News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-09-19
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.
Queer Facts and Thrilling Ad-
ventures Which Show That Truth
is Stranger Than Fiction.

other day to catch some
l fish. They agreed that
kSN whenever one should
tAtN land a fish each of the
@AN other sshould pay him
~ quarter. One of the
@ quartet was especially
unlucky in his pisca-
toral venture, and was o o put of pocket
S4.25, and down to his last quarter. He
wanted to break up the compact, but
the others wouldn't let him. Just then
he stole one of the fishes caught by
another of the party, slipped it upon his
hookand into the water. He soon landed
it with a great deal of splutter and noise,
and received six bits. When the others
were not looking he repla ed it ON his
hook and again went through the act of
landing a fish. He managed to work
the dodge until he had not only got back
his S4.25, but broke the rest Of the
crowd.
some time g a store in the town of
Perry, Mo-, was robbed and about 300
worth of clothing stolen. Suspicion
fell on Henry King, a young man of
good character, but no arrest was made,
as the majority of the people believed
him innocent. Three weeks after the
robbery the people were astonished at
the news that King had married a wo-
man fifteen years his senior. Shortly
afterward the young husband attempt
ed suicide by taking poison. While his
friends Were a. work trying to save him
he told them it was true that he was
guilty of the robbery and the fact was
onsy known to one other person, the
woman he married. She secured proof
of his guilt before the marriage, md
calling him up showed her proofs and
told him hat she would give him his
choice of marrying her or going TO the
p~enitentiary. He pleaded in vain that
he was too young to marry yet and that
she was old enough to be his mother.
The old girl knew the value of her hand
and was relentless. Honeymoon or the
jail was her ultimatum, and the poor
fellow wllted and consented to be mar
RED. After hard work the doctors saved
hlm, and he says he prefers the peniten-
tlary to his antique spouse. The wo-
man was a spinster and her reputation
was without a flaw.
PobIoE LIEUTENANT WV. B. DAILY, of
Boston, is undergoing a rigorous treat,
ment to get cured of a spinal trouble
" AhAA AIOL Al tln Caf III 1901
1t is nothing more nor less than
a systematic course of hanging.
He is suspended by the neck until he is
almost unconscious, this process being
the only way in which the spinal chord
can be properly strengthened. The ma
chine is shaped very much like n gal
lows. Ii consists of an iron rod, with
eyes In the centre and hooks at each
end, IN which are loops that pass down
under each shoulder to take the strain
Oh the patients neck. Along the hori-
zontaI bar is a series of notches, from
hang h supports for the head
and chm. Lieutenant Days head is
placed IN tn support. and he is then
swung from the floor. He says the ex-
perlence is anything but pleasant, but
rs n cure Is being effected lie kce 8 mt
It. He is generally strung up about
minutes and a half. When released
he cannot stand, and it is fully five min
ties before he recover from the effect ,
the hanging. He has control of his
limbs now, while less than six
months ago he staggered like a drunken :
nan. :
1T was not n jackdaw, like that of |
Rheims, that was the cause of all the
in a certain household in Ber-
IN being dismissed summarily some
our years ago, but a valuable ring did /
disappear III an unaccountabie way, and |
IS loss gave rising to much shedding of
and commotion. The jewel has
now been found, aud all is explained,
but in a marvellous manner The gar
oener was trimming some trees in the
grounds of the house n few days ago,
and discovered the missing trinket lying
on a bough, where it had braved the
breeze, snow and rain all these years.
Here it would doubtless in time have
grown into the tree, to have been the
subject IN after years of scientific specu-
~lation, had lot the eyes of the horticul-
turist been especially sharp on the
morning in question. 1t is supposed
that the little circle of gold adorned
with precious stones had been left on
the breakfast table, and that the ser
want, In shaking the table cloth out of
the window, had unwittingly thrown it
away with the crumbs.
A FRIEND in Wisconsin tells me of an
amusing incident he noticed in the
woods up there, says a writer in Forest
and Stream. Himself and q companion
were riding along together when there
suddenly stepped into the road ahead of
them a little army of skunks-one old
skunk and five half grown kittens.
These seemed perfectly fearless, aud
hating by the wayside the gentleman's
companion began firing at them with a
SIX shooter, although he did not hit any
OF them. AT the sound of every shot
the skunks, which had marshalled them
selves into perfect line, through up their
tails IN perfect unison, as straight and
stiff as a ramrod, above their backs.
making no further hostile demonstra-
ton, and simply standing at a ready
until their fear had partly subsidized.
lie repeated this manHuvre n do en-
times, and my informant says the total
effect was funny in the extreme.
WILLIAM GRIFFIN, who follows the
profession of sword-swallowing for q
living, came to grief at his last perform
ance, and had to be taken to the Receiv-
ing Hospital, San Francisco, for relief.
Griffin has an abnormal breadth of
throat, combined with an exceedingly
elongated person, and the feats he is in
the habit of performing are astonishing
by reason of the length and sharpness of
the knives and swords that he uses. On
aSaturday night lie surpassed himself by
swallowing 4 sword at least three feet
long, with the result that he injured some
internal organ, and estcrdayhemorrhage
resulted which neir.y finished his career
as a freak. The amount of blood which
was discharged from his stomach SO
weakened him that when taken to the
hospital lie tainted away, and was with
great difficulty revived.
WHILE a circus company WAS unload
ing its paraphernalia from a small
steamboat and barges at Metropolis,
Ill, of the elephants showed Il great
Discrimination to go ashore. Several
employees seized pike poles and began a
systematic course Of prodding, which
threw the beast into a terrible rage. His
long trunk was suddenly twisted around
the body of his nearest tormen.or. The
W S raised high in the air and cast
unceremonlOusly into the Ohio River,
thirty feet distant. The excitement was
great, and by the time the elephant was
ready for another iustalment, the men
had all scampered out of danger. The
regular keeper having come to the res
cue, the maddened animal was Quoted.
and the two marched ashore without ac.
cldent. The man was unhurt and swan
ashore.
A NUMBER of small American flags.
at the graves of the dead veter,
ans of the war in Valley Cemetery, New
Hampshire, have disappeared from time
TO time, and it was supposed they had
been made away with by vaudals. The
Otbar 1av n ,,arfv Of ,riesEo-. - A. -