Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-08-29
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
Odd Accidents and Incidents OF
Everyday Life.
Things That Are Hard TO Believe and Yet
Are True-A Charming Collection OF
Items for Lovers OF the Queer,
Quaint and Quizzical.


Quaint and Quizzical.
A citizen of Auburn, Ne, has adog which
he sends regularly to a news depot for the
evening paper. The dog knows exactly
what time the paper is due, and is on hand
promptly at half-past five each afternoon
without orders from any one.
A Charlotte Harbor (Fla-) lady has a
small green frog with its home in the calyx
Of lily in her room. The little fellow is
quite pet, aud perches high on the pistil Of
the flower to receive his dinner, consisting
Of flies fed 70 him from the point Of pin.
Peter Stoner is an employee in planning
mill in Altoona, and he never knew that he
was a somnambulist until the other morn.
ing, when he got up out Of bed went 10 the
mill, began doing his customary da " work
and woke up to find that it was not yet day
light.
A California tramp has a novel way Of
getting money. He fixes up his arm with
CASTLE soap and caustic to represent scald,
and begs for aid on the ground that he just
met with an accident. He Is said to have
worked this game successfully for four
years in various parts Of the State.
A big tree was felled recently on the land
of John McCloskey, Of Moccasin river, Clin-
ton County, Pa. There were cut from it five
sixteen-foot logs and seven twelve-foot logs,
and still there remained twenty-six feet Of
the but, which measured four feet. The
end Of the smallest log cut measured thir-
teen inches.
Farmer Griffth smelled something burn
ing and heard the cracl1le of flames as he
drove home from Whitewater, Wis, the
other day, and, turning around, saw that
the straw in the bottom of his wagon was
all on fire. He thinks that the rays of the
sun were focused by bright new tin milk
can that he was taking home and set the
straw a-burning
monster toad, weighing sixty-six
pounds and measuring nearly three feet
round the body, is said to have been found
at Juillac, France, and sold for $3.50 to
manufacturer at st. Etienne. Its croaking
bears a close, resemblance to the barking
Of dog. The inhabitants Of all the coun-
try round have been pouring in Juillac to
see the phenomenal animal.
Twenty years ago George W. Chadwick
left New Bedford on a whaling ship bound
for the Pacific ocean. OF Tahati, one Of
the Society Islands, he deserted, swimming
ashore from the ship. He lay hidden in the
woods till the hunt for him was given up,
and then began life on the island. He pros
pered, and the other day returned to his
native city with q snug little property,
where he hopes to end his days.
A little boy, a cripple, was being wheeled
past a Center avenue store in Bay City,
Mich, when a gentleman who noticed the
unfortunate child, said: "That little boys
misfortune IL the result Of q kiss. When he
was baby his sister, on coming into the
house, went up behind the high chair in
which he was seated, and, catching his head
suddenly, gave it a turn and kissed him.
The shock injured his spine, and he is going
through the world a cripple for life"
W. W. Wilmot, an old man who appeared
on the streets of Montgomery, Ala, few
days ago begging for enough money to buy
a railroad ticket TO Mobile, has had q ro-
mantle history. Many years agohe invented
machine for crimpiDg shoes, and soon &C
quired fortune. II 1870 he lost a wager Of
5000 that he had on Tilden's election to
the Presidency, and since then one misfort-
une has crowded closely on the heels of an
other until he has lost his entire fortune and
his health as we'll
An elderly invalid in the care Of a woman
nurse, who had him out in a bath-chair on
the Bois de Boulogne, was suddenly and
mysteriously spirited away one day re-
Gently. The woman had left him only for q
few minutes, while she went on an errand.
The invalid was completely paralyzed. 1t is
thought that some rascal kidnapped him,
and will perhaps use him to beg with. A
similar fate befell young lady recovering
from a severe illness, who had been wheeled
to the Bots by her maid about q year ago.
The lady was recovered almost Immediately,
as the victim, although in a very weak state
Of health, was not exactly paralyzed, and
was able TO make signals of distress, which
were at last understood by the passers-by.
An old man who hanged himself some
time ago in the Ternes quarter Of Paris, al
though very wealthy and in good health,
was a confirmed misanthrope. He lived in
a shabby room at the top Of the house, the
concierge of which administered to his
wants. The old man took pleasure in tor
menting the concierge, and when he made
away with himself the latter could not help
uttering an exclamation of satisfaction; but
he soon began TO profess compassion for his
old enemy when he heard that he had left
him legacy. He declared with tears in his
eyes that he was a worthy person after all,
and with eager curiosity asked the amount
of property bequeathed him. The following
missive was placed in his hand: ~ am dis
gusted with life, so am quitting it leave
to my concierge my portrait and the rope
with which have hanged myself"
Spanish executions are run in a somewhat
peculiar way. Recently a young woman,
her lover and an accomplice were garroted
in Madrid, the first execution there within
five years. Twenty-four hours before the
time fixed for their death they were first
told when they would cease 10 live. Then
they were taken to the prison chapel and
kept there until they were marched to the
scaffold. One of the condemned was so VIC
lent in his terror that it took six warders to
dress him and get him out of his cell. In
the chapel they received hundreds of Wis
itors, received all the food and drink they
wanted and spent part of their time, when
the wine had nerved them up, and between
prayers, in playing cards. The scaffold
upon which they were throttled was erected
in the prison yard, but higher than the
walls, so that the twenty thousand specta-
tors gatheredin the streets might enjoy the
spectacle. Finally the dead bodies were
kept exposed to the public gaze until sunset.