Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-01-07
MISCELLANEOUS.

lead pencil -Norristowu Herald.
 Poor old Lushforth fell down and broke the trestle of his nose" Don't you mean the bridge?" You might call it bridge, but as no water passes under it l thought the other word bet ter. indianapolis Journal.
 Miss E'itzogre-"Well. cood-by, Per- civaI and be good boy! Percival Ga very cool boy, who has just been specially warned not to make personal remarks about people i'll their prcsence) -"Good-by. I'll not tell nurse what l think of your nose till you're gone!''- Punch.
 Maine has only nineteen cities within its borders Portland is the old est city and Deering is the youngest, having just thrown off town govern ment. Cape Elizabeth, Brunswick, Skowhe~an, Dexter, Pennington, Cam den, Carbon and Houlton are thinking favorably of city government.
 There are naturalists in this day and age who believe that horse hairs will lturn to living snakes: that toads will live for thousands of years ill the cavity of rock without food or water; that the barnacle goose was developed from the shell-fsh of that name, and that the bird called sora is a species of winged frog.
 A New Jersey truck-farmer who went to New York q few days ago took with him fifteen pearls which he had taken from mussels found in a small fresh water stream near his farm. The pearls were sold for large sum upon the opinion of New York expert, who said they were the finest American pearls he had ever seen.
 A new variation of the nickel-in- the-slot machine. is an apparatus by which you Hay a parcel on the shelf and have it delivered. The customer steps on platform, on which is an ob. long box of steel The top flies oper and steel shelf comes up, on which the package is laid; the sender affiXes q stamp. valued at fifteen cents, and re tires, when the box closes. Wagons make hourly collections. The stamp has a coupon attached, which the sender keeps as receipt.
 Most people, " says an artistic gar dener rake off the leaves from theil lawns and then to protect them smear them over with some vile compost can't understand why they prefer the rank favored stuff to the beautifully variegated blanket of leaves nature provides for that very purpose. What is prettier than a wide stretch of the restless, fluttering things, and no better protection can be given the grass thar they afford. Enough will decay in the course of the winter to enrich the soi sufficiently, and when raked off in the spring the lawn is as neat and clean a: one can wish.
 The invention of the hand loon antedates all authentic history, but un doubtedly originated in either Hindus tan, Egypt or China. The Old Testa ment, frequently refers to woven fab rics. The Israelites carried with then the art of weaving when they lief Egypt, and Pliny accords the invention to the Egyptians. The loom was prob ably known in England prior to th' conquest by Caesar, at which time woolen and linen cloth were manu factured at Winchester, to supply tn, Roman army.
 Clocks, called water-clocks, were first used in Rome, 15S before Christ clocks and dials first set up in churches 913; clocks made to strike by tht Ara bians, sol; by the Italians, 1900; ; striking clock in Westminster, 1868; th' | first porta ble one made, 1850; anone il England that went tolerably, till tha dated 154O, makers name N. O., now a Hampton Court palace; clocks witl pendulums, etc, invented by one Fro | mantil, Dutchman, about 1856; repeat ing clocks and watches invented by on' Barlow, 1876. Till about 1881, neithe clocks nor watches were general.
 The proportion of travellers killed | in railroad accidents in France iron l 1875 to 1880 was one to every 24, 900, 00 of passengers and one wounded t every 1000, 900; in England for the sam term one to every 21, 900, 900 of passen | gers was killed, and one to every 695, 900 was wounded; on the German rail roads accidents are more frequent, al though the number of travellers is les -one to every 9,OOo,O of passenger was killed; in Belgium between tn years 1881 and 1888 one to every 6,S3O, 900 was killed, and one to ITO, 900 pas sengers was wounded; in the Unite, States there was one to 2,S00, 900 killed ord one to 42S, 900 injured.