Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-08-24

offender had been found guilty of muir
der.
The Shah of Persia does not possess
4 railway train Of any kind He goes
about Persia in carriages or on horse
back, and. although 6t years of age,
is still one of the best horsemen in
the country.
The term carpenter is from the Latin
carpentum. meaning wagon. and origin
ally denoted the mechanic who con-
structed the wooden parts of vehicle,
the wheelwright being the one who
made the wheels
The annual loss from railroad ac-
cidents in the United States due to the
destruction of railroad property and
the compensation of deaths and iniur-
les, and leaving out entirely destruc,
ton of merchandise reaches over
S12,OOO,0OO.
Among the most interesting of the
pieces of gold plate used at the recent
royal wedding breakfast at Buckingham
palace We're several magnificent
ftiagons taken from the flagship of the
! admiral who commanded the Spanish
| Amanda.
The hanging gardens of Babylon did
not hang. nor were they gardens.
They We're terraces, supported by arch
es and overgrown with trees. They
We're erected for the amusement of a
Babylonian queen who had come from
a mountainous country
! In London some thousands of women
and girls belong to what are called
drink clubs, a small sum being paid
by each member weekly in order that
several times yearly all may meet at
some public house and drink what has
| been contributed
| German authority estimates that al
most third of humanity speak the
| Chinese language, that the Hindoo Ian
guage is spoken by more than 100,-
100000. the Russian by 100000,
while the German is spoken by ST.
100000 tongues and the Spanish by
100000.
| A Maine man has been tried for TAX
! ing in potatoes at one door of his barn
and selling them out the other. The
trouble was that one part of his barn
| was in Maine and the other part in
New Brunswick. He bought potatoes
in Canada and, moving them across
the barn, sold them in Maine without
paying duty.
The archives of the port of South
amptOn, England, contain curious
naval law of the fourteenth century.
| The document holds the captain of ~
vessel responsible for the value of the
goods lost if his vessel is wrecked on
any voyage begun in spite of the
opinion of the majority of the crew
that the wind was unfavorable.
An English woman in London chas-
ed thief who had stolen her pocket
book caught him and held him by the
collar until help came and he was ar
rested. A young woman at Copen-
hagen showed similar pluck; as a re-
ward she was presented with dia-
mond brooch by the chief of police
and a newspaper man offered to marry
her out of admiration for her exploit.
The railroad system of this country
began in 1927. Now there are 214,52S
miles of track in the United States
and 35431O in the world. The number
of passengers carried by the United
States railroad in 1892 was 555,015,-
SO2. and the total earnings were ST.
l13S.O24 ,459. The capital stock was
$4.SO9, 1861, and the dividends $780,
! 1879. The number of men employ
ed was 7S4 2S5
In parts of Germany, when at even
ing the clouds rise and bear some re-
| senblance no a great tree-that is,
when there is, as it were, il pillar of
vapor between the horizon and the
overarching canopy of cloud-the peas
ants call it "Abraham's tree" or
| adams tree" A mackeral sky pro-
vokes the saying: I'VE shall have
wind Adams tree is putting forth
leaves" If the leaves appear in the
lternOOn it is a sign of fine weather;
if early in the morning, of storm.
| The first electric organ to reach
this country has arrived at the Boston
custom-house from England. 1t has
been built for st. Thomas church,
Taunton. Another curious impOrta-
ton is bible wagon" which has
arrived from GLASGOW. 1t is an elab-
crate affair, strangely fashioned and
bright with varnish and gliding. 1t is
equipped with seats, book racks and
high pulpit, which, with its Stard, is
| mounted on a swivel and can be aim
ed in any direction.
One of the most famous and fatal
poisons uesd in Japan and Java is OBJ
tanned from the bamboo. The young
| shoots of the cane when they first
push through the ground are covered
with fine, brOwish hairs, which under
the microscope appear to be bayOnet-
like spikes of crystals of slick, infinite
~ sharp and hollow. Small quantities
of these hairs administered in the food
bring on liberation of the whole al
imentary canal, stimulating malignant
dysentery. The action must he Of
a mechanical rather than chemical
nature, just as the spores of the com
mon putfball act upon the eyes
The enormous amount of heat habit
ually wasted in cooling molten slog
has melted an Australian to work out
a scheme for generating steam by this
| means. The boiler, or receptacle for
the water has running through it from,
! top to bottom funnel-Shaped pipes,
something after the style Of big can
die mold. The molten Stag is poured
into these receptacles and cOmmuni-
Gates it's heat to the water When the
| Stag becomes solid a door at the bot
| tom Of each receptacle is opened. the
| Stag is knocked out and the whole filled