The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-01-31
MISCELLANEOUS,

grows wild in many parts of India, in
Central Asia and northern Siberia.
There is no month in the year in
which wheat harvest is not going on
IN some quarter of the globe.
The first European mention of bar
ley is on the medals of Metapontis, an
Italian town, B. c., GOO
Wheat was cultivated in China B.
c. 2700 and at that date was deemed
the direct gift of the gods.
The tobacco cultivated by the In
dians west of the Mississippi was low
spreading plant with white flowers.
The Chinese prepare a spirit from
the stalks of the sweet sorghum such
as is used in this country for strip.
The coat is in the fifteenth century
first mentioned as an upper garment
for men. All the seams were then COW
cred with gold braid or lace.
-Shoestrings were first worn in 1897,
and the English buckle-makers pre-
sented petition to the throne asking
that these articles be prohibited.
Near the Caspian Sea there are sew
eral eternal fires so-called by the
natives, where natural gas issues from
the ground and has been on fire for
ages.
Ballads are the gypsy children of
song, born under the green hedgerows,
in the leafy lanes and bypaths of liter
AZURE, in the general summer time
Longfellow.
"A curious fact in the history of pins
is that when they were first sold there
was such demand for them that code
was passed permitting their sale only
on two days in the year.
Capt. Younghusband, the oriental
traveller, says that the severe cold in
Manchuria is so dry that the Japanese
should not find much difficulty in con-
tinuing their operations, especially as
winter is the best time to travel on
Chinese roads, which have to be frozen
hard to begood
When it was first proposed to light
the streets of London with gas great
objection was made by the public and
newspapers on the ground that the
people would be poisoned that the
trees and vegetation would all be killed,
and that domestic animals could not
possibly survive the deadly fumes
Cincinnati has opened a police Ii
brary in its city hall. During the last
few months many valuable contribu-
tions of books and periodicals have
been received, and though not yet
fully equipped the library promises to
be a great success One of the best
educated men in the department has
been detailed to duty as librarian.
Everyone heard with wonder of the
paint brush which colored the worlds
fair buildings, but no one now thinks
it worth while to speak of the similar
work which is being done in the con-
gressional library building. Calking
machines and stone-cutting machines,
run with compressed air, are almost too
common to mention. Asphalt when it
comes from Trinidad is too soft for
street paving. 1t is boiled in large
kettles for three or four days and COM
pressed air is forced into it to keep the
thick black stuff in motion
might as well try to stop the
wind" is vigorous phrase which must
go to the wall. Nowadays we do stop
the wind, harness it up and make it go
where we choose. Not many persons
know the uses to which compressed air
is put. Of course we have grown ac-
customed to inflated bicycle tires, air
cushions, air brakes, pneumatic tubes,
and may even have heard that it is used
in rock drilling. In the west COM
pressed air is run into cars in hose,
and women handle it just like garden
hose for busting and cleaning cushions
and cracks and corners of the wood
work.
An extraordinary game of cricket
was played recently at Sydney between
Mr.. Stoddard's English team and an
eleven representing all Australia. In
the first inning Australia made $50 runs
to their opponents 325. The English
men then went to the bat, making 437
runs, and succeeded in keeping the
Australians down to 1866 thus winning
the match by 10 runs. The match
lasted six days, and the total number
of runs made, 514-is the largest ever
made in first class match. The record
before this was 1,411, made in 1882 in a
match between Victoria and New South
Wales. The English record is 1,4O2,
made in 1891 in the Cambridge Univer-
sity against Sussex match. The high
est individual score in this last game
was POI, made by Gregory, of the Aus
tralians.
Recently the people of Logan
county, West Virginia, held a grand
barbecue to celebrate the division of
the county. Tables were spread in the
street and all traffic was suspended.
Hundreds of stalwart mountaineers
came in with their wives and children
from the region roundabout. Eight
big black bears had been shot within a
mile or two of the town, and their car
casses, served in barbecue style, were
the piece de resistance of the feast.
The bears were fianked and surrounded
with roasted possums, wild turkeys,
pheasants, quail, rabbits and all sorts
of domestic fowls. Potatoes by the
barrel were roasted, and pumpkin pies
by the hundred lined the tables. Hard
cider was the beverage. Devil Anse"
Hatfield, the noted leader of the Hat
field Mccoy vendetta, was master of
ceremonies.