Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1899-02-23
FACTS IN A FEW LINES.

In the earlier ages dancing was adyo-
Gated az a cure for sickness.
Humptulips is the name Of settle.
ment in the state Of Washington
Four species of plants produce capsi
cum or the red pepper of commerce.
Thunder is rare at Cairo, being heard
on an average only three days in the
year.
Spain has lost about 900 war vessels
by battle and wreck since the sixteenth
century
In the decade 1881 to lS91 four-fifths
of the increase of population in France
was in Paris.
The London Times aptly character
ICES the Chinese government as "mere-
ly a machine to register outside pres
sure. l."
Since 1875 Hamburg has added to its
population twice as many persons as
our Boston, and Leipsic has overtaken
st. Louis
1t costs about $14,0 to patent an
invention all over the world. There are
"a countries in which patent can be
protected
In Emperor Williams breakfast me-
nu "salt bun" is standing order. 1t
is small white loaf of bread, the top
of which is covered with salt.
Siberia will be largely represented in
Paris in 1900, the first time at any ex-
position. The new railway and the
lands it has opened will be fully repre-
sented.
New York city now has three parks
in Bronx borough These parks, which
have total area of 300 acres are con-
nected by driveways and are to be
beautifed under a general plan.
The exact meaning of Hogmanay-as
New Years eve in Scotland is called
is not known Some say it comes from
the Saxon hogg- night-the time for
killing animals fo1 eating and sacrifice.
A Viennese meteorological has proved
by experiments that rainbows are con-
ditioned by the size of the raindrops,
and that while we ordinarily see only
two rainbows side by side, there are as
many as 20.
The wine cellar of the old Chaldean
king Argastes H. has been discovered
near Lake Van, in Asia Minor 1t was
filed with colossal earthenware vessels,
some of which have been sent to the
Berlin museum.
The carpet in Queen Victoria's pri-
vate railway carriage cost 9150 The
curtains are hung upon silver poles,
which are suspended upon small gilt
figures, which cost 10 guineas each.
The door handles cost e150. The whole
saloon cost SO, 600
1t is not generally known that the
vanilla bean is the costliest bean on
earth. 1t grows wild and is gathered by
the natives in Papantla and Misantla,
Mexico When brought from the forest,
these beans are sold at the rate of co 5s.
per 1, 900, but when dried and cured
they cost about e2 5s. per pound.
Since the foundation of the Legal Aid
society in New York 80, 900 people, vic
timized by their fellows, have sought
and found justice through its efforts
The society has collected and paid over
to its clients sum largely in excess of
500, 600 The indirect benefits have
also been felt by far larger number of
people.
Now that Spanish rule in this hemi-
sphere is ended it will not be viola
tion of the proprieties to repeat leg
end of the origin of the Spanish race,
foI which famous Italian is response
BILE: est. James, alias Santiago, alias
San Diego, is the patron saint of Spain,
and it is said that he placed in blad-
der the heart of fox and the fangs of
wolf, blew it up and called it Span
lard +"
The foundations of an ancient Eng
lish church have been unearthed at
Waverley abbey near Farnham, Sur
rev, as well as the remains of the
monks dormitories the kitchens and
the disciplinary cells. Several old oak
EN- coffins were discovered in perfect
state of preservation, among them that
of William Manduit, third baron of
Hanslape and kings chamberlain, who
was buried in 1914
A Triests newspaper relates that a
freight train on the way to Vienna re-
Gently met with slight accident, in
consequence of which barrel of brandy
in one Of the cars began to leak. In a
short time the villagers of Prestranek
were on the spot with cups and glasses,
and when after few hours the police
arrived from neighboring town more
than 100 persons were found drunk
Four of them afterward died from the
effects of the debauch.
The French consul at Batavia lays
stress on the importance of bamboo as
n material for constructing builders
scaffolding, and he states that in Java
even lighthouse has been built with
its help The power of resistance of
bamboo cane, measuring eight to ten
inches in diameter, even with a length
of SO feet, is enormous. Moreover, the
bamboo is said not to rot, either when
in the ground or in water, while the
drier and older it grows the firmer it
becomes
A cnr;o,,s mt IN raise a S1 silver