The true Democrat. [volume], December 12, 1896, Image 3

About The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928

Image provided by: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

                
A PLANT WIZI, RD.i
ONDe'i: i" D'A Ti' ING S PR ODUCeD
SY A C('IENTI' FIC 1F'AR "ELi,.
gearr:= Pears as Lare aus Water
meloISli ioi Prunes 01' (iant Si :e
31iniatiure Oa!, Trees-- Iar
vels ot" Fioriculture.
r-1 IE most remarkable farm in
the world is in California.
lFarmn it is calle:l, yet it is un
u iike any other farm that ever
t.isted.
It is :t nmcgical, ideal 'spot, where
nartture  loulded by milan; where
1mnts live in a strau:e, uncatural
c:y. i!ere giant otalt are mane to
"row perfect trees, but nsmaller than
the smailiest bush; pears are reared as
lIrge .s watermelons; the gorgeous
lily is trained so that it is produced in
rainiature, so s:mall that it can secarcely
be seen, and the marvelous perfec
11011 of its (elicate make-up must be
iound with a miicroscope.
At this farm art has produced such
n wonduilul rchange in nature that all
the beauties of the world of agricul
ture and horticulture are shown side
by side, but so enhanced, diversified,
corrected :and chanced that in walking
throu.h the grounds one comes upon
sighls that are never t3e(n excep.t in
the mystical land of dreams. And
vet adl thiis is produced in a rmost
;iauril 'a;:, anti is the working out
of the ideasu of one man.
This scientific farm has lben started
near S:anta .tosa,Cal., and its foi'uder,
Luther W. Erbanrk, has already i
earned the title of "'Edison of Pllaut
Life." The marvel of it all is that he
works for purely scientific cause, and I
refuses to receive wealth or court i
fame. In fact, he so pcrsistently re- I
fuses money for his products that he t
come to be looked upon as somewhat i
of a crank. t
Burbank abandoned a growing i
nursery business of .10,000 a year to I
devote his time and energy to scien
tific research in the world of agricul- c
lure. A believer in the laws of evo- e
lution, this wizard of agriculture pro- r
duces his wonders under the theory c
that all the world Is akin, and that the t
relation between the species is so in- I
timato that by constant artificial sc- t
lection, which is one of the many steps a
in the production of new types, the 1
lines of life forces can be changed. I
Working out this theory to make it s
practical, Burbank has broken up the g
old habits of plants, and by a constant r
struggle inculcated new traits. t
The wizard has produced results to g
startle the scientific huorticulturist and '1
farmer of the world. He plants the
seed of a known specimen of plant
life. Suppose it is that of a common
ouince, with which he has made vast t,
experiments. It grows and puts forth ti
its fruit. Science is then called up:n.
Cross pollination, hybridization fol- p
lows, a11nd. )y constant and faithful
work the wizard is rewarded by a new
and valuable creation.
There are other creations, the use- e
fulness of which is not so readily ree- a
ognized. In one part of the great
gardeu there isa perfectly fornedi lilly t,
less than hall an inch in diauctcer,and I
another snow white flower of the same
variety thr:e feet iu circumference.
These sueeimenzc bloomi sideo by side,:.
yet neithcr 14 like ny other in the q
worldi, and yet they are both of the
variety that are seui in normnal size
every day.
Another chango wroughit Iy this t
pryer into nature's mysteries is in tihe i
prunes, which he has developed to a
giant size, six times as large as those at
la general use, andi fron which they b
were dlerived. A plum twelve times al
the size of the parent species has also
been created, and pronounced by good ,
judges to be the handsomest in exist
ence.
