Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-12
RITES.

Alligator steak is getti * to be q luxury
In Florida.
A Dresden manufacturer has manu-.
featured O paper watch. He exhibits it,
and claims II. Is as serviceable Is ordinary
watches.
The largest object glass in use Is the &c.
inch lens at Washington, with q focal
length of thirty-three feet. Its light.
gathering power is 16, 0C0 times that OF the
unsided eye.
The borers of an artesian well In San
Bsrnardino, CAL, have encountered at the
depth OF $50 feet q tree which stands per.
pendicularly. Great pieces of the wood,
which appears to be sycamore, are brought
up in the pipes.
Millardet, q Swiss mechanician, exhib,
tied ia London In the last century, q
female figure that played eighteen tunes
on the piano with all the motions of ma.
tural life, the eyes following the move.
ments of the fingers on the keys, the press.
ure of which produced the notes.
A remarkable botanical specimen is re.
ported to exist in Pedur, India, in the
form Of q date palm, which changes its
position morning and evening. The tree Ia
eleven feet In height, and in the afternoon
Is inclined 80 near the ground that chill.
dren may pluck It's fruit from brsnche,
which, In the morning, are far above their
reach.
A man by the name of Charles Moon,
who is. employed in a Denver billiard
saloon, swallowed q live bullfrog on a
wager last Thursday evening, after which
he drank q glass Of whisky, and said he
felt remarkably well. The frog Is reported
to have been six inches log and two
inches across the breast.
The Oldest tree in the world, says
Knowledge, so far ns any one knows, Is the
Botree of the sacred city Of A~marapoors,
10 Burmsh. 1t was planted 2SS B. O., and
If, therefore, now 2,l70 years old. Sir
James Emerson Tennet gives ms for
believing that the tree is really of this
wonderful age, and refers to historic docu.
ments In which 1t Is mentioned ct diff srent
dates, ns 1872 A. d., 1923 A. D., and so on
to the present day. ITO It," says Sir
James, "kings have ever dedicated their
dominions, in testimony of belief that It ID
9 branch Of the identical fig tree under
which Buddha reclined at UIumelyA when
he under vent his apotheosis." It's leaves
are carried away rs streamers by pilgrims,
but 1t Is too sacred to touch with q knife,
and, therefore, they are only gathered
when they fall. The King oak In Wind,
cor Forest, England, is 1000 years old.
There Is . curious clock In Japan. This
clock, In n frame three feet high and five
long. represents q noon landscape of great
loveliness. Iu the foreground were plum
and cherry trees and rich plants in full
bloom; in the rear q hill, gradual in ascent,
from which flowed q cascade admirably
initiated In crystal. From this plant o
thread'like stream glided along, encirclipg
in its winding rocks and tiny islands, but
presently losing itself In u far-otf stretch
of woodland. Inthe sky turned a golden
sun, indicating as 1t passed the striking
hours, all marked upon the frame below,
where a slowly.creepipg tortoise erved at
a hand, A bird of exquisite plumags,
resting by its wings, proolsimedthe expira.
tion of each. When the song ceased, o
mouse sprang from y grotto near by, and
runniug over the hill, hastily disappeared.
Vaucanson. n mechanical genius, made
IN automatic flute player and piper in
1888, which were the wonders of their
time. The flutist was a figure OF FIVE feet.
standing on q pedestal, within which were
uine pairs of bellows. worked by clock.
work. The motion of the lips, fingers and
tongue were all initiated by this figure,
which, by various arrangements of valves,
tubes, levers aud wheels, is said to have
produced music little inferior to the per,
Torrance of a skilled iute.player. The
| piper was constructed much on the SAM
principal. The bellows Of his instrumen,
required A56.pound weight to produce the
highest note. As the fatigue of playing
the pipes usually osnssd the performer
when playing rapidly, to slur over some o.
the notes. the mimic piper, imper, lou
alike to WEAKNESS and shortness of breath
. accredited with having excellsd 4
living n In the clearness Of the notes.