Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1898-07-07
FACTS IA A FEW LINES.

The unexplored area of Canada is
1000, 900 square miles.
The Eiifel tower is eight inches short
or in winter than in summer.
The queen of Madagascar dresses in
Paris mode, but goes barefoot.
The first printing press in the United
States was introduced in 1929.
1t was 800 years ago, in Florence,
that the first grand opera was produced.
Since 1892 there has been decrease
of 900 students in the Scotch univer-
stiles.
1t is said that flies confined in case
with cigarettes will die in less than five
minutes.
The attendance at public schools in
Italy in 1870 was 20l, 632, while now il
is 2, 471,65S
No person in Norway may spend
more than threepence at ono visit to q
public house.
In many parts of France the coffin of
peasant woman is borne to the grave
upon the shoulders of women.
a sponge with the great circumference
of feet q inches has been taken from
the waters of Biscayne bay, Florida.
The city of Damascus, in Syria, is so
ancient that no record of its origin can
be discovered in any written histories
At sea level an object 100 feet high
is visible little over IL miles. If 500
feet high, it is visible nearly 30 miles.
The japanese foot has been praised
for its strength and beauty. Japanese
can walk incredible distances without
feeling weary.
The front end of the great glacier Of
Alaska presents wall 800 feet high,
and its BREACH varies from three to ten
miles, while its length is 90 miles
Veneer cutting has reached such per-
lection that single elephants tusk 30
inches long is now cut into Il sheet Of
ivory 100 inches long and 20 inches
wide
Experiments TO discover the best fire
resisting materials for the construction
of doors are said to have proved that
wood covered with tin is better than
solid iron.
Three cannon, formerly part of the
armament Of the British ship ActRon,
wrecked in Charleston harbor ON June
%, l776, have been mounted in a park
i'll st. Louis.
Great Britain has "a longer sea coast
line than any other nation in Europe.
1t measures 2, 755 miles, with Italy sec
ond, 2, 472 miles. Russia ranks third
and France fourth.
The soil of Siberia at the close of
summer is found still frozen for Sc inch
es beneath the surface, and the dead
who have lain in their collins for over a
century have been taken up unchanged.
The horse will probably find its occu-
patton gone i'll Germany sooner than
elsewhere. The Berlin Omnibus com
pany has now electric motors on nearly
all its vehicles, and the number of cleo
trio cabs is daily increasing i'll that city.
Statisticians claim that the earth
will not support more than about 5, 994,
900, 600 people. The present population
is estimated at /, 467, 000, 600, the in
crease being 8 per cent each decade. At
that rate the utmost limit will be reach
ed i'll the year 2072.
The bottle post is an old institu-
ton on the south coast Of Iceland. Let
tiers are put into corked bottles, which
are waited by the wind to the opposite
coast. They also contain IA cigar or other
trifles to induce the finders to deliver
the letter as addressed.
Ecclesiastical vestments have given
their names to many feminine fashions
For years past nun S yelling" has been
"a regular line" on dry goods counters
"Abbess purple" is a perfectly recog-
nized shade and "bishop sleeves" are
much favored by dressmakers, especial
ly for blouse bodies.
The sugar crop of the world amounts
in normal year to about 5000, 600
tons, Of which the larger part, about
4, 500, 900 tons, comes from beets and
the remainder, 3, 500, 900 tons, from sug-
ar cane. OF the latter the largest pro-
portion comes from the West Indies,
and large amount from the island Of
Java.
A gang of thieves organized to prey
upon thieves has been discovered in
Paris. Their plan was to watch for
shoplifters in the department stores like
the Louvre and the Bon Marche, to fol-
low them home, and then enter under
pretense of being police inspectors to
search the apartments for stolen goods,
which they carried off, with no fear Of
complaint being made
Within the last 80 years the popula-
ton of Belgium has doubled itself. ris-
ing from 3, 900, 900 to 5000, 600. But
the records of the larger cities make a
still more interesting showing. Ant
werp in century has risen from SO, 600
to 257, 600, an increase Of 1888 per cent;
Liege has advanced from 46, 900 to l6O,-
600; Client from DO, 600 to l55, 900, and
Brussels from 66, 900 to 1877, 600.
At one time it was on Ash Wednes-
day the custom to appoint an official of
the English palace to crow the hours of
L n