The common Delaware Iplum tree t
has b:een developed into a bush three
feet high, growing a plum which is in
describably delicious. From this tl
stock, also, has been developed the
Shipper plum, to largo that two of ar
them will fill a Mason fruit jar. o
But it is in the flower kingdom that
this modern wizard has produced the
new ereations that have most amazed d
the world. He has now in blossom T
over 80,000 unnamed types of lilies,
speelmens such as the world knows
nothing of, but which are the direct
outcome of a typo k.2own to the
merest schoolboy. These unnamed b
varieties alone represent a valne of a Vi
quarter of a million dollars. Yet the S
greater number of them will be de
stroyed, for destruction follows where
the created type i; not considered su
Perior to the pa:rent stock.
In this veritab'lo Garden of Edlen P'
nothing is impossible, for the science is
of the masterly gardener has been di
able to makle nature produce any sort ar
of tree or shrub, plant or fruit, almost ge
at will. There is a great plot con- th
tainng the Japanese iris, in which are
thousands of these queenly flowere, no
two withoit distinctive pIoints of dlit- sp
ference. Every color revealed by the n
Spectroscope, every combination ofi
hues found in the rainbow arch aro in
here mingled in interminable profu- mi
sion. ex
Tlhe immense garden is conducted so ra
quietly that no one except the great
experts of the plant world understand a
just what is being done. Andl vet
every fruit, as wel!l as every garden
vegetable, grass, grain and flowering
plant cultivated inthe temperate zone us
is being experimented with, and in th
thousanuds of instances new varieties de
have been evolved or old ones im- an
proved upon. Es
This scientific experimental farm, to
it situation alone, is quite as won- th
derfulas the creations almost daily ev
developed. It has every condition of pa
toil and cliumate best suited to the us
Work of propagati;g plants, There ye
Ssgentle slope toward the east, an
ehih permits the full benefit of the D.
mrnoring sun. The soil is light and mD
Snot overcharged with moisture, but in Pi
T
the under stratum are many hidden
springs, so that the plot of ground is
subirrigated.
> Couservative as the Edison ofl plar.t
life is, the benetit already accruing to
the world from his new creations in
fruits and fio,ers is incalculable. A
potato of; his origination, which bears
his narae, is eaten by Californian and
New Yorker, and forms a part of the
dict of the peasant of Ireland and the
prince of Italy. His plums, pears,
apples, prunes and quinces are car
riet to every country of the world,
while rare floewers which he has pro
duced grow in the parks of kings and
others are regarded as treasures in the
conservatories of millionaires. -New
York World.
ef;ldiers Iide on Wheels.
For the first time in its history the
biclycle has been admitted on a large
scale in the army maneuvers of Eu
rope. The operations which recently
took place in tjoe south of France, and
which are the most extensive since the
Franco-Frussia: War, include as one
of the features a cycling company,
which is attached to the i ourth di-.
vision of infantry in its mock co:abats
against the Third (livision in the De
partment of the Aisne. A beginning
was made last year by Captain Garard,
inventor of the folding army bicycle,
who directed about a score of men on
wheels, but without regard to the
other military operations.
Since then the military bicycle has
been approved by the Minister of War I
as good for actual service in the field,
and a company of sixty men, equipped I
at the expense of the State acid placed :
at the disposition of General Sonuois,
has just covered itself with glory.
The use of the bicycle in the armvwill 1
be immediately extended in view of 1
the results attained. The new corn- r
pany, it was found, combined the arm- I
ament and defensive force of the in- a
fantry with the rapidity and dash of t
the cavalry. In addition to speed of
movement another great advantage i:
has been found in the comparative E
silence in which operations can be I
effected. Those who have seen the c
soldiers on wheels flying along the I
roads noiselessly, without the tramp y
of feet or the clanging of arms, say j
that it is a veritable phantom com- A
pany. A double folding bicycle with
two mechanics and a chest of tools a
and detached pieces follows the com- a
pany everywhere, so that repairs can a
be made at every halt. If France again t
should have the misfortune to be en- I
gaged in real war these bicycle com- I
panies would be multiplied by the g
thousand and would be sure to give a
good account of themselves.-Chicago
Times-Herald.
