Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1897-09-15

He'd make a better blacksmith!
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.
The famous Sphinx near the Pyramids
of Gizeh was thoroughly investigated by
Prof: Erman, who at recent meeIlng Oh
the Berlin academy delivered lecture
about its probable age. Careful re-
searches show that it could not nave
been built previous to the so-ealled
Middle Kingdom" or about 1000 b. =.
Between her front claws there was orig
inally the image of a deity, all traces OF
which have at the present time disap,
peared. For the building of the colossal
work more than twenty years must have
been necessary, even if 1900 men had
been employed all the time.-Butfalo
Commercial.
c. w. Ernst, who was formerly con-
nected with the pOstOtfice of Boston, IS
writing History of the American Pos
tai Service" which is practically a his
tory of traffic, for it is the postoftce OF
the carrying of mails that enables the
railways and steamboat companies to
support the great through lines. MI.
Ernst has discovered some curious facts:
such as that in 1885, while England had
only about 700 mail coaches, the United
States had over $500, and that before
the Revolutionary war, when England
had no coaches at all, Boston manufac-
tured the finest public conveyances IN the
world.
The New York Christian Advocate has
been asking it's contributors to tell, If
they could. the origin of the expression,
when my ship comes in. A CORE
spondent closely connected with mara
time matters sends the Advocate the FOL
lowing interesting and instructive an
swer:
The expression ''When my ship comes in
comes from the North of England, where
maritime Investments were the Savings banks
of the period and for this purpose the own
ership of all vessels, large and small, was
divided into ''sxty-fourths." a few of which
even q poor body might own. The snip
husband" or managing owner, made W, ac.
counts and paid dividends at the end of
voyages, which were then longer than now;
hence the expectation of having money
when ones ship comes in
have heard e from "a musical expert s tnae
time years ago, was Christmas carol OF the
Sixteenth century, with the words;
MY good ship, come home, come home,
Come home, come home;
My good ship, come home. come home,
All on Christmas morning"
and referring doubtless to this very thing.
A good story is told of the late DR.. Won
Stephan, pOstmaster-genera of Germany.
One day, when he was on an inspection
tour, he overheard an instrument in Il
local telegraph office ticking his name.
This is what he heard: Look out for
squalls Stephan is somewhere on the
line. He will be poking his nose every
where. The pOStmaster-general smiled.
and then went to the key and flashed
back this reply: ''Too late! He has al
ready pOked his nose in here.-Stephan."
''What are you doing here?' asked a
policeman and butler of a burglar, who
was discovered making square meal
of the Marquis of Ormonde's victuals
and drink
Cant you see?" responded the burg
lar. I'm 'avin' something to eat"
A parallel case of ready repartee comes
from India. An excited lady rushed up
to a man at a railway station the other
day and said:
20, Mr. Williams, are you here?"
yes" he replied calmly, 4 am;
where are youE'-London Globe.
Were it not for the resistance of the
air, the cyclist would be able to attain
almost incredible speed. so greatly has
the modern maker reduced the resistance
due merely to the friction of the ma
chine. man who can drive his ma
chine under present conditions through
the air at. say thirty miles an hour,
would, if road and machine resistance
only had to be met. be able to drive at
go twenty miles an hour he would be
able to drive his machine 100 miles an
hour. This shows the very essential
part that pace-making plays in the cycle
race. A long machine with half dozen
riders upon it, or an autOcar Just in
front of the racer, makes such a draft
as materially to reduce the enormous re-
sistance met with when the air is STILL
ArgOnaut.
There is no reason why a dromedary
should not be partial to a good cigar.
Most drOmedaries, according to a me-
nagerie proprietor, are particularly fond
of tobacco smoke, and can be made to
do almost anything under its influence.
Travellers in Egypt" he asserts, ''re-
ly more on tobacco smoke for their con-
troll over these huge beasts than any
thing else. When travelling on long
journeys the dromedaries are in MANY
cases required to travel night and day
without rest, and the beasts are kept up
to their tasks by smoking cigars The
driver carries triangular piece of wood,
which is pierced at one point like a cigar
holder. This is inserted in the mouth
of the beast, the cigar being lit and
pressed into the hole in the same fashion
followed by a man.
'"The dromedary Immediately closes it's
eyes and puffs away through its nostrils
until the cigar is burned away"
Switzerland, though she spends only
half million dollars yearly on her army,
can turn out 100000 trained men in two
days in case of need, and has a reserve
of 100000 more and Landsturm of
100000. The army maneuvers this year
will be held in the mountains of the
Engadine.
Necessarily Large.-"Oh, not 1t all, pro-
tested the Turk. ASK any question you
like. Yes. My trousers? Oh, they are
rather large to be sure, but you should see
the harem that goes through them every
night after I'm asleep AS for the trav-
elers, they were much bewildered by the
strange things they were encountering-
Detroit Journal.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Locke much of q fipht-