Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-01-21
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.
queer Episodes and Thrilling Adven.
lures Which Show that Truth Is
Stranger than Fiction.

P-'"uoS anu ming AuYen-
lures Which Show that Truth Is
Stranger than Fiction.
A GENTLEMAN in Trimble County, Ky..
was an eyewitness TO most singular
encounter between buzzard and a huge
rattlesnake, the particulars of which are
as follows: he was in the act of driving
MS team up to watering trough, formed
from a natural spring at the foot of a
huge rock on his place, when he was at
tracted by the peculiar shrek of buz-
zard when engaged in contest with one
OF Its kind or any other animal over car
rion which it has discovered, and on which
this species of bird feeds wholly. On
alighting from his wagon and drawing
nearer to the spot, he discovered one of
these well-known birds of prey, which
abound there in countless numbers, en-
gagged in fierce fight with u rattlesnake
nearly five feet in length and measuring,
as far as he was able to Judge, fully six
and one-half inches in circumference at
the thickest part. The gentleman de-
scribes the scene as terribly fascinat-
ing one, and he was in such close prox-
unity to it, though partially hidden from
view behind large gum tree, that he
plainly saw every motion of the COM
batants. The carcass of dead lamb
lay near the scene of the battle, and the
buzzard had evidently been feeding upon
it when discovering his snakeship, which
had, no doubt, been basking in the sun
on the rock from which the above-men-
toned spring flowed. The buzzard, with
its large, piercing, and blood-red eyes
almost dilating from their sockets, and
wings half extended, as they always are
when upon the ground, would wait for the
snake to spring, and, eluding its stroke
with wonderful dexterity, would dart at
its antagonist and batter it with both
wings and talons before it could recoil
again, andretreating, would wait for an
other opportunity of attack, keeping far
enough away from its foe to be safely
out of harm's way. The fight waged in
this manner for fully five minutes, when
the rattler torn and lacerated by the beak
and talons of the savage bird, gave up
the ghost, and, catching it up with its
claws, the buzzard, with a shrek of VIC
tory, flew away with its serpent victim
in the direction of the Indiana shore.
The power of Stimulating death pos
sessed by the fakirs of India and Persia
is said to be perfectly incredible. APP
parent death is part of the religious
ceremony of some of the sects of those
countries, and in many cases verified by
British official reports in India, fakirs
have allowed themselves to be buried for
as long time as six months. The way
the takirs go to work to produce this
condition is to have the little ligature
under the tongue cut, whereby they arc
enabled to stretch this organ out to
great length. Then they turn it back,
inserting the end in the throat, and clos
ing up at the same time the inner nasal
apertures, The external apertures of
the nose and ears are closed with wax,
and the eyes covered to exclude the light.
Long preliminary practice is, however,
needed in holding the breath, and long
course of fasting before burial. The
fakir then sinks into condition fesemb-
ling death, and the body is wrapped in
linen, placed in box and buried. When
the box is taken up. at the expiration of
the long-continued death-like sleep, and
opened, the fakir is found cold and stiff,
no pulsations can be felt, the heart, the
wrist, the temples are still. The body is
not cold as n corpse would be, but is
colder than that of other living men, ex-
cept over the seat of the brain. All the
secretions are fully stopped; the hair,
nails and beard have ceased growth.
After being resuscitated, the fakir feels
great dizziness, and for few hours can
not stand up without support, but grad
ually he RECEIVERS strength, and enjoys
amazingly the wonder he has excited.
Irwas recently stated that the Mormons
were finding new country for the prac-
tice of their creed in Mexico, and that
the emigration from Utah was already
large. The report now comes from Salt
Lake City that Mr.. S. F. Spencer, local
real estate dealer, has sold to n Mormon
company the Hacienda de la Presa ranch,
containing 100000 acres of land and sit
uated in chihuahua, about ninety-ive
miles southwest of the city of that name
The capital of the company is said to be
81 100000. Some $500 acres of the land
are under cultivation, and the timber
tract is extensive. Sawnlill and factory
machinery is to be transported there in
there will be n hegira from the old Zion
TO the new. The lands are described as
being situated in the foothills of the
Sierra Madre Mountains, at an elevation
of 5000 feet above sea level. The ele-
vation of the region and the presence of
timbered hills gives climate free from
the extremes of heat and cold, and the
region is noted for its healthfulness.
Such fruits and vegetables as are raised
in Utah and the Middle States can be
produced by irrigation, while corn and
other usual crops of the country are
raised without irrigation.
THE great fifty-ton hammer in the
Krupp Gun Works at Essen, Germany,
gained its name and the inscription it
bears, Fritz, let fly" in the following
manner: In 1877, when old Emperor
William visited the gun works this great
steam trip-hammer was the first thing to
attract his attraction. Krupp then in
troduccd the veteran Emperor to the ma
chinist Fritz, who, he said, handled the
giant hammer with wonderful precison
that he was so expert with it as to drop
the hammer without injuring an object
placed in the centre of the block. The
Emperor at once put his diamond-studded
watch on the spot indicated and beckoned
to the machinist to set the hammer in
motion. Fritz hesitated out of consider
alton for the PRECIOUS object, but Krupp
and the Emperor both urged him on by
saying: Fritz, let fy!' Instantly the
hammer was dropped, coming so closely
to the watch that sheet of writing pa
per could not be inserted between, but
the Jewel was uniniured. The Emperor