The free press., 1894-08-23

|
A RICH old man has lately died in
P>ris leaving his fortune, valued at
| 500. 600 francs to young woman VINO
was perfectly unknown to him. This
millionaire was extremely eccentric
and had sworn to enrich the first per-
son who would give proof of un-
doubted honesty and the following is
the means he employed to find his
| future heir. From morn until eve he
passed the day riding about in trans
and omnibuses, and always sat near
the conductor to pass him the money
which passengers at the other end
sent forward When it so happened
| that he had to give back change he al
ways added piece of money to the
value of fifty centimes and waited to
see the result. This little game lasted
for eight years, during which time
not one passenger returned the sur
plus money he had received! At last
one day he had the pleasure of hear
ing young lady say to the money
taker: you have given me fifty
centimes too much" The eccentric
old man was happy. He at once set
about making inquiries concerning
the paragon and made his will in her
favor.
CONE Of the most ingenious devices
for smuggling was detected in Russia
not long ago" said o. l.. Ratovitch,
of st. Petersburg, to reporter.
"A great number of false bank notes
had been put into circulation within
the dominions of the Gar. They
could only have been imported, and,
although the strictest search was
made habtually over every vessel en-
tering Russian port, no trace of the
smuggling of false notes was discoy'
cred. Accident, however, at last
brought the mystery to light. 1t
happened that several cases of lead
pencils arrived one day from Eng
land, and while being examined one
of them fell out from package, and
the Custom House officer, picking it
up, cut it to point, and used it to
sign the order which delivered up the
pencils to the consignee. He kept
the loose pencil for his own use, and
few days afterwards, because it
needed new point, he cut it again,
and found that there was no more
lead. He cut still further, and was
surprised to find thin roll of paper
nested in the hollow place where the
lead was supposed to be. The paper
was one of the false notes, and in
this way they had been smuggled
into the country.
AN amusing story is told about the
construction of u telegraph line from
Bagdad, in Asia Minor, to the Per-
sian capital of Teheran. The frontier
line between Turkey and Persia was
so ndefnable that tract of no less
than seventeen miles of land over
which the telegraph would have to
be carried was in dispute, each of the
two countries claiming the right to
it's possession. Now, the engineering
stores supplied to the Turkish gov
ernment differed from those supplied
to the Persian government The for
mer had wooden telegraph poles; the
latter iron ones. The Persian govern
Turks, feared that if wooden poles
were erected across the disputed ter
ritory, posterity would regard them
as proof that the territory was Turk
ish. On the other hand, the Turks
objected to iro, poles being used lest
in the far future they should be ad-
01lced by Persia as evidence that the
land was hers. The way the super
intendent of the work contrived to
get out of the difficulty did credit to
his ingenuity and resource. He set
up first wooden pole, then an iron
one, then another wooden, then an
iron again and so on, alternating
wood and iron for the whole seven
teen miles.
BY curious combination of
chances diamond which was lost
more than twenty years ago at Bir-
mingham has been discovered, and is
now in the hands of the Chief Con-
stable, says an English paper.
Some days ago one of the workmen
in the employ of Messrs. Taunton,
safe manufacturers, was engaged in
repairing safe and came across a
piece of paper in "a crevice, in which
was a large diamond, estimated to be
worth at least $500. The condition
of the paper indicated that the stone
had been undisturbed for long time,
and the finder considered he was en-
titled to what he had found. Some
inquiries were afterward made, which
resulted in the discovery that the
owner of the safe bought it four years
ago from the late Mr.. Davis. 5. J.
Davis, the son, explained that some
twenty years ago his father gave his
mother huge diamond, which she
placed in piece of paper with the
name of her son, and then deposited
it somewhere for security. She hid
it so effectually that it could not be
found afterward. The piece of paper
in which the diamond was wrapped
does bear the name of Mr.. Davis,
and there is little doubt the stone
belongs to him.