The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1881-11-23
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.


ONE oyster may lay as many as 2,OOO,'
900 eggs year.
A BLOW from the leg Of an ostrich
will break q mans Leg.
A WOLF. like tiger, having once
eaten man, prefers him to all else for a
dinner, and il he attacks ul0n it il
proof that he has already dincd of ono
or had hydrophobh.
THE sea cucumber, one Of the curious
jelly bodies that mhNbit the ocean, can
practically ellace himself when il danger
by squeezing the water ont OF bis body
and forcing himself into narrow crack
so narrow as not to be visible to the
naked eye. lie can throw out nearly
whole OF his inside, and yetliyeand grow
it again.
ACCORDING to writer in Nature, the
small migratory birds that are unable to
perform the flight of $50 miles acrosstho
Mediterranean sea are carried across on
the backs of cranes. In the autumn
many iiocks Of cranes may be seen com
ing from the north, with the first cold
blast from that quarter, flying low nu&
uttoring peculiar cry, ~ ii OF alarm,
US they circle over the cultivated plains.
Little birds Of every species may be
seen flying up to them, whIie the twjt-
tering songs of those already comfortably
settled upon their backs mny be dis.
tinctl Y heard But for this kind pro.
vision Of nature, numerous varieties a.
small birds would become extinct il
northern countries, as the cold winters
wouldkill them.
BANK OF ENGLAND notes are made
from pure white linen cuttings-ncvcr
from rags that have been worn. So
carefully is the paper prepared that even
the number of dips into the pulp made
by each individual workman is regis
tered on dial by machinery, and the
sheets are carefully counted and booke'
to each person through whose hands
they pass. The printing is done by u
most curious process within the bank
building. There is an elaborate AZ
Inngomcnt for securing that no nOto
shall he exactly like any other in exist
cncc consequently there never has lecH
duplicate bank note except By forgery.
The stock OF paid notes for seven years
is said to amount to 9i,O00,00O, and to
fill 10000 boxes, which, il placed sido
by side, would cover over three miles in
extent
In England the north side Of a church,
yard is objected to as place of burial
The old ecclesiastical reason is this
"The cast is Gods side, where iIis
throne is -et; the west is man i side, TIE
Galilec Of lho GrntlIcs; the south is the
side of the angels and Of the spirit
made Just, where the sun shines III its
strength. The north is the devils side,
where Satan and his legion lUrIi to catch
the uuwary." Some churches have still
q "devil's door" III the north wall, which
was opened at baptisms and commun-
ions to let the devil ont. Miles Ever
dale. in his " Praying for the Dead, "
A. ID. 1885, says: " As they die, SO shall
| they arise; ii III faith i'll the Lord, to-
ward thesouth, aud shall arise
in glory; il in unbehef, = to-
ward the north, then me they past all
hope"
The disproportlon OF the costs OF
lawsuit to the damages obtained waA
probably never greater than in Il case
argued by William H. Seward in lS4S.
A newspaper addressed to Il Miss FELTON,
was received at the Syracuse pOstoilce.
The Postmaster refused to deliver tho
paper without letter postage, because the
initials of the sender were on the wrap
per. The lady sued in n Justices court
ior the value OF the paper, and was
awarded 6 cents damages. The Post
master appealed, and the case was car
ried successively to the Court OF Com
mon Pleas, the Supreme Court OF tho
State, the Court of Appeals and the
United States Supreme Court, each al
tirming the original decision. When tn,
case entered the last tribunal $l36.9 90 in
costs had been added to the 6 cents danr
ages.