Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-07-02
CURIOUS, USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.
FAST SPEAKERS.

FAST SPEAKERS.
The present average of speaking il
the United States Senate is about 15(
words per minute, though there are
several speakers who utter over 200
Among the fastest speakers at present
are Senators Beck, Hawley, Plumb and
Morgan. Beck leads the list. Senator
George of Mississippi, is perhaps the
slowest. Daniel Webster was g very
slow talker, and he would not average
over 100 words minute. Henry Clay
spoke much faster, rolling out about
$50 words minute. Calhoun was al
SO slow until he became reused up with
enthusiasm of his subject, when his
words would flow more rapidly. New
Orleans Times Democrat.
A PARROT THAT SAVED A LIFE.
A sailor tells of parrot he saw in
Spain which spoke Spanish, murdered
French, knew some verses of Racine
could say grace, repeat the fable of the
crow and count thirty louis. They
dared scarcely to hang his cage at the
window, for when it was there and the
weather was fine the parrot talked cease
lessly. It said everything it knew,
apostrophized all passers-by, except
women, and talked politics. To one OF
these birds Prince Leon owed his life.
He had been condemned to death by
his father, and the parrot took it SO
much to heart that he kept repeating,
"Alasl my poor Leon" and the sor-
row of the bird made such an impress
sion on the brutal father that he re-
leased his son. Pittsburg Dispatch.
THE ENGLISH MINT.
An eminent English Mint official,
who prides himself on his ability as q
coiner, states that England at the pres
ent time is losing $1,000,000 year on
silver money, and that the calling in of
the condemned half sovereign will cost
her $250,000 a year for some years.
The recoining of the old sovereigns in
to new ones also entails a heavy loss.
The only paying department. at the
Royal Mint is that from which the
bronze coinage is issued, and that
shows an annual profit of 100000.
While England is thus losing in gold
and silver, it must be satisfactory to
feel that, in what one of her alderman
called the other day "the merry, merry
brown" she is doing money-making
business in more senses than one
Philadelphia Bulletin.
MUSICAL OWL.
The Rev. Leonard Jenyns, author of
observations of Natural History" tells
an owl story. He knew tame owl that
was so found of music that he would
enter the drawing-room of an evening,
and, perching on the shoulders of the
children, listen with great attention to
the pianoforte, holding his head first
| on one side and then on the other, after
the manner of connoisseur. One
night, suddenly spreading his wings,
as if unable to endure the rapture any
longer, he aligbted on the keys, and,
driving away the fingers of the per-
former with his beak, began to hop
about the keys himself, apparently in
great delight with his own execution.
This pianist was born in the woods
of Mort cumberland, and belonged to a
friend of the relater Of the story.
THE ISLANDS OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
Mr.. Cabot, who wrote the narrative OF
the Agassiz expedition of 1851, estimat-
ed that there were nearly &c. 900 islands
in the lake, most of which lie across the
mouth of these three bays, and along
Point Magnet, which bends westward
from the extremity of Nipigon, and as
we passed between them and the main
land there was at times an impression
that one was floating down some river
like the Danube or the Rhine. Again,
the effect was of submerged mountain
chain, while still again the appearance
was wholly like the sea as we swept by
breezy headlands with projecting reefs
of dark brown rocks fringed with curl
ing foam, or stopped to sketch some
broken pile of blocks richly notified
with patches OF yellow, brown and green
and crispy with it's brilliant ichen coat
i Harper's for June.
RISKS OF SOLDIERS LIFE.
But what, after all, are the risks to
life in battle such as Waterloo? We
can form some notion of this by a sort
of analogy, if we are content to accept
the statement of Marshal SAKE, said to
be high authority on such matters
who lays it down as a truth, that fo1
each man killed in battle the weight OF
an average-sized man is expended in
lead. This is said to have been veri-
fed at Solferino, where the Austrians
fired 100000 rounds, and killed 1900
of the enemy, which gives 400 rounds
per man killed. Taking bullet at one
ounce weight, we have 1920 ounces
or over eighteen stone about equal tc
one average man and half; SO the
Marshal was under the mark. If these
figures are reliable it would seem that
in battles, as with pugnacious dogs
there is noise out of all proportion to
the amount of damage DONE Cham
| bers' Journal. "
BIG DEMAND FOR GIRLS.
Hon. J. 3. Otway, member of the
Dominion Parliament, is responsible
for the following story: "The girls
friendly society," London institution
sent some seventy young women te
Canada to find homes, Their mos
sanguine. expectation was to find EN-
/ ployment in domestic service. One O.
them was particularly bright and