The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-07-18
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.


men stand next below newsboys in thc
scale of journalistic opulence.
The simple expcdient of driving dow1
an iron pipe saved the life of Lev
Blanchard, who was recently buried ir
q well in Melrose, Mass. 1t was three
hours before he was rescued, but the
pipe gave him air to breathe, and he re-
covered.
An industrious lady of Garner, MINI.
was seen day after day of last week
standing upon the topmost round of a
tall ladder, with paint brush in hand
slapping the white paint upon the walls
of a two-story building just as naturally
and effectually as could one of The lords
of creation in breeches.
An old writer has quantity said =
God looks not at the oratory of our
prayers, how eloquent they are nor Mt
their geometry, how long they arc; nor
at their arithmetic, how many they are
nor at their logic, how methodical they
are; but He looks at their sincerity,
how spiritual they are
The rats of a certain locality in Hope
well, N. j., recently migrated in two
consecutive nights to another neighbor-
hood. Hundreds of tracks were visible
where they crossed the road. How they
prearranged the time of starting, the
going in two distinct crowds, and some
other questions, are more easily asked
than answered.
An exchange says: "Ole Bull, when
young, attempted suicide, and now he is
the best violinist in the world. There
is young man in our neighborhood
who plays the accordeon, and he is not
success. Probably if he were to at
tempt suicide he would learn much fas-
ter. Should he succeed in his attempt
at suicide, we would be just as we'll sat
isied."
Virginia has amended her constitution
so as to make it lawful to receive any
rate of interest, not exceeding twelve
per cent. per annum, which may be
agreed upon by the original parties and
specified in the note, bond, or other
writing evidencing the debt. The mo-
tive of the amendment is doubtless to
attract capital to that State for invest
ment.
There is new invention in fishing.
Out in West Virginia they sink TN
cartridge containing pound Of nitro
glycerine to the bottom of the river, ex-
plode it by an electrical battery, and
then pick up the fish, stunned but not
killed, on the surface. At the falls of
Kanawha, the other day, one fellow, with
three pounds of nitro-glycerine, took
$50 pounds of fish.
Denmark has school furnished for a
thousand children. One session is held
in the morning and another in the after
noon, and each session is attended by a
different body of children, both being
under the same general head. The
pupils. therefore, attend school only a
half day. The system is said to work
well, and might perhaps be adopted
with advantage in some of our crowded
cities.
The lay delegates in the late Episcopal
Convention of Ohio started league to
provide for the families Of deceased
ministers. Every subscriber to pay two
dollars on the death of any clergyman
resident within the diocese. On the
basis of nine thousand communicates,
it was thought there could be obtained
three thousand subscribers, securing to
the family of deceased clcrgymen the
sum of $4,000.
1t should be generally known that
water standing over night in the lead
or copper pipes in houses accumulates
enough poison to become dangerous for
drinking or cooking purposes. Gases Of
poisoning have been traced also to
water that had remained for O con-
siderable time in IN ordinary ice pitcher
a most alarming discovery when one
considers how general the use Of me-
tallic ice-pitchers has become
The statistics of pauperism in Eng
land are frightful. On the lst of Janu-
ary last the number Of persons in re-
oeipt Of relief from the poor rates in
England and Wales was 9Sl ,Oi2, or ono
in twenty-three Of the population; of
the number, l6 per cent were receiving
in. door relief and 81 per cent. outdoor
relief. The most significant part Of the
figures is that Of the pauper population
1882 are able-bodied adult males and
ll4,247 able-bodied adult females.
The Lebanon (Ky.) STANDARD says:
" In cutting into his counter the other
day, in making an elevator, Mr.. George
w. Graves discovered a rats nest which
contained about quart Of fragments of
bills and $3.50 Of unmutiiated cur
rency. The fragments comprise por-
tions of So, 81, and 81 bills, and differ
ent denominations Of fractional cur
rency. Thus are accounted for a num-
Der Of losses incurred years ago, which
the loser was at the time wholly unable
to explain"
A miniature Dead Sea has been dis
covered in Nevada. 1t lies in TN oval
basin, $50 feet below the surface of the
plain, the banks shelving down with as
much symmetry as If fashioned by art.
The water Of this lake is impregnated
with soluble substances, mostly borax,
soda and salt, to a degree that renders
1t almost ropy with slime, and so dense
that person con float ON it without
effort. This lake has no visible outlet
or inlet, but being Of great depth is
fed by springs far down in the
earth.
The early-closing movement In Lon
don has proved beneficial, not only to
the clerks, but to their employers. The
clerks are of course benefited by the ad-
ditienal time allowed them for mental
and physical exercise, and the merchant
finds himself recompensed for shortened
hours in the increased energy with
which his assistants apply themselves to
their duties. The compensation of
clerks is still so insignificant as to make
the requirement of some manual trade