?onkejs as (old Mixners. p
Captain E. MIoss, who has just re- ti
turned to London from the Transvaal, ti
tells the story of the monkeys who C
work for him in the mines: "I have U
twenty-four monkeys," said he, "e-n ti
ployed about my mines. They do the '
work of s: ven able bodied men, and it
is no reflection upon the human labor- r
era to say that they do a clan s of work '
a man cannot (to as well as they. ci
"iWhen I went digging gold I had ti
two monkeys that were i:xceedingly *
interesting pets. They were constant- h
ly following me about the mines, and (I
one dlay I noticed that they were bus:ily '
Lgaged in ea'thering up little bits of b
quartz and putting them in lilces. i
They eceme:l to enjoy the labor very
much!:, andi would go to the mines
every morning ,and work there during
the dlay. It did not take me long to
learn their value as laborers, andI de
cided to procllre more. So I immedi
ately procured a, number, ,and now
have two dlozen working daily in and
about the mines.
"It is exceedingly interesting to
watch my two pet monkeys teach the
new ones how to work, and, still
stranger, to see how the newcomers
take to it. They work just as they I1
please, sometimes going down into the p1
mines when they have cleared up all of
the debris on the outside. They live Ie
and work together without quarreling E
any more than men do. They are it
quite methodical in their habits, and I
go to work andt tinish up in the same ax
manner as human beings would do un- as
der similar circumstances. "--Bosto w.
Transcript. t
The Lovesick Spider, ti
Some interesting experiments has (
been lately carried out on the range of m
vision and sense of color possessed by or
spidtlers. th
Twenty species of attidae were se- or
lected, and their study and observa- it
tions were extendedl over eight succes- b
sive sbunmmers. Appa:ently when their
prey, which consi4ts of small insects,
is motionless, they perceive them at a
distance of live inches, but when they ne
are moving they sight them at much mi
greater distances, while each other se
they can see distinctly up to at least er
twelve inches. atm
Apparently sight, not smell, guides st(
spidors, and we are told how the males an
in the mating season throw themselves Jo
into quite dillerent attitudes, accord- me
ing as they catch sight of a female or foi
male spider. It was by this mode of us
expressing their emotions that the th
range of sight as well as powers of dis
tinct vision possessed by these insects
was teste.--Sew York Journal
S ta
Elephanns in Battle. ne
In a certain sense (lephants are still the
used in battle by Indian troops, but th
they are only used as beasts of bur- oU
dien and draught for artillery; but in A
ancient times they were used in the
East as fighting animals, ani taught of
to swing chains and bars of metal in t
their trunks. There is, however, we
every probability that the last cam
paign in which they were regularly
used in this capacity was that of the
vear 1601, in which the great Akbar to
subdued the native kingdoms of the Fr
Deccan and established the Moham- him
medan power in India.-New Orleans mc
Picayune. ,
en An Ass Not Wit.out, Reason.
is Some interesting comparisons hveo
recently been made by aGerman savant
:., in what he terms the psychology of
to animnals. He says: "It has often been
i~ pointed out that a donkey is not halt
A as stupid as he is popularly believed
rs to be. Less well known is the fact
id that a horse is far less gifted than he
to has the reputation for. Whlerever you
se go you can observe that a horse is a
*s, tolerably intelligent, good, timid crea
.r- ture, which learns with dificulty
d, when young, and not at all when old.
o- A donkey, on the other hand, is above
id all things an individuality; a head
ýo strong fellow, who knows, with light
w ning quickness, what his master wants
hiun to do and frequently does exactly
the opposite.
"The elephant, standing in the
furtheet corner of his house, notices ia
e small piece of sugar at the other end,
ii and appropriates it without delay. lBut
this is less astonishing than when the
d donkey, being stroked on the back by
ea visitor, turns round anl pushes his
e head under the stranger's hand, be
cause, for some reason or other, heo
finds it more agreeable to have his
ts head stroked than his back. The don
key, in this case, acts on a sudden and
a very logical idea, while the elephant
, acts only as a result of much experi'
nece. -Westminster Gazette.
fc low to Tree Squhirrel:.
