The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-31
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

Blondel. the harper. did not discover
the prison OF King Richard. Richard
paid his ransom. and the receipt for it
is among the Austrian archives.
Near Elgin, Ore, is a young woman
who daily hauls to town a load of ties
and unlcads them herself.
Waffle is from wafel, a word of Teu-
tonic origin. meaning honey comb.
The ice man may not be a pugiltst,
but he can lay claim to being the light
weight champion.
Samony the most powerful chief in
the French Soudan. is reported by
French authorities to be dead. and to.
have been succeeded by his son.
For ages there has been flow of
gems as of silver from Europe to In
dia. and none ever return, the people
of India preferring a gem to any other
form cf investment.
The Prisoner of Chillon" did not suf-
fer in the cause Of liberty. He was
troublesome rogue sent to prison for
mischief making. and spent his term
there in making indecent verses.
The diamond is not among the earliest
gems nown to man. 1t has not been
found in the ruins of Nineyeh. in the
EtruScan seDulchreS. nor in the tornbs
Of the Phoenicians.
The finest opal of modern times be-
longed to the Empress Josephine It
was called The Burning of Troy ana
its fate is unknown. as it disappeared
when the allies entered Paris
According to an old French saying,
"a mans character is like his shadow
which sometimes follows and come
times Drecedes him. and which is occa-
sionally longer. occasionally shorter,
than he is"
In certain parts Of Persia the ther-
mometer STAYS at 100 degrees night and
day for the greater part of the summer,
while so unbearable a temperature az
100 degrees is not unknown in that
country.
Vinegar will not split rocks. so Han
nibal could not thus have made his
way through the Alps Nor will it dis
solve pearls. so that the story of Cleo
patra drinking pearls melted in vinegar
must have been a. fiction.
The Nation says that in England at
the present day the expression genteel
is mainly peculium of the underbred-
of those with whom wives are ladies
and of those who. in their own sphere,
are known as gents and the like.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
were terraces on columns. The gardens
were 400 feet square and over 400 feet
high. The ascent from terrace to ter
race was by flights of marble steps,
and on the highest was a large reser-
voir
Won Humboldt the great scientist,
when ON visit to Dutch Hazher. near
Bristol Bav. predicted that the mother
vein of gold would show itself in Alaska
in a parallel line. Recent discoveries
Indicate that this prophecy has been
| fulfilled.
Tire blood of Rizzio, Mary Stuart s
| favorite. can not be seen on the floor
where ne was murdered by Darnley and
| the other conspirators. What is seen
there is a daub of red paint, annually
renewed for the benefit Of gaping tour
lists.
| The porcelain pagoda in China had
nine stories Of the combined height OF
| 265 feet, and the pinnacle was f4S feet
| above the highest story. It derived its
name from being covered with plates
| Of porcelain. It cost 2.4S5.4S4 ounces in
s.lve-
| The best examples Of Cyclopean build
| ir.gs are at sBaalbec. There are Stones
| in the Baatbec walls 80 feet above the
/ level several of which are SO feet long
! 81 feet thick and 16 broad. each stone
ei~hings over $500 tons. all cut. dressed
and brought from distant quaTries.