St. Landry democrat., 1893-05-20
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERY DAY LIFE.
Queer Facts and Thrilling Adven-
lures Which Show That Truth Is
Stranger Than Fiction,

Stranger Tlan Fiction.
II WAS chased once by box car,
said an cx-rlilroad man. ut was out il
Colorado, the land of steep grades ant
sharp curves. We were sliding dowl
the mountains one day with q baggage
car and two coarhes. | was on the real
platform looking at the road when
deserted a box-car coming down thu
grade at rate of speed that was ap
palling. If it struck us we were gone
sure, for it would smash the entire tra,
into kindling- wood and pile it up in on,
Of the gorgcs. Our only hope was te
either outrun or wreck it. The rnginee1
caught sight of it at the same instant
that | did, and put the lever dowr
among the tallow pots. 1t appeared
impossible that we could hold the TRACK
on the sharp curves while moving moro
| than mile minute, but we did, ano
the box car continued to saw wood. Il
we could once get to the Hoot of tho
grade we would be safe, sut that was
soon seen to be impossible. Rapidly as
we were going the box car continued tc
gain upon us, and now we could see that
it was loaded with iron. Something
must be done and that quickly All the
passengers had fled into the forward
coach, and were hanging on to the seats.
l signalcd the engineer to shut off, set a
brake hard on the rear coach, pulled the
pin and the engineer opened the throttle.
We had not gone one hundred yards
before the box-car ran into the coach
nj nfn H,-i q -,Ita ,to ,>f.
mile high. Both went plunging over
into chasm, and hunted up passen-
ger who had pocket flask, and lein-
forced my nerves."
GEORGE FRANCIS DoBsoN, a Spiritua-
list, of Muskegoa, Mich, has perfected
scheme, he thinks, by which he hopes
at death to be able to prove positively
to those still in the material state that
his spirit exists. He went to Pittsburg
short time ago and obtained a large
glass cylinder, 50 Constructed that it can
be scaled alright quickly. In this
cylinder he has suspended with fine
copper wires two pieces Of metal, 50
light that they may be brought in con-
tact with each other by the slightest
motion of air within the cylinder.
Wires pass through the. cylinder, one
connected with a battery and the other
with Geographic instrument. He has
made arrangements for his friends, Just
before the spirit leaves his body, to seal
him in the cylinder, so that his spirit
may be kept from departing and at the
same time be enabled, by a series of
systematic Disturbances of the air within
the cylinder, to communicate with his
friends through the Geographic instrtl-
ment. He is dying with consumption,
and the public probably will not have
long to wait for the test of his expert
ment. If it should prove successful his
friends are pledged after three days to
unseal the cylinder and allow the spirit
to depart and then seal UP and bury the
remains.
THOMAS ALLEN, veteran, 105 years
of age, lives in Tyler county. few
miles above Parkeraburg, ": Va Mr.
Allen is a hale and hearty man, who II
casual observer would take to be not
over 10. Every day in the year, rain or
shine, cold or warm, he walks from his
home to the Post Office, distance of
three miles, and return. He is the
recipient of many newspapers, dailics
and weeklies, sent him by admiring
friends. Mr.. Allen served under the
Duke of Wellington, in the war with
NapolcOn; under General Scott, in the
war with Mexico, and entered and served
in the war of the rebellion on the Union
side. At the time Of his last enlistment
he was y years old, but his physical APP
pearancc SO beied his years that he had
no difficulty in passing muster as on the
lesser end of As. The old man has I'M
doubted written evidence not only of his
great age, but of his history as soldier.
He says that the last time be heard from
his father was some time during the last
war, when he was still living, at the
great age of 1Ol years. His mother died
at the age of 50 years. The old man
looks rs ii he would be able to tackle
another decade or two before "going
over the range
Mrs. ROBERT JOHNSON, of Sonoma,
Cal, has 200 high bred Angora cats, and
thrce servants devote their entire time
to them. Mrs johnson is a widow to
whom money is no object. she being
worth several millions. The San Fran
cisco Examiner says that besides the cats
Mrs. johnson has a lot of other pets.
There are parrots from all over the world
Cockatoos and paroquets perch on high
stands or fly about the aviary with mad
glec until the place is feathered pande-
monium. Then in another huge cage
are large number of canary birds which
sing to each other all the while. Out
side the mansion are a lot of kennels in
which dwell some very well-known |
prize winners among dogs. These dogs |
are smooth or wooly, large or tiny, and
have two keepers in charge of them.
Then there arc a lot of japanese donkeys |
and some splendid specimens of Holstein
cattle and Jersey COWS with soft eyes.
A hundred horses and mares of Elec- |
,ionecr stock complete Mrs. Johnson's |
DURING the recent severe weather in
Scotland a very extraordinary shot was
made by Sir Charles Ross puntsman.
\ large number of birds were seen sitting
N the ice, and the puntsman succeeded
n getting within about sixty yards of
hem Some of the birds rose as the gun
vas fired, but the total number killed by
he dischlrge was 149; they included
everal species, but the majority were
'lover. The gun was II inches in bore,
nd the charge 4 ounces of powder and
4 ounces of No. 3 shot. The shot was
doubtless rendered much more destruc-
i've than it would otherwise have been,
wing to the pellets skidding along on
he flat surface of the ice.