The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-09-22
NUBS OF KNOWLEDGE.

Persia first grew the cherry the peach
and the plum.
The tonnage of the merchant marine
of the four leading powers is as follow.
Great Britain S,926,000 United States
100000; Germany, 1,550,0O0; France, 92L
coo.
The value of horses owned by farmers
in this country is S452, 2,6i9, 1886, or consider
ably more than One-fifth of the total
United States currency, including gold,
silver and paper money, in circulation to-
day.
With the general introduction of auto
mobiles cruelty to animals will almost
cease. A driver will no longer be able
to exercise his whip and if he forces his
motor unduly he Is reasonably certain
of a good repair bill
One of the curiositics of New Zealand
Is a vegetable caterpillar. What happens
is that a wicked plant darts It's seed into
an unfortunate caterpillar and the seeds
grow to plants sometimes a foot long.
In the meantime the caterpillar dies a
lingering death.
On the authority Of the greatest manu-
facturer of dental supplies in the coun-
try there are over 10000 ounces of pure
gold worked up annually for dentists
use for material in filling teeth, in plates
and soldiers, the value of this gold APP
proximating $1,000,OO0.
Organ-grinders in Verviers, Belgium,
are compelled by law to appear every
morning before the police superintendent
and play their instruments. The organ
which is found out of tune must be set
in order before a license to play on the
street is granted.
Electricity derives its name from the
Greek word for amber, electron, because
Thales about COO B. c., discovered that
amber when rubbed, attracts light and
dry bodies; and in the twelfth century the
scientific priests of Etruna drew light
ming from the clouds with iron rods
The grave of Captain Paul Jones has
| not been located by the government,
| through its inquiries of the embassy in
the French capital. He died on July is,
1892, in Paris, and was buried with high
est honors by the French government,
| but the place of his burial cannot now be
determined
| A typewrite. invented by an English
| man has n device by which vertical col
umns of figures can be written as readily
as they can be set in type. By means of
special space key the operator is en-
abled to write all over the paper, the
whole width of the paper or in narrow
| columns at will.
From 1884 to 1885 women have taken out
| 1905 patents. Women have invented
many important things. The woman
| who began by inventing corset is now
| inventing reservoirs and dams. Another
| woman has invented a lock with 5000
| combinations and a letter-box now in
| daily use for houses.
France in war has 1000 soldiers to Is,
| 407 inhabitants: Germany in war has 1000
| soldiers to 17,427 inhabitants; Great Brit
| ain in war has 1000 soldiers to 72,4l9 in
habitants, while under the house bill en-
acted during the late war the United
| States provides for only 1000 soldiers 10
| about 1000 inhabitants.
| Only one-half of those who enter the
military academy at West Point continue
| in 1t long enough to obtain commission
| and in part because of the severity OF
| the discipline. Six thousand six hundred
| and fifty-eight cadets were admitted tc
the academy up to and including 1886, and
| only 1884 of these were graduated.
In future all Russian students who Gre
ate or instigate disorder, whether in the
university or out, will be sent into the
| army to serve from one to three years
The regulation applies also to those who
persistently refuse to continue theii
studies. Another regulation orders the
removal from the lists of all married
| students, as improVident marriages are
| a cause of pauperism
The worlds production of gold for 1899
If Australia and South Africa maintain
| the rate with which they began the year
will probably reach $40 100000, or about
$50 OOO,O 600 more than In 1898. At the enc
of the current year the three principa
countries will rank in the following or
der in the list of gold producing dis
| tricts: South Africa, SlO6,GO0,00O; Aus
tralia. S7S,OOOOOO United States, 1900 900
The power of the Mannlcher rifle wa!
recently demonstrated in an accident neal
Prague Two gendaTmes entered room
in an inn and closed the door, putting
their rifles in the corner. One rifle fel
and discharged itself the bullet goiul
| through the door into the next room
where a party was dancing. 1t passeC
| through the body of a musician, killing
him, and then through the bodies of five
other men, all of whom were dangerous
ly wounded.
British census reports of family names
gives for England anc Wales 25360
| Smiths, 2i2, 100 Joreses, with Williams
| Taylor, Davies and Brown following IN
order; For Scotland Smith leads, FOLLOWED
by Mcdonald, Brown. Thomson, Robert
son, Stewart and Campbell Murphy Il
ahead in Ireland, there being $500 o
| them, then come Kelly, $500; Sullivan
43, 600; Walsh, Al 200; Smith, $1,000; O'Brien
80, 40Oi ByIne, $4,000: Ryan, $1,000; Conner
81, 200; O'Neil, 29,lGO, and Reilly, $4,000
Following is a list of the deepest wcll
in the world: In Europe, one at Passy
France. depth, 1900 feet; at La Chapelle
Paris, depth, 1850 feet; at Frenelle, Paris
depth, lbs feet; at Neusalwerk. nea
Minden, depth, 2,2SS feet; at Kissengen
Bavaria, depth, l,7S7 feet; at Sperenberg
near Berlin depth, 4.l9O feet which il
said to be the deepest in the world; a
Pesth, Hungary, depth. 3,S12 feet. lie tn
United States there are wells located a
st. Louis, depth, 3,S43 feet; at Louisville
depth, 20S6 feet at Columbus, o., depth
2,775lR feet; at Charleston, S, c., depth
1850 feet
THE STARS.