Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1905-02-09

fury Publication - Two Curiostties
That Were Located In France.
For score of years after geogrx-
plies began to be introduced into the
schools Of America they depended
largely ON the use of globe to make
clear the divisions of the earth. 1t
was not long, however, before nearly
every book was accompanied by an ut
las and this continued customary to
about 1850.
Jedidinh Morse was II pioneer among
American authors OF school geogra
phics. The earliest rival to contest the
field with Morse's books was a small
volume of questions and answers com
piled by Nathaniel Dwight ma pub
lished al Hartford IN 1898. Relow are
some of the curious bits of Information
the volume imparts;
O. What are the Russian funeral GER
emoniesi \. They are singular The
priest prays and sprinkles the corpse
for eight or ten days. II Is then bur
led with n passport to heaven signed
by the bishop and another clergy man,
which is put between the fingers of the
deceased. and then the people return
to the house whence they went and
drown their sorrow In !rtoXication.
This they commonly do for about forty
days. during which tiIJc the priest
says prayers over the grave.
O. Are there any lakes in Scotland?
A. There are many, but two are very
remarkable One near Lochness is on
the top OF n hill almost two miles high.
This lake is small. but II has never
been sounded, nor does it ever freeze.
About seventeen miles distant is ali
other lake which is frozen all the year.
9. What are the persons and Charac-
tiers of the Scots? A. They are gener-
ally lean, rawboned and have high
cheekbones, which is characterised
feature.
q. What are the diversions OF the
Scots? A. They are all of the vigor~
Gus. athletic kiud--such as dancing,
| golf and curling The golf is n species
| of ball playing performed with a bat
| being loaded with lead, and the party
| which strikes the ball with feweSt
| strokes into hole prepared for the
purpose wins the game.
| @. What are the customs and diver
sions of the Irish? \. There are "A few
| customs existing in Ireland peculiar to
| this country These are their funeral
bowling and presenting their corpses In
| the streets to excite the charity of
| strangers; their conyivial meetings on
Sunday and dancing TO bagpipes, which
are usually attended with guarreling,
O. What curioStes are there in
France? A. A fountain near Grenoble
emits flame which will burn paper
straw, etc, but will not burn gunpow'
der. Within about eight leagues of The
same place is an inaccessible mountain
in the form of pyramid reversed
| G. What do you observe Of the inhab
itants of Guinea? a. They are chiefly
pagans and idolaters. In Ego. where
the PEOPLE are governed by Il king who
is not absolute, when they are tired OF
| him a deputation waits on him and in
forms him that it is fatiguing for him
| to bear the burden of government any
longer. advising him to take rest. lie
| thanks them and rctircs TO his apart
ment MS if TO sleep and directs his wo-
| men to strange him, and after he OK
pires they destroy all things which be-
lonsed TO him or to themselves ana
then kill one another. His son sue
ceeds 10 the government and on the
same terms.
Q. Give a concise description of the
Giages and Annians? \. The first in
half a part of the Kongo coast; tile
latter live in the Macaco The people
are cannibals They kill and eat Their
flrstborn children and their friends
who die are eaten by their relations.
The King of Macao resides in Monsol,
whes. there is u market In which hui
man flesh is sold. although other meat
exists in plenty They esteem it lux
ury, and it is said 100 prisoners or
slaves are daily killed for the king 3
table
one geography that had marked
individuality of it's own was q thick
little volume. mostly IN verse. entitled
"rhe Monitors Instructor published
at Wilmington in 1904 In the prose
portion of the book are several curious
paradexes
Here is one Of them:
Three men went on a journey in
which, though their heads Travelled
twelve yards farther than their feet,
all returned alive, with their heads on.
The solution explains that IF any
person should travel round the globe
the space Travelled by his head viii eX-
coed that his feet travelled by about
the number Of Yards mentioned
Cummings Geography. 1914 apollo
glzes in its preface for adding another
'to the number Of Biographies already
so great as 10 obstruct rather than pro
mote iunrnveucua During the pre-.
yious decade Lewis and Clark had
made their journey acrosr the CONT
nent. and we now find mention of the
STONY mountains II was a number
of wears before tie name Rocky was
substituted for stony Concerning the
Andes IN South America, we are tod
"These amazing mountains in compat
lson with which the Alps are but little
!