Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-07-02
A Patent Scalp.SnatcIier.

CHc piGCDG anu IcCOHucllu IL 10 LILO In
dians. He called his invention "The
Patent Adjustable Atmo sphcric Scalp
Snatcllcr," and he offered exclusive ter
ritory for agents. The devise consists
of disc of thin lcathcrabout six inches
in diameter. In the center is hole
through which runs a string. When
the Indian owner kills man with {:
bald head he merely vets the leather,
stamps it carefully down upon the sur
face Of the scalp, slides his knife
around over the ears, gives the string a
jerk, and off comes the scalp as nicely
as if it had been adorned with hair a
yard long. "The machine, in fact"
said to Grubb, lis simply sucker
such as is used by the boys" "Prc-
ciscly." he replied 81 merely claim a
patent for the mode of application. I
want to make the red man happy.
wish to bring joy to the wigwam Of tue
Kickapoo and to make the heart of the
Arapahoe glad" "Did it never seem
to you, Mr.. Grubb, that the bald head
ed white man in such situation needs
succor just as badly as the Indian docs?''
Then Grubb said that if was going to
joke about it lie would go home. But
he stayed, and before he left 1 accepted
a general agency for this valuable in
vention. Persons wishing to examine
it can apply to me, and if any one de-
sires to test it's efficacy he can Dc so by
bringing bald headed corpse with
him. Experiments free of charge when
persons furnish their own cadavers.
How Humming. Birds Fight.
If two birds foraging come together,
says writer in the Popular Science
Monthly, they usually fight one drives
the other away, and then goes on feed
ing as if nothing had happened. Mr..
Gosse says :" Ii two vcrvain humming-
birds are about the moringo tree, one
fys off and s,lspends himself in the air a
few yards distant, the other presently
shoots off to him and then, without
touching each other, they mount upward
with strong, rushing wings, perhaps for
500 feet: They then separate, and each
shoots diagonally toward the ground,
like ball from a rifle, and, wheeling
round, comce up to the blossoms again,
as if it had not moved away at all. The
figure of the smaller humming-birds Oh
the wing, their rapidity, their arrowy
course, and their whole manner of flight,
are entirely those of IN insect; and one
who has watched the flight of a large
beetle, or bee, will have very good
idea of one of these tropic gems, paint
ed against the sky" Again he says !:
81 once witnessed a combat between
two mango humming-birds, which was
prosecuted with much pertinacity, and
protracted to an unusual Length. They
chased each other through the labyrinth
of twigs and flowers till, all opportunity
occurring, the one would dart with fury
upon the other, and then, with loud
rastling Of their wings, they would
twirl together round and round until
they nearly came to earth. At length
an encounter took place pretty close to
me, and T perceived that the beak of
the one grasped the beak of the other,
and, thus fastened, both whirled round
md round in their perpendicular de-
scent, till, when very near the ground,
they separated and the one chased the
other for about hundred yards, and
then returned in triumph to the tree.
they would suspend HOSTILE
ties to suck few blossoms, but mutual
was sure to bring them on
again, with the same result. In their
tortuous and rapid evolutions, the light
from their ruby nccks would now and
then flash in the sun with gem-like ra-
dance. The war lasted fully an hour,
and then 1 was called away from the
post of observation.
Hints on Sleep.
To literary men, preachers, teachers,
lawyers, doctors, journalists, and brain
workers in general, the following hints
arc exceedingly worthy attention: The
fact is, that as life becomes concen-
tratcd, and it's pursuits more eager,
short sleep and early rising become i'm
possible. We take more sleep than our
ancestors, and we take more sleep be-
cause VIC want more. Six hours sleep
will do very we'll for ploughman or
Gricklaycr or any other man who has
no exhaustion but that produced by
labor, and the sooner he takes
it after the labor the better. But for
the man whose labor is mental, the
stress is on his brain and nervous sys-
tenn, and for him who is tired in the
evening with day Of mental applica-
ton, neither early to bed nor early to
rise is wholesome. He needs letting
down to the level of rcpose. The
longer interval between the active use
of the brain and tie retirement to bed.
the better his chance Of sleep and T. =
TO him ali hour after mid
night is probably as good rs two hours
before it, and even then his sleep will
not 50 completely restore him as it will
his neigllbor who is physically tired.
His best sleep is in the early morning
hours, when all the nervous excitement
|l;.s passed away, and he is in absolute
rest.