The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-10
OUT OF THE ORDINARY.

1t is said that of the twenty-seven royal
families of Europe two-thirds are of Ger
man origin.
Land in New York city has been sold at a
price equal to 5000, 600 an acre. The high
est in London at $5,000,0N an acre.
1t is recorded that when George Nevil
was installed Archbishop of York, In 147O,
he gave a feast that cost $150, 600.
There were Ii, 49,, 318 houses in the United
States when the last census was taken, and
less than six people to each house.
The deposits in the Bank of France
amount to about $113. 1O0, 000, and in the Inn
perial Bank of Germany to $106, 200, 900.
France, with a population of $4,000, 1000. has
a fighting force of 2,7l5,5O men, able to APP
pear in the field at a minutes warning.
The number of unmarried women in Eng
land and Wales exceeds the number of UNI
married men by a majority of nearly 20O,-
900.
tax on beggars. and gives them in return
the privilege of begging in a certain dis
trict.
Greenwich records show that for fourteen
years there has been an average Of but
twenty hours of sunshine in London in De-
cember.
Horses or cattle cannot be driven over a
field thickly grown with Russian thistles.
It's seeds are scattered hundreds of miles by
the winds.
British India has over 100000 square
miles, and is about the equal in size to that
portion Of the United States lying east of
the Rocky mountains.
julius Caesar was ashamed of his bald
head, and when 1t became shiny he con-
stantly wore a laurel wreath in the hope
Of concealing the deformity.
France levies tribute annually to the ex-
tent of $3.50, 00O, 600 for the support of her
standing army, while Italy taxes her sub
jects $50, 0O0,N for the same purpose.
: Above the doorway of the Gankiro Music
Hall in Yokohama years ago was printed lin
English: For the amusement of foreign
ers. No dogs or Cinnamon admitted"
- - nj. MI
communication of the Committee of Public
Safety, signed by Robespiere, Carnot and
Herault de Sechelles. brought 105 francs.
The opening of a door of a warm room
in Lapland during the winter will be in
stantly followed by a miniature snowstorm,
the condensed moisture falling in flakes.
Rocking cradles for babies were used by
the Egyptians many centuries before Christ.
Among the pictures copied by Belzoni is one
of an EGYPTIAN mother at work with her foot
on the cradle.
show an excess of births over deaths of
7.14o, whereas in the three previous years
the deaths exceeded the births by IS, 446,
10,505 and 20,O41, respectively.
About the year 400 the Queen of France
astonished the kingdom by driving about in
a swinging chariot mounted with gold and
gems. 1t was the only wheeled vehicle for
pleasure purposes in France.
A physician asserts that fat people endure
most kinds of illness much better than thin
people. because they have an extra amount
of nutriment stored away in their tissues
to support them during the ordeal.
Tumblers of nearly the same shape and
dimensions as those employed to-day have
{ been found in great numbers in Pompeii.
They were of gold, silver, glass. agate.
marble and other semi-precious stone.
In one country district Of Germany ''pay
weddings" were in vogue until recently.
each guest paying for his entertainment as
much as he would at an inn, and the re-
ceipts being set aside to set up the happy
pair in their new home.
Lucifer matches were patented in 1884.
while friction matches preceded them by
thirteen years. The improved machinery by
Which matches are now made by the million
at a trifiing cost were the inventions of
comparatively recent years.
Coffee pots are an Oriental invention and
are supposed to have come from Arabia in
A. d. 400. About the same time they were
used in Persia, but they did not come to
France until 1862, and made their appear
ance in England with coffee in 1850.
Caligula, the Roman Emperor. whose
associates, built a bridge of boats three
miles long. in the center of which he caused
a banquet hall to be constructed. In this
was. served a feast that is said to have
cost $500. co.,
In the streets of Picking one notices the
large number of pet birds carried on sticks
and attached most frequently by a string.
The Chinese possess a peculiar faculty for
the training of these birds, which fly away
for a short flight and return to perch upon
the stick, when they receive a little sweet
food.
Chairs were used in Egypt as long ago
as $500 b. C. The Chinese EMPLOYED them
from about 1900 b. C. In India they were
used, and are mentioned as dating from
HOO 3. C. House chairs with backs were
to have been employed in Rome as early as
A. d. 70.