St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-12-23


ing burned to death. She bad fallen
into the fire in tit, and "the dog had
seized her. dragged Ter from the flames.
and burying b:> nose in her lighted
clothes, hac extinguished the fire, To
prove sae truth Of the w"mau's stale
mep., the chief constable got some Cd
prwspapcrs and set fire to them, this be-
ing done in the presence of Other con-
stables. On each occasion the news
paper was lighted in the middle of tue
floor. The dog rushed at it and extin-
gulshed the iihme." The magistrates, of
co"se' SUBSCRIBED to pay for what the
local reporter, with pardonable effusive-
ness, calls the mobile creatures license
IL IS pity that the dogs breed, or. at
a any rate, size and looks are not men
>eoned.
MIR. MArTox, of Mississippi, was hons
ing his hens. The night was somewhat
cloudy. He had visited his barns and
was on the point of returning to hls
house when all at once he heard pecu-
liar Kissing sound overhead. and at the
same instant luminous glow fell all
around him. as if the moon had suddenly
emerged from behind a cloud, chronicles
the Chicago Post. He looked up and
was almost paraIyzcd at the sight of
brilliant, fiery glonc descending through
the air with the speed of llghtn ng. and
shooting a comet like tail far up into the
heavens So rapid was the descent that
1t was only visible for a second, but IN
that brief space, he says, h suffered an
eternity of unspcaknb'c terror. The ire
ball struck the earth with dull report,
scarcely 800 yards from where he stood.
1t was some minutes before he could re-
cover the use Of his limbs. when, rum
ming hastily to his louise, he aroused tho
family and several laborvrs b'ut the
place. telling them a comet hat struck
the earth, and they had only few min
utes to pray. In a short time the whole
plantation was up and women and chill
drcn were heard crying and supplcatins
heaven for mercy. They could not get
closer than about thirty yards on account
| of the heat and ncxious fumes
Of sulphur and gas which tie
stone emitted. The stone sizzicd
and steamed and shot out Jets OF
steam or vapor from thousand pores.
BY daylight it showed up dull. dlngy
black, and was iuII of pores, which still
shot out jets Of vapor of an offensive
smell which almost stitled. The stone IS
evidently imbcddrd in the ground for
some distance ard shows only about
| foot above the surface. Mr.. MattoX es-
Inmates it to be about the size of hogs
head.
| A DIFFICULT mechanical feat just ac-
complished at Porta Costa, Cal, Is
described substantially as follows by
eye-witncsses: On August 10, loco
motive went through the big ferry boat
and plunged pilot first into the waters OF
Carouinez Straits, the tender and cars
remaining on the ferry boat. The water
was deep enough to cover the cab, but
not enough to let the boat out OF the
slip. The locomotive stood practically
vertical and its nose was deep IN the
mud. On the night Of the 18th large
pair of shears male of 12xl2inch tim
bers crossed at the top was built up on
the end of the boat and some large pujlt,s
hung where the puleys crossed. Then
diver spent seyetaI hours in fastening
numte r of cables on either side OF the
frame under the boiler. Four engines
were attached to the ropes, but could not
start the locomotive, although the strain
was so great that cable nearly three
| inches in diameter was broken. Finding
the appliances of insufficient strength,
the shears were doubled in size, and
fifth engine taken on board. On the 18th
another trial was made. 1t was hard 10
get the engines to pull exactly together,
and, as their wheels would slip and re-
volve, the cables would snap and the
tackle generally would be badly strained.
Finally Simultaneous pull started the
mass, and the cab slowly app AIRED above
the water and the engine was gradually
lifted until somewhat higher than the
floor of the ferry-b"at. Tackle from
steam dredger stationed in the front of
the slip was then attached t" the forward
end of the locomotive, which was pulled
out in this way. The shears were then
swung slowly backward over the deck of
the ferry-boat ana the engine gradually
lowered to the tracks it had lett. When
it was hauled to the ncighboring round
house and the mud washed Oft it was
found that but little damage had been
done beyond the splintcring OF the cub
by the cables.