Gray squirrel hunting is not for the
is clown hunter-the fellow who stum
ir bles over fences and goes through the
1, dry leaves as if he liked to hear them
d rustle. The most expert has to keep
d at his wits' ends to bring down this
;, wary and sly creature. i
The hunter who gets up before it is 1
II light and enters the weods at day- l
If break gets the game. Carefully he
- wenuds his way to a cluster of oaks-.
.- hickory nuts are scarce this year, and
ý. acorns will form the wanter diet for 1
'f the squirrels. t
f Seated upon a stump or stone, the c
e hunter keeps his eyes and ears open. C
e Suddenly, some distance away per- n
e haps, comes the familiar cluck-cluck- '
e cluckity. There is no hurry, however. i
o Let him be and watch the tree nearest c
, you. A bough swirngs and a squirrel I
v jumps to a limb. Nor is your time. t
Aim quickly and fire. I
t Your first move will bediscovered, a
a and unless your No. 7 shot has pierced '
some part of his delicate anatomy he'll (
a scamper through the trees from limb t
a to limb. If you miss, run for him. I
He will not leave a tree while you are v
under it. Some hunters carry opera '
a glasses.-New York Press. (
UnknwiIn l{ussia. a
That Rhssi's is still to a large eaten c
an unknown land to the majority of 3
people was impressed upon my mind 1
the other day in reading an account in a
the Daily News (London) of the r
Countess Praskowjz Ssergernewna r
9 Uwarow, who is lescribed as one of 1
the most distinguished women in this n
º enigmatical country, perhaps, indeed, t
t in all Europe. The Countess, who t
.was a Princess T':ubetzkoi, married i
when only seventeec, and at once pro- '
ceeded to share her: husband's scien
1 tidic pursuits, at times conducting re
search on independent lines. She in
herited from her husband the Presi- n
dentship of the Archaeological Con- n
g'ress. T'he Countess is described as ti
being tall and of distinguished bear- n
ing. She wears her. black hair stnply F
folded in thick braids round her head. y
SShe dresses in a l):ain black dress and m
a gray hat and feather:s. As President n:
2he listeus attentively to the papers E
read, and clearly sums them up, add. tl
-ng practical comments. She pays ]3
u nsiduous attention to her duties as iz
President of the Congress, which has r
recently held its tenth assembly at t
lRiga.-New Or:eans Picayune. 04
Prolperties ol Plood Corlmuscles. ai
The elasticity and plasticity of the dj
Sblood corpuscles is unrivalled by any tl
Sphysicalbody. !t will assume all sorts hi
I oF protean shapes, if occasion requires, $
even under the slighest influences.
Elongating itself to the merest thread fc
it will pass through an iuconceivably Vi
I narrow chink; it will .wrap itself he
around an acute, projecting angle (such at
as a mineral crystal in the blood), or t
will protrude feelers and tails under de
the influence of currents. In its na- ne
tural state it possesses sufficient elas- hi
ticity to resume its original shape it
(that of a diso) on the cessation of the W
modifying influences, but when gum ci
or gelatine has been added, or when
the plasma to thicken spontane
ously, the corpuscle retains any form
it may have assumed till again altered a
by outside influences. a
" Leftl-landed" Animals t
It is well known that left-handed. oi
ness has often been observed in ani- U
mals. Acco:ding to Vierodt, parrots to
seize objects with the left paw by pref- al
erence, or ( exclusively. The lion ti
strikes with the left paw,. and Living- P1
stone stated as his opinion that all st
animals are left-handed. Professor
Jordan has recently verified the state- a
ment with regard to parrots. Ho vce
found that this bird makes a readier sp
use of the left claw for climbing than ki
the right. H
nil
Practical Test of Tramping. w
Two young men of South Chat
tanooga, Tenn., who had taken the hi
negative side in a casual discussion of we
the question whether tramps had'good sw
things to eat and an easy life, started
out in disguise to test their arguments. so
Among toe first houses form which
they were turned away was that of one
of the affirmative disputants, and only
at the thirteenth house to which they of
went did they receive any food.
