Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1886-06-03
SINGLE COPY FIyKCsNTs
NUMBER Al.
FACTS FOR The CURIOUS.

A single hair win support the weight
Of four ounces.
Abraham Lincoln was the first Presi
dent Of the United States to wear fuli
whiskers. All his predecessors had
partly shaven feces.
DIR. p. Andries finds that the danger Of
a house being stuck by lightning has in
creased three to Eve fold in Germany
within the last fifty years, and supposes
this to be due to the impurities from the
ever-increasing number Of chimneys.
Major-General E. F. Burton has de-
scribed certain large, yellow hornets Of
India which dispose themselves in regu-
lar circles upon their nest, with their
heads to the centre. They thus appear
like the apokes Of yellow wheel, and
nest Of them is sometimes mistaken ior
sunfower.
If it is desirable to set up an anvil 80
that its use will make the least possible
noise, set the anvil on block Of lead,
or make putty ledge around the anvil
upon the wooden block, one-half inch
clear all round, one inch high. Raise
the anvil clear of the block one-half inch
by any means available, pour in the lead
until it rises above the bottom Of the anvil,
or set the anvil On a good bed Of sand
held in box.
A jeweler at Salem, Oregon, has con-
structed a curiosity in the shape Of q
steam-engine inside the wreath on 81
gold piece. It's weight is two penny
weights and six grains, and the length
Of the stroke is 15-1OOths Of an inch
The length of the valve stroke is 3-10Oths
os an inch, and the machine when run
by steam is capable of 5000 revolutions
per minute 1t is now run by compressed
air. The cylinder and bright work j.
gold-plated.
There have been curious cases Of fire
in New York within the last few months
One woman let roast get on fire in the
oven and the blazing fat ran all over the
kitchen floor. The fire in smoke house
got SO hot that the hams and the sides of
the bacon blazed up and the flames
poured out Of the doors and threatened
to burn the whole building. shaking
lime fred one building. In twenty-seven
cases the flames burst spontaneously
from piles of rags or rubbish, fifteen or
the piles being only rags. lin two cases
some men carelessly exposed some phos-
phorus to the air SO that it blazed. Sui
phur YVES fred in another case while
workmen were handling it. The friction
Of machinery fred two different shops.
The records Of locust plaques in the
warm countries of the East, in modern as
well as in ancient times, almost surPass
belief. Kirby and Spence mention an
army of locusts which ravaged the Nah
rata country, extending in a column 50st
miles long, and 50 compact that It ob-
scured the sun ike an eclipse. Near the
close Of the last century SO many per
ished in the sea on part Of the African
coast that bank three or four feet high
and about fifty miles long, was formed or
the shore by their dead bodies, and the
stencil Of them was carried $50 miles By
the wind. In another part Of Africa
early in the Christian era, one plague q
locusts is said to have caused the death
of 500, 600 persons, and in 59t nearly al
bad a plague occurred in Italy. Again
in 1873, more than $4,000 persons per
ished in the Venetian territories from
famine caused by locusts.