The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-10-09
MISCELLANE

/ visited - sorry to have spoiled your
pleasure, but if you had told me you
were coming l shouldn't have been at
home. Boston Transcript.
"A Horrible Example. ggs-''It
! is said that man once addicted to
vice can never really give it up" Trot-
teri believe it, too. | know gam
bier who is reformed, but every day he
plays solitaire and bets with himself
that he'll win. Epoch.
Carl Hertz, San Francisco magi-
clan, now exhibiting in London, amazes
and mystifes large audiences by the
noveiey of his tricks. One of the most
admired illusions is to drop eggs into a
tub of water, from which ducks i'm
mediately arise and swim about.
| in his rambles lad in Winterport,
Me-, found and brought home birds
nest containing four young birds. The
mother bird watched the removal with
much interest and anxiety, and every
day entered the house through the win
dow, bringing food with which she fed
the young birds. When the window
CHANGED to be closed, the visitor tapped
on the glass until it was opened.
| 1t is proposed to signal the planet
Mars by marking out right-angled
! triangle on the desert of Sahara in the
hope that the inha bitants of the planet
will respond with the Pythagorean fig
ures of three squares built on the sides
| of the triangle. What's the matter with
the less scientific but more popular plan
of signalling with the figure of white
horse and letting Mars answer with
I.red-headed girl?
While fishing in Hogan Creek, near
| Lawrenceburg, Ind, Samuel Latin saw
the tail of a fish protruding from be-
meath rock in the water To get at
it he removed the rock, and discovered
n nest of young muskrats. Their cries
| brought to the scene number of old
muskrats which attacked him so Wig
orouSly, biting him on his neck, face,
and limbs, that he fed His injuries
| proved very severe, and blood poisoning
resulted causing death.
"A New York boy, poorly dressed,
occupied an expensive seat while eating
piece of pie. lie had just bought the
PIE at street-stand, and seeing five lit
tie oak barrels on the sidewalk near the
sub-treasury, in Wall street, he coolly
took a seat upon one of them. The keg
contained ten canvas bags, and each
bag held 5000 in gold. An officer OF
the sub-treasury, who saw the perform,
ance, enjoyed it so much that he did not
disturb the boy until he had eaten his
pie.
An Eng ishman, who recently
passed through New York City on his
way home from Australia, whittier he
went to give advice upon the subject OF
the rabbit pest, describes that particu.
lar curse as something beyond the i'm,
agination of those who have not seen it.
| When rabbits descend upon plants
ton in swarms, as they frequently do,
| they leave whole acres bare of vegeta.
ton. The returning traveller is manu-.
featuring two hundred miles of wire
netting per day for use as fencing
against the incursions of Australian
IA bolts.
An individual described as a gen
tleman of the old school, sah,'' passed
| through Rome, Ga, some time ago. He
was a long, bOny man, riding tall,
black mule. He wore new suit of
thunder and Lightning cloth, made on
his own loom, and a big white sombrero
with leather band around it. A vel
low beard reached from his chin nearly
to the pommel of his saddle On his
back was strapped long, old-fashioned
fowling piece, and pack of dogs fol-
| lowed at his heels.
!
stopped in crowd where a man was
playing a hand organ, with a monkey
dancing on the sidewalk. Poor little
man" she said pityingly, and taking out
a well-tlled pocket book, she gave the
monkey a dime. Then everybody else
gave something and the organ grinder,
having reaped his harvest, bowed low
to the kind woman and moved along to
the next street corner where the same
play was enacted, the benevolent wo-
man going snacls with the musician
Detroit Free Press.
The most novel and expensive col
lection of autographs in the country, if
not in the world. is that Of Philadel-
phia merchant. Every one is worth at
least -, and there are upward of 80, 600
of them. He began about five years
ago to collect 50 bills containing the
signatures of the different national
bank presidents of the United States
He has now nearly $3.50, 600 tied up in
this queer scheme, and declares that
his collection is not complete by many
thousands of dollars yet. lie is willing
to give 500 for s. bill bearing the sig
nature of man who was at one time
! president OF certain shortlived bank
in Ohio
The Swiss watch trade has under
gone a complete transformation during
the past fifteen years, owing to the
work being done in large manufactures
instead of at the homes of the watch
makers. The result is that there are
much better watches at less cost, and
greater sales. There are schools for
teaching matchmaking at Geneva, Neu-
chatel, La ChauX DIES Ponds. Locle,
Bienne, St Imier and Porrentruy. In
the last six years the number OF watches
exported from Switzerland has in
creased from ,, 734, Pa in 1885 to 4, AL
301 last year, these figures not including
the works and cases exported sep
arately. Altogether, the value of the