Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
QUEER USES FOR CEILINGS.
Men Have Employed Them as Substi-
tutes for Savings Banks.

Men Have Employed Them as Substi-
tutes for Savings Banks.
Some time since a Liverpool gentle
man died, as 1t was thought, tntestate.
No will could be found, and the next
Of kin had already entered into pos
session when the decorators, in whose
hands the deceaseds old house had
been placed for renovation, came
across the long-sought-for document,
pasted on the library ceiling, where 1t
had been hidden from view by layer
OF paper, which had been placed there
by the eccentric testator himself.
The celebrated Beau Brummel, dur
ing the first years of his exile, while
yet his fame as a dandy was pre-
eminent, had the ceiling of his bed
room covered with mirrors, so that
even while at rest he could study ele-
gance and assume a graceful pose. For
such a purpose glass ceiling is, how
ever, not unique, and the notorious
duchess of Cleveland had such anoth-
er constructed to crafty her vanity.
For far different reason did a GER
tain Yorkshire gentleman of the last
century. mentioned by Mrs Gaskell in
her Life of Charlotte Bronte," have
his ceiling paneled with mirrors. Ar
IDENTIFY devoted to the sport of cock
fighting, he continued to the last to
enjoy his favorite pastime, and even
when on his deathbed his room was
the scene of many an exciting fight,
which, lying on his back, he saw re-
In
Another invalid whose tastes were
certainly more aesthetic was a gentle
man who died lately at Munich. Con-
fined for many months to his bed, he
gratified his love for art by having his
ceiling papered and covered with his
most treasured pictures, which he in
his younger days had acquired. These
were changed from time to time for
others In his collection, which in their
turn were contemplated with delight
by the crippled connoisseur as he lay
stretched on his couch Of pain.
During a police case heard a year
back at Tottenham the prosecutrix told
the magistrate that she had taken the
prisoner in out Of charity and had per-
|
oner denied, saying that she paid 2s
Cd a week. You only paid 2s," re-
torted the other, land that is marked
on the ceiling" This novel idea Of
converting a ceiling into a rent book
evoked roar of laughter in court.
An eccentric Brighton pedagogue
was wont to use the ceiling of his
schoolroom as a blackboard. 1t was
covered with a casing of blackened
and polished wood on which the domi-
ME, by means of long, chalk-poirted
rod, used to draw geometrical figures
and diagrams while discoursing on the
subtleties of Euclid. This unusual pro-
oeeding was but the practical appli-
!, cation of a quaint theory of his that
the elevation of the pupils eyes in
duced sharpness of intellect.
Much annoyed at the barefaced man.
ner in which the photos of his friends
and acquaintance that were scattered
in profusion about his rooms, were ap-
pvopriated by his many visitors, a gen.
tleman well known in Partisan society
hit upon the ingenious device of hav-
Ing them affixed to the ceilings of his
fiat. Three large rooms are thus deco
rated, and that callers, should they
desire, may obtain a clear view of the
portraits, opera glasses of special con,
struction are supplied.
When in 1898 Mile. Forester gave q
dance at her house in Paris the ceiling
: Of the ballroom was so constructed
that at given intervals it discharged
upon the dancers fine rain of white
rose, cherry blossom, jockey club and
other scents. This pleasing surprise
was likewise prepared for his guests
by a wealthy Russian nobleman, who
however, heightened the effect by hav
ing the ceiling exquisitely painted witt
the flowers whose essences descended
upon those beneath.-London Tit-Bits
, EishhOOk Cactus.
# Many a traveller in desert lands