Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-03-04
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.

A WASHINGTON dispatch says: ga
new wrinkle in telephones has been
discovered and is Endorsed by Prof.
Bell, by which messages transmitted
by telephone are taken down automat-
ically upon paper in the same way
that the telegraph prints the Morse
alphabet upon paper This telephone
improvement is being kept a close Sc
cret, only two or three having been
given any knowledge OF it, while Prot.
Bell is working to perfect 1T IN order to
obtain patent upon it. Those who
have a knowledge of what it is expect
ed to do declare that it is the greatest
development of the telephone since it
was originally patented"
A REMARKABLE RIVER.
The remarkable river Reka rises in
the Austrian Province of CarniOla and
disappears in the Karst caves. There
are reasons for believing that it runs
a long distance underground, emerg-
ing twenty miles away as the TimavO,
a stream which mysteriOusly pOurs
out of a hillside. Members Of the Aus
trian Alpine Club velately attempt
ed an exploration of this subterranean
course of the Reka, and have succeed
ed infollowing it about one-eighth OF q
mile, passing six waterfalls and reach
ing a seventh, which proved impass-
able without special apparatus. One
of the caverns encountered is reported
to be large enough to contain st.
Peters Cathedral of Rome.
ABOUT A HEN, A HAWK, AND A MAN.
P. M. Solomon, of this place, was at
| II. J. Renfroe's, in Laurens County,
last Friday, and while sitting in the
house he heard fuss among the
chickens outside. Upon looking out
he discovered large hawk and a hen
engaged in a desperate combat, They
fought like two game cocks about hi
teen minutes, when Mr.. Solomon put
a quietus on the hawk by putting a
load of shot under his feathers. The
hen seemed to realize that she had a
friend and strutted around her victim
and gave vent to her Joy in vOciferOus
cackling. The hawk had devOured all
her brood but one, for the safety OF
which she was fighting Cochran
| (Ga.) Messenger.
MEMORIALS OF THE GREAT NAPOLEON.
Vanderbilt possesses the only real
memorials of the First Napoleon in
spoons and forks that were secreted
and carried away from the Tuilleries
by Jerome Bonaparte. Their highest
value, apart from their history, is
found in the adornment which graces
the handles. These are oval, and in
the spoons each contains an exquisite
miniature of the queens of France.
The handles of the forks each display
an enameled miniature of the kings OF
France of equally exquisite finish.
They were made by the court jeweler
for the Empress Josephine, and were
only used on state occasions at the
Tuilleries.
A POWERFUL IRON-CLAD.
The new iron-clad Oldenburg, which
was recently launched at Bredow, is
said to be a very valuable addition to
the German navy. Her popularity is
that, while originally designed as the
last of the Sachsen type Of armored
corvettes, she carries larger arma-
ment. She is a ram ship and, with
her two compound engines of $500
horsepower, is expected to show great
speed. The great strength of the Old
enburg consists IN being able to main
tain a heavy fire from her brOadsides,
and also from her stern and bow, the
two forecastle guns being 9.36 inches,
like the six in the classmates, while the
four in the poop are 5.85 inches. Be
sides these are three revolver guns,
torpedo guns, which fire below the
water line Boston Advertiser.
AN ELECTRICAL PHENOMENON.
Prof Tyndall, in q recent lecture on
electricity, produced the clothes of a
man who was taking refuge under a
tree when it was struck by lightning.
1t was a foolish thing, he observed, to
go under a tree during an electric
storm, unless q person stood some dis
tance from the trunk. In this partic-
ular case, however, the mans clothes
were very wet, and, though they were
very much torn, they formed suffi-
GENTLY good conductor for the light
ming, and he escaped with his life.
Had his raiment been dry he would in
evitably have been killed. Producing
the mans boots, the lecturer pointed
out that the uppers were torn to pieces
by the electric fluid in it's anxiety to
reach the earth, but the sole, into the
construction of which iron largely en-
tered in the shape of hob-nails, formed
a good conductor and was not hurt.
-[Cleveland Herald.
ON THE JUMP.
A New Haven family were great
deal annoyed by the frequent robbery
of their Harder, small clubhouse be-
hind their dwelling. Legs of lamb and
other articles were devoured or car
ried off, and no one could tell how.
One of the servants determined to dis
cover the delinquent. She accordingly
watched, and one night discovered
that the thieves were a set of cats be-
longing to the neighborhood. The
larder had latch which had to be
pressed down in opening the door. No
cat could properly press it down by
springing from the ground. There
was, however, an adjoining wall from
which cats might leap and risk the de
preston of the latch as they success
sively passed. This is what they did.
They leaped from the wall, one after
the other, each trying to depreSs the