Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-12-14
CURIOUS AND INTERESTING FACTS.

Cattle. have increased more than three
fold in the United States during the past
ten wears. II l. the greatest cattle produc-
in region on the globe. ON farms there
are now 5000. 600: on ranch and range
property west Of the Mississippi about 10.
900. 600 cattle Craze.
American imitatorS of Englishmen can
hardly hope To equal the fifty families who
form the population Of Greenwich. ' lrginia,
for they are all from England. and main
tain their native manners. One resident Is
a niece of Dickens Cheeryble Brothers, and
she has an annuity of their giving.
Huge, spiny spider crabs over three feet
across have been taken in 1000 To 1890
fathomS. and another very large crab
occurs in great abundance in 500 To 1000
fathoms. while at ASIA fathoms large and
strong crablike creatures are taken. Many
clIinuS Shrimps. some of them of large size
and brightly colored. and often with perfect
eyeS. occur in most of the deepest dredging.
A new departure in college commence
mpntS i reported from Milwaukee. AT the
graduating exercises of convent school. a
local paper says: ''Oil stoves were used.
and the curtain rose upon very pretty
Young lady in the act of taking loaf of
bread from the tin where il had just been
baked. Another. equally pretty and eN-
pert. put newly-kneaded RISKS in the oven
to bake. while a third turned her attention
Ia preparing a fricaSseed chicken.
The bed of the ocean. says recent
writer. is to an enormous extent covered
with lava and pumice stone. Still more re
markahle is il "a find the floor of the ocean
covered in many parts with the dust "f
meteuritrs. Between Honolulu and Tahiti.
u
miles and a half-a vast layer of this ma
terial exists. Falling upon land this I'M
palpahle dust is indistinguiShable. but ac
cumnlating for centuries in the sea depths
il forms a wondrous story of the continuous
hnmhardmept Of this planet by cometary
bodies.
Bv an ingenious machine. wood intended
for paper pulp is shaved off 80 finely that il
is ready to 20 al once into the boiler. The
machine takes a log gtwelve inches in length.
which il rtVolves al a speed of l.000 reNo-
lutiun> per minute. and a sharp cutter
.haVe> off shaving so thin that il would
take $50 of them To make an inch. nicely
of execution which may be Judged of by the
fact that 200 sheets of ordinary paper are
required 10 make an inch. Tn. knife of
the machine has a sliding motion, and
gradually moves forward aS the block de
,.rea~.s in diameter: and in order that il
shall not become dull. and the fibre conse-
quently fail 10 be of uniform thickness
there il provided unique arrangement of
whet>tones constantly al work an the knife.
According Ia the last census there are
5i3 establishments in the United States de
voted to the proprietary medicine business,
employing i.0l5 operatives. with an aggrc-
lat, investment of capital amounting To
~lU.G2O. 900. and the annual product is val
ued at Sl46s2, 900. New York state stands
first with an invested capital of -, ,5l2. 430
which i about one-third of the entire coun-
try'S investment Pennsy lVania comes next.
and Missouri ranks third in invested capi-
tai, followed respectively by Ohio and
Massachusetts. In the amount of annual
product. New York again stands first. fol
lowed in orier 10y Massachusetts and Penn
sylvania the other states standing about
even. The principal patrons of patent
medicines in America are persons Of limited
means. who cannot afford 10 consult physi-
clans for their ailments. Vet are not poor
enough to avoid doctors fees and the cost
nf medicines by Obtaining gratuitouS treat
ment at diSpenSaries.
There i building in Washington city
sewer which is larger by seven feet than
any other sewer in the world. In its small
est part il is larger than the largest of the
sewers Of Paris: for over 1000 feet il is
circular sewer of - feet in diameter. There
is connected with it a sewer 5000 feet, or
nearly one mile in length. of 20 feet in di
ampier fully equipped palace car. i"cc-
motive and all. could run through it with
out difficulty This enormous sewer is in
tended to drain the immense water shed
/ living to the north of the city. Besides that.
il will carry TO the eastern branch of the
Potomac all the contents of the smaller
system Of sewers in the northern part of
the city. 1t will take probably year 10
complete the work. The Boundary street
sewer with its connecting systems, viii.
when completed, cost over s1OO.000. At
present the excavation is made by machinery
operated by steam power, which lifts the
dirt out and lands it on the completed part
of the work by means of a system of cables
The same cables also are used In lowering
the bricks 10 the workmen.