The advocate., 1897-11-03
Advocate Museum.

The United states government has
mints at Philadelphia, Carson City, New
Orleans, San Francisco and Denver.
A schooner left Brunswick, Ga, for
New York few days ago, carrying
33,40O railroad ties-the largest cargo of
the kind ever put on vessel.
The st. Louis Coliseum, lately erected,
is a building Of steel and brick, one of
the most substantial of its kind in the
world, covering block and seating 12,-
900 people.
The GASES in Sahara desert were much
larger in the time of the ancient Ro-
mans, and they are being constantly
reduced in size by the encrOachments
of the sand dunes.
In a fight between mule and a bull
dog on a farm near ElwOod Ind, the
mule Is reported to have stamped his
antagonist to death, continuing the at
tack until the dog had lost all resem-
blance to original shape
From March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1886,
the government Of the United States
erected 305 public buildings outside of
Washington City at a cost of $S4, 500 ,191.
One hundred and thirty-five have been
built since, up to and including 1896,
costing $41,SO3,OOO.
The number Of words used in actual
conversation, even by educated people,
is comparatively small Shakespeare
uses, it is said only about 10000 words;
men in ordinary conversation use from
1000 to 5000, and uneducated men sell
dom have use for more than 500.
Our ancestors Of the Mayflower held
their food in a napkin with the left hand,
while with the right they cut it with a
knife and carried it to the mouth. Early
inventories show an entire absence of
forks Governor Winthrop is said to
have had the first table fork brought to
America.
A plummet is fixed inside the Wash
ingtOn monument at Washington City
to detect and register movements Of the
shaft. High winds cause perceptible
motions of the plummet, and in still
weather delicate vibrations Of the crust
of the earth, otherwise unperceived, are
registered by it,
Queen Elizabeth was the first English
sovereign and the only woman who used
table fork in her day. With the open
ing Of the seventeenth century came the
introduction of forks into France, Ger
many and England by the Italians.
Louis XIII. used fork, though his wife,
Anna of Austria, ate with her fingers.
The first submarine cable was laid in
1850 between Dover and Calais, copper
wire covered with gutta percha. In 1853
six cables were laid between England
and Ireland; in 1854 five others, the
longest about 100 miles. In 1856 a cable
was laid from Varna to ConstantinOple,
100 miles, for service in the Crimean
war
During the last quarter of century
over 400 alliances between American
heiresses and foreign noblemen have
been contracted; and it is estimated that
during that period over $2OO,OOO,OOO Of
money made in this country by Ameri-
can citizens has been sent abroad as
dowries for American heiresses who pre-
ferred titles to dollars.
Sir William Turner now says that a
heavy brain is no indication Of an in |
tellectual eminence. The average weight |
OF the European brain is from fOrty-nine |
to fifty ounces, yet five out of thirty-one
male lunatics, taken without selection
from the post mortem records, had
brains ranging from fifty to fifty-six
ounces. The brains of three female
lunatics out Of twenty-five exceeded fifty
ounces. 1t is, moreover, well known
fact that epileptics have usually large
brains.