Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1891 — SOMEWHAT STRANGE. [ARTICLE]

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EYERY-DAY LIFE. Episodes and Thrilling Adventures Which Show that Truth Is ■ Stranger than Fiction. Thjs country people living some few mikes from Jetmore, Kan., and to the east of the Leona River were much startled shortly after dark on u recent evening by the approach of an epormoss inotearitc, which skimmed ths earth for over,a quarter of a anile, and at last disappeared in a small poud in the vicinity ■of Shackelford's farm. The glowing sphere came from the north,moving very xapidly and illuminating the country about for nearly a wile. As near as could be judged, it was about twenty feet long by seven or eight in thickness and width, and was of a most beautiful rose color, nearly translucent und very peculiarly marked with bands of coppery black, the bands being about two feet in width and placed at regular distances. Approaching the earth rapidly and at an acute angle it skimmed above it about twenty feet, marking its coarse ibyn line of dead vegetation, killed by the scorching heat as it passed. The meteorite struck the summit of a small eminence known as Wilsons Mound, which it demolished for a distance of five or six feet. This caused .the stone to swerve from its course; and some hundred yards further on it (dropped into the pond mentioned. This it did with an accuracy that made it seem that some giant hand had so aimed i.t. The report of the fall could bo heard for half a mile around, and clouds of steam continued to rise for some time. A genu ike hermit with a life secret, only a part of which ho would reveal,ins a .curiosity that is creating a sensatio a few miles west of the town of Alex-’ andria, Mo. He has far over thirty-five years lived a life of solitude, his habitation being a mammoth rock from which enough had been chiseled to form quite a .good-sized room. For some reason known to himself he refuses to reveal his name. It is known, however, through admissions made by himself, that just before the breaking -out of the late war the father of this unknown personage was a wealthy planter,livingatsomeplace in the State of Virginia, the exact location not being known. The son was somewhat disposed to be romantic and seemed adverse to remaining under the parental roof, and at the breaking out of the war left the home of his boyhood and built a house in the rock near Alexandria. That is the story told by the hermit himsolf, but there is on air of mystery surrounding him which leaves room for doubting the entire truthfulness of the same. The reason is that no one is allowed to enter the hillside house without first showing beyond a doubt that the visitor is only on curiosity bound. The place is well stocked with all the latest periodicals and the most popular works of the day. The matter is very mysterious, and no one is able to account for the life of solitude which surrounds the unknown man.

That was a wonderful operation performed a few days ago by Dr. Boerne Bettman, a Chicago oculist. The matter, says a writer in the Cbioivgo Post, has created so much interest in medical circles that I called upon him for the full particulars of the case. The name of the patient is John Knight. He is a machinist working at Beloit, Wis. He was adjusting a large screw and, striking it with his hammer, a piece flew off and Hit his eye. He rubbed his eye once or twice and not feeling inconvenienced he continued his work, but before night the eye pained Knight so that he had to go home. He consulted doctors in Beloit and Rockford, but they could give him no relief. Finally, suffering greatly, he came to Chicago and called on Dr. Bettinan. The doctor detected the bit of steel in the eye—in the interior—by means of a glass. He made an incision into the eye-ball, first applying cocaine. This was done in the presence of a half dozen other doctors. With a powerful magnet he drew out a piece of steel which was from one-tenth to one-eighth of an inch in length and one-tenth of an inch wide. The presence of the metal had already begun to cause suppuration. The patient was theft put in a dark room for two days, and in four days thereafter he was discharged perfectly cured. Ciiaki.es Davis, the head hunter and guide, of Elliotsville. Me., had enough deer shooting and bear fighting the other day to satisfy- a dozen men. While out hunting he saw two deer and shot thorn. As he was preparing the carcasses for transportation to enmp lie was startled by a savage growl, and, looking up, saw two bears making straight for him, snarling and showing their teeth. Davis grabbed his repeating rifle and opened fire, and at the first shot the big she bear, which led the charge, rolled over. Two bullets made the young bear ferocious, and he was soon re-inforced by- the old one in a deadly onslaught upon the hunter. Three shots in rapid succession finally settled the she bear as she was closing in upon Davis, and the seventh and last shot of the ride did the business for the ugly cub, which foil dead across the carcass of a deer at the hunter's feet

