The Opelousas courier., 1891-12-05
SELECT SIFTINGS.

Chill was discovered by Spain il
1913.
Ice cream was first made and sold il
Philadelphia n~inety-one years ago.
A large bed of meerschaum has been
discovered or Orcas Island, Washing
ton.
An ingenious London shopkeeper sells
plots for novels and short stories at low
rates.
Japan will spend seven hundred thou
sand dollars for its exhibit at the Worlds
Fair.
Will Allen Dromgoole is about to
publish a volume of folk lore tales of Ten
nessee.
A humane citizen of Hutchinson, Kan
sas, catches rats and kills them with
ehloroform.
A farmer out in Minnesota is reported
to have thrashed 5000 bushels of wheat
from 200 acres.
The name grippe" is supposed to be
derived from the Polish word ''chryp-
"A" meaning catarrh.
Several attempts have been made to
steal the Russian crown from its repose
in the Kremlin in Moscow.
Dates are grown at Phoenix, Arizona.
A cluster weighing over eighteen pounds
was recently picked there.
An Albino catfish nine inches long and
Weighing over a pound has been On ex-
hibition at Lancaster, Penn.
Four-ifths of all the sugar plantations
n Hawaii, which are valued at $35, 000,-
300, are owned by Americans.
An old homestead wa sold lately at
Bedford, Mass, that has been in one
for a period Of 227 years.
A resident of Parker's Ford, Penn, is
said to have a ring dove which is twelty-
ons years cid and has been in one cage
Ill his life.
The first telegraphic instrument was
successfully operated by s. F. B. Morse,
,he inventor, in 1885, though its utility
not demonstrated to the world until
1912.
From the summit of Mount Rose in
Nevada, L., 1000 feet above the sea level,
he waters of tWenty-one lakes may be
cen g~listening among the forests OF the
It is stated that in consequence of the
arge purchase made by English dealers,
he Russian Minister of War intends to
the increasing export of horses
the province of the Don.
the Union flag was first uufurled on
ne 1st Of January, 1875, over the camp
Cambridge, Mass. 1t had thirteen
of white and red, and retained
ne English cross in one corner.
It is said hat there are five citizens of
Falls, Penn, each bearing tae
me name, John A. Libson. They are
OF related in the remotest way, as far as
know. It is certainly a remarkable
oincidenee.
A Jumbo muskmelon has been on ex.
at Fresno, Cal. It measured
inches in circumference QUE
ay and sixty-one the other, and weighed
pounds. It is believed to
; the largest muskmelon ever raised in
~alerica.
Although tobacco had been intro
iced into Europe by Sir Walter Raj
Oh over a century before, it was not I
It'll 1899 that the tobacco pipe, in its I
rn as we now know it, was intro {
iced. Its inventor was johann Fraaz Y
cob Villarius. Before that date to-
eco was smoked from clay cylinders.
A strange discovery has been made IN
'anee at the Chateau ~Champlain. A !
over found that his vineyard was en- !
mbered by an old decayed wall and :
permission to have it pulled !
'wn. In a sort Of cavity he discovered :
b male skeletons, with their necks, =
nds and feet riveted together with iron :
tiers. Some remnants of clothes, re- .
ced to dust, were found on the q
ound where the skeletons lay, as well !
rusty iron fragments. !,
. Kafrarian church choir is capti- :
ting Londoners with the weird melody )
! sweet tone of its singing. TIE !
mes of these musical Kafirs are Mr.. !
III Xiniwe and wife, Miss Makhomo :
lnYe, Miss Johanna Jonkers and Mr.. /
siah Semouse. They call themselves
African Native Choir, and are de- :
Ting the proceeds of their concerts to 4
establishment Of schools in which !
.r fellow KaAirs may learn handi- !
fits, household work and the like. :