The Republican., 1898-04-07
CURRENT TOPICS.

world in 80 days.
The West India humming bird
weighs only 20 grains
THERE are S,1OO, rs acres of survey
ed vacant land in Oklahoma.
IT never rains between the first and
second cataracts of the Nile.
ALMOST all the camphor used by the
world comes from Japan and Formosa
THE largest diamond in the world
is offered for sale in London for So
600, 600.
LONDON has over 500 railway sta.
tions These figures do not include
freight stations.
AN acre devoted to the culture of ba-
nanas yields 1873 times as much money
as an acre of wheat
THE czar has ordered the expendi-
ture of 10000, 900 roubles for the con-
struction of warships.
JUST by way of memorandum, it may
be noted that the fighting strength of
the United States is 10, 726, POS men.
THE snow fall this winter at Mon
treal is a record breaker, the amount
being 152 inches since December l.
The proposed consolidation of the
wire and wire rod interests of the
country has again been declared off
A LITTLE hot sealing wax dropped
on his hand has just killed the earl of
Clonmell, blood poisoning having set
in.
The highest church mot cathedraD
| steeple in this country is that of st.
Walburg's, Preston, which is 3O3 feet
in altitude.
AT the beginning of the nineteenth
century Spain controlled more terri
| tory in the western hemisphere than
did any other country.
A CURIOUS superstition still prevails
| in some parts of the country to the
effect that three drops of black cats
blood are a sovereign cure for Group.
A FRENCHMAN in his own country is
not at liberty to marry without the
| consent of his father. or legal guar
| dian. until he has passed his goth
year.
SAVE all bread crumbs and bits. Dry
in slow oven. roll fine, sift through a
coarse sieve, put into jars and they are
| ready for croquettes, scalloped fish or
| meats, etc.
AN old Roman tub well has been dis
covered at Silchester 1t is in a compar-
atively perfect state of preservation,
though 1000 years have elapsed since
| it was made.
ELEANOR MCALLIsTER. of Newberg,
| n. Y, who was recently appointed a
woman physician in the Manhattan
State hospital, will receive salary of
81 900 per year
LIBERIA is the land where clocks are
almost dispensed with. The sun rises
| exactly at 6 a. IN. and sets at p m
| throughout the year, and is vertically
'verhead at noon.
| Miss NINA LANCASTER has been ap-
pointed one of the assistant superin-
tenden is of the post Office of England.
| Her salary will be $1,000 and she will
| have none but women clerks.
A SMALL piece of cheese and an elec.
| trio wire form the latest rat trap. The
| cheese is fixed to the wire. and the in
| slant the rat touches the cheese he re.
| ceives shock which kills him.
MARRIAGE in Spain takes place by
| uo1 vi az Ii H. dSCOl uIIlS W lllc lOT"
tune of the young people or their sta
tion in life. Ifwell to do the ceremony
comes off in the early part of the morn
| ing.
| CERosIE, new product, extracted
! from the scum rising on sugar cane
| juice. is claimed by a French chemist
| to have the properties of ordinary
| JeeSwaX. which it resembles in appear
| ance.
THE heaviest baby known is report.
| ed from village near Brussels; where
a farmers wife has just given birth to
a child weighing over 81 pounds, which
is declared by experts to be the heav-
| lest known.
THE smallest horse in the world is a
Shetland pony, owned by the Marchese
| Carcano, in Milan. 1t is "a inches
| high, and when standing beside its
owner the ponys back Is only an inch
above his knee.
| Mrs. LUCINDA NJ HoFF, of Boston,
who sued a Roxbury hotel keeper for
| damages on the ground that she caught
| pneumonia in the hotel because the
owner failed to provide sufficient heat,
| has been awarded 81, 900
| THE Postmaster general says that
the rule prohi biting the sale of liquor
in the neighborhood of post office
does not apply to drug stores in which
it is dispensed on regular prescriptions
for medical purposes.
THE average size Of the kangaroo is
| from three to four feet in height.
| Specimens from six to seven feet are
frequently met with on the Australian
| plains, A kangaroo has been known
to make leap of 80 feet.