The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-03-24
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.
Which Show that Truth 10 Stranger
than Fiction.

Which Show that Truth 10 Stranger
than Fiction.
Duck night at Ewell's store, on the
Virginia coast near the North Caro-
lima line. is locally famous in the
ducking season as the special night
i'm the week when the storekeeper is
at home To the duck hunters OF the
region. Ewell buys ducks of the
hunters. paying for the game in
goods from his store, and shipping
his purchases 10 an up-coast life-sav-
ing station, whence they find their
way 10 the markets OF Baltimore,
Philadelphia. and New York. As
Ewell waits behind his counter with
lantern, the duckers, rude-looking
fellows of the beach-comber type,
drop in one by one and sit round in
the gloom. Ewell hangs the game in
cold room at the rear Of the store
and credits each ducker with the
agreed value Of his ducks. As each
transaction is made the ducker re-
calls something that he needs from
the merchants stock, and when he
has received the article the price is
dcbited against his credit. The
QUICKER then relapses to the nearest
barrel or box and waits until some
other needed article shall occur to
his mind. He then makes the new
demand upon the merchant, has a
new debit placed against his credit,
and again sinks back into the gloom.
After fully two hours OF this sort Of
thing, those who wish the balance Of
their credit paid in cash receive their
dues.
STRANGE freaks are played by wind
blown sands i'm the New Mexico river
valleys and mountain canons. In the
canons one may see cliffs and natural
stone pillars cut into fantastic forms
by the natural sand blasts formed by
the winds sucking up and down these
narrow passes. In broad river val
leys, the Rio Grande especially,
great areas OF sand hills are seen
tossed up like giant waves Of sea.
These shift their position slowly,
travelling in the direction Of the pre-
vailing winds, until they scatter on
the plain or encounter some obstruc-
ton, such as mountain side, against
which they heap. Not only valuable
lands, but towns may be buried in
this invading element. Thus along
the Pecos River, at distances from
twenty to forty miles below the town
OF Eddy, in southeastern New Mexico,
there are five old deserted pueblos or
villages built by ancient agricultural
Indians, which, it is estimated, once
contained a population OF from 10000
to ID, 600 people. Now the villages
are nearly buried in sand blown from
the hills that bound the valley Yes
tiges OF canal 10 these towns has
been discovered leading from canon
near by which once furnished water,
but is now filled with sand.
A SCoTCHMAN, who is evidently as
patient as he is ingenious, has trained
two little mice TO spin thread with an
apparatus OF which he is the inventor
says the st. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The mechanical principle OF the con
trivance is small mill, which is OPP
Grated by the paws Of the mice. They
can each wind on and off per day from
100 to l20 pieces OF thread and TO do
this they must supply II motor power
/ by which a course OF ten and one
half miles could be traversed Al
though the two mice are quite small,
they perform this task every day
without apparent fatigue. A cent :
worth OF -four furnishes them food
enough for five weeks. During that
time the little animals have spun i'm
the neighborhood Of 3, $50 threads.
each about one and one-half yards
long. At this rate each mouse earns
not quite l-2 cent per day, or the
munificent sum Of about ~ per year.
The ingenious inventor proposes TO
build house ninety feet long. forty
five feet wide and forty-eight feet
high, which he expects TO equip on "a
large scale with thread mills operated
by mice. He says he can put in
about 10000 mills.
MANUEL Cora, a tall, emaciated
sheep-herder and r.nchman, living
about seven miles southwest Of PO-
mona, Cal, has the distinction Of
standing at the very head OF the pro-
cession Of adders TO the population
OF this county. Manuel does not
know a word Of English, has not $50
either in money or property, and lives
in home that hundreds Of men
would not stable their horses in. He
is the father Of twenty-One boys and
girls, and has fathered first and last,
twenty-six infants. Manuel and his
wife were married i'm San Diego i'm
1859, thirty-fiveA ears ago. Mrs. Gotta
was then u blushing bride Of IL, and
Manuel but one year older. Their
eldest child is 81, and has started a
nice little family group Of his own,
having seven children thus far Nr.
and Mrs. Gotta : youngest child is two
weeks old, and bids fair TO become as
lively and strong as its twenty-five
predecessors. Fifteen Of the children
are married and Manuel, at the last