Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-02-05

Things seem to be badly out of pro-
portion in Kansas. At the idiot asy-
lum one employe takes care of nine
idiots. At the penitentiary one officer
safely guards 16 malefactors. But
with the Kansas state senate it takes
four guards Or attendants for each in
mate.-Kansas City Journal.
Baron Wallburg, whom the royal
family Of Austria refuses to recognize
as the morganatic son Of the late Arch
duke Henry, has opened the Cate
Habsburg in Budapest, the name indl-
eating his descent. For eight months
he has been a waiter in another estab-
lishment, and has saved enough in
tips to set up business for himself.
A mystery unraveled: Spartacus-
A fact that has always puzzled me is
that, with scores of joke writer's con-
tinually at it, no two write the same
joke. Smarticus-Nothing remarkable
at all. Don't you remember when
Guiteau was on trial the experts tes-
titled that there we're several hundred
forms of insanity. all totally different
III luS1I upJOulS AIuSI-
lean.
An engineer of Vienna has built a
small sailboat, using as his sole ma
teriaI the sheets of an Austrian daily.
The yacht is Is feet long, three feet
wide, decked all over and provided
with a centerboard. Hull, deck, masts,
sails, rudder, are all of paper. The
inventor has made many trips on the
Woerth sea, in Corinthia The boat
sails rapidly and safely even in heavy
weather.
A youthful reporter asked Mark
Twain: Mr.. Clemens, l have been
instructed to interview you on the
humors Of the coal famine" accord
ing to the New York Times. The vet
eran humOrist gasped feebly for a mo-
ment and then replied: Young man.
you go back to your editor and tell
him if he emptied all the short and
long dashes in his composing rooms
into the forms, he would then only be
able to set up a prelude to my opinion
on the coal situation"
One of the most primitive drums in
use is that of the Huichol Indians. 1t
is made from hollowed-out oak log.
Over the upper part is spread a deer
skin, while the other end of the log is
cut into three clumsy logs. Half way
between the bottom and the top Of the
drum are two square holes opposite
one another. While the drum is kept
E =,
kept inside in order to stretch the
skin, the smoke escaping from the
holes. The drum is beaten with the
hands
One of the saltiest Of the salt lakes
is near Obdorsk, Siberia, and is covered
with coating of salt that completely
cOnceals the water. In 1878 the lake
found an underground outlet into the
Obi river This lowered it's surface
about three feet, but the salt crust
was thick enough to retain it's old lev
ell so that the novel spectacle of a
salt-roofed lake is now presented.
Many islands stud the lake and are
said to act as braces, which keep the
arched salt crust, which increases six
inches annually in position.
John w. Yerkes, commissioner of
internal revenue, tells of campaigning
in Kentucky with another stump
speaker. The latter thought to make
a good impression in the famous dis
tillery town of Greensboro, and in his
speech there sounded the praises Of
whisky. why, gentlemen" said he,
Il have noticed in my reading of his
tory and biography that all great men
drank liquor. I tell you, whisky makes
men smart" whats that?" said an
old farmer who was noted teetotaler.
''Whisky makes men smart" reiterat-
ed the orator, "and I challenge denl-
all Then" said the farmer, you'd
better get a couple Of barrels and be-
gin on it at once"