The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-12-20
MISCELLANEOUS.


made to order for $50.
-Goosequills for pens sold in London
in 1542 at twenty cents q thousand.
1t is stated that Congregational
lady devotes all eggs laid on Sunday to
missionary purposes.
In 1885 peaches cost in Italy twelve
cents a thousand They were very
small hardly exceeding the size OF al
monds.
1t is recorded that Elizabeth
bought a ''catte of Malta for $5.25
from a sailor, and at the same time a
''mOnkeye" for $3.50.
During the time of Christ two
sparrows were sold for a farthing, or,
according to another evangelist, five
We're sold for two farthings.
The Empress Josephine once paid
s., 600 for a dress, and so angered the
emperor that he ordered the dress
maker to be sent to prison
1t is believed by microscopists that
the highest powers of their instru
ments have not yet revealed the most
minute forms of animal life.
-Self-assertion, in utter disregard of
the rights and claims of others, has in
many famous men amounted almost to
madness Carlyle was noted example
of this form of eccentricity.
In England the temptation to adul
terate tobacco is much stronger than
with us, on account of the higher price.
Dock, rhubarb. colts foot and other
kinds of leaves have been occasionally
employed. but their use is not frequent,
as very heavy fine is inflicted for the
otfenSe.
We accompany the youth with
sympathy and manifold old sayings of
the wise to the gate of the arena, but
it is certain that not by strength of
ours, nor by the old sayings. but only
on strength of his own, unknown to
us or to any, he must stand or fall
Emerson.
Tobacco has not been found grow
ing wild in any part of the world, and
its original abode is, therefore, I'M
known. 1t is believed to be native of
tropical America. 1t is sometimes
found growing as weed, but in all
sum S''No IIiS 'lttllCn nave DtCll u dCNNt
to an Indian field or settlement.
The use of the telephone on Aus
tralian sheep ranches is becoming quite
common. In this country its employ
ment is mentioned on the Clark ranch
in Montana, where all the sheep and
shepherds are watched and handled
telephonically, by means of six sta
finr,S II !,
point from which come weather sig
mails, orders, etc.
One of the latest applications of
electricity is to the sealing of cans of
fruit and preserved meats. A conduct
i've layer is formed on the top of the
can, and a metal coating is deposited
by the ordinary methods of electro
plating The process is being also APP
piled to the sealing up of bottles of
wine, beer and chemicals with a metal
lie coating or capsule.
Persons who complain of the lack
of wearing qualities in the silk they
purchase, may be interested in know
ing that much body and weight is given
to the fiber by various adulterants
One of the favorite processes consists
of giving the silk baths and dips into
tin salts. The solution is so strongly
acid that the silk cannot be manipu-
lated with the hands. One immersion
l. a thirty per cent. solution adds
eight per cent. to the weight of the
silk, and three dips add twenty-five
per cent. or Whereabouts. There are
c1nanSi,cr
cesses to follow the treatment, but all
are so very carefully conducted that
the weighting material may not be dis
turbed.
1t has for long time been the be-
lief that meters for gas and water were
not as reliable as the companies would
like to have consumers believe. Inter-
ested persons at Mannheim, Germany,
have been investigating meters, with
results not at all favorable to the
meters themselves. Many of them reg
istered far more than was consumed
and, as rule, they were neither ac-
curate nor regular. The vibrations
due to bad plumbing and other causes
accounted for some of the waste, and a
CllcCh valve anu an ClldlilDCI vert rec
commended in order to equalize the
pressure. 1t is said that very sudden
shutting off OF either gas or water will
cause the meter to over-register. There
should be some simple and effective
way to regulate meters. AS matters
now stand, the producer has things all
his own way, and the consumer has no
redress whatever.
Odessa, which is frequently de-
scribed as the Liverpool of Russia, and
which in point of trade and prosperity
ranks as the most important city of the
empire, has just been celebrating the
centennial anniversary of its founda-
ton Built on territory coded to Rus
STA by Turkey in 1892, the foundations
of the present city were laid in 1894,
and when, at the beginning of the cen
fury, the French emigre, the Due de
Richelieu, arrived upon the scene to
assume his duties as governor-general
"a post to which he had been appointed
by Emperor AleXander--there were only
400 houses and about 5000 inhabitants
in the place To-day the population is
over 800. 900, of whom no less than $50,
600 are Hebrews, and there is no city in
the empire more bountifully endowed
with magnificent public buildings, or
whore the inha bitantS are DOSSpSSp6 of