Novel Care for iiccoiuglhis. h
Incessant hiccoughs caused a patient set
to be brought to a hospital in Lyons, qu
France. IHe was cured by inducing hu
him to thrust his tongue far out of his Sb
month, and thus hold it for a few ty
minutes. th
1YQORDS 01 avlDOM
e -
t A dollar never buys much for a
f stingy man.
I Misfortunes and imprudence are
t often twins.
1 It is better to be right and poor than
t wrong and rich.
Better be a lamp in the house than
try to be a star in the sky.
There is no virtue in doing right
r simply because we have to.
How many times good fortune has
come to us through our mistakes.
If we try to please everybody we
shall soon have the respect of nobody.
Do what you can do well and you
will soon be able to do much better.
Time is wasted in trying to make a
trotter out of a horse with a broken
leg.
The man who thinks his sin will
never find him out has deceived him
self.
The man dies well who dies with
the consciousness that he has lone his
best.
The man who loafs when he should
be at work will have to work when he
might rest.
Many people want to move moun
tains simply to attract attention to
themselves.
There are people who would like to
do good if it could be done without
edlort or sacrifice.
Many a man grovels in the dust who
has an arm long enough to reach the
sky if he would only put it out.
Many a man is screening gravel who
might be dressing diamonds had he
properly improved his tine,-1-am's
Horn.
The Emperor of Chliia.
The present Emperor of China is
fluang Han, who succeeded to the
throne January 12, 1875. He was one
of the youngest monarchs who ever as
cended the throne, being at the date of
accession only three years old.
There have been twenty-two dynasties
in China, the royal history of this
country being better ascertained than
that of any other which reaches back
to ancient times. With some few
breaks, the Chinese have had a regular
succession of sovereigns since Fuhhi,
who, the Chi',ese say, reigned from B.
C. 2852 to 2737. According to Chinese
tradition, Fuhhi was no less a person
age than the Noah of the Scriptures,
who, after leaving the ark on Mount
Ararat, traveled east and founded the
Chinese Empire. Chinese history as
serts that several of their early mon
archs ruled for over a century each;
one reigning over China for 115
years, another for 102, another for
100, andso on. It is consideredprob.
able by historians that these figures
represent rather dynasties than the
reigns of individual sovereigns. China
has had, in almost direct descent, with
no more than two or three breaks in
the history ofthe royal family, thir
ty-three sovereigns, ninety-one em
perors, two Tartar rulers, six Mogol
emperors and three empresses.
Remarkable C(riminal Mystery,
One of the remarkable criminal
mysteries of recent years in Califor
nia was revived at San Francisco by
the Supreme Court order granting a
new trial to Dr. W. A. Sanders, of
Fresno County, now serving a ten
year sentence for lorgery. Sanders
was arrested last Februaryfor the
murder of William Wootton, an old
Englishman, who owned a ranch near
the doctor's place. Wootton sudden
ly disappeared, having been last seen
in Sanders's wagon. Sanders told a
remarkable story of two men coming
to Wootton's place and bringing $20,
000 in cash for its purchcse. He said
Wootten deeded the ranch to them
and then went to Fresno to receive ad
ditional money. Sanders never saw
them afterward, but a few days later
he received from Wootten a check for
$1400, which he cashed. This check 1
was found to be a forgery, and for
forging it Sanders was tried and con
victed. Circumstantial evidence that
he killed the old Englishman was
strong, but not sufficient to justify a
trial for murder. The Supreme Court
decides that the lower court erred in
not giving Sanders more latitude in 1
his defence. Sanders was prominent
in educational affairs for years, and be
was also noted for his horticultural
experiments.--New York Tribune.'
She Showed Him,.
