The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-08-14
GOSSIP AND NEWS GRAB BOX.

A MANY Of the favorite seaside sum-
| ~ mer resorts In this country the
beaches are from time to time raw
| aged by wild storms, and hitherto NO aGie-
quate method Of protecting them against
| such onslaught has been discovered. AS a
| result the cottagers may awake any morn
ing ana ind that the pleasant strand on
which they strolled during the previous
evening has, during the night, been eaten
| away by the hungry waves.
| Now. however. an ingenious inventor has
devised method for the protection of such
beaches. a method which, he Is confident,
wall prove effective 1t consists of num-
ber OF mattresses. which are formed Of
lfbrous material and which are held to-
gether by means of warps and bars.
| The mattresses thus connected are laid
| on the beach. the warps and bars being
placed in such a manner that the long,
| ibrous covering Is kept stir and immova-
bic. AS further safeguard. however.
stronger fastenings are placed here and
| there. and by means Of these the mat
| tresses are anchored firmly to the beach.
The mattresses are arranged lengthwise
| in the direction of the current, and the
\ warps and bars are arranged diagonally.
| abe object is to break the force Of the
waves and prevent them from wreaking
| their full fury on the beach. Experiments,
| it Is said. prove that protection of this
kind Is useful for such a purpose.
-
| Sod houses, or. as they are locally
! termed, "soddies." are now being built in
| large numbers in eastern Colorado. They
are made of oblong pieces Of sod cut from
the prairie, about Is inches in length, Z
| inches broad, and from 8 to 4 inches thick.
No foundation is required. the sods being
| simply laid on the prairie. and up goes the
| structure.
'Soddies" are cool in summer and warm
| in winter. and when the snow-laden wind
IS whistl1ng without cozy sodhouse. in
! which there is a good corncob fire, is not
| to be despised.
-
| One of the clerks in the PHILADELPHIA
! postomee found in bundle of mail re-
| Gently a postal card which had been sent
| from Morrisville, Pa, on February II, 1873.
Morrisville Is little more than q miles
| from Philadelphia, SO the clerk announced
| that the postal had made about a mile
| year on it's way, and had therefore broken
| all records in slow transit. NO one knows
where the card had been during the many
years, but it is not believed that 1t has
been outside Of Pennsylvania. and from
| its appearance 1t does not seem to have
| been shelved. The clerk said it looked as
| though 1t had been undergoing many ex-
citing experiences during the last % years.
The postal card was addressed to Charles
| b. Horner. a nurseryman of Mount Holly.
N. ]. 1t was sent by the Silenwood
nurseries of Morrisville. A clerk acct
| dentally read the card. He says it said:
please come over and see us as soon as
possible"
-
| new law came into force in Norway on
July l, by which, under penalty of fine,
| lodging house keepers must record in a
book the name, address. and occupation of
| any traveller residing with them, the place
| at which he last stayed, his designation.
| and the date Of his arrival and departure.
| Foreigners also who wish to take up their
| residence or seek a livelihood in Norway
must report their intention on arrival and,
| il required present themselves before the
local head Of the police or the district
magistrate.
According to a statistician, the pope re-
ceives more letters and newspapers each
day than any other ruler, the average num-
Der being from 10000 to $4,000 OF these
only few are ever seen by his holiness
most Of them being taken at once to the
| chancellor's Office, where they are distrib-
uted among IS secretaries, who duly read
| them.
Next to the pope comes President McKin-
| ley. who receives daily about 1,400 letter.,
and between 5000 and 1900 newspapers.
pamphlets and books.
| The king of Englands mail is not as
| large as this. 1000 letters and from 1000 to
| 5000 newspapers being the daily average.
The car receives $50 letters daily, the king
of Italy 500 and Queen Wilhelmina Of Hoi-
land between 100 and 150, all Of which she
! reads herself.
-
The praiseworthy fashion Of providing
| the horses with straw hats as guard
against the sun Is growing. But while
there is beneul in adopting this custom it
is hardly likely the Japanese idea of horse
shoes will ever become common here,
though it may have much to recommend
it. There straw instead of iron is employed
for the purpose. The shoes are made of
ordinary rice straw braided very tight and
firm, making a surface the size of the
horses foot and about half an inch thick
They cost about cent a pair and when
worn out are thrown away.
="
A novel sort of lightship is to be moored
. on the Otter rock, Islay. 1t will have nc
crew, and will be worked by the com.
pound gas system. Two large gasholders
will contain as much gas as will light the
lanters for several months. The gas
escaping from the holders to the lantern
will operate the clapper of bell placed
on a deck belfry, and the rocking Of the
vessel will set tongue going as WELL Tht
Otter rock marks q particularly dangerou:
part of the west coast, and the new plar
will be submitted to a severe test.