A celebrated bnuker in New York has four beautiful daughters. Two are trained school teachers, one is an artist, the other a pianist. He obliges them to work at their trades and become not only theoretically successful, but practically successful. I'lton beiug asked the reason of this rather unnecessary treatment when he possessed such immense wealth, he replied: ‘“Money is fleeting in my business and I am determined thut all my family shall know how to earn money if anything happens to me. There are hundreds of gentlowomen coming into my office every day whining from poverty and lack of industry. They don’t know how to work, and that is why they are so backward in getting a living. It is a sad sight, and 1 am determined my family shall bt above it, and after all labor is above wealth.” While a large fire log was being sawed at the West Shore Mills in Astoria, Oregon, Tom Trullinger noticed something very singular. The outside slab and one board had been cut off, and the men were turning the log over preparatory to squaring it, when they were surprised to see a large toad poke his head out of a hole where he was emwhere he had barely escaped being cut up by the 3aw. He was completely encased in the wood, with no possible means of ingress or egress. As the log was the third up from the butt of the tree, his position must have been about sixty feet from the ground. There is but one way of accounting for the fact that he was found in the position named. He had grown up with the tree from infancy, and was probably hundreds of years old when the saw awoke him from his lon* nap. Apropos of the superstition about the number thirteen, Harry Willis, a Chicago

wlVeCtwT, Bays: “I went out with a petition the ether day for signatures for the appointment of a notury public. The lines for the signatures were numbered consecutively from one to twenty-some-thing. I noticed when I presented the paper for signatures that nearly evenman looked at the number of the line before ho put down his signature. For awhile the signatures were scattered, but eventually, of course, all the lines were filled save one. That was line 13. On that lino I was not able to get a name, nnd the petition to tT»e governor with no signature o.n line 13.” A number of Sioux Indians came into Clmdron, Neb., the other day, and among them a pretty girl of seventeen, whose acquaintance with the whites and their ways was very limited. She started around the town to see the sights, and presently stopped to peer into the window of a restaurant, where a liard-look-ing customer, whorejoiccsin the appellation of “Calamity Hank,” was eating his dinner. He thought it would be a good joke to scare the pretty maiden, and throwing his arms wildly about, he uttered un unearthly yell and started toward hor. The girl turned pale, uttered a moan and fell unconscious to the pavement. She was curried to her mother's tepoe and shortly expired, scared to deuthThk story of a wonderful phenomenon comes from Rossville, nineteen miles west of Topeka, Kau., on the Union Pacific. For nineteen duys, it is said, rain fell incessantly on the orchard belonging to H. Klein, a prominent Rossville resident. This orchard is in the town and is bounded on the east by Mr. Klein's residence, on the other three sides by linos of fences. The rain did not full outside of Mr. Klein's premises, but for nineteen duys there was no iutermiHion in the fall, and it was only stopped by a cold snap. Mrs, Mary McVey, who is nearly seventy years old, is ustonishingthe doctors of Braddock, Penn., by hor long fast. She had at lust accounts been 150 days with no other food than buttermilk. She drinks about a pint of this daily. Mrs. McVey is suffering from cancer, which formed last March. In July she conceived an abhorrence of all food and drink, and since then she has refused to take anything but buttermilk. “The smallest man in the world,” a midget from Holland, twenty-four years of age, who calls himself “Prince Mignon,” is exhibiting iu Berlin. This little chap, who is exactly two feet high, is,a perfectly formed liumun being, and his performances ns an acrobat are really wonderful. He can sing pretty well, makes his little speeches in a clear and ringing voice, and, dressed as an admiral or in evening dress, proves himself an excellent actor. A strange custom among the Bayanzi, who live along the Upper Congo, has been described by explorers. Brass rings, sometimes weighing thirty pounds, are welded around the necks of the wives. At first the neck becoinos raw by the chafing of the ring, but after a while it bocomes calloused, although a woman lias to hold the ring up frequently to get relief from the weight. The women ure proud of the ornament, believing that it enhances their importance and beauty. The Marianna (Fla.) Times says ; One of the strongest wonders in the way of a man -that we have been permitted to see was in town Saturday, and is a citizen of this county. Ho is Ebenezer Long, and was born, bluck, in Georgia sixty years ago. He is now perfectly fair, except a few dark spots that may bo discovered by looking at him closely. When Currier Downiug of Ripley, Me., left home seventy-five yours ago, ho planted an acorn in the dooryard. When he returned tho other day he found that his acorn had produced au oak tree nine feet in circumterence, with branches extending forty feet.