Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1890-12-11
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.


Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven
lures Which Show that Truth i,
Stranger than Fiction.
HERE is another shark story" sale
John Rcece to a Philadelphia INQUIRE
man. s'You remember that Captair
Corkey, Of the Inflated steamship Suez
took passage for England ON the P. auc
y. steamship Sassetta Well, Captain
Corkey, while on the Red Sea. exnired
On the next day the body was committe,
TO the deep in true orthodox style. The
next morning the lookout forward called
the attention of the officer of the watch
to the fact that huge shark was damned
IN between the bobstay shackle and the
stem. Investigation showed that the
monster, which was over thirty feet long,
wAs almost cut in two. The stem had
Struck him Just below the gills, and
while his head protruded on the star
board side his body had slowed in under
the port bow. The sharp iron stem had
cut into the creature to the depth of
nearis foot, and all efforts to Get il
Gear were unavailing. Captain Barry at
last ordered the vessel full speed astern
ana that sent the man eater adrift
There are many theories to account for
IT'S getting foul of the vessel. the most
natural OF which is that it was asleep on
the surface when struck by the stem Of
tne swiftly moving steamer There were
those among the crew, however. who
neld that the ghoul had been providing
around the vessel In hopes OF making a
meal oH the corpse of poor Cvrkey."
In the "Sovereigns of Europe a
series of sketches published in the Leisure
Hour, an amusing anecdote is told of the
royal family OF Italy. 1t appears that
Queen Margherita was anxious that UNI
berto, her royal consort, should follow
the example of his father and the fash
lon common among elderly Piedmontese
officers and dye his hair, which has be-
come quite white. Her pleadings were
In vain. Umberto is an honest nature
that does not love these subterfuges. So
the queen had recourse TO stratagem.
She caused quantity of fine hair dye to
be sent from Paris and put in the kings
dressing room, together with directions
tor Its use, making, however, no allu-
sion to the subject. The king, too, said
nothing, though he could not fail to see
the pigments. Now, the queen has
large white poodle of which she is very
fond. What was her horror few days
later to see her pet come running into
her boudoir with his snowy locks of the
deepest dark hue King Umberto had
expended the dyes upon changing the
color of the poodle's hair. From that
day forth the subject of hair dyeing was
dropped between the royal couple.
THE British consul at Pakhoi, in
Southern China, says that during a trip
into the interior he came upon some vii
tages, each of which presented the
appearance of an irregular fort, the whole
group of houses being bound together by
formidable wall, apparently sufficient as
defense against anything short of ar
tillery. The habitations of the valley
consisted almost entirely of series of
such fortresses, sometimes only 100 to
200 yards apart, while occasionally
massive castellated storehouse for port
able property lowered up within the vii
lage Enclosure. These, he was told, were
intended as safe receptacles for property
in time OF danger. The whole OF this
defensive system is said to be precau-
ton against robbery, though he thinks
that feuds and clan fights between the
several villages have great deal to do
with it.
A SINGULAR story is told by head
game keeper in Prussian Silesia. A few
weeks ago one of his under keepers
found in the tract of shooting country
under his charge covey of partridges,
two old birds and fifteen young ones, all
lying dead. They were huddled up
close together within the space of a
square yard, but were too decomposed to
show any reliable signs of the cause of
their death. Poison was at first suspec-
ted, as the spot was close to some peasants
Allotments, but careful examination of
thc ground revealed the fact that the
birds had been struck by lightning. The
Hash had struck little mound a short
distance away, and then coursed along
the ground, and the grass surrounding
the spot where the cartridges lay had u
burnt and yellow appearance.
DR.. THOMPSON, of St. Louis, says he
once traced fatal case of small-po to
J silver dollar. The patient was in good
health one day and died within week,
and the facts were so peculiar that the
doctor set about to ascertain how the
disease was contracted He found that
the patient had sold an article of mer-
chandise to a friend who had paid HIM
with silver dollar which had been car
ried in the pocket of a brother who was
day or two later taken down with
smallpox. Dr. Thompson believes coin
isas likely to carry infection as bank
note
AN interesting discovery made in
Palestine during the present year is that
of the ancient pool of Bethesda, which
has hitherto been COMPOUNDED with the
Birket Israel. Recent excavations of
the Algerine monks under the RUNS of
the Crusader Church of St. Anne at
Jerusalem have laid bare two rock-hew
wells containing water, which have been
repeatedly built over. These correspond
with the descriptions of Bethesda as
given by the fathers of the church and
the pilgrims of the fourth century.