The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-01-09
CURIOUS FACTS.

December is tho dryest month in the
year.
Mars is only half the size of the
earth.
A 'sled brake" has just been pat
ented. l; ~
The ''Blue Rapids country" is the re-
gion of Northeastern Kansas. ,.,,-o~
For eight months in the year the bee,
does nothing but loaf and eat.
The orchid called butterfly plant has q
wonderful likeness to snowy butterfly. J
A Chicago advertiser sets forth that he,
has diamond ring to exchange for
coal. .E. ..
The Human Hammer and the Ossi6ed'
Man are the latest freaks in the dime mu-)
seLms. a.-rt. e. Il
A Key West FIa.) fisherman has|
captured turtle weighing 1860 pounds,
the largest ever seen. ~
The King of Portugal has, perhaps
the largest and most valuable diamond
in the world. 1t weighs 420 carats. "a
The catch fly plant has viscous sub
stance on its leaves that entraps small
flies: cat mint has great fascination forj
the household pet. , !,a.'a
Stones roll, mountains crawl the
width of hair once century,, while
vast glaciers of selice ice have polished
off whole continents of earth. s;
A will has just been sustained in New
York in which the testator ordered that
none of his children should marry UNDER
twenty-five years of age, or sleep in bed
later than 8 in the morning. + -. : q
Major D. A. Cook, of Atlanta, Ga.s
has sold 2O2 acres of Georgia land to q
neighbor for $50 opossums, the opossuus9
to be delivered in instalments of fifty an
nually for the next five years.
It takes thirty.seven yards of cloth to-
make Hanson Craig, of Taylor county,
Ky., suit of clothes. He weighs 7o2 Z
pounds, is nine feet four. and halt
inches high, and thirty-one years old.
A recent English testator bequeathed
his wife one farthing, which he directed
the executrix to forward to her by post
unpaid, because in his lifetime she was
in the habit of addressing him as ."Old
Pig" '..''. "''' '' :Nr.' ,.
George W. Childs, of Philadelphia,
possesses the original manuscript OF
Dickens's "Our Mutual Friend" 1t Is,
the only manuscript of Dickens, with the
exception of few short stories, outside
of the South Kensington Museum. Mr.
Childs has refused $4,000 for it. ~ &
Colonel Clinton, of Albemarle, Ky.si
has horse that is fond of whisky. He
has several times broken into the Colo
nel's cellar, and always makes for the bin
where the oldest and rarest bourbon is,
kept. He will break open.a demijohn
and drink until stupe6ed, when he stag
gers out and takes long nap.
Five hundred years have elapsed since
England beheld the first marriage OF a
Prince of Wales. Indeed, there have,
only been four such marriages in Eng-
land, and one abroad. The prelimina-
ries of marriage have. often been made,
but these were in such cases carried out 4
after the Princes accession to the throne.
The sardine and other tins, of which
such thousands arc thrown away, go to
support branch of industry in Paris
which is deeply interesting to the youth
full part of the population; for, alter
being stamped into shape by machines OF
simple construction, they reappear in the
form of countless armies of tin soldiers,
! which are sold at prices so low that the
manufacturer could not possibly afford
to buy material new from the tinmsn-