The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-10-15
BITS OF INFORMATION.

TOBIAS HoBsoN was the first man in
England who let out hackney horses.
When a man came for horse he was
led into the stable, where there was a
great choice, but he was obliged to take
the horse which stood next to the stable
door, SO that every customer was alike
well served, according to his chance,
hence it became a proverb, when what
ought to be your election was forced
upon you, to say, "Hobson's choice"
BLUE HEN is the nickname given to
the State of Dlaware. The origin of
the term is this: Capt. Caldwell, an
officer of the First Delaware regiment
In the Revolution, was very fond of
game cocks, but maintained that no
cock was truly game unless its mother
was "blue hen." AS he was an ex-
ceedingly popular man, his regiment was
called 1.-THE Blue Hens" and the term
was afterward transferred to the State
and its inhabitants.
TENNIS is a game of great antiquity
1t was practiced by the Greeks and Ro-
mans under the name of paume, a name
given to it from the ball being at that
time struck with the palm of the hand.
vogue In France among all classes, from
the monarch to the meanest subjects.
The game in England kept pace with its
progress in France, and from the six
teenth to the eighteenth century was
generally practiced under the name of
tennis, especially by the higher classes.
Many notifications have been intro
duced from time to time, and the paume
and tennis of former days is the present
game of rackets.
PADDLE-wHEELs were patented In En-
gland by VIM. Patrick Miller in 1857,
and it is said that he and Mr.. Syming-
ton soon after constructed n small steam
boat, which ran five miles an hour. If
this is true, then to them belongs the
honor of operating the first steamboat,
otherwise the honor should be given to
w. Symington, who made passage on
the Forth and Clyde canal in 1889. In
1901 the first experiment In steam navi-
cation on the Thames was made. In
1903 Fulton ran his steamboat Clermont
on the Seine, at Paris, and in 1906 at
New York. All of these were merely ex-
periments, and the first steamboat in the
world which served as practical means
of transportation was put upon the Hud-
son river by Fulton in 1907.
GEORGE BRUMMELL, commonly called
"Beau" Brummell, was celebrated
leader of fashion in the time of George
III. He was considered the arbiter and
autocrat in matters of foppery, even the
Prince of Wales (afterward George Nv. }
yielding to him in that respect. His
end was a sad one. In 1916, through
the pressure of clamorous creditors, he
took up his residence at Calais, and
lived there for some years, maintained,
it is said, solely by the kindness of his
friends. His last years were rendered
dismal by disease and paralyzed reason.
1t is related of him that he used to sit
by the hearth alone, under the impress
sion that he was giving a fine evening
party, having lighted card tables in his
room, and his servant TO announce the
imaginary entries of the gay and dis
tinguished who had attended at his in
vitations in London thirty years before.
Fiction has nothing superior to this.
The poor "Beau" was Mt last brought
so low by disease that, but for the relig-
ieus enthusiasm of the Sisters of Char
ity, he must have died unattended. This
event took place in 1S40