The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1897-03-11
CURIOUS FACTS.

An extraordinary find of French and
English armor, dating from the time
of the crusades, has just been made at
Constantinople.
Don, dog, has carried mail between
THE office of G. E. Simpson and the
post office at East Sullivan, Me-, for
more than year.
The Yellow river is styled the ''SOr-
row of China" 1t is estimated that its
floods in the present century have cost
China 100000 lives. y,
Apia, the principal town of the Sa-
moan islands, has 1926 inhabitants and
is without wharf, public school, a
fire engine or a sidewalk.
The first book printed in England
was "Treatise on the Game of Chess"
and very wonderful performance it
was thought at the time.
The Bengal tiger, though only four
feet high, is from eight to nine feet in
length. A specimen of this size will
weigh eight hundred pounds.
A note of the Bank of England,
twisted into a kind of rope, can sus-
pend as much as 359 pounds upon one
end of it and not be injured
The tallest captain in the British
army is Captain Oswald Ames. He is
captain of the Second Life Guards and
dc iv oil h in
in height.
The Chinese divide the day into
twelve parts of two hours each. The
Italians reckon twenty four round, in
each, as we do.
Numerous experiments to determine
the best fire resisting materials for the
construction of doors have proved that
wood covered with tin resists fire bet
ter than an iron door,
The cries Of sea birds, especially sea
gulls, are very valuable as fog signals.
The birds cluster on the cliffs and
coast, and their cries warn bOatmen
that they are near the land
The most valuable fur is that of the
sea otter. One thousand dollars has
been paid for single skin of this ami
NAL not more than two yards long by
three-Iuarters of a yard wide.
The common American deer is from
four to five feet in length, and it is
singular fact that the antlers of some
species have d greater breadth than
the length of the animals body.
In the deserts of Arizona there is
species of woodpecker which pecks the
telegraph poles to pieces. The bird
hears the humming sound and imagines
that insects are beneath the surface.
There are forests of leafleSS trees in
some parts of Australia. They respire,
so to say, through little stem, appar-
emily answering the purpose of leaf.
The tree is known as the leafless acacia.
In London the mail deliveries from
10 in the morning until 10 at night are
hourly. it is not unusual for the writer
of a letter in that city to get an answer
from resident within three or four
hours.
DR.. Nansen is lover of bright col
ors. His ship, the Fran, was painted
green, gray, scarlet and white, picked
out with gold-a bright dash of color
among the everlasting white of the
Arctic Seas.
When lions and tigers are born in
captivity, the greatest care has to be
exercised to keep them for several days
in the dark and undisturbed, as other
wise the mothers will almost invaria
bly, destroy them.
Seventeen daily and weekly papers
are published in the English language
in Japan, and over one hundred on the
Asiatic continent, while in all these
countries there is only one German pa
per, the Ostasiatische Lloyd. A weekly
German paper is soon to be issued in
Japan.
In the reign of Edward III. there
were at Bristol three brothers who
were eminent clothiers and wooden
weavers, and whose family name was
Blanket. They were the first persons
who manufactured that comfortable
material which has ever since been
called by their name, and which was
then used for peasants clothing.
Starfish commit suicide. When one
is caught with net it dissolves itself
into many pieces which escape through
the meshes. In time each piece becomes