Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1891 — SOMEWHAT STRANGE. [ARTICLE]

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF every-day LIFE. Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adventures Which Show that Truth Is Stranger than Fiction. A Demkrara correspondent of an English paper describes a desperate fight between n man and a jaguar, which recently took place on the Demerara River. The hero of the combat, a black named Lally Davidson, a farmer, was out with his dog, which roused the jaguar from his lair. The ferocious animal made tracks for the thick scrub, followed by Davidson and his dog. Being closely pressed, the jaguar climbed a tree, where Davidson shot it. wounding it in tho heart. Thi3 made the animal descend, and again he dived into the bush, pursued by Davidson. The beast concealed himself in some brambles, and as Davidson was again trying to take aim, tho jaguar leaped upon him, knocking him bodily into a drain full of water. Davidson now engaged in a desperate struggle with the fierce brute, and seizing the jaguar, now somewhat exhausted from . loss of blood, lie exerted all his strength and managed to bold bis head. under water until ho was slowly suffocated. But before this the jaguar had severely wounded the courageous man; his hand was badly bitten, the scalp on tho left side of his head was partly ripped off and his left eye was gouged out. Suffering as he was, Davidson slowly crawled home, and. while ho went into hospital sent his friends for tlm dead jaguar. Tho latter measured five feet eleven inches from head to tail. Davidson, on whose happy escape his friends warmly congratulated him, was slowly recovering when the last mail left Demerara. Missouri's husbandmen - have been keeping well up with the agricultural procession in this year of phenomenal productions, although tho state has not been making much noise about its achievements. Here are a few leaders: Mr. Magee of Glenwood sent to the office of the local newspaper a radish weighing over six pounds. VV. E. Floyd of Engle township handed in ten potatoes aggregating eleven pounds in weight. Mr. Snider carried into the Booneville Democrat office two peaches and a couple of apples which completely filled a bushel basket. The peaches were each as Targe as a quart cup, and the apples ■ weighed one and a half pounds euch. Joe Creech of Louisiana, Mo., exhibited a sample stalk of dorn which measured fourteen feet in length. The ears were seven feet six inches up the stem, and he thinks he will havo to gather his crop on horsoback. Elijah Young expects to got 4,800 bushels of fine apples from his orchard of 400 trees in YVnrrensburg, and Wm. Avis of Lost Creek cannot yet estimate his crop of cherries becauso one of his trees from which he has gathered one large crop this year has shed its old leaves, grown a new set, and is now in full bloom again. The Chicago Tribune tells a strange story of a mysterious affair, which is said to have occurred at Mendota, 111. A Mr. Ralph Shaffer erected a fino monument over the grave of his young wife who died last spring, but in deference, to his mother-in-law’s wishes, who had no love for her daughter's husband, placed no inscription on tho stone. The story goes that recently a distinct shadow of the late Mrs. Shaffer appeared on tho tombstone. It grow until the shadow became life size. Tho mother was wroth, and had tho monument makers rub the stone down with pumice, but they could not efface tho shadow. At first sight the shape has as much resemblance to a man’s form ns a woman’s, but by a continued gaze one seems to see a woman’s semi-profile, with bangs and with the hair done up at the back of the head. The neck and chin show plainly, as do also tho shoulders, and there is a scarf about the neck. Tho features are distinct, and bear a remarkable resemblance to the dead wife. Tho shadow is eight inches wide and fourteen inches high, and is in the middle of the stone. Near Point Burwell, Canada, lives an eccentric character by the name of John Harper, though he is best known by the nickname of “Long-Haired Johnny,” which he has gained by the extraordinary length of his hair and beard. These, he claims he has never allowed scissors or razor to approach for over thirty years, remarks the Washington Post, in fulfilment of a vow, though as to wlmt his vow was he is persistently silent. His hair trails several feet on the ground when loosened from the plaits in which ho braids and wears it about his head, and his beard touches earth when he stands erect. Both are kept in beautiful order and are a great matter of pride to him. Harper is an Englishman by birth and a man of superior intelligence and some education. He lives alone in a small one-story house and has not been known to leave it for nearly twenty years. He has no family, but draws a small income from some investment in England.

Charles C. Browiski, for twentyeight years an engineer in Sioux City, lowa, died the other day of inflammation of the bowels. Twenty-nine years ago while in the army he received a pistol wound in the left side of the mouth, and «ince then has suffered intense pain when lying on his right side or when stooping over. Before his death he requested that a post-mortem examination he held to ascertain the location of the bullet. This was done. It was traced from the mouth upward through the orb of the left eye and then down and back through the vital part of the brain where It was found encysted in n membranous fold in the posterior portion of the left lateral ventricle. The portions of the brain through which the ball passed are the most vitaL The physicians declare the ease unparalleled. Many cases are recorded where foreign substances lodged in the upper portion of the brain, but they know of none like this. The laws of soino of the Western States which confer upon resident aliens the pri vileges of State citizenship, are, as is well known, extremely lax. A ctory is told of a clerk of a county in Wisconsin named McCourt, who succeeded in obtaining several re-elections to the office notwithstanding violent opposition on the part of the more intelligent part of the population. 'Whenever the' time for election drew near, he would Mart out on a naturalizing tour in the lumber camps, taking along the countyseal and nn interpreter, and confer the I suffrage upon Norwegian settlers by the hundred. The oath which he invariably administered wus as follows: “Do you •riemuly swear that you will support the Constitution of the .United .States, and the State of Wisconsin, and rote for Refer McCourt for Clerk of the Court, so help you God?” The latter portion of

