Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-01-13
Curious Trifles.
A LONG BRITGE.

A bridge Al miles long would GER
tainly be a novelty, and yet that is the
kind of bridge they are talking Of
building across Folks strait, to connect
the island Of Ceylon with the mainland
OF India. The strait IS Al miles across
at its narrowest point, but is very shall.
low in some places. Surveyors have
been at work and the cost of construc.
ton is estimated at some 28,OUO, 900
rupees. The plan of the work con-
templates the connection of the ends
Of the bridge by 145 miles of railroad
with Co, ombo, the great harbor of Cey-
Ion, and by 80 miles of road with Mo-
dura, the nearest point of the Indian
Railway syst m.
THE sTRANGEsT DUEL ON RECORD.
Probably the most remarkable duel
on record took place in France in the
year 1903. As usual it was all about a
lady-s certain Mile. Tirevet, who was
unable to decide between two lovers.
She finally d, cided to accept the one
who could dispose of the other in a
duel. III Q lovers agreed to fight in the
air. Two balloons were made exactly
alike, an upon an appointed day each
one scared alofr, accompanied by a
second and armed with blunderbusses,
the arrangement being that they were
to fire, not upon each other, but upon
the balloons. When they were half a
mile high the signal was given. One
of the duelists fired and missed. The
other followed suit, with such disas-
trous effect that the occupants of the
car were dashed to earth and killed
instantly.
STRANGELY PRESERVED HUMAN Bodice.
They were good embalmers in the
old days. Only a few years ago the
brains of James l., of England, were
discovered enclosed in little leaden
case in hospice in Paris. Four hun
dred and sixty-three years after Edward
l. died he was found to be littls, if at
all changed, so far rs cotemporary pic
lures could be trusted. The flesh of
the face was little wasted-that was
all. Canute died in 1917; in 1866 his
body was found to be still quite fresh
looking. In the tenth century the
bodies of several Roman soldiers were
exhumed from an Aberdeen peat bog,
and after 1,500 years were as fresh
and as plump as if they had only been
inferred a few months. The remains
of William the Cot queror and his wife
were found absolutely perfect in the
sixteenth century. Lady Kilsyth and
her infant were emb bilmed in 17I7, and
close upon 80 years afterward were dis
covered to be as perfect as at the hour
in which the burial took place. The
bodies of Thomas Gray, one time
Marquis OF Dorsetshire, and Robert
BraybrOok, Bishop of London in the
fourteenth century, were also strangely
preserved for centuries.
SOME ROYAL AMERICANS.
There are a good many of onr cele.
brated Americans who can boast OF
royal descent. "Old Hickory" Jack.
son was descendant of King Robert
Bruce, of Scotland James Buchanan
could trace his lineage back to King
Fargallus, of Ireland, while two other
Presidents (the HarrisOns), it is alleged,
are descended from King Powhattap
by the marriage of Pocahontas with
John Rolfe. The Lees, Of Virgins,
trace their ancestry to King Robert
Stuart, of Scotland; Amelie Rlves to
Ill, James l.. of Scotland, and Edward
of England, aud the Burkes, of New
York, to Charlemagne and Alfred the
Great. Charles Chauncey, once Presi-
dent of Harvard, was descended from
Louis w., of France; General Meigs
from David l of Scotland; the Nc
Iutoskes, Of Georgia and New Jersey,
from William the Conqueror, and the
CHlverts. of Baltimore, from Charles
H., of England. The list might be
continued almost i definitely.
AN AWFUL PENALTY.
There is no death penalty in Belgium,
but few criminals would choose the
punishment substituted for it-that is
if they had a choice. The condemned
man is placed in dungeon so con-
structed that from the moment he en-
tiers it he will never hear the sound of
human voices nor see human being.
His food is passed in through sliding
panel in the door of his cell. Not one
prisoner has ever been known to sur
vive this punishment more than three
years. The authorities have sIriven in
vain to pIolong their lives by varying
tn. II food as much as possible, but
those who are moderately or lightly
gradually waste away, while
those who are fed generously go mad
and die ravIng manlacs.