Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-03-06
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.

ACOAOENES AND lnClOENIo VI
EVERYDAY LIFE.
Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven-
lures Which Show that Truth IL
Stranger than Fiction.
DURING the progress Of the celebrated
Cronin trial a well-known Chicago news
paper man was spending week or so out
in Leayenworth, Kan. The people there
took a great interest in the trial, and
when the jury went out hundreds hung
around the telegraph Office to hear the
result. 1t came at last and the newspa-
per man read the dispatch. The editor
of the local paper asked him if he had
ever seen DR.. Cronin or any of the ac-
cused. He said that he had seen them
all. Well" said the editor, there's a
dime museum man here in town who has
wax figures of all the people in the Cronin
case, and I'd like to have you walk
around there with me and tell me if the
figures look like them" The scribe was
agreeable. He was taken around and in
troduced to the manager of the museum,
who took him in to see the figures. A
long, lank wax figure with smooth face
and queer blonde wig, was labeled ''Dr.
Cronin." When the newspaper man saw
it he laughed and said it looked as much
like the doctor as did any one Of the
Sutherland sisters. The museum man
ager, who had been looking rather sheep
ish, called the visitor aside at this state
ment and whispered in his ear: "Last
week the same figure was dressed as a
woman, had on yellow wig and was la
beled Mrs. Bender, the Kansas murder
ess.' Don't talk too loud or you'll ruin
my business. / can't afford new figure
for every new criminal The newspaper
man appreciated the situation and kept
mum.
ELECTRICAL EXPERT WHEELER, of
New York, tells story about what he
called an electrically fed horse" A
citizen of Western town, of an inventive
turn of mind, concluded that it involved
too much labor on his part to rise carly
every cold morning and trot out to tho
barn to feed the family horse. So he
purchased two tons of oats, had them
placed in bin over the horses stall and
connected the manger and bin by means
of chute terminating in hopper. To
the hopper he attached valve controlled
by electricity, and SO arranged that, when
operated, single feed of oats would run
into the manger. He ran his wires into
the kitchen and connected them with a
/ push button. The family were charmed
with the arrangement, and quite envied
him the pleasure of feeding the family
pet. After few days peculiar noises
began to issue from the barn, and upon
investigating, poor Pegasus was found to.
be fairly swimming in two tons of AL
oats. He was dug out, and the valve
which worked so well was consigned to
oblivion.
s. FL. SHANKs was arrested at Chicago,
charged with counterfeiting. He took
one-dollar silver certificate and by means
of acids and fine pen work the large figure
+" one" on the reverse side was split into
two stems, and the intermediate portion
was transformed into a scroll. On the
other sidethe "onen over the representa-
ton of the silver dollar was obliterated
and ''tenn substituted. The single 'sone"
figures in the corners were neatly eaten
off, and the figure "ten " substituted.
The small lone" was changed to an 'sX,n
and new number was printed in red
upon the face. None but an expert
would detect the fraud The man is said
to have first operated in Dixon, ILL.,, where
he made considerable money before his
plan was accidentally discovered. From
Duluth to New Orleans the fellow has
changed money, clearing SO every time,
and has eluded the secret service OPERA
tors very successfully.
M. DECOsTA, who is hunting game for
the market some two miles west of Sutter
City, Cal, informed reporter of the
Enterprise of that city that the other day
about II o'clock large eagle, which no
doubt has its home in the highest crew.
ces of the Buttes, suddenly swooped down
on wounded goose which the gentleman
had tied as decoy with rope attached
to the bow of light duck-boat or
double-ender and rose up in the air with
the goose and boat to the height of
twenty feet, when the rope gave way, the
boat falling across a fence, completely de-
molisling it. The eagle measured eight
feet from tip to tip. M. DeCosta further
stated that he could easily have killed
the bird, but concluded that bird that
showed such game qualities should be al
lowed to depart unmolested. No doubt
the recent storm drove the eagle from its
usual ha,nts in search of food.
HORACE BAKER, who studied the sub
ject carefully in Australia, describes s'The
Blackfellow and his Boomerang in
Scribner This curious and unique
weapon, I" he says, about which SO much
has been written and so little is really
known, is curved piece of wood, slight
lyconvex on one side and nearly fiat on
the other. 1t is cut from natural bend
or root Of q tree, the hardest and heaviest
wood being always selected, and its curve
follows the grain of the wood. Thus it |
will vary from slight curve to nearly |
right angle; no two ever being the same
shape. tisabout three-eights Of an inch
thick, and from two to three inches wide,
tapering towards the ends, which are
either round or pointed. The edge is
sharpened all around, and the length
varies from fifteen inches to three and a
half feet. y ,'5 3
A QUEER story is told of Mrs. II. Fl. |