News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-09-30
STRANGE THINGS WE SEE.
PECULIAR INCIDENTS TINT TAKE
PLACE ABOUT DAILY.
The Latest SwIndIe-Behind the SceneS-
Wife Beating-In a COIliery Shart-A
Fine :Lassie-TOO Prudish-The minis.
tiers, &c, &c.


Fine :Lassie-Too Prudish-The minis.
tiers, &c, &c.
In the country, not more than Is
miles from Modesto, Cal, resides a
young lady who has developed into a
perfect electric battery. The first evil
dence to that effect that the Young lady
had presented itself to her few even
ings ago. She was about to retire, and
extinguished the light in her room, and
with quick motion rolled back the
bed covering, when 10, and behold! the
bed Immediately was turned into sheet
of fire. The young lady, much fright
ened, screamed "Fire ~ and at the same
time grabbed the bed covering In her
arms. When the other members of the
family arrived at the door of the room
they found her standing in the middle
of the room If the midst of what seemed
to be flame of fire, but no sooner had
the bed clothes been taken from her
arms than the flames disappeared. Ex-
periments made by the young lady since
have proved that she has become pos
sessed of vast amount of electricity,
which shows itself at every opportunity.
The young lady is not at all satisfied with
the phenomena, as it requires the great
est caution on her Fart to keep from
starting up a small bonfire by the
slightest movement of her hands,
A peculiar accident recently occurred
in Coxlodge colliery, near Newcastle, in
England. The ''back shift" men, to
the number of about a hundred, after
having descended the shaft, were riding
on tubs drawn by wire rope, which
was kept in position by "sheavesn hang
ing from the roof These revolving
sheaVes are of metal, and about three
feet in circumference. The rope is
worked by the engines above ground,
and is connected with the first line of
tubs, and so hauls the tubs along to the
vicinity of the ''face" of the coal, where
the men work. A string of fifty tubs
was in motion, over thirty of which
contained three men each, in a sitting
posture, when one of the sheaves under
which the tubs were passing broke from
its place in the roof, and came in con-
tact with the heads of the men sitting
In the tubs, which were gong along
with considerable speed. An alarm was
raised, but before it could be responded
to the tubs had gone two hundred
yards further on. Thirteen of the men
received injuries of grave character
about the head and face, and seven or
eight others sustained hurts of o minor
character.
One OF the latest swindling schemes
is for the swindler to get a check for
small amount from a depositor at
bank and at the same time a blank
check exactly like the filled-in check.
Laying Ole upon the other so that the
edges are exactly even, the two are torn
so that the signature appears on one
place of the tilled-in check and the
amount and name of the payer on the
other. The blank check having been
torn with a good check and in exactly
the same way, the swindler can fill in
on the large piece of the blank check
any amount he desires, and with the
piece of the genuine check containing
the signature is ready to tell how the
check became accidentally torn when
he demands payment. The fact that
the two pieces exactly match is calcu-
lated to deceive any bank teller.
Harry D. Smith OF Boston, while
swimming in Lake Idlewild, near Wen
ham, on Saturday was taken wit h cramps
He called for assistance and two young
men who were in boat with two young
women started to help him. But the
girls, with criminal prudery, refused to
allow the men to row near the drowning
man. ''Yol shall not, they screamed,
''you shall not take that naked man in
to this boat" The young men were
foolish enough to heed these cries, and
rowed the girls ashore as soon as posi-
bic, and then hurried back to young
Smith, but before they reached him he
went down for the last time. All this
was in the presence of the young mans
mother, who was only restrained by
force from rushing into the water to
help her son.
Speaking of the old minstrel firm of
Birch, Backus, Bernard and Wambold,
Billy Birch said to a Chicago reporter:
'Backus, good fellow that he was, is
dead. Bernard is very rich man in
New York. Wambold is at Saratoga,
wealthy, but an invalid. AS for me,
here am! My earnings of years are
somewhere on Wall street. / can't Just
locate them. Played for a sucker by
sharpers ? Played for a sucker-yes;
by sharpers, NJ. By friends-or those
who posed as such. They were not con-
tent with my money, but tried to take
my homestead; but, thank the Lord.
the lawsuit has just been decided in my
favor"
Wife-beating among the English is
well known as prominent offence, but
statistics show that this country is not
exempt. Last year in Pennsylvania there
were 525 complaints by wives against
their husbands for brutal beatings, but
this statement is said to give only part
of the actual cases As it is
known that with the exception
OF the seal, man is the only
animal in creation which maltreats
its mate or any female of its own kind"
the statistics suggest the need of more
civilization legislation so that man
should equal the lower ANIMALS at least.
A female missionary at Kobe, Japan,
met with an unpleasant adventure not
long ago. She was invited to a house
10y japanese, and when she arrived she
was locked up in room with man,
who told her in an insulting manner
that he hated Christianity; but if she
would cure his old mother, who suf-
sered from sickness, he was ready to
adopt her faith, otherwise he would take
her life. By the Intervention of his
wife, however, the lady managed to es-
cape. The man held a drawn sword in
his hand during the interview.
During the progress of the comedy of
Zip" at q Cincinnati theatre a few
nights ago, the stage carpenter dropped
dead of heart disease out of sight of the
audience but in the presence of the
players, for he stood in the wing looking
on at the performance. Death overlook
him at a moment when the actors were
in the midst of a lively and humorous
scene, and the shouts of laughter of the
spectators rang in the mans ears as he
fell upon the stage. The body was i'm
mediately removed and the play was
not interrupted.
A smart fellow at the Chico, CAL,
races, Dragging about how he could en-
dure the pressure of any carria run
ming over his open hand, illustr ted his
remarks by placing his hand in front of
the hind wheel of carriage that was
passing. When the carriage had passed,
the fool had two badly smashed fingers
that may have to be amputated.
A Philadelphia detective is reported
as saying that bunco men and that class
of thieves rarely, if ever, approach red
headed persons, because red headed
men, as rule, are quick tempered and
are apt to make considerable fuss as soon