* * * * *

August 26.—­Centennial celebration of Rowe, Franklin County, Mass.  Like Heath, the town was incorporated in February, 1785.  The historical address was by Hon. Silas Bullard of Menasha, Wis.

* * * * *

W.T.  Spear has just finished a history of North Adams which he has spent a long time in compiling.  He has written the history of the town from the time of its settlement in 1749 to the present time, and says he has gleaned many facts from old town records which have never been published.  He will publish his work in small book form and sell it at fifty cents a copy.

* * * * *

F. Wally Perkins, a topographical engineer in the employ of the United States coast and geographical service, is making a geographical survey of the Connecticut river from South Deerfield to its mouth.  Part of the expense of this survey is borne by the government and the rest by the state, the object being to locate certain topographical and geological features in the valley.

* * * * *

It has not been definitely stated where in Boston the proposed statue of William Loyd Garrison will be placed, but it will either be in West Chester Park or Commonwealth avenue, with a preference for the latter.  The city engineer is now engaged in making plans for the pedestal, which is to be of hammed Quincy granite, about ten feet in height.  In the statue Mr. Garrison is represented sitting in an easy chair apparently at peace with all the world, the great struggle in which he was a prominent figure having been brought to an end.  Beneath the chair lies a file of the Liberator, which suggests the iron will of the man in his conflict with slavery, and the strength of his purpose is further shown in the following inscription on the side of the pedestal “I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retire a single inch; I will be heard.”

* * * * *

The General Court has a double survival in the State Legislature and the town meeting.  And the most curious part of this survival is that the Legislature of this State still retains some judicial functions.  It is, we believe, the only State where this is the case.  The Legislature of Massachusetts retains the name of the General Court, but contents itself with purely legislative work while our own Legislature is still Supreme Court in equity.  This has descended to it as an inheritance from the General Court of colonial times.—­New Haven (Conn.)_News_.

* * * * *

From the annual report of Major C.W.  Raymond on the improvement of rivers and harbors in Massachusetts it appears that the cost of the improvement of Newburyport harbor during the year was $31,560, and $9,868 remains available.  The object of the improvement is to create, at the outer bar, a permanent channel one thousand feet in width, with a least depth of seventeen feet at low water.  The amount required for the completion of the project is $205,000, provided the entire sum is appropriated for the next fiscal year.  It is proposed to expend the money in the rapid completion of the jetties already under construction.