The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-05-15
Items of Interest,

Chinese doctors induce faith in their
prescriptions by making them Of gigantic
size. A writer in the Fortsoirin des-
cribes one of them two feet long and
calling for twenty different ingredients
A man who had formerly been drug
clerk, accidentally broke quinine pill
he was about to take and found it to
consist Of two split peas He said he
was mot much surprised
A fire engine company Of Fairhayen,
Mass, stopped to elect foreman pro
tenn in the street close to a burning
building, before putting stream upon
the flames.
Washington is a re narkrbly religious
city. Statistics show ls0 churches, with
40,341 members. OF this total member
ship, however, about 2l,O0O are in the
colored churches.
1t is denied that "Oliver Wendall
Holmes carries u large horse chestnut
in his pocket as preventive of rheu-
matte pains On the contrary, "no
man ON top of the Boston soil is freer
from super. tions and Gelusions than is
the alert andactive braine Autocrat"
A Syracuse woman boiled, scrubbed,
and ironed, in the pocket Of an apron,
q s. bill of the issue bearing the por-
trait of President Garfield, and dis
covered it, upon taking the apron from
the drawer, in as clean and perfect con-
dition as new bill.
Recently in Germany q scientific
journal made the statement that it
would be beneficial to the eyesight to
print books in dark blue ink on pale
green paper The first volume printed
in this way, The Natural History of
Women of Berlin. has Just made its
appearance.
Young ladies in Vienna wear their
initials worked i'll silk and gold on the
front of their jackets. Young ladies'
who are engaged, it is pointed out by
the correspondent who sends this news,
"may wear other initials than their
own" Presumably it is meant that they
may wear the initials of the favored
suitor
While demolishing an old chimney
in Otsego county, New-York, recently,
workraen found s07 in Continental
money dated 1776 and 1777. The print
ing on the notes was perfectly legible,
and in general they were in good con-
dition. The package consisted OF one
$40 bill, two $50 bills, one SIS, one 81,
two Soc, one &, and one 81.
harvest was recently reaped by O
peddler in Marietta, Ga, who painted the
plumage of number of birds and dis
posed of them like hot cakes and at very
fancy prices to unsusp 9cting buyers.
The fraud was finally discovered, how
ever, by one of his purchasers, who
dipped one of the birds feathers in
water, when its beautiful tint disap-
peared.
At Portland, Me, a clergyman who
manages a Gospel temperance mission
has organized "Gideon's Band"
which is said to introduce Wagnerian
effects in the choruses sung during the
services the idea on which tine scheme
is founded being taken from Judges,
men into three companies, and he put
a trumpet into every mans hand, with
empty pitchers and lamps within the
pitchers.
The editor of Buffalo newspaper
recently asked the subscribers to name
the ten most important inventions of
all time More than eight hundred
answers We're received, and the ten in
ventions receiving the most votes were :
The telegraph, printing press, steam
engine, cotton gin, telephone, mariners
compass, gunpowder, sewing machine,
telescope, and photography. Twenty
one votes were in favor of the steamboat
six for paper, two for timepieces, and
only one for the ocean cable
When the new year arrives in Japan,
the people adorn their houses with
branches of orange, plum, bamboo and
pine, each of which being placed over
the entrance, has a symbolic meaning
The orange, called dai-dai, represents
the idea of perpetuity, or the wish that
there may be dai-dai-" generation on
generation to keep up the family
name. The bamboo signifies constancy
as it is wood that never changes its
color; the pine-tree symbolizes per-
petual Joy while the plum-tree, bios
soming in cold weather, encourages man
to rejoice in time of trouble and hope
for better days.
In personal appearance tho Cossack
is not heroic He is clumsy, with the
coarse and common features OF the
Tartar type. and his shambling air and
manner do not compensate for his want
of fine proportions. But he has his
courage, endurance, and fidelity. On
service the Cossacks sleep in the open
air, and are capital scouts, as their pre-
datory habits, quick eyesight and
familiarity with wide tracts of country
enable them TO discern with great readi-
ness the features of the ground they
are travelling, to fall unexpectedly on
small detachments of the enemy, and
to disappear with apidity as soon as
the desired mischief has been effected.
THE CURIOsITIEs OF BURNING.
There are many curiosities of burn
ing, of extraordinary rapidity of COM
bustion, which would be worth detailing
If We had the space. Bad building is the
cause of most, for bad building means
rapid destruction by fire The party
wall in the majority or old houses built
in row, and in many new, does not
reach to the roof, MS it should and the
space between creates channel
almost blowpipe-for the spread of the
fire to the next which is very difficult
to deal with. 1t is danger provided
against by legislation (for il is known
that a D-ineh brielt wall will rasist fire "a