Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-12-23
IN GENERAL.

An enleIpIlSluB oOdp-lldhtl VI h'luu
has manufactured a cake of soap weighing
ll42 pounds.
a computation of the number of dwelling
houses in the United States places the
number at S,9j5, SIP.
A certain lady was once describe by a
rival as having "ofgans of hearing which
were unfortunately too large for ears and
not large enough for wings
a law passed in England in 1850 de-
cared that at parties 'lades must not get
drunk under any prcteXt whatever, and
gentlemen not before 9 o'clock
A man who has made shoes by hand,
and who has taken the trouble to count the
stitches necessary in the manufacture Of a
single pair, states that their number is
about 1000
The new Mormon temple at Salt Lake
/ City will Toe opened April 6, 1898. 1t has
/ been in course of erection for forty years
| has cost 81, 800 600 and will be, without
doubt, the biggest architectural nightmare
| In the country.
! In this part Of the country we think a
farm Of one hundred acres is a pretty big
| sort of an affairs: but in Dakota farmers
| do things on a much larger scale, the acre
/ age of the farms running up into the thou
] odul0. N'lIh ltdhObd raj III - lbsNf' h'i'H
in extent.
Cork is about the most buoyant sub
. stance there is, but there are points beyond
which even cork cannot 90. A cork sunk
two hundred feet deep in the ocean will
not rise again to the surface owing TO the
great pressure OF the water. At any less
distance from the surface, however, it will
gradually work its way back to light once
more.
People who have plenty Of clothes to
wear and a good roof to shelter them from
the storms that come will be sorry to hear
that of the entire human race 80, 900, 600
| 70 entirely without clothes, that 100000,
900 live in huts or caves, and that 80, 600,
900 more have practically no shelter at all.
Many Of these cothesless and homeless
ones however, live in warm climates where
their condition is not altogether hard one.
Another new means OF producing motive
power which may shortly dispute with cleo
tricity the right Of precedence IN many
branche, OF industrial effort is ammonia
gas, which Is already in use in Manchester
England, and is To- he employed on the
World Fair ground for traction purposes
on passenger cars running TO various sec
tions of the vast inciosure. Enormous
pressure may easily bee generated 10y the Use
of ammonia gas yet the mechanical diff
cultie- 90 be- overcome are so serious that
immediate success in its application is
scarcely 10 be anticipated.
In california there are ostrich farms. and
the way the managers secure the beautiful
feathers is by tempting the birds with
hanituls of corn scattered over the ground.
A man stands ready with an empty flour
sack. aud when an ostrich come, near
enough 10 br seized, it, head is thrust into
il. Then the bird is guided by two men
into an open-end stall The ostrich. being
blinded. is helpless and cannot night with
its powerful prOngei toe. one man stands
on guard while another cuts and plucks the
feathers.
There is wonderful piece of mechanism
IN the United States mint al Philadelphia,
IN the shape OF the scales for weighing the
gold coin. They are SO eXquisitely fine
that they will detect the most minute par
ticle added to either side OF the balance.
If two pieces Of paper OF equal weight are
placed upon the balances and one is re-
moved and an autograph in lead pencil Is
inscribed upon II, and the sheet replaced
on the scales the second piece will ont
weigh the other. The minute particles of
black-lead lief, upon the paper in the writ
ing are al once detected by the delicate
mechanism.
The expression "Robbing Peter to pay
Paul was first used when Westminster
Abbey was called 81. Peters cathedral.
Money being needed to settle the accounts
OF ST. Paurs cathedral, il was taken by
those in authority from 81. Peters, quite 10
the dissatisfaction OF the people, whoasked,
why rob S. Peter to pay ST. Pau?'
over two hundred years afterward, the say
ing was again used in regard To the same
churches al the death of the Earl of Chat
ham, the city OF London declaring that so
great a statesman should br buried in ST.
Paul. $, while parliament insisted that one
so noble in every way would be more pro-
perry placed amid the dust of king, in
Westminster Abbey, and that not to bury
him there would bee for the second time
'robbing 81. Peter TO pay 81. Pau The
Abbey very justly carried the day