National.

Secretary Shaw has issued, for the use of travelers abroad, a convenient booklet containing information of interest concerning the customs duties. The following will be of interest; A resident of the United States returning thereto is entitled to bring with him free of duty articles purchased or otherwise obtained abroad, of a total value not exceeding one hundred dollars. Such articles may be for the use of the person bringing them or for others, but not for sale.

As an outgrowth of the Rochambean mission to the United States in 1902. the women of France have offered to the United States a replica of the bust of Washington which was destroyed by fire in the Capitol in 1851. The tender was made by M. Jusserand, the French Ambassador, in a letter to Secretary Hay.

Colonel Carroll D. Wright has authorized the statement that he intends to resign his position as Commissioner of Labor by the end of this year in order to give his whole time to his duties in connection with Clark University.

The United States torpedo-boat destroyer flotilla, escorted by the cruiser Buffalo, on its way to the Philippine Islands arrived at Gibraltar Wednesday, January 27.

United States Minister Powell has recognized the provisional government of General Morales as the de facto government of Santo Domingo.

Foreign.

Through the good offices of the United States Department of State, the good name of Chang, former Chinese minister to this country, who strongly favored the reform movement during the Boxer troubles and who was beheaded, has been restored to his family, and the estate which was confiscated at that time, has also been returned.

The first congress of Italian students for the discussion of moral and religious questions has just been in session at Rome. The last session was held in a hall decorated with the flags of all nations, among which the American and Italian colors were entwined. United States Ambassador Meyer presided at the session.

An official report has been made on the losses resulting from the fire on January 26 at the University Library, Turin, one of the most famous in Italy, according to which about thirty-seven hundred manuscripts, including almost all those of Oriental origin, were destroyed. The number of volumes lost has not been established.

The Canadian Government has made a contract with the Allan line of steamers for an improved mail service between Canada and Great Britain, to commence next August with two new turbine steamers. The subsidy is ten thousand dollars per round trip for the turbines and five thousand dollars for the slower ones.

An association which originated at the time of the proposed sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States, has been formed at Copenhagen to arouse the nation's interest in her outlying possessions and prevent any diminution of her territory by sale or otherwise.

The total amount of claims awarded against Venezuela by The Hague Tribunal will amount to about nine million dollars. Up to December I Venezuela had deposited with the Bank of Caracas about one million dollars to meet these obligations.

The American street railway system, about to be inaugurated in Manila, will call for an investment of four million dollars in equipping a street car service of forty miles. Eventually this will be extended to the suburban districts.

The new Vesuvins electric railway is working to the fullest satisfaction of the builders. Since its opening for passenger traffic in September last over thirty-five hundred tourists have used the new line.

Italy has expressed her willingness to accept silver payments for her indemnities arising out of the Boxer troubles, with the reservation that any difference may be made up later.

The German Government, after long experiments, has ordered turbine engines to be constructed for the third-class cruiser Merkur and for a torpedo boat.

Industrial and Commercial.

According to a news despatch the annual report of the Government engineer in charge of improvements on Lake Superior shows that the commerce of the Duluth-Superior harbor is the third in importance in the United States. If the sub-port of Two-Harbors is added, the traffic of the harbor is above that of any port in America except New York, with a probability that it stands fourth among the shipping ports of the world.

The figures taken by the Government for New York for 1902 were 30,000,000 tons of all commodities; of Duluth, including its sub-port of Two-Harbors, 23,800,000 tons; of Philadelphia, 21,000,000 tons, and of Boston, 18,000,000 tons. The growth of business at Duluth has been from 6,300,000 tons and $95,000,000 valuation, in 1895, to 23,800,000 tons and $190,940,000 in 1903.

The selling value of the silk produced in New Jersey in 1903 was $47,849,192. The aggregate capital invested in all the New Jersey sikl mills was $24,872,624. The value of the material used in manufacture was $27,819,826. There are 165 establishments in the industry in the State—eighty-four owned by private parties and eighty-one operated by corporations. The average number of employees was 14,968 males and 12,022 females. The total of wages paid was $11,089,184, and the average annual earnings $410,86.

The Philippine trade statistics of the Insular Bureau of the War Department show that the imports of those islands during the eight months ending August, 1903. aggregated $22,266,581, and exports $20,867,313. The aggregate of exports and imports is an increase of almost $6,000,000, over four-fifths of which may be credited to shipments from the archipelago, the hemp and copper output being especially large.

The Prince of Monaco has presented to the French Academy of Sciences a new bathymertric map of the ocean floor, showing in relief its depth and formation in all the great areas. The construction of such a map has been made possible through the deep sea soundings which began about fifty years ago, and especially through the soundings made in connection with cable line surveys.

A new pipe line about seven hundred miles in length and costing, with pumping stations about $4,000,000, is said to be contemplated by the Standard Oil Company to connect the new Indian Territory and Kansas oil fields with Whiting, Ind., a few miles from Chicago.

Exports from the United States to Russia in the year just ended aggregated practically twenty million dollars, which is more than double the amount of the exports to Russia in 1901. Imports from Russia in 1903 were $10,907,315, against $7,263,874 in 1901.

The Empress of China recently brought to Vancouver a cargo of silk, raw and manufactured, valued at $1,932,000. The shipment is a record one, measuring 960 tons, and is destined for Weehawken. N. J.

A steamer has just arrived at Boston from Manila and Cebu with one of the most valuable cargoes of hemp ever brought to that port, consisting of 25,500 bales, valued at $650,000.

The total production of pig iron in 1903 was 18,009,252 gross tons, against 17,821,307 tons in 1902, and 15,878,354 tons in 1901.

General.

Practically the entire supply of camphor comes from Japan and Formosa, which is Japanese territory, and about six weeks ago the Japanese Government, owing to the threatened war with Russia, placed an embargo on its shipment. The reason for this is that camphor is one of the necessary ingredients in the manufacture of smokeless powder. About twenty per cent of the works production goes into the manufacture of powder. The total production is between seven and eight million pounds annually. It is bought by the Government from the natives for about twelve cents a pound. It sells in this country, however, for over sixty cents a pound in large lots.

At the recent National Live Stock Convention at Portland. Ore., a unanimous vote was passed indorsing a resolution which favors the incorporation of a company of live stock men and the establishment of independent packing houses in the stock centers of the country to compete with the present packers' combine. Steps for raising a stock subscription of five million dollars are to be taken to carry out this plan.

The Wason Car Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Mass., shipped last week the first five of an order of fifteen cars for use on the steam roads in China. They are divided into two apartments, one for first-class and one for second-class passengers. The frames are of steel as a protection against insects that make ravages on wooden cars in the Chinese service.

Professor Phillips of Princeton University, who has recently conducted experiments in the production of radium, announces that this substance will soon be plentifully extracted from carnotite, an American ore found in Utah, and that it will be within easy reach of all branches of science. He used the Curie method of extraction and claims no credit.