Ont in the Midway distribt there is
a tall Swedish whasherwomsn who hlias I
a keen sense of right and wrong, and
she put her views into practical effect
the other day in a very positive sort
of way. She was walking along on
University avenue when she was over
taken by a bicycle rider who had more s
speed than courtesy. In place of t
turning out, he rode up to her and y
pushed his wheel along so that it t
struck her, but did not throw him off. t
"i tank I show you how to get off i
a wheel," she said with fire in her a
voice, "vcer, I tank I vill," ani ah she I
spoke she projected one of her feet and
kicked the wheel from under the rider. c
H-e fell into the dirt at the edge of the t
sidewalk and she walked on, and the o
wheel located itself on his stomach. o
And all he could hear as he picked e
himself up and caressed his bruises tl
was a voice coming to him from a tall, t
swift-striding Swede: ti
"Ya, ya; I tank I show him; I tank
so."-uMineapolis Journal. -- ' .
Hle Iarried Three Sisters.
As the first wife of Eradus3, £.8
of .Stratford Corners, N.'
4ng, 'he requested that: i f
again he select his -
her sisters, so"do
second wife dead hen mlade II
quest, and a day t otao he t
his third wife fro 0 me
She was Mertie C. Mlzad i
ty years old, while r husb
tbhrty-fivc,.-New York'P1eas.'
g * , ' * A .
POPULAR SCIENCEI.
Mexico has a 130-ton locomotive,
thQrnithologists have determined that
here e 8000 species of birds.
It is e "t an earthquake occurs
somewtiere in s rth every hour.
The honey bee has tiu. simplo or
single eyes arranged in a 'unple
between the two largo or compo.,14
eyes.
A large proportion of the marine
creatures found at a great depth in the
colder parts of the ocean are of a red
colar.
Bats are most curiously constructed,
the heart's action being aided by the
rhythmic contractions of the veinE of
the wings.
The astronomers have lately discov
ered timber on Mars, and have re
iterated their statement that the canals
are double.
An error of a thousandth part of a
second in an astronomical calculation
would mean a dilerenoc of two hun
dred billion]miles in the distance of a
star.
The latest scheme to fight the gypsy
moth in Massachusetts is to spray the
foliage with a chemical preparation
which afflicts the insect with an incur
able dyspepsia.
A ton of the water of the Dead Sea,
when evaporated, yields 187 pounds of
salt; a ton of the water of the Atlantic
Ocean eighty-one pounds; a ton of the
water of the Pacific eighty-one pounds.
One of the latest uses of mica, ac
cording to the Canadian Druggist, is
that of an ingenious Australian, who
has invented and introduced a mica
cartridge for sporting and military
guns.
A French physicist, M. Chassevant,
has found tha by adding alcohol to the
water the generation of acetylene gas
from calcium carbide can be regulated
much, better thank by using water
alone.
Mme. Audiffred, of Paris, has given
to the French Academy of Medicine a
sum of about $160,000, the interes of
which-about $4800-will be awarded,
wiithout regard to nationality, for the
discovery of a cure for tuberculosis.
A French scientist, M. G. L. Peace,
has come to the conclusion that the
north pole will never be reached by
the ordinary means usually adopted
by arctic explorers. From a special
study of the subject-it is not stated
where the studies were made, at Paris
or at the equator-he has arrived at
the conclusion that it may be reached
by a submarine boat.
Strange ThinAs in Alaska.
