The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-05-06

OANSAo AANS OSS1 6AtOA vi lAS
British war Office that every boy serv-
ing in the army Is to attend school I'M
til he obtains a first class certificate or
reaches the age of eighteen.
-Four persons died and several were
made critically i'll as a Consequence of
eating food supplied by a cookery
school attached to the Grand Duchess
stadt.
Recently an old woman at Clichy,
France, was told that she had won
$4,000 in a Spanish lottery. Later
she found she had been hoaxed, and
the shock Of disappointment killed her
instantly.
A specially constructed covered van
containing twenty~eight cages is to
make the daily round Of the Paris po-
lice stations to pick up stray dogs that
have been captured and convey them
to the pound.
Wages in Russian factories are 2
cents an hour and upward. There are
thousands who work for a cent an
hour and tens Of thousands who do not
receive 80 cents a day for ten, eleven
and more hours work.
Through "skidding'' ON the frozen
roads at Freiburg, Switzerland, a mo-
tor car dashed into a milk wagon and
upset 300 gallons of milk. The cats of
the town gathered in large numbers to
enjoy an unrestricted meal.
A Liverpool magistrate announced in
court that in the event of any person
being convicted of damaging property
while seeking for hidden treasure he
would probably send him to prison
without the option of a fine.
Fishermen on the lake Of Neuchatel
are using automobile boats. They are
driven by a benzine motor and lighted
by electricity. They are fiat bottomed,
glide noiselessly over the water, do not
brighten the fish and are q great sue
cess.
Who ever heard Of a river changing
its mind and turning round and run-
ming in the other direction? Yet that
is what the Kansas river has done at
me point for a distance of two miles,
where u cutoff was formed by last
years foods.
An uncommon occurrence was OBJ
served at a Canton (Me.) church the
other Sunday. A great-grandmother,
daughters, grandchildren and great
grandchildren were in attendance-viz,
Mrs. Eliza Barrows, nearly ninety, and
her descendants.
Negotiations are proceeding between
the Amsterdam and Antwerp diamond
merchants for the formation of a com
bination which will enable them to
fight the De Beers mine, which con
trolls the worlds output, and the Lon
don trust, which practically rules the
trade.
The island Of Bornholm, situated IN
the Baltic, acts as a huge magnet. 1t
exerts such an influence on the com
pass that it can cause a vessel to turn
perceptibly aside from its course. The
effect of this magnetic island Is per
ceptible at a distance Of nine and q
half miles.
From a balloon shallow places in the
ocean and rocks rising neal to the sur
face can be zen much more clearly
than from the shore or from shipboard.
For this reason the French naval en-.
g1neer. Renaud, suggests that a captive
balloon would be a most useful aces
sorry to a marine surveying ship.
Last year there were taken fror,
the streets Of Manchester 7S,66O tons
Of mud in various stages of moisture
and deposited Oh moss and peat land,
with the result that really valuable
agricultural land is reclaimed. Now
the London corporation has bought
about 100 r Of ground lear Bark.
ing and will soon make similar ex-
periments.
The most curious epire in England Is
at Chesterfield, the leaning tower of
Pisa not being more interesting to
s%ightseers than the queer kink in a re-
spectacle church, which, tradition
says, was caused by the devil kicking
out as he passed the spire. The devil
had just had his hoofs shod by a local
blacksmith, and his pain was so in
tense the ediice was shaken out OF
shape.
Many people think of gold as the
most valuable metal, whereas there
are now seventeen known which are
more valuable. Gold, silver and some
times platinum are classed as ''pre
cious' metals not because of their in
trinsic value so much as because Of
their resistance. to corrosion, which
makes them suitable for jewelry, etc
But many metals are more rare ant
costly, the new element radium being
the most striking example.