A New Yorker who is a member of the American Society of Psychical Research tells a curious story that would interest his society. W’hile in Mexico recently he dreamed that in dressing his pistol dropped from his pocket, fell butt downward to the floor, turned so that it leaned against his ankle and exploded, shattering his leg. The dream was so vivid that he awoke with a start and recalled the whole scene. He was soon asleep again, however, and by morning he had nearly forgotten his vision. When he came to dress he found himself standing as in his dream, and as lie drew on his trousers his heavy revolver fell from the hip pocket, struck butt downward upon the tiled floor, struck a sunken tile and, turning, leaned against his ankle with the muzzle pointing directly at his leg. He w'atched with a sort of fascination for the explosion, but it did not come, and bo lives unwounded to tell the tale. Tub palace which J. C. Flood, tho California millionaire, erected on “Nob Hill,” San Francisco, at a cost of $3,500,000, is entirely untenanted except by the old gardener who takes care of the grounds. Every piece of this big, dreary,* brown-stone pile, even including tho stones for the wall surrounding tho grounds, was brought around tho horn from ships frftni the east. Tho long flight of steps leading up to the portico, with its heavy pillars, shows no sign of wear. No feet tread it • except the feet of the children who play there until the gardener drives them away. Outside the house is desolate as a tomb; within it is stored with fino furniture and works of art, but It is never opened to tho public. A very large tree, one of the largest in California, the country of big trees, was discovered near Arlington, Snohomish county, a few days ago. It is a cedar, and measures sixty-eight feet in circumference. Around the knotty roots the tree measures ninety-nine feet. About seventy-five feet from tho ground it forks into four immense branches, and just below the forks is a big knot hole. Five men climbed into tho hole and explored the interior of the tree. It was found to be a mere shell, and about forty-five feet down it would afford standing room for forty men. The tree is still green, and a remarkable feature is said to be that it is barked on the inside and the outside alike. James P. Park, of Philadelphia, seems to be a man without a country. Ho lives on a little triangular bit of land that, through some oversight, has not been included in any of tho election divisions of tho city, and of course therefore lie has no voting status. “The only parallel known in this country,” says the Philadelphia Record, “was that of a whole township in the State of Ohio, which was entirely left out in an apportionment of election districts, and tho citizens who claimed the right to vote had no redress whntever and were unable to exercise the right of suffrage until they appealed to the courts.” The wonderful crops and the abundance of general products in the United States this your seem to bo a family blessing, bestowed without regard to where the individual may be located, from the Arctic circle to the Gulf, and covering half the world iu longitude. This is really noteworthy, considering the hard times afflicting the rest of the world with equal impartiality. 'The salmon product of Alaska is unusuully large, and will average fifteen per cent, over that of last year. Over 200,000 easeß of salmon will be shipped from Alaska this soason. A rancher from away back on tho ranges engaged u room at tho Occidental Hotel in Seattle a few days ago. The hotel is lighted with electricity, and the bell boy turned on the light in the odd rancher’s room. The farmer did not know how to extinguish the light, and after exhausting his ideas uncoiled the length of wire by which tho light hung and stuck tho lamp in the bureau drawer, smothering it under his clothing. Tho next day tho lamp was found stowed away there and still burning. A cow belonging to Sumucl Drensor, living on the outskirts of Austin, Minn., has given birth to a wonder. One-half pf tho body resembles a calf and tho other half a bear. The tail resembles the appendage of a deer and tho.head is inclined to be on tho human order. Tho eyes are fiery bluck and vicious looking, and one large horn about three inches long protrudes from the forehead. The freak has five legs, throe in front and two behind, and all con be used with the greatest euso. The most remarkable case of dropsy on record is that of I. Meredith, aged soventy-eight years, of Monticello, 111. He has been tapped for the dropsy 278 times, with an average weight of thirteen pounds of rvator removed each time, making 3,(i14 pounds which bus been removed from him. His case beats all past records, and is the most interesting case in tho history of the disease. He is now confined to his bod, and is gradually growing weaker and cannot live long. More than tbreo-quarters of a million people are directly employed by railroads in this country aside from the number whose livelihood depends upon collateral enterprises. Allowing the usual ratio of population and the vote —for very few persons who aro not voters find direct employment on railroads—and it appears that from five to six per cent, of the entire population of the country is dependent on the railroads as a means of livelihood. There are nearly 6,000 lighthouses laid down on tho world's charts. Over 800 are on tho United States watere and S9O ,000,000 has been spent on this ser j vice by the United States sineo the ! organization of the Government. What j is now needed are proper lights on the shores of semi-civilized and non-naviga-ting countries, and this must be done by joint uction of the commercial nations. For many years Robert Jamos, aged seventy, of Blue Lick, Clark county, Itid., has been blind and bad given up all hopes of ever regaining his sight. Several days ago his wife was taken dangerously ill and in his distress he prayed and wept incessantly. Suddenly his sight camo back to him and he now sees as well as he ever did. Marvin Smith, of Montville, Conn., who is 107 years old, remembers seeing the first steamboat, the Fulton, when she made a trip up the Thames iu 1817. He also draws a pension for service in the j 'var of 1812, and has voted at every ; Presidential election since 1808 except the last one. A valuable Sherman 'Mich.) horse that had died the other day was looked into. A half bushel of fine sand was found in the stomach. Feeding on short clover pasture ig supposed to be t|»e way iu which it accumulated the small sandbank.