The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-05-22
ODDS AID ENDS.

A real estaj ana trust company in
Lynchburg, VA, composed OF colored
men, has declared a dividend of 10 per
cent
On the west coast of Africa there
are now 200 churches, 80, 600 converts,
1000 adhcrnts, 1850 schools and
10000 pupils. Religious hooks have
been translated into 35 dialects of the
section.
1t was while Gibbon was sitting in
the ruins of Rome, in176l, chat he saw
and heard barefooted friars singing in
The temple of Jupiter. The idea came
to him at that hour to write the his
tory of the decline anl fall of the en-
pile.
In Paris the horse is a beliest of fash
ion rather than source OF pleasure
Few French women ride we'll, and the
Frcncllman, as Il rule. looks upon the
animal rs difficult and dangerous ar
ticlc to navigate, Il ship whose rudder
Is III tic wrong pace.
The lace owned by the feminine
members of the Astor family is said to
be worth at least $500, 600. That which
the late Mrs. Astor bequeathed TO the
metropolitan Museum of Art was val
ut from $40, 600 to $4,000.
There are three men in the Oregon
State prison, each of whom cut Off a
hand to avoid work. They are con-
fined in solitary cells. Two Others cut
off the ends of their fingers.
Postmaster General Wanamakcr
considers the proposal to make eight
consecutive hours labor q days work
for postoflice clerks, ETC., impractical
BILE, and estimates that the cost of do
ing this would be $3,37S, 727 year.
Not less than fifteen parishes, Or one
fourth of the state of Louisiana is af-
fected by the present flood, and the
damage is almost incalculable. In 1882
it is estimated that the loss was $15,-
100000. 1t will probably exceed half
that amount this year.
Last year sixty-seven persons i'll the
Loochoo islands of Japan were bitten
by the poisonous habu snake, twelve
of whom succumbed and fifty-five re-
covered. Forty-two of the victims
were males and twenty-five females,
but the greater proportion of deaths
occurred among the females, seven
ont of the twenty-five cases ending IA
tally.
As curiosity the sensitive plant
mimosa pudical is well worth cult
waiting in the window garden. The
leaves of this plant are very orna-
mental, and SO sensitive that when
touched with the hand they inmedi-
ately droop and fold up, regaining
their former position, however, within
q quarter of an hour or so after. y
breath of wind will also cause the
leaves to act in q similar manner.
Hence its common name.
An example of English as she is
wrote" is found in an interesting Por-
tuguese official document. The leailet
contains instruction concerning to.
bacco," and is issued by the custom
house authorities. Here is one of its
clauses: .!All tobacco the said visit
may find on board, besides what may
i;ave manifested in this transgression,
will be subject to i:nrrsonIncnte and
other penalties the law imposes.
One of the most extraordinary OF
African trees is that known as the bao-
bah. 1t is almost q forest in itself,
and serves as complete sylvan palace
on the largest scale. Rarely growing
more than seventy feet high, its
branches extend horizontally, support
ed by trunk which has girth great
err, it is believed, than that of any
other known tree. One of these extra
ordinary trees was found on measure
mcnt to be forty feet in diameter. The
age of another, counting the concen-
trio rings, was found to be 5000 years
at the very least.