The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-07-12
NEWS In BRIEF.

up disabled or poverty. stricken vet
erans in the business Of selling flowers
on the streets. The veterans are TO
be provided with glass-covered bar
rows like greenhouses, on wheels.
The very latest attack Of jewel man
ia experienced among certain English
men of rank is the wearing Of brace
let's made of hair from the tip of an
elephants tail. This portion Of the
elephantine narrative has under the
demand assumed an almost priceless
value. The circles are most exquisite
ly mounted in gold and silver.
An eccentric German has created
sensation at Mount Holly by announc-
ing that he has offered his will for pro-
bate in order TO have his estate settled
up during his life time. A clause in
the instrument provides that one-balf
of his estate shall go to his wife as
long as she remsius his widow, and
when she marries again the other half
shall be paid her, Gas it costs more TO
keep two than one.' ..
The largest moccasin snake on re.
cord has been found near Lake Okee-
chobee, Fla. When found it had Just
completed the task of swallo wing a
ten foot alligator, and was therefore
unable to make his escape. He was
captured with great difficulty, and
only ''gave up the ghost after receiy-
ing twenty-seven shots from Win
chester rifle.
A rumor comes from the Dead river
logging camps in Maine that two
trout fishermen recently resurrected a
curious relic of antiquity from beneath
the placid waters of the Carrying
Place ponds. The story goes that
| they had finished fishing and were
about to start for their camp. when
they found themselves unable to raise
their anchor from the bottom. The
rope was strong, however, and, re-
doubling their efforts, they pulled to
the surface a rude shallop, partially
filed with stones, which had caught
upon one point of the wooden killock.
The boat is supposed to be one of
those used by Benedict Arnold in his
daring but fruitless effort to capture
Quebec.
Gen. Boulanger now occupies a
house in London formerly tenanted by
the Austrian millionaire, darcy and
evidently furnished by its origina-
owner, Col. Ellis. By strange coinci-
dence, says Edmund Yates in Tril
bune' special, a great bust of Napoleon
l Immediately faces the door of the
Generals study. Figures of Louis
XVI and Marie Antoinette adorn the
over-mantel, and in the drawing room
the first things which meet the eye are
the features of Napoleon III and EN-
press Eugene. Colonel Ellis seems to
have taken benevolent interest IN
French history, and the Generate
French visitors insist on regarding the
relics in the light of favorable omen.
An exhibition of nerve that's rarely
excelled was given recently by a Tren-
ton woman. She made tour of the
offices in the State House there, ask
ling subscription for bicycle for her
son, who is very fond of bicycle rid
ing. She said that ''she could not very
we'll see how she could afford to pur-
chase one, and as her son was of noble
birth, he should enjoy the advantages
that more fortunate boys enjoyed"
She could not induce the "stony- heart
ed" State officials to put down their
names, however, and she left the capi-
tai building lamenting the fact that
people generally were 10th to give for
a worthy purpose,
The story is going the rounds of q
retail dealer who obtained rare bar
gain in ladies' hemstitched linen hand.
, kerohiets, which he designed to sell at
a fair profit at 25 cents each. On ex
t animation of the goods he determined
: not to give such value for so small q
/ sum. Taking one-half this lot, he
8 marked each handkerchief in the cor.
8 ner with lead pencil, 25 cents, apt
] the other quality, he marked In tn,
same way, 80 cents, and displayed tn,
s goods on his counter side by side
o Imagine his surprise when he foun,
, that two out of three of his lady Gus
{ tomers. selected the bargains at 8,
t cents, leaving him with the larger par
IS of those marked 25 cents on his count
n er. AS it was impossible to alte
l. marks from 25 to 80 without soilinl
y the goods, he was actually compelle,
j. to purchase another invoice of tn
same lot to oblige the fair buyers, VIII,
J. preferred to pay 80 cents for the Al
II ticle rather than 25 cents.
II A remarkable discovery has Just bee
n made at the Cathays Yard of the TAT
u Vale Railroad Company. A large elr
> tree, grown in Worcestershire, wa
y being cut up into timber, when right i
p the very heart, cavity of 8 feet Ion
y and u inches wide was discovered.
IL contained comb of the honey bee an
70 squirrels skull. "No means of acces
n to the hollow was discoverable, neithe
'e was decay anywhere apparent, and
;, round the cavity itself no less than s
VI rings, each ring denoting a yeal
le growth, were counted. The hollo
W was of uniform size throughout, an
ie presented the appearance of having bee
y bored with an augur, and, great thoue
y its dimensions were, it was practical
70 filed with the comb, intimating thi
OF the bees were in possession for sever
'r' years. How the bees got there is
u mystery. 1t is surmised that squirr
u once occupied decayed hole in Il
tree, cleared away the decay, occupi,
sse the cavity as its own, and there die
H. Then the bees took possession and fill
q the hole with comb, when, by sor
OF means the entrance, which must hs
na been small, became stopped, the lsrl
oi quantity of grub and fly being tax
'n- as evidence that the nest was not "
Nlr unfairly deserted. Then for SO ye;
~ the growth of timber went on. T
entrance being Theoretically sealed, I
comb kept in good condition III
opi found.