Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1881 — BITS OF INFORMATION. [ARTICLE]

BITS OF INFORMATION.

Point lace is the oldest variety of lace known. The word “Amen ’’means “ So be it,” or “ May it be so.” Cast-steel was first discovered by Mr. Huntsman, an Englishman, in the year 1770. The highest average annual rain-fall in the United States is at Neah bay, Washington Territory—l23.3s inches ; the lowest, at Fort Garland, Col., 6.11 inches. The United States stands at the head of the gold and silver producing countries. Australia comes next, with about one-fourth of the product of the United States. Roop-skikts were worn originally in Spain, being introduced by the Queen of that country. In the time of Queen Elizabeth they were called fardingales in England. The refined nations of antiquity never used furs. They were first worn by Henry 1., 1125 A. D. Edward ILL enacted that all persons that were not worth £IOO a year should be forbidden this species of finery. The first knowledge of dentist surgery was brought to this country by a person who accompanied the French here during the Revolution. The first dentist was established in New York in ,1788. George Washington’s false teeth were retained in the mouth by spiral springs. In 1830 there were 300 dentists in the oountry; in 1842, 4,000 ; to-day, 15,000. The mantle in olden times was not merely a covering, but a gorgeouslyornamented article of dress worn on solemn occasions. Richard I. is said to have had a mantle which was covered with half-moons and orbs of solid silver, in color plain blue, with a broad border of gold, and fastened on the breast by a large but plain oval gold fiLula. Anne, the Queen of Richard ILL, wore on the day before her coronation a mantle of white cloth of gold, trimmed with Venice gold and furred with ermine, and garnished with seventy aulets of silvergilt. The romances of the thirteenth century are full of allusions to and descriptions of the magnificent mantles made of velvet or cloth of gold or silver richly embroidered and lined with the costly furs, as ermine or lettice and vair, the next in value and esteem to ermine. Thebe are forty-four deaf and dumb institutions in the United States, located as follows: Two at Washington, D. 0.; one at Delavan, Wis. (lately burned); Romney, W. Va.; Staunton, Va.; Austin, Texas ; Rnoxville, Tenn.; Cedar Springs, S. C.; Turtle Creek, Pa.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Salem, Ore.; Columbus, Ohio ; Cincinnati, Ohio; Raleigh, N. C.; Rome, N. Y.; Rochester, N. Y.; New York city, two; Fordham, N. Y.; Buffalo, N. Y.; Aurora, N. Y.; Omaha, Neb.; Fulton, Mo.; Jackson, Miss.; Faribault, Minn.; Flint, Mich.; Northampton, Mass.; Frederick, Md.; Baton Rouge, La.; Danville, Ry.; Olathe, Ran.; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Indianapolis, Ind.; Jacksonville, HI.; Chicago, Ill.; Cave Springs, Ga.; Mystic River, Ct.; Hartford, Ct.; Berkeley, Cal.; Little Rock, Ark,; Talladega, Ala.