The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-11
NUBs OF KNOWLEDGE.

There are In the United States over
fifty distinct secret orders with more
than 10000 lodges and 10000 members
In 1850 our production of cheese was
lO55O0,OOO. In 1890 II was 256, 10000. At
present 1t Is estimated to be about 2S0,-
100000 pounds.
The disproportion of the sexes is still
very great in Australia. In West Aus
tralla there were only $500 women in a
population of 16S,OOO.
A grape growing association in n CEN
tral county in Alabama is shipping grapes
to the north from a vineyard of 400 acres.
The wines are three years old and bear
ing handsomely.
Secretary Barnes, Of the Kansas Hor-
ticultural society, says that the Kansas
orchards now contain 7533, ,357 apple trees.
l9l, $50 pear trees, 4,053 162 peach trees ana
G3S,244 plum trees-all bearing. More
over. Kansas has 1854 acres of vineyard.
Several months ago Waterville (Afe)
girl wrote her name and address on a
piece of cotton. The other day she re-
ceived letter from woman in Arizona,
who said that the fabric had been bought
by Uncle Sam and was being cut up for
garmnets in school for the Apache In
dians there.
Fifteen years ago the annual catch of
exceeded 900, and over 1900 men
were employed in the industry. OF this
business Maine furnished more than one
half: but today over 80 per cent. of the
canned Holsters are brought from the
british provinces.
1t will cost $93, $50 OS203 to run the gov
ernment of Greater New York for the
forthcoming fiscal year, according to the
report of the finance committee. This
includes q deficiency found of S7,175,s50.s
The amount to be raised by general tax
alton is S6150S. 701.05. 1t cost $T1,iT 0S4.II
to run the city last year.
widows are the champion marrying
women" says Victor Smith in the New
York press. "In every hundred mar
riaEes eleven of the women will be wild
ows. One widow in every four tries we'd
| lock second time, marrying at the aver
age age of 30. For every 1000 bachelors
that marry spinsters L025 marry wild
ows."
The alphabet may be varied so many
millions of times. that If man could ac-
complish the impossible task of reading
one hundred thousand words i'm an hour
1t would require four thousand six hun
dred and fifty millions of men to read
those words, according to the above
hourly proportions, in twenty thousand
years.
Th Hollanders are perhaps of all the
northern people those who smoke the
most. The humidity of their climate
makes It almost a necessity, and the
moderate cost of tobacco show how deep
ly rooted is the habit, it is enough TO
say that the boatmen of the trekschut,
the aquatic diligence of Holland, measure
distances by smoking.
Brookville, Pa. has a crow hatchery,
said to be the only one in the world.
This birds jet black head makes a hand
some trimming for ladies' hats and mill
liners are credited with paying % cents
for each head. The eggs of crows hatch
In an ordinary chicken incubator in four
teen days and in eight weeks the birds
are big enough to be guilotined.
The city of Washington has found that
1t is much cheaper to clean the streets by
labor employed by the street department
than by contract. The cost is 10 1-3 cents
per thousand square yards by direct la
Dor, while the contractors charge was
80 cents for the same area. At the same
time the laborers employed by the city
received % cents more per day from the
city than from the contractors.
Scientific knowledge has been pervert-
ed to the uses of blaCkmail by a medical
student Of Gratz. Austria, who endeav-
ored to obtain 10000 fiorins from a rich
old lady by threatening to open Il bot
tie of assorted deadly bacill in her
room If she should refuse to pay up"
When arrested bottles stolen from a bac-
THEOLOGICAL laboratory and containing mi
crobes of several diseases were found in
his possession.
The famous clock in the Palais de
Justice in Paris dates from 1870 and is
the work of the celebrated De Wick,
whose turret clocks are the earliest on
reliable record. The carved figures Of
Piety and Justice and the angels sup
porting the royal coat of arms We're cX-
ecuted by Germaine Pilun. 1t is believed
that it was the bell of this clock that
rang the signal for the massacre of St.
Bartholomew in 1872.
After eleven years of litigation the
appellate court of New York has ordered
new trial in the case of William IL.
Townsend. who is suing the propriotors
of dyeing works because they polluted
stream running through his property
In such way that his ducks, which
went into the stream white, came out
red, blue, green or otherwise colored. ac-
cOrding to the job the defendants hap
pened to have on hand.
The house in Washington in which
President Lincoln died is being renovat-
ed to preserve it from decay, congress at
It's late session having appropriated $1,000
for that purpose. The building will not
be altered, but only such repairs made as
may be necessary to protect it against
the clements. The room in which Lincoln
died will not be touched This modest lit
tie house is yearly visited by thousands OF
tourists from all over the country.
The schooner Polly, now lying in the
port of Bangor, Me- sound and sea-
worthy in every way, is said to he the
oldest American vessel I'm existence which
is still sailing. She was built at Amcs-
bury, Mass, in 1905 and has had an ad-
venturous career. During the war of 1912
she was a privateer and captured eleven
prizes from the British. She was also
captured once herself, but was retaken.
She is a vessel of A. tons and is now en-
gagged in the cOasting trade