The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-22
OUT OF THE ORDINARY.

| France has kept 100000 tons of coal stored
at TOUlOn since 1893, to be ready IN case war
should break out.
Nails. it is said, may be driven into hard
wood without bending, if they are first
dipped in lard or oil.
Knives. when intended for sale in India,
are usually made with rings in the handles.
The natives carry them tied to their g1rdles.
II is said that a Scotchman planted the
first thistle in Australia out of love for his
native land, and now millions or that plant
affiict the land.
In ancient Greece a law provided that If a
man divorced his wife he could not subse-
quently marry woman younger imam MS
discarded partner.
miles of coast in England, to every thirty
four in Ireland and to every thirty-nine
miles in Scotland.
In New Guinea the single young woman
lets her hair hang about her shoulders in
all it's glory, but Immediately after marriage
she must have it cut short.
The London Tabernacle, which was built
and rendered so famous by the late Rev. G.
H. Sturgeon, was first opened on March 81,
1861, and the cost of erection was 932,OOO
The steamer Algoa, on it's last trip from
San Francisco to Marseilles, carried wheat
that would have filled thirty freight trains
with 200 cars. The import duty was 7OJ,O0O
francs.
In proportion to it's population the United
Kingdom has a greater number of women
workers than any other country and among
them no fewer than $4,000 are set down as
ureSSmakerS.
The great gold mine located under the
town of Ballarat, Australia, reputed to be
the richest in the world, has yielded $780,
100000 worth of gold since it was opened
thirty years ago.
The skin of the reindeer is so impervious
| to the cold that any one clothed in such a
| dress, with the addition of blanket of the
same material may bear the intenseSt
rigors of an Arctic winters night.
The year AZ B. c. was the longest year on
| record. BY order of Julius Caesar, 1T con-
tanned AS days. The additional days were
ly as possible with the solar year.
The Victoria Cross has never been award
ed to woman: it is not designed for female
with II the eernany nsEon snd
France with the Legion of Honor.
The number of soldiers on duty in the
federal army during the civil war is given
81 204: Jan / 1863 69S SOP Jan. l. 1864, Gil $50;
Jan. 1, 1866, 62O924; May 1, 1865, 797SO7.
A traveller through Servia will often notice
dolls hung up inside the cottage. windows.
He learns that the dolls are put up as a
sign to announce to wayfarers that mar
riageable daughter dwells in the house.
There are about seventy-fve pyramids in
Egypt. What is known as the Great Pyra-
mid was erected nearly 5000 years b. O.,
and it is computed that fully 100000 men
were employed thirty years on the work.
1t is a common Asiatic custom for the
| bridegroom to give chase to the bride either
on foot, on horseback or in a canoe. If the
bridegroom catches the fugitive he claims
her as his wife, otherwise the match is
broken off.
At Pompeiis a mosaic life-size portrait
of a woman the first antique portrait in
MOSAIC ever discovered. has Is, been found near
the house of the Vettii. The workmanship
is so fine that it is difficult to discern that
it is not painting.
Lake sailormen are reputed to be the best
sailors. 1t is said that a sailor may cross
the Atlantic without danger of running into
an island, and he may hardly see more than
two or three ships during the entire voyage.
but on the lakes it is just the other way.
The unclaimed jewels and curios to the
value of $150,000 which were found in the
ruins after the fire at the charity bazaar in
Paris, have been sold at auction. The money
raised is to remain in trust for thirty years
after which all the money unclaimed goes
to the state.
A weIl-known scientist furnishes some in
formation in regard to the ages of trees.
He assigns to the pine tree 500 to 700 years
as the maximum, AIS years to the silver fir,
beech, 21O to the aspen, geo to the birch, ITO
to the ash, 145 to the elder and 100 to the
elm.
A tablespoonful of liquid air poured on a
fluid ounce of whisky will freeze it at once
into fiat scales, and handkerchief satu-
rated with it is charred and destroyed as
quickly as if placed in hot oven. AS an
agent of destruction liquid air is powerful;
but no useful office has been found for it
as yet.
Colorado Springs boasts of being, the
bells are rung there, and no whistles are
blown. A local paper admits that dogs bark
at night in Colorado Springs as they do
everywhere else, but it adds that when
they run about they make no noise with
their feet on the sandy SOIL"
During the civil war 5,221 commissioned
officers and go S6S enlisted men were killed in
action or died of wounds received in battle;
1921 commissioned officers and 1S2. 1929 en-
listed men died from disease or accident
making total loss of 2S9,73 men. Deaths
occurring after the men left the army are
not included in these figures.
Local European authorities estimate the
area of the Philippine islands at 10000
square miles and their population at 100000
to 100000. The Island of Luzon on which
the city of Manila is situated, is larger than
New York and Massachusetts, and has a
population of 100000; and the Island of
Mindanao is nearly, if not quite as large.
The rate at which British ships of war
take coal nowadays is simply marvel
Gus. Recently one of the first-class battle
ships in the Mediterranean, the Magnificent
averaged over 100 tons an hour-that is at
the rate of nearly three tons a minute OFF,
and they certainly look like them when the
job is over.
The great naval victory of Trafalgar and
the death of Nelson; which occurred on Oct.
q, 1905, were not known in London until
Nov 6, sixteen days afterward The news
of the battle of Manila, fought on the OPP
posite side of the globe, on Nav l. was
known in the United States on the day after
its occurrence and the official details came
five days later.