particular stress on the good feeling entertained by the princes and the people toward Scandinavia, and added that the latter would preserve this feeling by not interfering with foreign rights, but, at the same time, would do everything to preserve its dignity. The First Chamber elected for its president Count Lagerbjelke, and the

The population of the principal cities, in Second Count Arvid Posse, the leader of the 1875, was as follows:

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Peasant party. In February both Houses adopted an amendment to the Constitution by which the Council of State was changed into a ministry, with a responsible president at its head. The King, having approved this amendment, appointed as President of the Council Baron de Geer. On May 13th both Chambers adopted the bill introducing the metrical system, and on May 19th Parliament adjourned.

THE NEW STORTHING HOUSE, CHRISTIANIA, NORWAY.

penditures to 39,091,500 crowns. The public debt, on December 31, 1875, was 48,307,600 crowns. The imports, in 1874, amounted to 185,776,000 crowns, and the exports to 121,198,000 crowns. The war navy, in 1874, con

The Storthing of Norway met on February 2d, and was opened by the King in person. In March the King ratified the admission of Norway to the Scandinavian monetary union. On May 23d the Storthing resolved to contract a loan of 24,000,000 crowns for railway purposes, which is to bear interest at a rate not higher than four and one-third per cent., and is to be payable in from thirty to fifty years. On June 13th the Storthing finally adjourned. In November the elections for the Storthing resulted in & complete victory for the Opposition.

SWITZERLAND, a republic of Central Europe, consisting of twenty-two cantons, three of which are divided each into two independent half-cantons. The President of the Federal Council for 1876 was Dr. E. Welti, of the

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Swiss territory. The Post-Office in Switzerland forwarded, in 1875, 51,267,244 inland and 16,808,029 foreign letters, making a total of 68,075,273 letters. The length of the Government telegraph-lines at the close of 1875 was 6,343 kilometres, and of wires 15,517 kilometres, with 1,002 stations. The length of railroad telegraph-lines was 227 kilometres, and of wires 2,282 kilometres. There were 493 telegraph-offices, of which 141 are open to the public. The number of inland dispatches was 2,062,439; of foreign dispatches, 594,315; and of transit dispatches, 240,171; besides 68,079 official dispatches.

In the Canton of Wallis a revised constitution was adopted in February, the vote polled being very light. The new constitution of Soleure was accepted by the Federal Council in February, while that of Zug was returned, to be subjected to another popular vote. On March 12th, at an election for the Grand Council of Soleure, the Liberals elected 105 members, and the Catholic party 9. On May 21st a new constitution was adopted in Schaffhausen by a large majority, after having been previously rejected three times. In Schwytz a new constitution was adopted on June 12th. Considerable excitement was created in the Canton of Ticino in October, by the action of the Liberal Council of State in dissolving the Grand Council, in which the Catholic party

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to Bern, together with the Federal Commissioner Bavier, where an amicable agreement was finally arrived at.

The Federal Assembly, which was in session at the beginning of 1876, adjourned on March 25th, and assembled again on June 5th. The Ständerath, or State Council, elected for its president Paul Nagel, of Thurgau, and the National Assembly, Arnold Aepli, of St. Gall. On July 3d the Federal Assembly passed a law regulating the acquisition and renunciation of Swiss citizenship-a matter which had been previously regulated only by cantonal laws. On December 4th the Federal Assembly met for its regular winter session, and adjourned on December 23d until March 5, 1877.

An International Postal Congress was held in Bern from January 17th to 27th. The principal questions under discussion were the admission of French and English colonies, and the rates of postage to be charged on letters sent there.

An international congress respecting the observance of the Sabbath was held at Geneva, beginning September 5th. M. Alexander Lombard was chosen president. Accounts were given by delegates from Spain, Italy, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, of the manner in which the Sabbath was observed in their respective countries, and of the movements in progress in them to secure a greater regard for its sanctity. An International League was formed, and declared to rest upon a Biblical basis," for the promotion and encouragement of the Sabbath, the definite constitution of which it was provided should be completed at a future meeting to be held after two years. The congress considered the question respecting the most suitable day of the week on which to pay workmen. It decided to recommend Friday as the pay-day, and Thursday as the day for closing the weekly

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accounts.

