The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-08-08
Facts and Figures.

q. y /.
There are said to still be 100000
cannibals in the world.
, T The sugar cane of Louisiana has de.
generated to such an extent that the
planters have sent an agent to Java and
Sumatra to procure vigorous cane from
the East Indies. s5S, -
A pleasure excursion from Bremen to
this country is one of the principal top
les of conversation in Berlin at present.
The trip is all arranged, and a number
of prominent Fatherlanders, who have
never shifted the air of the salt sea, will
dare the deed of a passage across the
Atlantic to see the land of whose WON
drous growth and increasing Importance
they have heard and read 50 much.
The Elizabethtewn, Ky, NeOs tells
this From our young friend, John
Wells, who has been on q visit to his re-
lations in the country, we learn that at
the residence of Mr.. William Sprigg
there is an old hen that flies up into a
mulberry tree, picks off the berries, and,
having satiated herself, fastens her
claws to the limb and shakes off some for
the little chiclzies that stand underneath
with beaks wide open ready to catch the
tempting fruit.
A Louisianian has invented method
of extracting bee honey from the comb
by means of centrifugal process, which
acomplishes its work without breaking
the comb further than uncapping the
cells. The comb is then replaced in
sliding compartments fitted to the hive,
and the bees at once commence TO refill
the cells thus saving the labor Of con-
structing twenty pounds of comb, bee
bread and wax in order to preserve enc
pound of honey. -asH
1t is now said that the Colorado des-
ert was once the bed of sea. Careful
instrumental observations have lately
been made which seem to establish the
fact beyond doubt, proving that, either
through the gradual exhaustion of the
sources of water supply, or through
some more sudden natural convulsion,
the heart of the continent, once occu-
pied by vast expanse Of water, has
been drained, within q comparatively
short space of time, and changed to dry
land. ....
The traffic in alligator skins is becom-
ing quite an item in commercial circles.
During the past five months gentleman
of Jacksonville, Fla, has shipped to par
ties in Boston l, 400 alligator skins. If
the traffic in these hides should continue
unabated during the next season, it is
evident that those who go to Florida for
the purpose of shooting these interest
ing reptiles will be compelled to pene-
trate far into the wilds of the State, and
the success of the sport will be. some
what limited.
A traveller in Florida writes: "This
is the land where towns consist of one
house, where steamboats, make eight
miles an hour, where railroads carry you
four miles an hour, ION my honor, they
are four hours going sixteen miles from
Tocoi to st. Augustine); where the
happy maxim rules, never do to-day
what you can put off till tomorrow
where the mail comes semi occasionally.
where the newspaper is almost as rare
as snow storm and where kilograms
are unknown"
We probably shall not feel any cooler
by rejecting that others are suffering
still more than we from the fierce rays
of the sun, but some churlish persons
may find comfort in the thought. For
the benefit of such we note from Bom-
bay paper that the thermometer was
lately ll5 degrees in the shade at ALA
habad, and 116 degrees at Hyderabad,
and that the wells were drying up and
men and beasts dying of thirst. 1t is
our opinion that Allahabad and Hyder-
abad have horrid bad weather at this
season.
The stock Of guano On the islands
near Peru is nearly exhausted, and it is
estimated that the supply from these
sources will fail within four years. A
Peruvian journal published at Lima
says, however, that immense guano beds
have been discovered on the mainland
north of Callao, of a quality superior to
that found on the celebrated Chincha
Islands. This discovery is the result of
an expedition set on foot by Harry
Meigs, the great railroad contractor.
Another expedition sent to place near
Pisco, where it was reported there were
large deposits, ascertained that no guano
was to be found there. The beds north
of Callao, where it is said that millions
upon millions of this valuable fertilizer
lie within easy reach, are the resort of
sea lions in immense numbers.
At Evansville, Ind, little child six
years of age, named Harry, the son of j.
w. Wartman, clerk of the United States
court, was attacked on the street by
hogs, and badly, though it is believed
not fatally injured. A gentleman named
William Brown happened to be near at
the time, or the child would have been
killed. The hogs next turned upon Mr..
Brown, and it was with difficulty that
he managed to escape. A gentleman,
writing of the affair, says: "The hogs
tore all the child's clothes of, and bit
fearfully in many places, chiefly on the
right arm. l suppose there are twenty
or thirty wounds from the elbow to the
shoulder, and some of them quite deep.
He was also bitten on the head, breast,
back, and one of his legs, though many
of the wounds are mere bruises"
An Oregon correspondent says: This
is lovely country, as it lies unrolled
before us-the green fields and forests
glowing, and the wide rivers sparkling
under the bright light of june sun
All of the Oregonians feel its influence
and all praise the beauty of their land
! which to their minds is without a peer
They are never tired of talking about il
,, and, when away from it, sigh to return
: to its shades, and for a view of its land
scapes, which are really magnificent, anC
!. which possess for them a wondran
! charm, found not elsewhere in this broaC
land. There is a sort of dreamy quie