Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1885-02-26
items of Interest.

1J@i1AV LiSAbe'AtJ AAh hAA1hSC AatOAiAi'ti ib'N
ut from 90 to 23 per oent of the popal,-
tion.
A Paris company has submitted to the
Pope plans for lighting up the dome of
ST. Peters of Easter ceremonies with
electric burners.
Near Danbury stands white oak trec
that is thought to be 200 years old. It is
more than 100 feet high, and the circum-
ference at the first limb is 10 feet.
Italy has to keep 5,363 persons under
sentence OF penal servitude for life.
Prison expenses are $2.0O0.000 a year
more than those for education.
A recent estimate, made by means of
very intricate testing apparatus, places
the rate at which an electric dot travels
over telegraph wire at 10000 miles
per second.
A clean and perfect copy of John Bun-
yan's Pilgrims PROCESS " 1878. has just
been added to the British Muesum lib
rary. Only three other copies are known,
and but two Of these aro perfect.
The wife OF the jailer, ut Oconta, Wis,
was left on guard and armed fer the day
with o pistol, which her son doubted sho
had the courage to discharge. he made
test by putting on prisoners costume
and whooping at her.
There is little of interest now to be
found in Elba, Napoleon's island prison.
All the relics of his stay there were long
since carried away, and the place has
sunk into tho insignifcance from which
his presence raised it temporarily. The
population is rather over 10000.
The fire engines i'm Italian cities are
etilI the same little hand pumps used In
the beginning of the century; not a
single steam fire engine exists on the
peninsula, owing to the rarity OF fires,
but a movement is now or foot to intro
duce steam engines according to the
American style.
DR.. Spitzka says the popular delusion
that the human eye has an influence
over insane people similar 10 that claimed
for the same organ over wild animals, il
one that is often ridicufed by the insane
themselves. He adds that whoever at
tempts to utilize the notion viii recognize
its absurdity. .
A dealer in cod-liver oil in marseilles
ndvertises that his fish are caught in o.
safe and quiet harbor, where marine
monsters cannot enter to frighten them
into diseases of the liver. "They live
there" he says, Gin peace and comfort |;
their livers are healthy, and this is the
reason why my cod-liver oil is the best. !"
That the cars upon the rails of certain
railroads creep hasbeen matter for COM
plaint which every one has heard. It
will be greater news to many to know
that the rails on sleepers creep, too, in
the direction of greater traffic. On the
ST. Louis bridge proper the rails have
been known to creep 2G0 feet in one year,
and on the bridge approach 400 feet.
Tt is said that the sand used in tho
manufacture of mirrors is now used by q
Paris company to make white bricks and
blocks, said not to be injured by frosts.
rain, etc, and to be very light the
specific gravity being only 1.5o to 1.s5 of
clay bricks. The sand is first strongly
pressed by hydraulic power, and then
baked in ovens at very high tempera.
ture. The bricks are almost pure silica.
"Old Moses" is the name of what is
thought to be the largest tree in the
world. 1t stands in grove near Tule
River, in California Although the top
is broken of, it is $40 feet high and - feet
in diameter at the broken part The
hollow of the trunk will hold $50 per.
sons, and is hung with scenes of Cali.
fornia, is carpeted and fitted up like q
drawing room, with table, chairs, and
pianoforte.
It has been discovered by experiments
with dogs placed under the influence ol
morphia even to coma that the hypo.
dermic injection of solution of theme,
the active principle of tea is an almost
instantaneous antidote, neutralizing the
effect of the narcotic. aud reviving the
animal, after the action of the heart has
become imperceptible. Caffeine possesses
similar properties, but is less immediate
in its operation.
Fredericksburg, Virginia, lays claim
to the distinction of being the burial
place of Edward Heldon, contempo
rary and one of the pall-bearers of tbe
immortal Shakespeare. A red ss.nt,
stone slab marked the grave in ST
Georges churchyard until it was mis-
placed by Burnside, who cut roat
through the burial ground and removed
the stone to the Masonic cemetery,
where il now lies under locust tree.
It was in fredericksburg that the
mother of Washington lived after she
became widow and reared her family.