TAFT, ALPHONZO, was born in Townsend, Vt., November 5, 1810. He graduated at Yale College in 1833, and two years later became a tutor in that institution. In 1840 he began the practice of law in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, after a highly-successful career of twenty-six years at the bar, he was chosen Judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati. To this position he was twice reëlected. He has been a warm supporter of the Republican party since its organization, was defeated as a candidate for Congress by George H. Pendleton, was for three years a member of the City Council of Cincinnati, and for twenty-five years a member of the Board of Education. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Cincinnati since its foundation, and is a Trustee of Yale College, from which he received in 1867 the degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1875 his name was prominently brought forward as a candidate for Governor of Ohio. Just before the assembling of the convention, ex-Governor R. B. Hayes telegraphed to a delegate: "I cannot allow my name to be used against Judge Taft. He is an able and pure man, and a sound Republican. I would not accept a nomination in contest with him." Considerable opposition had been developed against Judge Taft in consequence of an opinion which he had delivered on the school question; and after he had received 186 votes in the convention, his name was withdrawn. After the resignation of General Belknap, in March, 1876, Judge Taft was made Secretary of War, and in May following he became Attorney-General.

TELEPHONE, THE. The invention of a method of transmitting sounds, and even articulate language, by the telegraph, for long distances, opens up new and great possibilities in

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the art of telegraphy. Mr. E. P. Gray, of Chicago, a gentleman who has originated other important improvements in telegraphic processes, is the undoubted author of the invention, although La Cour, of Copenhagen, had conceived its possibility almost simultaneously, and was engaged in the construction of the apparatus independently; and Prof. Graham Bell, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who claims to have demonstrated the possibility of conveying sounds of different pitch by telegraph, in 1873, has the merit of having wrought very important improvements in the apparatus. An instrument on a similar principle to the musical telephone was also constructed by a German inventor about fifteen years ago. The possibility of telegraphing audible speech, it would seem, was not suspected before it was practically accomplished by Prof. Bell, in the early part of 1876. Prof. Bell has experimented with fifty or more different kinds of apparatus, and in the later improvements the distinctness of the vocal sounds transmitted has increased remarkably. The instrument used in his first success, by which a conversation was carried on between two separate houses, is described as consisting of two single-pole electro-magnets with a resistance of 10 ohms each, arranged in circuits with a battery of 5 carbon elements, the total resistance being 25 ohms, and 2 drumheads of goldbeater's skin of 24 inches diameter, with a circular piece of clock-spring glued to the centre of each membrane. One of the earliest experiments made by Prof. Bell was to transmit the tones of a reed-organ. A membrane was stretched between the electro-magnet and its armature, and the reeds of the organ were so arranged as to open and close the circuit as

they vibrated. By this arrangement the musical notes were loudly reproduced at a distance, and when chords were struck, the component tones were simultaneously sounded by the armature of the receiving telephone. Galvanic music, or the production of musical sounds by rapidly magnetizing and demagnetizing an electro-magnet a sufficient number of times in a second, was the discovery of Page in 1837. It was Prof. Bell who, in 1874, discovered that this effect did not depend entirely on the magnetic condition of the iron core, but was due in a measure to the vibrations of the insulated copper wire which forms the coil. Telephony depends on the intense vibrations which can be produced by electrical means around a smooth wire of soft iron. Telephonic effects can be produced by three different kinds of currents: intermittent, pulsatory, undulatory. Intermittent currents are characterized by the alternate presence and absence of electricity in the circuit; the pulsatory current is marked by sudden changes in the intensity of the current; and the undulatory current is marked by gradual changes of intensity, analogous to the changes in the density of air produced by the vibrations of a pendulum. At first, the attempts to transmit words were not entirely successful; although the vowel sounds were perfectly rendered, the consonants were very indistinct. This was not, however, uniformly the case, and sometimes a whole sentence could be reproduced with startling naturalness. These defects have now been overcome, so that long dispatches can be sent, and have been sent, fifty miles and further, in which every word was instantly recognizable.

