The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-09-12
CURIOUS FACTS.
Ezekiel's reed was eleven feet.

CLChlcl ICOu Wdo ClCtCu lOOps
Bolivia declared its independence in
1924.
The sword is the earliest weapon men
toned in Scripture.
Aurelian was the first Roman En- peror
who wore diadem.
The first notice of batter.ng rams oc-
ours in the prophecies of Ezekiel.
San Francisco has had over four hun
dred earthquakes since her first settle
men
At the Philadelphia Geological Garden
they have an alligator that climbs fence
five feet high.
Houston county, Ca, is the home of
chicken whose feathers are so like hair as
to give the effect of fur.
A tornado which stripped the feathers
from chickens and blew away tomb
stones is the latest product of Kansas.
A gas meter has been invented which,
on receiving a nickel in a slot on top,
measures of so many feet of gas for con-
sumption.
Railway timetables are now made of
convenient 81 and shape to be inserted
inside the cover of watch for convenient
reference.
The invention of the game OF chess is
attributed to Palamedes, $50 b. G. By
some authorities the origin of the game
is referred to the Hindoos.
The caliper compass, whereby the bore
of cannon, small arms, ETC., IS measured,
is said to have been invented by an
artifcer of Nuremberg in 1910.
Frank lies, Derby (Conn.) piano
tuner, lost the four fingers on his right
hand recently and could no longer play.
He brooded over his misfortune until he
went insane.
A man in Walker County, Ca, had a
horror of burial in earth, so chose half
acre rock, had his tomb built upon it,
aud now sleeps in a grand natural
nausoleum.
A Michigan man heard that his grand
father had left him portion of his for
tune, and at the appointed time went to
the post-otlice to get his check. 1t was
for seventeen cents.
1t is said to be customary for the
women employed in lace factory to
work with needles in their mouths. One
has held as many as 274 needles in her
mouth at the same time.
Mr.. Pate, of Hazelhurst, Ca, will live
in history as the man who killed two
deer at one shot, the animals having
''locked" in front of him while in the
act of firing, and both receiving part OF
the charge in their heads.
An inch of steel.knife blade which had
been in the brain of Florida man for
two weeks was finally extracted, and
the doctor said the patient would, with
out doubt, get well, medical precedents
to the contrary Notwithstanding.
Grandmother Heaton, of Virginia,
ILL.,, is doubtless the only person living
in the United States born in the famous
Tower of London. She is eighty-one
years old, and her parents were en-
ployed in the grim old prison when she
was born.
The old cabin once occupied by John
W. Mackay, of bonanza fame, when he
mined at Allegheny City, CAL, from
1856 to 1852, is to be exhibited at the
Mechanics Fair in San Francisco. The
picks, shovel and rocker used by Mackay
will also be exhibited.
Acanary bird died at lroquois, Dakota,
recently, at the advanced age of eighteen
years and six months. He was good
singer, and possessed all his singing
powers until the last year, when he
seemed to be in his dotage. During the
last two months his eyesight had nearly
failed him.
Every year the Emperor of China
takes trip at the vernal equinox to the
temple of agriculture, and, after plow-
ing o few furrows with his own hand,
offers sacrifices at the four affairs of the
gods of heaven. This ceremonial is
deemed necessary to insure good crops
during the coming season.