The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-09-18
MISCELLANEOUS.

-Four homing pigeons released in
New York reached New Haven, Conn,
eighty-seven miles distant, in sixty
seven minutes.
The Union Pacific Base Ball Club.
of Omaha, has mascot in the shape
of big, fat colored man, whose chief
duty is to sleep in the ball park the
night before a game of ball. Chicago
Herald.
Whenever the finishing touches are
being put upon an important building,
before it is opened to the public, there
Is always IAN army of painters and
decorators" at work on it: You never
knew of anything smaller than ian
army to be thus employed. Boston
Transcript
Cotton was cultivated in India 450
years before Christ, and was gathered
from the field by hand, exactly as it is
being done to-day. The seed was then
separated from the fibre by hand, until
the invention of the cotton-gin by
Whitney, and this invention revolu-
tionized the culture of cotton through
out the world
S. A. Wilson and wife, of Waltham,
Mass, narrowly escaped suffocation
one night recently. The sneezing of
cat awoke Mr.. Wilson, and he found
the room full of smoke. An alarm was
given, and it was found that a fire had
been started in the basement by an in
cendiary. If it had not been for pussy's
sneeze the family would have met
terrible death.-Boston Herald.
"A novel conflict took place recently
near st. AIMS. B. c., between calf
and a grown bull. During the battle
the young bovine was caught between
the horns of its opponent, and, says the
local chronicler, 1.-The conqueror
marched off in triumph with his con-
sanguneous aud believing crown. "
The calf was extricated only by cutting
OFF third of the other animals horns
Farmer Ito country minister IL
kin bring you in couple bushels of
apples, dominic, if you'd like 'em.
I've a lot of 'em goin' to rot" Min
ister- Thanks, Mr.. Hayseed; | would
be very glad to get them. Have you
ever tried feeding them to hogs? l hear
they are very tattening. Farmer
''Ies, I've offered 'em to the hogs, but
they won't touch 'em. "-HarperS'
Bazar
The unique idea of a Concord
philosopher: mo mere COLLECTIVELY
can be self. No aggregate, unless
peryaded in every part by a continuous
whole, can possibly attain any indie
pendent selfhood. A self is one which
is separately alive In this form it may
exist without knowing it exists. The
self can know itself only by discrim-
mating itself from itself through self
related distinctions in itself"
Gentlemen, he said to the re-
porters. as the sheriff put the knot
where it would do the most good, will
you grant me one last request before [
die?' The reporters, to a man, said
they would. Then write me down as
having been simply hanged not
launched into eternity I'm no dude"
This request caused some consterna-
ton among the younger reporters. but
~they all kept their word.-N Y. sam.
"A scientist, discoursing on snakes,
said: Il am told that out in Kansas
there are snakes that catch hold of the
legs of land turtles, or 'tortles, as they
call them here, A snake will swallow
the hind leg of the 'tortle, and, of
course, can not swallow any more
Then the 'tortle' goes tramping about
with the snake attached to his leg, and
using the snake pretty roughly. The
snake can ne let go, for its teeth,
which are turned back or inward. are
locked fast. 1t keeps its hold until the
leg becomes so decomposed that it
drops off. That fact accounts for the
great number of lame 'tortles' found
in that country. - Chicago Herald.
"A two-foot alligator and two big
artificial swans are in fountain basin
in Macon, Ga, The other day it was
noticed that the alligator was not to be
seen and that one of the swans seemed
to be anchored close to the fountain
Investigation showed that some bows
had tied the alligator to the swan to
see him drag it around the basin, and
that the gator had wound himself up
around the fountain and could not
come to the surface, and not only that.
but had wound the string tightly around
his mouth. When released he showed
great pleasure, opening his jaws to
their full extent, lashing the water
with his tail and barking like dog,
A Mechanics Invention.