The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-02-16
CLIPPINGS FOR THE CURIOUS.

The first street-car line in the world
was the Fourth avenue line to Har-
lem, opened in New York in 1882.
AT Stalvenfels-on-the Rhine there is
an ancient church reduced to ruins
through lawsuit about tithes, which
lasted forty years.
Rats in mine give warning of dan
ger by running about uneasily, and in
great numbers. The miners are in
clined to treat them with great kind.
ness.
In 1916 Lord Schworterbuy gave
1886 francs for tooth of Isaac New
ton, which is now set in a ring and
worn by the eldest branch of that
family.
The oldest tree on earth is probably
the cypress of Santa Maria del Tule, in
the Mexican state of OaXaca. 1t is
still growing, and in 1851 it measured
forty-two feet in diameter.
Among the Romans of the first and
second centuries were certain societies
called Colleffia, the members of which
took their meals in common, and by
regular payments prepared a fund for
their burial and for festival.
There are at present no fewer than
ten establishments in France devoted
to the propagation of bait for the use
of anglers, and one of these breeders
sells from 30,000,000 to 100000 of
worms per annum, deriving handsome
income from the business.
-Four empires were constituted from
the fragments of that of Alexander.
Selencus Nicator had control of the
countries between the Mediterranean
and the Indus; Lysimachus of Thrace
and Asia Minor Cassahder of Mace
donia and Greece, and Ptolemy Of
Egypt.
Among the antique articles in pos
session of Mr.. Sewell, of Maine, are
set of pewter plates bearing the seal of
King Richard and supposed to be more
than 400 years old also, one large sill
yer spoon, which represents all the
money received for building a saw and
grist mill-the payment having been
made in silver and then cast into the
spoon.
When Darius set out upon his famous
expedition against Athens, in 492 BIC,
he took with him a block of marble to
be set up as monument of his victory;
but by order of the people, after the
battle of Marathon, Phidias cut this
into statue of Nemesis. The arms
and shields gathered from the field
were melted and cast into a statue of
Pallas, which was placed on the
Acropolis
A number of years ago Henry Clay
was presented with cane. The staff
is of live oak cut from tree that over
Swallowed the tomb of Cicero and the
head is made of verd antique, obtained
from the house of Columbus, at Genoa.
1t is octagonal, and ornamented with
exquisite media lions of those two
famous orators of ancient and modern
times-Rome's Cicero and Americas
Clay.
In what is claimed to be the most
delicate pair of scales in the world, &C
cording to the account given in the
scientific papers, the beam is made of
rye straw, and together with the pans,
which are made of aluminium, weighs
only fifteen grains. In the most deli
cate scale heretofore made the beam
and pan weighed sixty-eight grains,
the beam being made of aluminium, and
and the instrument was capable of
weighing to the 1000 Of grain.
This new scale, however, weighs to the
10000 of grain. a piece of hair
one inch long, on being weighed with
this wonderful apparatus, was found
to represent the almost infinitesimal
quantity of 1000 of grain.