Professor L. L. Dyche, of the Unt
versity of Kansas, returned from t
'Alaska on the City of Topeka, and left n
last night by way of California for his
home. Professor Dyche went to Cook's
Inlet especially in search of natural
history specimens. He ascended to
the source of the Knik River with an
organized expedition, which was a
success, although the obstacles to be u
overcome were appalling. The native 1
boatmen stripped naked, and with
ropes pulled the boat up the turbulent i
river. Professor Dyche obtained
specimens of a new mountain sheep, r
twelve immense mooseheads, caribou, I
sea otter, birds and other small ani- I
mals. On July 17 Professor Dyche n
saw eight inches of snow fall, and on c
August 11 six inches fell. He saw t
three smoking mountains and exper
ienced an earthquake. Hlie found large t
coal ledges, but the coal was so soft it
could be whittled with a knife. Pro- I:
fessor Dyche said: t
"That country is one-half made. It 1
will be a good country when it is fin
ished. The glaciers are slowly doing I
their work; the mountains are smok
ing and the rivers are vomiting out c
quantities of quicksand. It is a new ,
country. Let it alone, and some day
it will be a good country."
Professor Dyche met Princess Tom,
.a famous Yakutat princess, wealthy
beyond all other Alaska Indians. She i
has $15,000 in gold twenties. On her i
right arm she wears five bracelets each
hammered out of a gold twenty, and j
on her left arm she wears ten bracelets
each made from a $10 gold piece. She
has hundreds of blankets, sea otter i
skins, etc., and owns a schooner and
two sloops. She is sixty-five years old
and has just obtained her fifth husband, I
a man twenty years old, for whom she
paid 500 blankets. The Thlingit
women manage the households and
hold the purse. The relationsbips are.
traced back through the mother's side.
It is, .in fact, almost a savage realiza
tion of Lytton' ' "'Coming Race."
Seattle Correspondence St. Louis
Globe-Democrat.
The Jewel Weed a Miniature Cannon. I
The most curious of all the ways of i
spreading the seeds is that adopted by
tne jewel weed. This is a handsome 7
lplant, often seen in shady places along (
brooks. It owes its name to the dew j
that in early morning hangs in glisten
ing drops, like small round din monds,' t
along the scalloped edges of the
leaves. Late in summer-in August a
and September-the jewel weed is
covered with pretty flowers, some
thing like snapdragon blossome,
orange-red spotted with brown. Later (
on, when the seeds are ripe, the light. (
est touch will make the pods that hold t
them burst open suddenly, and scatter
them far and wide, like shot from a 1
tiqy cannon. For this reason the ,
European jewelweed is known as Noli- '
me-tangere, which is Latin for "Touch a
t o ..:T he garden balsam, or
I j , a relative of the jewel- f
ci"* nie sort of elastlcally.
aSt. Nicholase. i
j onimrcial r iric%,
SoLive 'ool,' En
*rculare an
of a psarner, J
l6  ave th@; enr- v
ggs,'butter and I
9 the :flr
CURIOUS FACTS.
I Envelopes were first used in 1839,
at The best bricks in the world- are.
made by the tribes of Central Asia.
re The European hornet is much larger
than the common wasp, and has a
or temper in proportion to its size.
'le The "Giants' Club" in Berlin, Ger.
'4 many, admits to membership no one
"-O is less than six fget in height.
no Rece,., insurance statistics show
he that if the ws, die first, the husband,
ed on an average, su,;ives nine years.
The largest room in .q world is is
d. the imperial palace at St. rte sburg,
he Russia. It is 16J feet long b) 159
of wide.
A toadstool was found at Sparta,
IV Mich., the other day, which measured
'e- 4 feet in circumference, and weighed
us eight pounds.
When a dentist in China is pulling
a a tooth for a patron, an assistant
on pounds on a gong to drown the cries
n- of the victim.
a No human head was impressed of
coins until after the death of Alexan
sy der the Great. All images before that
he time were of dieties.
Cn Afire ata farmhouse near Axminster,
ir- England, was put out recently by
pumping on it cider from hogsheads,
a, as there was no water to be had.
of William Thompson, C. E., of Lonu
io don, received the idea of pneumatie
he tires from the pneumatic springs
'e which were proposod for carriages in
c- 1845.
An ostrich will never go straight to
10 its nest, but always approaches it with
ca many windings and detours, in order,
Ly if possible, to conceal the locality
from observation.
t, Many frescoes, some going back to
'c the fourteenth century, have been dis
c covered on the walls of the chruoh of
San Floriano, at Montefiascone, dur
ing recent repairs.
