An Important Decision

The supreme court of Ehode Island has just set aside a will probated fifty years ago. The late Joseph Greene, a stanclí Quaker, was greatly disturbed during his latter years by members of his family marrying without the pale of the society, and attempted by his will to bestow his estáte f or the benefit of those present whom he considered orthodox Friends, or Wilberites, as distinguished from other branches of the society. The will was uncontested until about two years ago. The property involved comprises about 120 acres in the center of Jamestown, on the island of Conanicut. The petitioner contended that the application of the estate rested upon the trustees determining the true and actual religious belief of the beneficiaries. WMle it ia possible to ascertain one's religious professions, the petitioners claimed that it is not within human power to ascertain belief. The court declared the bequest void. - Exchange. An ingenious Frenchman has discovered a process of recovering the tin contained in the wash waters of silk which have been weighted, and he has accordingly received from the French Society for the Enconragement of National Industry the prize allotted for the utilization of residual substances. It is estimated that Lyons alone will effect an armna.1 economy of $60,000. Wffliam Sprowles, of Charlotte, N. C, who applied for a federal pension in 1881, received word recently that it had been granted. It will be of no use to him, as he died the naxt day after the news came to him. The legislatnre of Washington proposes to change the name of Mount Rainier, one of the tallest peaks in the state, to Mount Shennan, in honor of the dead general.