Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-10-31
SOME QUEER INDUSTRIES.
Odd Ways of Making a Living Disclosed
by the Latest Census.

by the Latest Census.
Occupations open to tho thrifty indi-
viduals of both sexes have greatly in
creased during the last two decades, or
even since the taking of the last deem
NAL CENSUS, in 1890
The extraordinary progress of science
during the time specified and the appli-
cation of it's principles to the practical
problems Of human life have not only
had the effect of greatly increasing the
capacity for production in the trades
already firmly established. but have
opened hundreds of queer side alleys
which lead direct to the avenues OF
trade.
There are, Of course, dozens Of these
new and remarkable occupations with
which science does not deal even i'll the
remotest sense In this class we find the
rat catcher, the skunk farmer, the man
who makes his living by picking up lost
things in depots, theaters, hotels, ETC.,
and returning them to their owners
with the expectation of being rewarded,
the clock winder, the man who collects
orange and lemon peels and the Lake
Michigan syndicate which is now en-
gagged in raising black cats for their
fur. They are not raising these cats on
water, as might be inferred from the
title, but have leased an island in the
great lake which is now plentifully
stocked with both sexes Of screeching
felines
There are still others in the nonscien-
tific category Of queer occupations, but
it will only be necessary to mention a
few. One is rattlesnake farmer, "
who lives in tho Ozark mountains and
makes tho products Of his farm" bring
money from three different directions.
The oil he dieposes of to druggists, who
have regular customers that believe it
to be q paracea for hundred different
ills. The skins he sells to would be cow
boys, who use them as hat bands, and
tho skeletons are always a ready sale,
the purchasers being the curators Of the
natural history departments of the diff
ferent college and society museums.
The man who wakes people up i'll the
morning, the old cork collectors and
the dog catchers are well known char
acters in every large city.
The individuals who gain a livell-
hood in pursuits that are strictly sclen-
tifc are equally as numerous as those
who follow tho more humble callings.
In the list of occupations that are strictly
scientific is the manufacture Of artificial
eggs, artificial coffee and false diamonds
also the industry Of making buttons,
combs, penholders and other articles OF
o similar nature from blood collected
at the slaughter houses. The man who
makes billiard balls, buttons and rings
from potatoes which have been treated
to a solution Of nitric and sulphuric
acids is also the proprietor of an "in-
dustry" wherein the fundamental prin-
ciples are strictly scientific.
But the queerest of all is carried on
by two young Pennsylvanians, who are
making a regular business of extracting
the poison from honeybees. According
to the accounts, they have two different
ways of collecting their crop of venom.
In the first the bees are caught and held
with their abdomens in small glass
tubes until the poison sacs have been
emptied. In the second they arc placed
in a bottle OH wire netting and enraged
until the tiny drops of venom fall into
the alcohol which fills the lower third
of the bottle. This venom is said to be
sovereign remedy for cancer, rheuma-
tism, snake bite and hundred others
of the more terrible ills Of humanity
st. Louis Republic.