The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-18
OUT OF THE ORDINARY.

The area of the great Sahara desert is al
most exactly the same as that of the
United States.
The hottest part of the globe is the
great desert of Africa, where the ther-
mometer registers $50 degrees Fahrenheit.
town hall of Sydney, New South Wales. It
cost $75, 900.
Within the last decade the population of
Europe has increased about thirty million.
of whom Russia contributed 1850, 900 and
France only $1,000.
Queen Victoria now rules 1867, 900, 900 peo-
pie, a greater number than has ever before
acknowledged the sovereignty of either a
King, Queen or Emperor.
The great clock of Rouen, France has
been grinding out time and striking the
hours and quarters for over five hundred
years, running all this time without inter-
ruption.
The largest building stones are those used
in the cyclopean walls of Baalbec. in Sy-
ria. some of which measure sixty-three feet
in length by twenty-six in breadth and are
of unknown depth.
The total number of business failures
throughout the United States from Jan. l
to Sept. 30. 1896. is II ;2S0. the largest ag-
gregate reported for a like period since rec
ords have been compiled.
A mathematician has computed the move
ment of a riders feet while working a BIZ
cycle, and has demonstrated that it re-
quires less %exertion to travel fifteen miles
on a bicycle than to walk three miles.
In ancient Egypt the laborer, the soldier
bAAt kbC 1AlciiI VI NIc PIOpiC "ti job
footed. but sandals formed part of the cos
tune of the man Of rank: They could, not
be worn, however, in the house of the king
or in his presence.
The Parsees of India have a strange fu-
neral custom. They. expose their dead to
the fowls Of the air, on the Towers of
that neither the earth nor the water should
be desecrated by contact with a corpse.
The remains of the Emperor Napoleon
We're reinforced with great pomp in the
Hotel des Invalides, in Paris. on the 18th
of December. 1910, having been brought
from st. Helena by the Prince de Joinville
by permission of the British government.
Among the wilder tribes of the Caucasus
every child is taught to use the dagger al
first learn to stab water without making a
splash. and by incessant practice acquire
an extraordinary over the weap-
on.
The cattle. sheep and swine in Denmark
have to undergo a rigid veterinary exami-
nation both before and after they are
from the slaughter house it must be Off
cially. stamped as first or second-class
food"
The postoffice of Great Britain now en-
ploys over 1900 lady clerks. The largest
number of these clerks are, of course, to
be found in the London postofice. where
the bulk OF them are paid fairly remunera-
tive salaries. while what may be regarded
as 'plums fall to the few.
The celebrated rose bush of Hildeheim.
Germany, the Oldest in the world. is we'll
known to tourists. Charlemagne is said to
have planted it more than 1000 years ago in
from Haroun al Rashid. the Caliph of the
Thousand and one Nights.
Adam South, q century ago, gave a very
interesting description of the manufacture
of pins as then carried on. At that time an
uneducated workman could scarcely make
q dozen pins in a day. but within the last
tionized by the introduction of machinery.
During about seven hundred years the
Latin language was the language of court,
ca mn and nOtitP CONipfV from the riVav
Tweed, in Scotland, to the Euphrates, in
Asia. and from the Crimea or Chersonese,
in the Black sea, to the Pillars of Hercules,
at the western extremity Of the Mediter-
ranean.
Dogs will eat fruit, though rarely. When
they do they usually take a fancy to goose
berries. In the annual report on the man |
agement of the menagerie, of the geological
largely in the bill for provender. They are
mainly for the African antelopes and
Liverpool. 1t is intended TO Introduce mo- |
tor cars capable OF drawing three wagons
carrying ten tons of produce. The wagons
are to be loaded at the ships side and the
ordinary highways are to be utilized with
out laying rails or using any other mechan-
ical aids.
tom to fix a placard on the front of the
dead persons house, as well as in the
neighboring streets, as a sort of public no
tice, stating his name, age, place of birth
and the illness from which he died. affirm
ing also that he received the holy Sacra-
ments, died a good Christian and requesting
the prayers of the faithful.
The oldest and most celebrated Roman
highway is the Via Appia. 1t was begun in
3i2 q. c., and ran from Rome to Brindisi,
to-day one of the most notable
memories of antiquity in or near the
Eternal City. Long stretches of the pave
ment are still perfect and from this it APP
pears that the breadth of the roadway
proper was only fifteen feet.
The use of the side saddle for women
riders is traced to the time of Anne of
Bohemia, eldest daughter of the Emperor
of Germany. who married Richard II, of
Previous to this date all English
bestrode their horses in manly
but, on account of a deformity,
this German bride was forced to use a
sidesaddle, and the custom became general.
The important town of Bruex. in b.
hernia, is beginning to tumble about the
of it's inhabitants owing to the faulty
construction of the coal pits beneath it.
The railroad station has disappeared into
the bowels of the earth, the line itself be-
ing transformed into a species of SWITCH
back. And curiously enough, while the
value of house property in Bruex is declin-
ms at a rapid rate, the rents are increasing.
Bad Spelling.