Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-06-03
THINGS WORTH KNOWING.

earth can be distinctly heard by q
balloonist at an elevation of four
miles.
The deepest hole in the world
has been bored in Silesia. 1t has
reached depth of six thousand,
FIVE hundred and twenty feet, and
passes through eighty-three beds of
coal.
The consort of Richard III, Queen
Ann, is said to have been the first
woman in England who ride on a
side saddle. Previous to that time
it was the custom for women to
ride astride.
Telegraphic communication was
first established between England
and America on the 9Th of August,
1858, when messages were inter
changed between the Queen of Eng
land and the President of the
United States but it was not until
1866 that perfect success was OBJ
tanned.
The Siamese believe that the hu-
man soul requires seven days to
journey from earth to heaven !;
hence the prayers of the friends of
the deceased continued for seven
days after the individual dies.
Mace is derived from massue, or
masse, handy kind Of weapon,
made of metal, with a knob or
spike at the end. 1t was developed
by the Normans as q means of APP
pealing to the brains of our Saxon
ancestors.
There is superstition in France
that children born with teeth will
be brilliantly clever. 1t probably
arises from the fact that Henri w.
and Louis XIV, kings who left the
greatest mark upon French history,
and Mirabeau, the great orator, all
had one tooth when born.
In the olden days, when the spear
was used as weapon of war, men
had to be very careful how they
carried it. If they were in country
and bore their spears with the point
forward, it is supposed they were
bent on mischief, and their attitude
was regarded as a declaration of
war. If. on the other hand, they
carried the spears on their should
ers, with the point backward, their
visit was taken as one of friend
ship and there was no disturbance
of the peace.
The Jews mourn for the dead
with closed doors, sitting on the
floor, aud are dependent upon their
friends during the days of mourn
ing for the very food they put in
their mouths. From them proba-
/ blv the early Christians derived the
custom of closing the house upon
the occurrence of death.
Calcutta is the hottest city in the
world.
There has lately been much spec
ulation regarding the origin of the
word "tip." The truth is. that in
an old English tavern a receptacle
for small coin was fixed in con-
spicuous place. over which appear
ed in writing: "to insure prompt
ness" Whatever was placed in
the box was divided among the SER
wants. Other taverns followed the
example and soon the words were
abbreviated to Il. /. p.
The letter j, and the letter were
synonymous (although differently
pronouLced) in the English 'an-
guage up to the year 1000.
A million dollars in silver weighs
fifty-six thousand nine hundred and
thirty-one pounds.
Tobolsk, Russia, is the coolest
inhabited place in the world.
Intense cold burns Gf may use
the term) like heat. IL q drop Of
air at temperature of one hun
dred and eighty degrees below zero
be placed upon the hand, it would
have the same effect as would tie
same quantity of molten steel or
lead. A frosted bit placed in
horses mouth burns like hot iron.
The custom of celebrating gold
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