The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1900-08-25
FACTS IN A FEW LINES.

lOu,puN Il Ntdl'
Thirty-fve hundred dozen goatskins
are transformed into leather every day
in Philadelphia.
Shears In a steel mill in Gainesville,
Pa. cut Il slab Of iron four feet wide
and two feet thick at one stroke.
For painting the words Il am n
Boer" on the gate of a Wick nursery
man Miss Dorothy Chute was fined $50
in London.
The franchises Of nearly 1000 corp0.
ratlons in Texas have been revoked
recently because of their failure to pay
the state taxes.
One of the few parts Of Windsor cas-
tie which have remained unchanged
since it's first construction, in l1Gl, is
the royal kitchen.
The prime of life In a man Of regular
habits and sound s'iution is from
30 TO % years Of age, C. n woman from
24 or % to about 40 years Of age.
The catch of salmon I'm Canadian
waters last year was valued at s.. 49,
3O6, a decrease of $500, SGS when com
pared with the returns of the previous
year.
In Naples there exists a race of cats
which live in the churches. They are
kept and fed by the authorities on pur-
pose to catch the mice which infcst all
old buildings there.
Speaking Of cycling and heart strain,
doctor says that so long as the
cyclist can breathe with the mouth
shut he is certainly perfectly safe 50
far as heart strain is concerned.
Out of 100000 pieces Of registered
mail handled annually in the United
States the loss has been One-thousandth
Of l per cent, and in the transmission
of ordinary letters it is only seven
thousandths Of per cent
Department stores in St Paul and
Minneapolis provide bicycle stands,
with a boy in attendance. who checks
wheels free whether the rider intends
to visit that particular store or not.
Indeed, a bicycle may be SO housed all
day.
The most rapid increase in our eX-
ports Of manufactured goods has been
In the expectation Of metals, which
amounted to $50 per cent The ex-
ports Of brass, for example, which in
1889 were but 1921, 1871, will exceed ST.
100000 this year.
Diamonds have been found in the
upper Mazaruni district British Gui-
ana. Such as were taken TO Demerara
passed through the department Of
mines. They were nearly oil small.
They were picked up by miner pros
pecting for gold.
A prehistoric city, covering several
hundred acres. has been discovered in
Mexico. The ruins were covered with
earth. but the excavations already
made show that the discovery is one
Of great Importance from an archplog-
ical point of view.
OF Scandinavians-that is, natives OF
Norway, Sweden and Denmark-we
have 933,240 They have a decided
tendency to go into communities Of
their own kind, and we find that Of
these 7O9,351 are in the north central
division Of the country.
A school Of employees has been start
ed in one OF the shops Of the United
States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry
company in Cincinnati. The company
has fitted up a room with drawing
apparatus. and instruction will be
given in the company's time.
England is credited with but n small
production Of turkeys, and in spite OF
the supplies from the county Of Nor
folk and more recently from ireland
importations from abroad have increas-
cd enormously in late years, as the lik-
Ing for turkeys is greatly on the in
crease in England.
France exports annually 10000 tur-
keys. while Italy exports from GOO'OOO
10 100000. but the birds from beyond
the Alps find their way not only TO
London. but to Leipsic, Dresden,
Frankfort, Berlin and Hamburg and
they realize higher prices in those Ger
man towns than in England.
Ontario's government has completed
arrangements for the formation Of a
forest reserve Of almost 5000 square
miles in extent, embracing the district
in which Lakes Tamagami and Lady
Evelyn are situated. The bulk Of the
reserve is virgin forest, with the finest
white pine in Canada upon it.
One Of the institutions Of Washing
ton is the shad bake, and the perfec-
ton of planked shad is asserted to be
produced at a river landing on the
east bank Of the Potomac, almost OPP
posite to Mount Vernon. At the height
of the shad season planked shad eX-
cursions are Of daily occurrence.
Recently in the Alps some of the ma
tives were greatly worried at a fall Of
apparently black SHOW. Had it not
been that a scientist was on hand to
explain that the blackness Of the snow
was caused by insects the Alps might
have furnished miracle story for
future grandfathers to talk about by
the winter fire.
In excavating the old Roman camp OF
Carnuntum, near Hamburg, on the
Danube, between Vienna and Press
burg, the explorers have come upon
an armory and provision house con
tanning 1887 weapons and pieces of ar
NOR and stores Of barley, peas, etc. A
great many inscriptions were found as
well and the means by which the camp
was supplied with water.
IT is very difficult for a person to
make an immediate correct response
to the query, what is your weightY'
One is very apt to guess at 1t without
knowing exactly what it is. He does
not take into consideration that the
clothing he wears, the shoes Oh his
feet, the material in his pockets and
other things are entitled to some con-
stdarotiou In hfc estimate