Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-03-02
STRAY BITS.

In 1851 the native converts to Christianity in India numbered II 4,65l; in 1884, ll3,322
 The Baptist Missionary union has com menced preparations for celebrating its cen tenary in ls;t3.
 An inmate of the pe1iscntiary at Salem, Ore, recently cut off his hand in order to get a spell of idlsness.
 More oranges, lemons, bananas, figs and raisins are consumed in the United States than in any other country in the world.
 Mount Athos, with its io,o20 monks, is one of the strongest spots in eastern Europe. The monks are of the orthoG3ov, or Greek-that Is, Russian-church.
 An orange grove of 70 600 trees is to be planted in Pomona valley, Cal, by syndi- cate of Illinois and Iowa capitalists. It will be the largest in the woril.
 A South African chief sold a gold mine to an English speculator for q hand organ and a rug. It was pretty near approach to "a kingdom for a horse"
 St. Louis has no less than seventy-eight Chinese laundries, and pays out over S100,0Jo annually to Mongolians to have its washing done.
 Eight of the twelve nats-e clergyraen now connected with the Church Missionary soci- sty in the Punjab were formerly Mohamme danS.
 Wedding rings were used by the ancients, and put upon the third finger, because of q supposed connection of a vein in that mem Der with the heart.
 The property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is worth s2,:312, 7o5, and recent donations by Mrs. J. W. Drexel and H. c. Marquand will swell this sum to S, ,000 900.
 A St. Louis taxdermst, who recently pre- served large bald eagle, says the muscles of the breast were of great size, and formed nearly one-fourth the weight of the entire bird
 Over in England gas meter has been in- vented whereby you drop q coin in the slot and get as much gas as you pay for. A penny buys the light of an ordinary burner for six hours.
 The number of Jews in the world is esti mated at G,O00 O0O Of these 4,O00, GOO are in Russia, and it is said that only some 800 00l are perfectly free from political bondage oi any kind.
 Sharks have become so plenty in the harbol of Havana that sailors boots thrown over board will bring half a dozen of the hungry monsters to the surface to inquire what time the sailor himself expects to tumble in.
 The greatest depth of the ocean of which soundings have been taken is off the coast ot Japan. The water at that point is five mile deep, and on the bottom, even at that enor nous depth, traces of animal life have beer found.
 The only populous center of the world's population that remains shut up from trave, is LhaSsa, the capital of Thibet Only six ol seven Europeans ever set foot in the city, and none of them are alive Prejevalsky, Rus Sio f,or all hoo o1a ott ntS to ap- ter the city.
 A man and his dog were walking on the railroad track near Springvale, Me, and when train approached the man stepped from the track, but the dog did not. The en- zine struck the dog and knocked him against the man with such force as to render him in sensible for q time
 An invention that is being used for sending coin through the mails consists of piece of paste board about tho size of an envelope. In it are holes the size of silver quarter, a half dollar and dollar with red paper seals ready to paste across each slot. A coin can be put in and sealed, inclosed ill an envelope and sent through the mails in safety.
 Paper doors are said to be great improve ments over wooden ones. They are formed of two thick paper boards, stamped and nodded into panels and glazed together with glue and potash and then rolled through heavy rollers After being covered with a water proof coating and one that is fireproof, they are painted, vanished and hung in their usual way.
 It is matter of history that once, here in Boston, says The Post, a venerable man turned some strangers out of a pew which he sup posed to be his own, and then, after they had taken refuge in the one immediately behind it, got up and turned them out of that, hav ing discovered in tho mean time that he had made mistake, his own pew being that last mentioned
 Meissonier's picture, ''The Game Lost" was sold to c. P. Huntingdon at the Stebbi>3 sale for S26,300. The next highest priced picture sold was 'L'Eminence Grise," by Gerone. It was purchased by M. B. Mason, of Boston, for sl3,7O0 M H. Arnot, of Elmira, paid S7,l00 for Meissonier's ''The Stirrup Cup," and W. A. Koeler, Jr., s6,5oo for Fortuny's "A Spanish Lady"
 Here is a new word. The New York Sun l notes it as follows: ''In the Asbury park ! directory occurs this name: J. R. Borden, motorneer.' Thus new word las been coined | for tn: language. \ motorneer is the man who rides on the front of an electric car and | handles the troily, which runs on the wire l overhead and conveys the electricity from the l wires to the motor under the car"
 "When does the Twentieth century begin?" 1 Is asked The instant after Dec. 31, 1900, and | not 1899, many believe. The reason is this: 1 The First century did not end with the year go, but with the year 100, the Second with the | year 200, the Nineteenth with the year 19O0- l just as your first hundred dollars ends with | 100, and your second begins with lO1 and ends 1 with 200 Some people absolutely won't sec | this. l