The completest and most satisfactory experiments yet made were those of Prof. Graham A. Bell, at Salem, on the 13th of February of this year (1877), and of E. P. Gray, at Chicago, on the 27th of the same month. At Salem, on the occasion of a lecture by Prof. Bell upon the telephone, to illustrate its powers, he had several messages transmitted back and forth from Boston, 20 miles away; the dispatches from Boston were distinctly heard by the audience; several questions and answers were interchanged, and not only could the words be distinguished, but coughing and singing in the Boston office were audible in the lecture-hall, and the applause which greeted the messages was distinctly heard at Boston. The experiments at Chicago were not less remarkable. Musical airs were played on an instrument connected with the telephone at Milwaukee, which is distant about eighty-five miles from Chicago, and clearly heard throughout a considerable hall in the latter place. These experiments also were conducted for the purpose of illustrating a lecture. Prof. Gray's apparatus consisted of fifteen boxes on which were stretched musical strings connected with the telegraphic instrument; a stringless violin hung upon a long wire, acting as a sound-box. A dozen or more

tunes played upon the organ at the Milwaukee end were perfectly audible to the large audience.

TELLKAMPF, JOHANN LUDWIG, a German scholar, born January 28, 1808; died February 10, 1876. Having emigrated to the United States in 1838, he received an appointment in the same year as Professor of Political Economy in Harvard College, and in 1843 in Columbia College, New York, but in 1846 returned to Germany as professor in Breslau. In 1848 he was elected to the Frankfort Parliament, in 1849 to the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, in 1855 to the Herrenhaus, and in 1871 to the first German Reichstag. Together with Potter, he wrote "Political Economy" (New York, 1840); with his brother Theodore "Ueber die Besserungsgefängnisse in Nord-Amerika und England" (1844); "Essays on Law Reform and Commercial Policy" (1859); "Ueber Arbeiterverhältnisse und Erwerbsgenossenschaften in England und Nord-Amerika" (1870); and "Selbstverwaltung und Reforme der Gemeinde und Kreisordnungen in Preussen, und Self-government in England und Nord-Amerika" (1872).

TENNESSEE. In March, 1875, the Legislature of Tennessee created a department of Agriculture, Statistics, and Mines, and Colonel J. B. Killebrew was appointed a commissioner to take charge of it. During the twenty-one months following he performed an immense amount of labor in examining into the mineral and agricultural resources of the State, and disseminating information thereon. He has prepared and published the following special reports:

1. "Report on the Little Sequatchie Coalfield," comprising 40 pages.

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2. Report on the Ocoee and Hiawassee Mineral District," comprising 67 pages.

3. "Agricultural and Mineral Wealth of Tennessee," comprising 196 pages.

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4. Report on the Region of Country lying on the Cincinnati Southern and Knoxville & Ohio Railways," comprising about 150 pages.

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The "Report on Agriculture and Mineral Wealth" is an abridgment of a larger work of nearly 1,200 pages, entitled "The Resources of Tennessee." Besides these, Colonel Killebrew has prepared a treatise of 120 pages on "Tobacco and its Culture in Tennessee," a pamphlet of 40 pages on Sheep-husbandry and Stockgrowing" in the State, and a tabular statement of the "Manufacturing and Mining Interests of the Commonwealth," showing the amount of capital invested, number of hands employed, the wages paid, and the amount of annual production. This last work had not been issued at the close of the year, but was ready for the press. These various pamphlets and reports have been accompanied by maps, and about 14,000 copies of them have been distributed. In addition to these published results of his labor, the commissioner has made a collection of 739 classified specimens of minerals and

agricultural products, which are arranged in a room set apart for the purpose in the Capitol, besides a large number not yet classified and arranged. In submitting his report to the Governor, in the latter part of December, the commissioner says:

The great end for which I have labored has been to induce capital to fill our unoccupied fields of industry. I have believed, and still believe, that our people need relief from taxation; not that taxes are higher than in other States, but because they are harder to pay, the margin between their necessary expenses and income being very small. This want of ability on the part of our people does not arise from a scarcity of agricultural products, but from the want of home-markets. There is to-day more wheat, corn, and cotton grown than can find a remunerative market. There is too great a proportion of our people engaged in agriculture compared with the aggregate population of the State. I believe that the industrial history of every country will fail to show a prosperous people where such a large number proportionally are engaged in agricultural pursuits. Every farmer in the State, if asked, will say that the price brought for what he has to sell is too low compared with the cost of production. The laborer will say, truthfully, that he cannot live on less than he is receiving. What the agriculture of the State needs is productive consumers-labor engaged in other departments of business creating what the farmer needs, and taking in exchange therefor what the farmer produces.

