The Bossier banner., 1891-12-31
OF GENERAL INTEREST.

diameter and others twenty-five inches
in length are found in the desert west
of Yuma, Cal, once an inland sea.
Many of them are in perfect pairs, with
every line and ridge and even the color
preserved Yet they are completely
petrifed and solid as any limestone
rock. ALL.f} }.aL
The Atlanta Constitution says that
Alachua lake, sheet of water from
ten to fifteen miles in length, near
Gainesville, recently run almost COM
pletely dry, leaving thousands of dead
fish and many lifeless alligators on its
banks This is the second time since
1928 that the phenomenon has occurred.
There is evidently an underground
passage which drained it
{. --One of the curiosities of old Marble
head is bank building which is an ad-
mirable sample of colonial architecture.
An interesting popularity of the house
is a peat two-story hall papered with
an eighteenth century wall paper,
whose figures represent Roman ruins,
shepherd maidens, and the like. Van
dal tourists have carried the paper of
bit by bit until the walls are now sad
ly disfigured. @ 4
"A great wagon-road scheme is afoat
for western Washington. Il is to have
a public highway from the Straits of
Fuca. to the Columbia river. This
movement means coast road of nearly
three hundred miles in length, extend
ing across the state. The result would
be the immediate settlement of big,
unoccupied territory which would add
immensely'to thewealth and popula-
tion of that portion of the state.
. Over 81, 900 in ngreenbaclxs has been
found hidden among lot of rubbish in
the trunk of an eccentric widow, who
spent her summer in a cottage near
Stonington, Conn, and who died re-
Gently. Always on leaving Stonington
at the end of the season she left the
trunk with a friend, telling him that it
contained nothing of account, but she
didn't care to have burglars rummag-
ing through it, which would be the case
If she were to allow it to remain in her
cottage. Hany .5.1s es.sf 81 tisoa
"A spider is the novel pet of a
Laingsburg (Mioh.l girl. He is kept
under a goblet and carefully feed,
positively refusing ito begin aimeal un-
til three or four flies have been thrust
into his apartment These he let's
walk around him and even over him,
allowing them to think him perfectly
harmless, until in some Of their trips
under his nose he apparently wakes up
and grabs them. After one of these
meals he loses his appetite for about
forty eight hours
About three years ago Michigan
man disappeared, and soon afterward
the body of a man who had been
murdered was found and identified as
that of the missing man. His family
buried it. Some time ago they received
letter from an Indiana hospital for
the insane, saying that the missing
man had been admitted toaathe institu-
tion. He soon recovered his reason,
and last week returned to his people
His mind is blank up to the time he
was taken to the hospital
A few summer visitors at Glou-
cester, Mass, have had the good luck
to get into sail loft of that town and
to see an uncommonly Interesting col
lection of ETogarth engravings, early
| impressions. There are nearly score
in all, many of them from the idle APP
prentice series. The engravings have
hung in their present place for nearly
a century, and the owners Of the loft
has refused $500 for the collection. The
other ornaments OF the room are old
theater posters and early newspaper
cuts.
| Valley City, N D., has, IL is said,
one of the most extraordinary speci-
mems Of horseh esh in existence. He is
a sorrel, stands fully 10 hands, or 8 feet
inches from floor to withers; his legs
| are feet 6 inches before touching the
body, and small bronco can easily
walk under him. A man . feet in
height can't sec. over his back, even
| when standing on tiptoe. In length he
is fully 10 feet, or II feet from tip Of
nose to tip of tail When standing with
his head as ordinarily checked up a
| six-foot man, by standing on toptoe,
can just touch the base Of his ear.
Capt. Webber,, of the schooner j.
@. Craig, of Portland, Ne, tells a re-
markable cat story The cat in ques-
ton belonged on the vessel, and, though
petted by the captain, was disliked by
some of the crew. One day recently,
while the vessel was between Monhe.
gan and Pemaquid Point, one OF the
men threw the cat overheard, and
everybody supposed that was the last
of poor pussy. A week afterward
however, when Capt Webber arrived
home, the cat came purring down th'
garden walk to meet him. The captain
can't explain how the, cat got ashore
but he knows that she is ashore and a
good as new.
"A common mistake is made II
speaking of the broken clouds whicl
sometimes appear during rain storm
"clouds that bring wind" The effec
is. here taken for the cause, thougl
usually after a few minutes wind doe
come and disperse the clouds overhead
, 1t does not take long for a close OF
/ server of weather signs to note whethe
during any storm in daylight the cloud