The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-06-29
MISCELLANEOUS.

vhimpered Bobby Il only took lit
lie cakelet.' Then l will not give
Tou a spanking. my son." said his
mamma. placing him gently but firmly
cross her knee and reaching for the
,ake-turner: Il will give you little
spanklet."
Lighthouses are now distinguished
oy the mariner by color. com bina tions
Of color, or the periodicity of short
flashes. Capt. Mahan, of the United
states Lighthouse board. has devised
a system of signals given by shutters
over the light, by which each light
tells its own name or number, and pre-
vents any possible confusion. Whe n
tested at New Haven last month it
worked admirably.
The first warlike measure of the
Americans previous to the hostilities
begun in 1872, was the construction, at
Sacks it's llarbor at the eastern end of
Lake Ontario, of the brig Oneida, six
teen guns, by Christian Berg and Henry
EckfOrd She was launched in 1909.
and was intended for two-fold pur-
pose, namely, to enforce the revenue
laws under the Embargo act, and to be
in read mess to defend American prop
arty afloat on Lake Ontario in case OF
| war with Great Britain.
In 1921 fierce controversy arose
in England in consequence of claim
set up by the council of Plymouth, a
company chartered by James l., for the
monopoly of fishing in American seas
! between 40-4s degrees of north lati-
tude. This company demanded from
each vessel fishing in these waters a
tax of about eighty-three cents per
ton This claim was stoutly resisted
| The house of commons took part with
the fishermen, and the contest was con-
tinued in the reign of Charles L., and
was one of the causes of the quarrel
between him and parliament, which
| brought on the civil war.
The first settlement of white people
| in Vermont was made in 1924 by the
erection of Fort Drummer, near the PRES
ent site of Brattleboro, then supposed
to be in MasSachu sets. In the spring
of 1777 the settlers in Vermont petit
| toned the Cont mental congress for adj
mission into the con federacy, but New
York opposing, the petition was with
drawn, and at convention held the
next year at Win dsor a constitution
modelled after that of Pennsylvania was
adopted. In 1881 congress offered to
admit Vermont upon terms which the
people would not agree to, and it re-
manned outside the Union until March
4, 1871.
The firm of Longmans, Green &c Co.,
under the same name, dates further
| back, it is stated, than any other pub
fishing house known to this genera
| ton, with a single exception, and by
buying up that one it became the oldest
publishing house known. The original
Longmans, born in 1899, purchased the
stock of William Taylor, publisher, in
1926, and since then the name of Long
mans has always stood at the head of
the firm name, and their headquarters
are still at the sign of the Ship and the
| Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London,
| where the house of Taylor stood at the
time of the purchase by Longmans in
1925. This firm brought out DR.. John.
son dictionary in 1746, Lindley Muir.
| ray grammar at the beginning of the
century, Moore's "Lalla Roolxh'' in
1926, and paid Macaulay large royalties
on his books
Joseph Francis. the inventor of the
lifeboat, died at Otsego Lake, May 10,
aged ninety-three years. When the
little Joseph was but eleven years OF
age he built snail boat with cork in
the bow and stern. which has been
called the first lifeboat built in Amer
lea. The unsuitable rowboats made
by him when he was quite a young man
were bought by England, Russia and
Brazil. In 1912, Mr. Francis succeeded
in completing his corrugated iron
water-tight car, but it was not until
January r. 1850, that its great efficiency
was proved On that occasion the Brit
ish ship Ayrshire came ashore at Squan
Beach, n. j., with 200 souls on board.
The life car was taken out and made
about forty trips, saving every one,
with the exception of a man who at
tempted to ride on the outside and was
washed off. Three years ago Mr.. Fran
els was presented by President Harri-
son with the gold medal which had
been voted to him by congress.
The majority of travelling men
sleep head foremost on a well-ballasted
road and feet foremost on a road where
the cars sometimes run on the track
and sometimes on the ties. 1t is much
pleasanter to sleep headfirst, as it
were, because it prevents that swell
head feeling which results from too
much blood being forced in the direc-
ton of the brain. But in case of an ac-
cident it is very much pleasanter to
sleep the other way. Nature did not
provide the human neck with as many
joints as that of a giraffe or ostrich,
and when train suddenly comes to a
standstill and the whole force of the
collision comes on the top Of the skull,
the feeling is unpleasant. On the other
hand the knees have a kindly tendency
to give on the occasion of the collis-
ion, and hence, if a man is sleeping
feet first he is less liable to accident if
the train stops suddenly.
More than one-half of all the oil of
peppermint, spearmint and tansy used
in the world is said to be procured and
distilled in Michigan. The center of
the industry is st. Joseph county. Pep