The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-10-20
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.

ONE oyster may lay as many as 2 ,0OO,-
uUO eggs a year.
A BLOW from the leg of an ostrich
viii break a mans leg.
A WOLF. like q tiger, having once
eaten man, prefers him to all else for a
dinner, and if he attacks a man it is
proof that he has already dined off one
or had hydrophobia.
THE sea cucumber, one of the curious
jelly bodies that iphabit the ocean, can
practically efface himself when il danger
by squeezing the water out of his body
and forcing himself into a narrow crack
so narrow as not to be visible to the
naked eye. He can throw cut nearly
whole of his inside, and yetlivean grow
it again.
ACCORDING to o writer in Nature, the
small migratory birds that are unable to
perform the flight of $50 miles acrossthe
Mediterranean sea are carried across on
the backs of cranes. In the autumn
many focks of cranes may be seen COM
ing from the north, with the first cold
blast from that quarter, flying low, and
uttering a peculiar cry, as if of alarm,
as they circle over the cultivated plains.
Little birds of every species may be
seen flying up to them, while the twit-
tering songs of those already comfortably
settled upon their backs may be dis
tinctly heard. But for this kind pro-
vision of nature, numerous varieties of
small birds would become extinct in
northern countries, as the cold winters
wouldkill them.
BANK OF ENGLAND notes are made
from pure white linen cuttings-never
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 a dial by machinery, and the
sheets are carefully counted and booked
to each person through whose hands
they pass. The printing is done by a
most curious process within the bank
building. There is an elaborate ar
rangement for securing that no note
shall be exactly like any other in exist
ence ; consequently there never has been
a duplicate bank note except by forgery.
The stock of paid notes for seven years
is said to amount to "a, 900, 600, and to
fill 10, 600 boxes, which, if placed side
by side, would cover over three miles In
extent.
In England the north side of q church.
yard is objected to as a place of burial,
The old ecclesiastical reason is this
"The east is Gods side, where HiI
throne is set; the west is mans side, the
Galilee of the Gentiles; the south is the
side of the angels and of the spirits
made just, where the sun shines in it,
strength. The north is the devils side
where Satan and his legion lurk to catcl
the unwary." Some churches have still
a "devil's door" in the north wall, which
was opened at baptisms and commun
ions to let the devil out. Miles Ever
dale, in his praying for the Dead,
A. D. 1886, says: GAS they die, so shall
they arise; if in faith in the Lord, to
wardthe south, y y y and shall arts,
in glory; if in unbelief, = = = to
ward the north, then are they past al
hope"
The disproportion of the costs of
lawsuit to the damages obtained wa
probably eve greater than in a cas-
argued by William 81. Seward in 184e
"A newspaper addressed to a Miss Felto
was received at the Syracuse postofice
The Postmaster refused to deliver tn
paper without letter postage, because tn
initials of the sender were on the wraI
per. The lady sued in a Justices com
for the value of the paper, and wa
awarded 6 cents damages. The Pos
master appealed, and the case was ca,
ried successfully to the Court of Con
mon Pleas, the Supreme Court of I'll
State, the Court of Appeals and I'll
United States Supreme Court, each a
frming the original decision. When I'll
case entered the last tribunal $136. 80
costs had been added to the 6 cents dan
QOaS