St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-02-04
BURSTING OF A SAND Box.
The Danger That Larked n IN 1snocsa1
Pod,

Bolten had spent the winter wander
ing among the West India islands, and
when he got back had . medley of curl
osiries which he had picked mp in his
travels Among them were all sorts OF
beans and pods Of tropical trees, and OF
the former were John Grow beans, the
wary. the horse-eyc, Jobs tears and
many Others There were the long,
scabbard-like pods OF the crimson-flow.
cred acassia; cocoa pods, which ratified
with the dry chocolate seeds inside
them, and he also had two pods Of the
sand.Lox tree, curious circular store
houses for the seeds. deeply ribbed,
each rib running from top to bottom of
the pod. These two latter received
places Of honor In lacquer trays, the
smaller beans finding room around
them. Bolten was natty man. and on
his mantelshelf in his bedroom were
arranged these treasures, presided over
by four statuettes of nude goddesse&
The vegetable ornaments of the shelf
were the most innocent-looking things
imaginable. and he never dreamed for q
moment that nature was still busy
bringing to perfection those sand boxes.
He had gone to bed after . hard days
work and was sleeping the sleep Of the
just when he was awakened by what
he thought was . pistol shot in his
room At the same time missiles were
flying all around. As he jumped out Of
bed to light the gas there was . second
explosion, and this time he was pep
s,,;HH al ~o~Ao - vv,sces1~e
The carpet was strewn with objects
which were not pleasant to tread on,
and in his anxiety to escape them and
get 1t the jet he nearly broke the small
toe of his right foot by jamming it
against . chair leg. He nursed it affec-
tionately, but sadly for some time,
swearing In undertones, but afraid to
give loud expression to his pent-up
feelings lest there might be q fusilade.
At last, like q cat walking over hot
bricks, he reached the jet and lighted
the gas The treasures of the mantel-
piece were scattered about the room.
The goddesses had been hurled from
their high places and looked like Ro-
man remains, headless and armlcs&
The lacquer trays were in small pieces,
while the pods and beans were scat
tered all over the room The goblet
had even been broken and the water
was standing In puddles about tho
carpet The sand box had vanished
He searched around carefully. There
was no trace. 50 far rs he could see, of
the explosions He gathered up his
broken and scattered treasures, finding
among them segments of the sand
boxes, and then, leaving the gas alight,
tried to sleep OF the strange occur
rences he said not word to his frienda
The other day . friend was in his
rooms and looking over the collected
remnants remarked: 'Hcllo! Here are
pieces of . sand box"
''What is that?'
swell, it's the fruit Of . tree that
grows in the West Indies, and got its
name owing 70 the planters using it in
the days before blotting paper was in
vented for sand boxes The seeds were
cut out of the center and the pod wa.
then filed with sand II was rather
an unsatisfactory box, however, rs it
often exploded"
Exploded! What do you mean:'
'This Is the fruit of Hura crepitanA
. large tree something like the tulip
tree Of this country. As soon as the
seed is ripe it explodes with . report
like gun, the seeds and shell Of the
pod being scattered in all directions
So great Is the force of the explosion
that the broken pieces arc thrown forty
and City feet Fowls, as soon Is they
hear an explosion, run toward the tree
and are soon busy looking for the seeds.
which they greedily swallow"
'That explains it." said the other.
and he then told the story of his shat
tered works of art-N. Y. Tribune.