What is the object of the little patch of leather, open at the top, riveted to the inside of some of the United States mail-bags, not far from the top? I have inquired of several persons, including postmasters at one or two places, but none of them seem to know. Only about one in three or four mail-bags have it.
A Friend.
Answer.—The small pouch you refer to is a pocket for any memorandum the postmaster may wish to send with the bag. In case a mail-bag anywhere in the Northwest needs repairs it should be sent to the Chicago Postoffice, which has a repair shop connected with it. The postmaster sending such a bag should put in this pouch a memorandum showing from what office it is sent. This is but one of many instances in which it serves a good purpose. It is to be found only in the new mail-bags.
STRONG DRINK OF THE HEBREWS.
Victoria, Neb.
We read that in the time of Samuel there were people who drank no wine or any strong drink. Are we to suppose that they had any stronger drink than fermented wine? Had they any distilled spirits?
Reader.
Answer.—By “strong drink” in the Old Testament we are not to understand distilled spirits, for alcohol was not discovered until the present era. The term refers to three beverages of the Jews—date honey, date or palm wine unfermented, and palm wine rendered intoxicating by fermentation, or by the admixture of stupifying ingredients while boiling. The latter was preferred, as fermentation made the wine bitter and harsh.