Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-08-03
IN ANCIENT TINES.
Some of the Curious Things that Were
Known Centuries Ago

4
1t is not generally known that the
custom of keeping birthdays is many
thousand years old, 1t Is recorded in the
4th chapter of Genesis, Goth verse: Sand
it came to pass the third day, which was
Pharaoh's birthday, that ne made feast
unto all his servants"
! One of the most celebrated peals of bells
in London is that of St. Mary-le-bow,
Cheapside, which form the basis of pro-
verbal expression meant to mark en-
phatically Il London nativity. Brand
speaks of substantial endowment by a
citizen for the ringing of Bow bells every
morning to wake up the London appren-
tees
The modern names of sizes Of books are
derived from the folding of paper. When
the sheet is not folded it IS called q folio,
and this size is very fashionable through
out the sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
ries. The folio sheet doubled becomes a
quarto; another doubled constitutes the
octave OF eight leaves or sixteen pages.
There Is in existence curious class of
knives, Of the sixteenth century, the
blades of which have on one side the
musical notes to the benediction of the
table, or grace before meat, and on the
other side the grace after meat The set
Of these knives usually consisted of four.
They were kept in an upright case of
stamped leather, and were placed before
the singer.
The bamboo tree does not blossom until
1t attains its thirtieth year, when il pro
duces seed profusely and then dies. 1t is
said that famine was prevented in India
in 1912 by the sudden towering of the
bamboo trees, where $4,000 people resorted
to the jungle to gather the seed for food.
The most costly undertaking of liter
airy character ever undertaken by single
individual is the magnificent work on
Mexico" by Lord Kingsborough This
stupendous piece of work is said to have
been produced at an enormous cost to the
author. 1t is comprised in seven i'm
mense folio volumes, embellished bv about
1000 colored illustrations.
Air cushions are supposed to be an in
vention OF modern times, but that this lux
ury was anticipated as long ago as the
time of Ben johnson is evident from a
passage in the "Alchemist," where Sir
Epicure tMammon enumerates to Surly a
list of good things to be expected. Among
these indulgences is this prophetic fore
cast of modern inflated india-rubber bed
and cushions: 81 will have all my beds
blown up, not stuffed; down is too hard"
Toward the beginning of 100 the
crowns of hats were mostly round, much
lower than before. and had very broad
brims, resembling what are now occasion
ally called Quakers' hats the protrusive
encumbrance soon suggested the convent
ence of their being turned up in front.
Fashion dictated the unbending of another
side or flap, and ultimately a third so
that, by this process, in 1904, the regular
three-cocked hat became the order of the
day, when feathers ceased to be usually
worn.
The first bridges were of wood, and the
earliest of which we have any account was
built in Rome, 500 years B. c. The next
was erected by Julius Caesar for the passage
of his army across the Rhine Traian's
great bridge over the Danube, 4,770 feet
long, was made of timber, with stone
piers. The Romans also built the first
stone bridge, which crossed the Tiber.
Suspension bridges are of remote origin.
A Chinese one mentioned by Kirchen,
made of chains supporting road
roadway $50 feet in length, was built A.
d. IS, and is still to be seen. The first
large iron bridge was erected over the
Severn in 1777. The age of railways has
brought remarkable development in this
branch of engineering, especially in the
construction of bridges of iron and steel.