American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-09-23
HERE AND THERE.

A CRAZY man was tied fast in Wag-
on for transportation to Blountville,
Ky. He yelled so loudly that the fright
9ened horses ran away, throwing out the
two keepers and breaking an arm OF
each. Then the lnnatic seized thereinS, q
controlled the horses, drove to the asy-
lrm, and delivered himself up.
A FRIGHTFuL tragedy has taken place
at Finistere, in France. A man, seized
with a sudden fit of madness, set fire to
his house, after having barred the doors
upon his wife and four children. The
whole family persisted, and when the
remains were discovered they were re-
duced to cinders.
/ IT is a curious fact, and one not gem
orally noticed, that the title of Beacons-
field, now assumed by Mr.. Disrae1i, oc-
ours in his earliest novel, where Lord
Beaconsfeld and his family are repeat
eddy mentioned. It was suggested to
the novelist, of course, bysits associa-
ton with Waller and with Burke. both
Iof whom lived and both of whom lie
buried within the precincts of that little
Buckinghamshire village : SHD
q A-SXNFKxNcIscop paper furnishes an
interesting aocount Ssf Edwin Booth's 8
first experience of acting. Itwas when
he was 70 years Of age. He then orr
ganized small company of boys, and "
established miniature theater in a
Baltimore residence I The admission
fee was two cents. One of the menu
beers of the troupe, who afterwards ber.
came almost as famous as Booth, was.
John Sleeper, who, when he adopted
the stage as a profession, added thea
name of Clarke, and became famous as
J.. S. Clarke.
A CURIOUS discovery has been made =
in the convent of Santa Maria la Nuova
at Rome, which formerly belonged to
the Franciscan monks. 1t consists, in
three underground cells, accessible only,
through hidden trap-door, and where
monks guilty Of grave offenses were,
probably, put. In the first there is
little light, through an opening in the 2
wall; the second is narrower and dark
err; the third is without a ray of light.
and is a dismal hole. Sinister and >
mostly obliterated inscriptions cover
the walls, and numerous Instruments
! of torture, as well as human bones,
were found.
FROM the weather reports Kept in .
London it has been ascertained that
thunder-storms are becoming less and
less frequent every, year in the vicinity
\ of the city. The cause is thought to be
the publication of the Thames and the 4
improved drainage Of the city. 1t has
also been found that the course of the B
most violent thunder storms follows the
line of polluted rivers, sstagnant pools,
swampy, grounds, and badly drained /.
towns, which exhale large volumes OF
nitrous, sulphurous and other unwhole-
some vapors.
AooNDucroR on the Midland Railway =
at Jersey City noticed that the ticket OF q
a certain /" commuter u lasted AN unui
sual time, and, though. he punched two 7.
holes, in 1T daily, the number Of trips,
left did not perceptibly diminish. One
morning he examined it carefully and
bent it, when several pieces fell from y
former punch-holes. The gentleman Of
had been in the habit of picking UP theo
fpieces as they dropped from the con- 2
dlduetor's punch and restoring them 8.
carefully to their places, SO that their :,
lrestoration was not noticeable except
|upon close inspection. The company .
does not propose to sell the offender s
any more ticlzets,a and has posted - NOS =
ttice to that effect in its ticket-ofice :gsHoi
I LEVI TAYLOR, of Iowa, exhibits at
the Centennial Exhibition perhaps the 2
4 smallest steam-engine in the world. 1t
has for its foundation 25-cent gold
piece, and many of its parts are so 9
minute that they can not be seen with ~
out magnifyingl glass; III has the ;
regular steam-gauge, and, though com,
i plete in every particular, the entire ap-
paratus weighs only seven grains, while
the engine proper weighs but three
| grains. It is made of steel, gold and
4 platinum The fiy-whee1 is only 1 OF e
an inch in diameter, the stroke is one
! twenty-fourth of an inch, and the cut
! off one sixty-fourth of an inch. This
miniature engine has been placed in
Machinery Hall, alongside of the pom
derous and graceful Corliss engine, and 70
the contrast is most remarkable. fsioJs
THE most extraordinary balloon ad
venture on record has just happened to
the aeronants of the Alexandra Palace
Company, London. Having attained
height of 5000 feet, they three times
crossed the Thames, and descended in
a largo meadow near Ethan, Kent.
They were just letting off the gas when
a large bull charged them, believing
furiously. They threw the two last
bags of sand out of the car, and barely
escaped through the rising of the bal
loon. The bull scattered the contents
of the sand bags over the ground, and
his horns, becoming entangled with the
4 grapnel rope, set the grapnel ree'
throwing one aeronant out of the car
through the jerk. Fortunately he sue
ceeded in clutching the netting, and,
with his companions assistance, was
hauled into the car before it had ascend
ed many hundred feet. They then sailed
away for a mile, and descended in an A
other meadow. a-'Hf a3.r-- q
KINDER is the looking-glass than the
wine glass, for the former reveals our