The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-05-05
CURRENT TOPICS.

THE skins of animals were the earli
est forms of money.
EVERY German regiment has a chi
ropodist in its ranks
The ropes on frst-class man-of
war cost about $4,000.
NEARLY 40 per cent of the popula
ton of Siberia are Russian exiles.
A SINGLE bee collects only about q
teaspoonful of honey during a season.
In England there are TO- 900 girls en-.
gagged in public houses and drinking
bars
THE total cordage required for a
tirst-rate man .of-war weighs about so
tons, and exceeds SIS, 900 in value
THE Tartars have a quaint custom Of
taking guest by the ear when invit-
ing him to eat or drink with them.
WHEN bees do not go out as usual,
but keep in or about their hives, rain
may be expected to fall shortly after.
The cost of fuel on steam railroads
is about ten per cent of the operating
expenses; on electric roads it is about
five per cent.
The Chinese dictionary, compiled by
Pa-cut-she, l, 100 years before Christ, is
the most ancient of any recorded in
literary history.
THERE are at present 10, 900 convicts
in the French colony of New Caledonia
This colony has cost the French gov
| eminent $50, 000 900 since 1868.
QUITE a sensation has been created
in London by the public exhibition of
collection of etched plate done by
Queen Victoria number of years ago
A LETTER addressed to 1.-The Orniest
Man in the United States" after long
| journey through the mails, was very
appropriately sent back to the writer
in Denver
Mrs. CAMPBELL CoPEMAN, of Wash.
| ington, has made over 500 mountain
ascensions, and is the only woman who
ever succeeded in reach the summit of
| Mt. Rainier.
A sTATIsTICIAN computes that Queen
Victoria is now sovereign over one
continent, 100 peninsulas, 500 prom
ontories, 1000 lakes, 1000 rivers and
| 10, 600 islands
AN Italian doctor has discovered that
there is in the common pineapple a
substance similar to pepsin and that
| one pineapple is sufficient to digest 10
pounds of beef
THE longest-lived people have gener-
ly been those who made breakfast the
principal meal of the day. The stom-
| ach has more vigor in the morning
than at any time.
THE largest and most valuable mug
get of gold ever found was discovered
in Australia in 1852. 1t was reported
to weigh 223 pounds and ounces, and
was worth about $55, 600
MRS. HICKsoN, who died at the age of
103 in Ireland recently, was married in
1918, and was probably the last woman
in the United Kingdom whose wedding
took place before Waterloo.
BOTTLES are now being made OF
paper under German patent. They
are for use particularly on shipboard,
where heavy weather works havoc
among the glass receptacles.
| The number of distilleries in opera
ton in the United States in March was
592 of grain and nine of molasses, pro-
ducing 321, PA gallons of grain spirits
and 9,461 gallons of molasses spirits
daily.
A TON of Atlantic water, when evap-
grated, yields 81 pounds of salt; a ton
of Pacific water 70 pounds. Arctic and
Antarctic waters yield IS pounds to
the ton, and Dead sea water 1877
pounds
| JERUSALEM now has population of
go, 900, about double the number of its
inhabitants about twenty years ago,
but it has the most imperfect and I'M
wholesome water supply of any city
on earth.
GERMAN police authorities are trying
to discover the identity of a mans
body recently found in the Rhine Part
of the description is: age, about 40
years, height five foot eight; language,
| the Geldern dialect"
In certain parts of Norway when a
| person is drowned a cock is put in a
boat, which is rowed about the scene
| of the disaster, the belief being that
the bird will crow when the boat
passes over the body.
THE term infantry" meaning foot
soldiers, originated with the Spanish.
1t was first applied to the military
force employed by an infante, or
young prince of Spain, to rescue his
| father from the Moors.
'FoR 80 years after the completion of
the railroad line across the Isthmus of
Panama the fare charged was so cents
per mile, or SIS for the trip from term
inal to terminal. This is said to have
heen the highest regular rate ever de-
, manded by road in this hemisphere.
MEssRs. CHRISTIE, of London, recent
| ly sold an old English walnut chest
| from Suffolk mansion), which con-
tanned the treasure of the Inflated
Charles l. The royal cipher was multi
ated by Cromwell's soldiers-but il
found ready purchaser at IS guineas