The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-06
ANECDOTES OF NOTABLES
a Batch OF Short Stories About
Well-Known Men.
MACAULAY'S DIVERSION
Observation-Disclosures q Common Failing.
Skepticsm as to New Discover
ies-The French Academy
and the Crab

Absent-mindednes seems to be q
common failing among great men, An
| amusing story is told of the late Louis
! Pasteur, who SO distinguished himself
by his discoveries in regard to bacteria.
| While dining at his son-in-law's one
evening, it was noticed that he dipped
his cherries in his glass of water and
then carefully wiped them before eating
| them. AS this caused some amusement,
ne held forth at length on the dangers
| OF the microbes with which the cher
| rles were covered. Then he leaned
back in his chair, wiped his forehead,
and unconsciously picking up his glass,
! drank off the contents, microbes and
| ALL
| A friend, calling upon Peter Bur
| roWes, celebrated Irish barrister, one
| morning in his dressing room, found
| him shaving himself with his face to
the wall and asked him why he chose
| so strange an attitude. The answer
! was, TO look in the glass" why,
| there is no glass there" said the friend.
Bless me-" exclaimed BurroWes, II
did not notice that before Then,
ringing the bell, he called the, servant
and questioned him respecting the
on the wall. oh sir" said the serv-
ant lit was broken six weeks ago"
A certain learned professor at Cam
bridge is very absent minded man.
A friend of his had been seriously i'll.
When he was convalescent the profess
sor used to send him jellies and other
delicacies. One day he took him a fine
bunch of dollhouse grapes. The old
friends were very much pleaeed to see
O. n a n ri;-
cussion. The professor, becoming IN
terested, began absent-mndedly pick
ing the grapes, taking one at a time
till they were all gone. On going out
of the door he called back to his friend,
Now, mind you, eat those grapes; Trey
will do you all the good in the world"
A we'll known archbishop was also no.
ted for his absent mindedness. Din.
ing a home one evening, he found fault
with the flavor of the soup. Next even
ing he dined out at a large dinner par.
ty. Forgetting for the moment that be
was not in his own house, but a guest,
he observed across the table to his Wife
This soup is, my dear, again a fail
ure."
Nearly all great scientific discoveries
have been combated and misunder-
stood, even by most great men. Admiral
Sir Charles Napier fiercely opposed
the royal navy and one day exclaimed
in the house of commons: Mr.. Speaker,
when we enter her majesty's naval SER
vice and face the chances Of war we
go prepared to be hacked in pieces by
cutlasses, to be ridded with bullets or
be blown to bits by shot and shell: but,
Mr.. Speaker. we do not go prepared to
be boiled aliver The last words he
brought out with tremendous empha-
sis. Steam power in men-of-War with
boilers which al any moment might lie
shattered by an enemy's shot-this
was prospect the gallant sailor could
not face. Yet in a few years Sir
Charles Napier found himself in COM
mand OF the largest steam navy that
the world had ever seen. Lord Stanley
subsequently the great Lord Derby)
presided over a select committee of The
house of commons to examine into the
state of steam navigation. George
Stephenson, the eminent engineer, who
was examined, spoke Of the probability
of steamships crossing the Atlantic
Good heavens! what do you say?"
exclaimed Lord Stanley. rising from his
seat IF steamships cross the Atlantic
| will eat the boiler of the first boat"
That pledge was never redeemed.
In more recent years a Lord Chan
cellor, even after he had seen a the
alter illuminated without candle or oil,
poured ridicule on II scheme for sup
plying every house in London with gas
IN the same manner as they are now
supplied with water by the New River
company" Again, so eminent chem
list and gas specialist as Sir Humphrey
Davy himself is alleged to have said
on one occasion that it was as reason
able to talk of ventia ting London with
windmils as of lighting it with gas.
1t is historical fact that when the
houses of parliament were first light
ed by gas more than one famous leg
islator was seen closely to scrutiniZe
an exposed portion OF the gas piping
and then to touch it apprehensivaty,
with the notion evidently. that it
might be hot enough to burn his fling
ers and endanger the neighboring
woodwork.
The story of the comment of Cuvier.
the celebrated French naturalist, on the
definition of the word crab" adopted
by the committee Of the French acad-
envy employed in the preparation of the
academy dictionary, is we'll known, but
is always fresh and amusing. The def
milton was: Grab, a small red fish,
which walks backward" Your def
milton would be perfect, gentlemen"
said Cuvier, only for three exceptions.
The crab is not fish, it is not red and
it does not walk Backward" The
Royal society is the English analogue
of the French academy. Many years
ago sailor who had broken his leg
was advised to send to the Royal So
ciety an account of the remarkable
manner in which he had healed the
fracture. He did so. His story was
that. having fractured the limb by fall
ing from the top of a mast, he had
dressed it with nothing but tar and
oallum, which had proved so wonder
fully efficaciCus that in three days he
was able to walk Just as we'll as before
the accident. This remarkable story
naturally caused some excitement
among the members of the society. NJ
one had previously suspected tar and
oakum of possessing such miraculous
healing powers. Several letters accord
ingly passed between the Royal society
and the humble sailor, who continued
to assert most solemnly that his broken
leg had been treated with tar and oak
UNI. and with these two applications
only. The society might have remained
puzzled for an indefinite period had not
the man remarked in postscript to his
last letter: Il forgot to inform your
h0nOrS, by the WaV. that the loo ,,-aS n