Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1889-08-10
OF GENERAL INTEREST.

the electric lights resemble sunlight
so closely that the people carry para
soils at night.
Three boys of Jackson, Mich, re-
Gently saved a girl from drowning,
and the grateful father gave them
five cents, telling them to divide it be-
tween them.
You are domestic servantp"
asked a lawyer Of a female witness in
n Liverpool (Eng.) court the other
day. mo, SIR she Indignantly re-
piled. II am house maid"
OF the street accidents in Chicago
caused by reckless driving, the ice
wagons are responsible for the greater
share, while the butcher cart plays
second to even the baker wagons.
Bowie knives are being manufact-
urc as plcntifully as ever, but they
are altogether for show. There is no
record Of one being used for years
The sight of one keeps the other fell
low Oft.
The fastest regular express train
in the United States runs between
Philadelphia and Washington. They
maintain an average speed of forty
five miles an hour during the entire
distance.
There are said to be fifty different
kinds of cycles manufactured for the
use of women. The most popular
kind is a safety machine with 30-inch
wheels and goosc-nacked backbone
to allow room for the lowing skirt OF
the ladies.
A Staten Island man counts his
coffin among his household effects,
He spent two weeks constructing it,
and now he uses it as sort Of ward
robe. Keeping it in the entry close to
an old-fa,hioncl clock that looks
good deal like u companion burial
casIict.
Cairo has grocer named Tyler,
and the first question he asks a would
be purchaser is; "Do you snore?" If
the fact is admitted that ends the mat
ter right then and thcrc-no purchase
can be made. lie has taken a vow not
to sell even q straw berry to a man who
snorGs.
An alligator and an English spar
row engaged in battle near Drien,
Ga, the other day. The gator pro-
vokcl the iight by swapping at the
bird, which in turn flew furiously at
its ugly antagonist, aiming with pre-
cision at the saurian' eyes. The gator
finally gave up the contest and took
to the river.
When the Seminole Indians, of
Florida. elect a chief, they choose the
biggest lighter and most successful
hunter Of the tribe. II there happens
to be tie between two candidates,
their method Of deciding it is to have
each candidate place live coal on his
wrist. The one who ilinches first
loses the office.
The Egyptians have always been
recognized for their ability in the man
ufacturc of perfumes, but due credit
was never given them before vase
containing some Egyptian ointment
was opened at the museum at Alnwick.
The perfume it contained still had a
pungcnt odor, although it was more
than three thousand years old.
There is n whistling well in Logan
County. Kan, which warns people of
approaching storms from six to twelve
hours in advance. Ii is lSj feet deep
| and sends out a strong current OF air,
which, as it escapes through the
aperturcs about the pump, whistles
in loud. hute-liko tone that is dis
tinctly audible to every person in the
township.
The total production of coal in the
world during the year 1888 is put by a
high authority at 450,0OO00O tons, OF
which the United States produced
lSO. O0O GOO, OF the home product
Pennsylvania is credited with Il ,OO0,-
5000, or more than oue-half. Little
coal is exported from the United States
except to Canada, which took from us
last year ). 2j0 600 tons.
Workmen doing the grading on a
railroad near Atlanta Ga, witnessed
the sight the other day of n snake
feeding its offspring The baby snakes
were secure in the roots of an old tree,
and the mother, which caught tlies by
springing at them. would, when pos
scs,ci Of a fly, rapidly glide to the
young snakes, which came pell-mell,
heltcr-skclter to meet her. She caught
lly a minute, aud was watched Sc
curing them for over two hours.
There are some queer instances of
translitcration of names in the Prov
incr OF Quebec. A suburb OF the old
city of Quebec was originally named
Shepherdville, after an English resi-
deat OF the name of Shepherd. Tn,
French translated this into Berger
Vile, which the English soon corrupt
ed into BcggArvile, Hope Cape was
turned by the French into Cap d'Es-
poir, which the English then trans
lated into Cape Despair. Point of
Cliffs first became Pointe des Monts,
and was then Anglicized, first into
Demons Point and then into Devils
Point. Reindeer Lake became Lac Il
Ia Rcnne, which was soon corrupted
by the English into Rainy Lake, and
then, strange TO say, was corrupted
by the French into Lac la Pluic.