Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1892-05-06
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.

1 "a AAE Ls
Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven.
lures Which Show that Truth Is
Stranger than Fiction.
The French customs officers who are
stationed at the gates Of Paris 10 guard
against excisable goods entering without
paying the octroi. or, duty. have occa-
sionaliy to deal with very ingenious at
.empts at smuggling. Last week, for
instance. an attempted fraud was laid
bare which goes to show how fertile the
,ontrabancists are in expedlents. At
the Menilmontant gate q man in charge
IF q pony cart, in which were three large
wooden boxes, attempted to pass tho
BARRIERS. "Have you anything to de-
:larel' asked mi Of the officials.
Nothing" said the man. unless Gov
eminent has put a tax on cemetery
wreaths," and as he spoke he drew the
lid off one of the boxes, revealing q num-
ser Of the wreaths aud crosses Of artifi-
:ial flowers SO common in French bury.
.ng grounds. The man was about TO
puss on when something about him
aroused the suspicious Of the chief off.
,ial. He took the cover of one Of the
boxes and admired the beauty of the
flowers aud their remarkable fidelity to
nature. Lifting one casually in his
hand he found it was remarkably heavy,
and closer examination showed that when
stripped of flowers and moss it was q
zinc case filled with the finest brandy.
Tho rest of the contents Of the boxes
was of the same nature and was Mt once
confiscatcd. As frauds of the kind are
severely punished by the Partisan au-
!horities, the ingenious inventor Of the
trick will probably be allowed leisure
enough in Muzas to design something
novel.
BY some curious circumstance one Of
The most wonderful prehistoric discoveries
of Ohio has been scarcely heard of out
side "A narrow local area. Recently the
residence Of Joshua Kelly, at Union
Landing, was torn down and its site
turned into u field. During the work
the plough was started, and derectly
under where the house stood O skeleton
was turned up. The finder dug about
and unearthed four more skeletons, four
adults and n child. 1t was at first
supposed that q tragedy had been
Drought to light, but there was no one to
clear up the mystery. After a few days
the news reached the outside world, and
an excavation was made ut the spot
| with astonishing results. Within q space
Of forty feet square and five feet in
depth more than a score of skeletons were
found, and it was estimated that there
were fifty bodies in the space. They
were piled one upon the other-men,
women and childrcn-wi'hout order other
than that the heads were generally toward
the Ohio River. Around the necks of
the women were found c~uriously wrought
beads, and stone and metal rings we're on
their fingers. Many stone and metal
implements and trinkets, mussel shells
and ashes were found in abundance.
Generally speaking, the skulls, femur
bones and teeth were in an.excellent state
of preservation. Some of the strands of
beads were five and six feet in length and
some were engraved.
When a chief is about to be crowned
King paramount of tho Swat Nation, q
warrior called an impi) is sent out to
hunt for n lion, u tiger. a buffalo and a
large snake. This because part Of the
ceremony ut the coronation, consists Of
the King eating portions of the hearts of
the three animals, the oil of the snake
only being used. The medicine man
rubs the Oil OH the breast, temples and
between the shoulders of the King, this
to prevent him being b%ewitched. The
animal hearts are supposed to act on the
liver and make his royal Majesty brave
Indeed. During the ceremony the King
ats upon the skull Of the buffalo, which
has been placed upon the ground in the
heart Of the village. Tho exercises last
three days. On the first he is clothed
only, in the skin Of the lion; on the second,
in the skin of the tiger, while on the
third the skull is in the centre of the
buffalo's skin and mounted by the King,
! who is perfectly naked. In this situation
he receives the congratulations of his
people, who hail him US ''Great Lion
Great Tiger" "Slayer Of Serpents''
and Rider of tho Buffalo" BY the
above titles he is ever after known to
his people.
Though mankind may avoid u repeti-
ton of the great locust plaques Of his
tory-such, for instance, as that near the
close Of the last century, in which the
locusts drowned on one part Of the Afri-
Gun coast were washed up in a bank fifty
miles long aud four or five feet high, or
TINT, early in the Christian era. which
resulted in the death Of 100000 persons
such plaques have not yet entirely
lost their terrors. Recent alarm has
therefore been caused in Egypt by the
most serious visitation recorded for forty
years, and has been increased by the
fact that the warns of locusts instead
of being migratory seemed to have de-
yelopel from eggs laid in the country
last year. Every effort will be made to
exterminate tue creatures before grea,
damage is done. While investigating
the locust plague in Algeria, q member
Of the French Academy, NJ. kunckel
Herculais, is reported to have fallen
asleep from exhaustion, when he was at
tucked by a swarm Of locusts from which
he was unable to escape. When his
corpse was found the insects had com.
pleiely devoured his hair. beard and
necktie. Trenton IN ~ American.
The teamer Gothenburg City va,
wrecked on st. Mary's Island, near New