The time is propitious for making the value and abundance of our mineral wealth known. Stagnation reigns throughout the iron-world, and iron-masters are looking the world over to secure better localities for the prosecution of their manufacturing enterprises, where all the raw material may be found close together, and where the investment required

will be less. We have in the State of Tennessee a

happy combination of all these advantages, and it can be demonstrated that we can make a ton of pigiron any where along the line of the Cincinnati Southern, Knoxville & Ohio, and Nashville & Chattanooga Railroads, at about what the ore costs per ton in Pittsburg. This fact is well established; and to make it known, to prove the cheapness of our iron and coal-fields, to show the means of transportation by river and by rail in course of construction and already completed, have been the chief objects of my labor.

the general direction of Dr. J. M. Safford, the State Geologist, who has been mainly instrumental in securing the survey.

The finances of the State are not in an altogether satisfactory condition. Default has been made in the payment of interest due on the State's bonds since July 1, 1875. In June of that year an attempt was made to provide for the interest coming due, by the issue of bonds; but such harsh terms were demanded in order to negotiate the new bonds, that the plan was abandoned, and no interest has since been paid, though a considerable amount fell due July 1, 1875, January 1, 1876, and January 1, 1877. The present indebtedness of the State is as follows: Funded and registered bonds outstanding, $22,812,400; bonds belonging to the East Tennessee University, not required to be registered, $396,000; fundable bonds and coupons not presented, $1,021,000; pastdue interest, $2,088,756: total, $26,318,156. Deducting from this $1,671,916 loaned to the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, $1,199,180 loaned to the Mississippi Central Railroad, $316,744 loaned to the Mississippi & Tennes see Railroad, $14,150 due from the purchasers of the Tennessee & Pacific Railroad, $51,125 due from the purchasers of the Knoxville & Charleston Railroad, $204,000 due from the purchasers of the McMinnville & Manchester Railroad, and $95,636.10 interest due from solvent railroads, we have as the debt to be provided for, $22,765,404.90. In December Governor Porter received from several of the largest creditors of the State the following communication:

The undersigned holders of bonds of the State of Tennessee, believing that the best interests of Tennessee and of her public creditors will be served by an early permanent adjustment of the claims of such creditors, on a basis honorable to the State and equitable to them, respectfully ask your Excellency, in the full belief that such a settlement is practicable, to recommend that the Legislature of Tennes Capitalists from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, see, as early as may be possible at its ensuing sesand from many of the States north, are daily inquir-confer with the holders of bonds of the State of Tension, appoint a commission to come to this city and ing into our capabilities. Companies are now forming, and negotiations pending, which will add many nessee, for the purpose mentioned herein. millions of capital to the State. Agents are now selecting lands in various portions of the State. The publications, or selections therefrom, which I have made, have to some extent been republished in Pittsburg, New York, England, Germany, and Switzerland. A growing inquiry for information is evidenced by nearly every mail. During the twenty-one months just passed more than 3,700 letters have passed through my office. The States of Virginia, Alabama, and Kentucky, seeing the effects of such advertising, have applied for copies of the act creating this department. Kentucky has already established a similar bureau, which is now in active operation; and the friends of the movement in Virginia and Alabama expect to have the acts before their respective Legislatures at present carried, having the same object in view.

A geodetic survey of the State has been begun, under the authority of the Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, and at the expense of the Federal Government. It is to be executed by Prof. A. H. Buchanan, under

Early in 1877 the Board of Arbitration appointed to make a fair adjustment of the obligations of defaulting Southern States, after a prolonged conference and consultation in New York with a delegation of five prominent citizens of Tennessee appointed for the purpose, made an award proposing that, "after adding all the arrears of interest up to July 1, 1877, the then aggregate of the State debt should be readjusted by the issue of new bonds at the rate of sixty per cent, of the total amount. This was left to be ratified by the Legislature of the State, which was then in session. In the report of the Board of Arbitration in making the award, the following statement of reasons was made:

In the conclusion to which this committee have,

with much deliberation, arrived, they have not lost sight of the fact that a sovereign State, although be

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