Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1897-10-21
Items Of Interest.

NhNoHO otiCSV ldii"ay HUI ReI OU
cents an hour.
The coal fields of the United States
cover 194, 900 square miles.
In the Hawaiian Islands there are
twice as many men as women.
But If towns in Massachusetts, and
IL in Connecticut are without public
libraries.
Only about one in thousand mar
Tied couples live to celebrate their
golden wedding.
Florida, of all the States, has the
most water within its boundaries.
4,li0 square miles.
biologists say that all known spe-
cies Of wild animals are gradually
diminishing in size.
Some of the screws used in watches
are so small that it takes 3O8, 900 of
them to weigh pound.
There are fourteen hundred and
twenty-five characters in the twenty
tour books written by Dickens.
One thousand bicycles are to be
bought for the United States army
as necessary military equipment.
During 1896 Illinois produced more
than one-third Of ali the distilled
spirits made in the United States.
Massachusetts, we are told, imports
annually from beyond her borders
eggs to the value of five million
dollars.
When terrified the ostrich travels
at the rate Of twenty-five miles an
hour and clears twelve to fourteen
feet at stride.
DR.. NaEsen, the Arctic explorer,
Is TO receive 500, ZOO and a percentage
or the receipts for fifty lectures in
the United States.
The exports of Argentina amount
TO Sll5,OOO, 900 a year, of which S25,-
100000 worth go to France and Sl4,-
100000 to England.
The gold production of the United
States was greatest in 1853, when it
aggregated S65,0OO,OOO. The greatest
silver year was 1892.
Cattle in the world have increased
from two hundred and ninety-eight
million in 1898 to three hundred and
twelve million in 1896.
The largest gold coin in the world
Is the British five-sovereign piece :
the smallest is coined in Persia and |
has a value of only IA cents.
The wine-bearing palm of western
Africa yields sap which il sweet |
when first drawn, ferments i'm fcw
hours and is a quick intoxicant.
The watch carried by the average
man is composed of 9S pieces, and
It's manufacture embraces more than
2,oOOdistinct and separate operations.
In many of the dry goods houses
OF Paris pretty girls are placed in the
windows to attract patronage. They
are arrayed in the tineries on sale
inside.
Fire-lighters are made in Ger
many by twisting wood wool into a
rope, cutting it into short lengths
and dipping the end of the pieces
into melted resin.
Total number Of hotels in New
York city, 2,37S; bona fide hotels,
2I3; Raines law fake hotels, =, ,IO5.
This is official, right from the lips of
the Chief of Police.
The cost of the official records of
the late war has been thus far So, ,334.-
32S, and the total, when the work is
done, is expected to foot up to 81, ,OOO,-
900. This is S26, 7S5 a volume.
The hairspring Of watch is strip
OF the finest steel, about 8! inches
long, l-lOOth inch wide and 27-lO,-
OOOths inch thick. 1t is coiled up i'm
spiral form and finely tempered.
Umbrellas were introduced into
America from England in l712.-
Now you know when the crime of
petty larceny first made its appear
ance on this side of the Atlantic.
George Peabody's gift of $780,
600 for the erection of model tene-
ments for London workingmen has
increased in twenty-five years to
s6,OOO,OOO by judicious investment.
The Mosque of st. Sophia, at Con.
was built over 1000
years ago, and the mortar used is
said to have been perfumed with
musk. The musky odor is still per-
ceptible.
Glass bonnets are made i'm large
numbers in Venice. The glass cloth,
of which they are composed, is in ali |
colors and has the simmer and bril-.
liancy of silk, and water does not
injure it.
The cicycle craze, according to the
United States Tobacco Journal, has
decreased the consumption of cigars
in this country by about one million
a day. The decrease since the craze
set in has actually been seven hun
dred million year.
The thickest known coal seam in
the world is the Wyoming, near
Twin Creek, in the Green River coal
basin, Wyoming. 1t is 80 feet thick,
with only one thin parting of shale |
near the roof, and upwards Of 3OOl
feet of solid coal underIie the prop.
erty of 1000 acres.
The tunnels of the world are esti-
mated to number |, ,I42, with a total
length of 514 miles. There are about
,OOO railroad tunnels. IL subaqueous
tunnels, 80 canal tunnels and 80 con-
duit tunnels, with aggregate lengths
OF about 800 miles, 8 miles, 20 miles
and 80 miles respectively.
An untamed swallow, which had
its nest i'm farm near Chetwind. i'm