The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-12-19

a storm. and suddenly almost felled
to the ground by catfish that
struck him on the head, and IN a
moment he was literally pelted with
the fishes. SO that his horse ran
away and he was in great danger.
Several thousand of the fishes were
rained down in this way, and it was
snsIly discovered that a whirlwind
had scooped them up, carried them
of. and hurled them again upon the
ground.
NO NAILS.
Japanese houses in the larger cit
les. such as Toxic, Nagasaki, Ha-
kraadi. ETC., are of one general shape,
being two stories high, and put to-
cether by a curious method of NOR
Using. at which these people are
adept. not one nail being used
throughout the construction of the
building. All interiors are OF the
bare grain of the wood and are kept
scrupulously clean by three and
sometimes four washings daily
SAVED BY DOG.
A fire occurred in shop occupl-
ed by a grocer named Perry. in Park
street west. Luton, a few nights ago.
The family were in bed, and were
awakened by a dog licking their
faces. By that time the flames had
obtained a complete hold OF the
lower part Of the building, and the
smoke was so dense that the IN
mates must have been suffocated in
a few ninues. As it was they es-
capped with difficulty, and the dog,
which was severely scorched, died IN
a few minutes after being taken out
of the burning building.
TIE TALLEsT BIRD STORY.
The tallest bird known to ethnol-
ogists was found by Professor Her
bert in the lower occene deposits
near Paris, France. 1t was over II
feet in height, and could have bitten
a mans head offas easily as a wood
pecker can nip cherry. The shell
of the egg of the Madagascar bird
VII hold 240 hens eggs.
CHOPPED THEIR WAY OUT.
Some sportsmen from Concord,
n. H., encamped near Moosehead
Lake were caught in the recent tor
nado in Piscataquis county, Maine.
On the morning after the tornado
they started TO getsout Of what was
a forest when they went in. They
took only their guns and blankets
On the first day they walked nine
and one-half hours and made only
two miles, and on the second day in
eleven and one-half hours they ad
vanced only four miles. They had
literally to chop their way out.
Men whose fortunes were in the
woods lost them in a few hours
One man had a yoke of oxen and
five span Of horses at a camp, and
had to kill them, as they could not
be brought out and food could not
be taken to them.
on A WHALE.
Among the fish stories told to
President Arthur last summer was
the following The harpooner
iammed in his iron, and the whale
sounded and came up three minutes
later Just like rocket, strikin' us in
bow and turnin' the boat over in
the air. We fell out. and when we
crawled in the boat and got clear
we saw the whale rushin' off along
the surface with Bob Cairns.
a standin' on him, holdin' on to the
harpoon. reckon they was goin' a
mile a minute, and it wasn't long
afore they was close onto the ship.
Bob, declinin' further passage, lept
of, and boat put off and picked
him up. He was nigh choaked with
fyin' spray, but outside o. that he
said il was all agreeable. The old
whales back was covered with bar
nacles, and that's what made it easy
for him to stick on.
AN EVIL EYE.
An old dsrkey in Raleigh went to
DR.. Blacknoll the other day and
complained against a young negro
out on the farm, who, he said had
had an evil eye. As evidence of the
fact he said "My COW died, my
mule wouldn't work. then went off
in the pasture and died, my dog
wouldn't come to my whistle, and
finally ran away and has never
come back. NY crops are of ne &C
count corn won't ripen. A few
days ago my wife went int the yard.
when our old rooster jumped on the
ash-hopper, tapped his wings three
times, tried to crow, couldn't, look
ed my wife square in the eye, went
right under the house and died in
five minutes. This was bad, but
worse things were to happen. Last
Wednesday found my spring liz
ard laid out on a rock by the spring,
dead and cut in two pieces.
TROUT FROM THE CLOUDS.
A Port Hope letter to the Toronto
Globe says: When Harry Shepherd
opened his store-it was raining
hard at the time-some OF the drops
that fell upon the side walk appear
ed TO be pretty large. On exami-
nation it proved that five speckled
trout between three and four inches
long had fallen from the clouds.
Mr.. Shepherd picked them up and
placed them In a pail of water,
where they swan around as lively
as if they had not taken such an
aerial flight Captain Robbins Sc,
Cured the finny strangers, and now
has them in glass vase for the in.
spection of the curious.
TRIAL BY TASTE
At the Roval Courts of Justice re-