A subterranean grave, said. to be
n 10,000 years old, has been recently
a discovered at Sin Tai, China. The
grave contained a pair of vases and
candlesticks, besides some ancient or
10 naments.
There are no sheep in Japan, and
e, wool is not used as clothing, silk and
1 cotton being the staples. There are
3 no pigs-pdrk is an unknown article
of diet, and lard is not used in cook
d ing. Neither are there any goats, or
is mules, or donkeys.
it A circular saw fifty-four inches in
diameter at Buck's mills at Jackson
ville, Fla.,.flew into pieces while at
full speed and cut things up in a way
that shocked the hands. Some of the.
fragments slit their way through the
- roof, one piece cut a 6x12 timber in
n two, and another bit hurled against
a block of steel was welded by the irmn
' pact.
'6 ----~I--
l (!nail Fly at a P'assing Train.
o Attorney George Levinsky of the
n Stockton legal firm of Levinsky &
a Young, was the victim recently of as
'e strange an naccident as ever befell.a
e member of the bar.
h Mr. Levinusky is the attorney for the
t new Corral Hollow lailroad, which
d was built to convey coal 4rozn the im
4 mense Treadwell deposits, near Liver
' more, to Stockton, and during the
recent visit of the Native Sons to
e Stockton he concluded to take a party
a over the line to show them the beau
I ties of tlfb'sbenery and the engineer
- ing diflioulties that had to be overcome
e to construct it.
t He had a number of fiat cars fitted
up for seats for his guests, and one of
the new engines of the road was
t hitched to the train and the party
went bowling merrily through the
f hills and valleys toward the mines.
As the excursion train rounded a
curve and signaled a crossing, a bevy
Y of quails, aroused from its feeding
Y ground by the noisy engine, rose in a
body and, bewildered by the dust and
Srattle made by the train, flew straight
Y at it instead of away. They reached
e it just as the car containing Mr. Lev
r insky and several others were passing,
h and several of the passengers, moved
i by a sudden impulse, arose and waved
5 their arms at the birds. One fright..
e ened quail flew straight at Mr. Le,
r insky and struck him fairly in the
Seye, falling to the floor of the car as
d dead as though he had been reached
I by a charge of shot. Mr. Levinsky's
e eye was severely braised by the blow,
t and by the time the party returned to
d Stockton was so painful that he was
e. compelled to have it treated by a phyt
*siciap.-San Francisco Call.
- Mother Goose Legends. '
' Some little-known facts compiled by
the Philadelphia American:
"Three Blind Mice" is in a musie
book of 1609. "Little Jack Horner':"
f is older than the seventeenth century.
S"A Froggie Would A-Wooing Go" was
Bwritten in 1650. "Passy Cat, Pussy
F Cat, Where Have You Beeni?"sdateg
Sfrom the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
The author of "Cinderella," "Jack
the Giant Killer," "Blue Beard" and
c "Tom Thumb" was Charles Perrault,
a Frenchman, and written in 1697.
S"Boys and Girls Come Out to Play'"
dates from Charles II.
"Old Mother Hubbard," "Goosey,
r Goosey, Gander" and "Old Mother
SGoose"' weore first published in the six
1 teenth century.
r ".lumpty D)umpty" was a bold, bad
Sbaron, whbo lived in the days, of King
Jobhn, and was tumbled from power.
This history was put into a riddle, the
answer to which is an egg.
S"The Babes in the Wood" was
- founded on an actual crime committed
in the fifteenth century. An oldhouse
in Norfolk is still pointed out, upon a
mantel shelf on which the entire his -
Story is carved.
A Heavily I'axed Rector,
, A Lincolnshire (England) rector,
- writing in the London Times, says he
I has an income of exactly $1000 a year,
nd tht s year he has paid $220 out ot
itin rates and taxes,