The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-22
OUT OF THE ORDINARY.


OUT OF THE ORDINARY.
While Turkey is said to be bankrupt"
| the Sultan is believed to re the richest man
| in Europe.
The natives of Alaska SELDOM change their
| clothes unless they are worn out. They are
| considered the hlthiest race of beings on the
| earth.
| English women, as a. rule, are taller than
! their American sisters, and the Yankee
| ladies IN their turn can look down at the
gentler sex in France.
| There are 256 railway stations within a
| slX-mlie radius of st. Paurs Cathedral,
| London while within a twelve-mle radius
| there are four hundred.
| Capital punishment in Denmark is exc
| cuted publicly with the ak. If several are to
| be decapitated on the same date one is not
present while another is executed.
The most unique fence in Maine is that
| of Harpswel fisherman. His front fence
IS composed of the swords of swordtish,
many of which have figured in exciting cpl
sodeS.
The diamond is not among the earliest
gems known to man. 1t has not been found
in the ruins of Nineveh, in the Etruscan
sepulchres, nor in the tombs of the Phoe-
nicianS
Packages weighing up to twenty-five
pounds and measuring not more than five
feet cube are now transported by the
French postoffice for 81 cents to any part OF
France
The value of the churches and the land on
which they are erected in this country up
to July l, 1897, is estimated at $3.50 OOO,0J0.
OF this sum $1l8,OOO,O00 belongs to the Catho-
lie Church.
What is probably the most venerable
piece of furniture in existence is now in the
British Museum. 1t is the throne of Queen
Hatasu, who reigned in the Nile valley some
1,600 years before Christ.
A law passed at the recent session of the
Alabama Legislature, levylng a license tax
on the capital stock of all corporations, eX-
cept banks, has been pronounced constitu-
tional by the Supreme Court Of the State.
The porcelain pagoda in China had nine
stories of the combined height of 260 feet,
and the pinnacle was 14S feet above the
highest story. 1t derived its name from be-
ing covered with plates of porcelain 1t cost
2 4S5,4A ounces of silver.
Ancient Egyptian doctors knew the groin
and the perineum and had name for each,
which NJ. " Lore, of Lyons, has discovered
in medical papyri The terms occur in the
celebrated EberS papyruS, but the meaning
had not been proved.
The hanging gardens of Babylon were ter
races on columns. The gardens were four
feet high. The ascent from terrace to ter
race was by flights of marble steps, and on
the highest was a large reservoir.
Mr.. Coburn, of the Kansas State Board of
Agriculture, recently got out report show
ing that Kansas has 155,57O dogs, and that
during the last year they killed 1924 sheep,
while the wolves, upon which most OF the
counties pay a bounty, killed but l15O
live snakes-a species of boa-from ten TO
fifteen feet long. They are employed IN
many houses to hunt rats at night, being
otherwise perfectly harmless. They become
attached to house like a cat or dog.
Aluminium neckties are on sale in Lon
don. They are fastened to the collar-bu
by band round the neck, and are particu-
larly recommended for summer wear since
they can be easily cleaned when soiled,
while they are not percepubly heavier than
cotton, cambria or silk.
ba Cd Of wa q
According to Homer's own figures, If there
ever was such a man as Homer, Helen
must have been at least sixty years OF age
when she first met Paris, and even IN the
heroic period of the world women of that
age were a trifle passe.
The best example of cyclopean buildings
are at Baalbec. There are stones in the
Baalbec walls thirty feet above the level,
several of which are sixty feet long, tWen-
ty-fOur feet thick and sixteen feet broad,
each stone weighing over $500 tons, all cut,
dressed and brought from distant Quarrles.
1t was only few years ago that alu--
minimum was not Obtainable for less than 81
a pound, but the methods have been so SIM
plifed and the plants for it's production 50
increased that inside of year its price Is
likely to come down to q cents or less, SO
that only three or four commercial metals
will be cheaper.
Eastern roofs are generally fiat, for COM
fort during the summer season The roots
of houses in the East are often USED as out
door gardens. The Greeks gave the ROOF
slight elevation in the middle; the Romans
increased ii one-tfth of the span The nigh
pointed roofs of modern times are OF Ger
man origin.
The Kansas man who is printing little
daily paper on Pixies Peak at a height of
14,170 feet is said to be clearing from $50 to
$35 day A morning and evening edllon Is
printed, with two pages devoted TO the
events of the day on the peak, chiefly relat-
ing to the arrival of eXcursionists, who
carry off considerable issue as souvenirs.
Dwellers along the Hudson have a queer
complaint against the big steamers on that
river. The boats are provided with immense
search-lights, which they flash along the
shores, with painfully dazzling effect When
the beams strike the windows of a dwell
ing. A suit against the steamers is threat
Gned by the superintendent OF hOSpltaI 10
Gated on the river.
Government ownership of railroads has
been found failure in Brazil, and the gov
eminent has offered to lease its entire sys-
TEN of fourteen thousand miles of track TO
any responsible company that will pay
bonus of $10000,G00 as rental of the tracks
rolling stock and other property Tor a term
OF fifty years. and guarantee to restore
them in good order at the end or that
period.
The Colossus of Rhodes, a bronze statue
was 105 feet high. 1T was made by Chares
who, aided by an army of workmen, con-
sumed twelve years in It's CONSTRUCTION. II
remained in position IN the harbor OF
Rhodes for siXty-siX years, and was thrown
down by an earthquake b. G. 224. 1t lay on
brew for old metal. He carried away nine
hundred camel loads, or about lzO,VOO pounds
of bronze.
The Roman acqueducts were marvels of
architecture The AnIo was fOrty-three
miles long; the Martio, fortyone, of which
thirty-eight miles were on seven thousand
arcades seventy feet high. The claudia was
fOrtv-seven miles long the arches one hum
dred feet high. The Roman acqueducts
brought forty million cubic feet of water
daily into the city, and the various sections
of the metropolis were supplied with water
by 1854 pipes.