Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 February 1892 — 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 gentleman in Trimble County, Ky., was un eye-witness to a most singular encouuter botween a buzzard and a huge rattlesnake, the particulars of which are ns follows: Me was in the act of driving his team up to a watering trough, formed from a natural spring at the foot of a huge rock on his place, when lie was attracted by the pooulinr shriek of a buzzard when ongaged in a contest with one of its kind or any other animal over carrion which it has discovered,uud on which this species of bird feeds wholly. On alighting from his wagon and drawing nearer to the spot, lie discovered one of these well-known birds of prey, which abound there in countless numbers, engaged in a fierce fight with a rattlesnake nearly five foet in length and measuring, as for ns he was able to judge, fully six and one-half inohos in circumference at tho thickest part. Tho gentleman describes the scene as a terribly fascinating one, and he was in such close proximity to it, though partially hidden from view behind a largo gum tree, that ho plainly saw every motion of the combatants. Tho carcass of a dead lamb lay near the scene of tho battle, and tiie buzzard had evideutlv been feeding upon it whon discovering his snakoship, winch had, no doubt, been basking in the sun on tho rock from which the above-men-tioned spring flowed. The buzzard, with • its large, piercing, and blood-red eyos almost dilating from their sockets, and wings half extended, as they always are when upon the ground, would wait for the snake to spring, and, eluding its stroke with wonderful dexterity, would dart at its antagonist and batter it with both wings and talons before it could roooil again, and retreating, would wait for another opportunity of attuck, keeping fur enough away from its foe to bo safely out of harm's way. Tho tight waged in this manner for fully five minutes, when the rattler,torn and lacerated by the beak and tallpns of the savage bird, gave up the ghost, and, catching it up with its cluws, tho buzzard, with a shriek of victory, flew away with its serpent victim in tho direction of tho Indiana shore.

Tiib power of simulating death possessed by the fakirs of India and Persia is suit! to bo perfectly incredible. Apparent death is a part of tho religious ceremony of some of the sects of those countries, and in many cases verified by British ofliciul reports in India, fakirs have allowed themselves to bo buried for as long a time us six months. The way the fukirs go to work to produce this condition is to have tho little ligature under the tongue cut, whereby they arc enabled to stretch this organ out to a grout length. Then they turu it back, inserting the end in tho threat, uud closing up ut the same time tho inner nasal apertures, The external apertures of tho nose and lurs are dosed with wax, and tho eyes covered to exclude the light. Long preliminary practice is, however, needed in holding the breath, mid u long course of fasting before burial. The fukir then sinks into a condition resembling (loath, uud tho body is wrapped in linon, placed in a box und buried. When the box is taken up, at the expiration of the long-continued duatli-liko sleep, and opened, the fukir is found cold und stiff, no pulsations can be felt, tho heart, the wrist, tho temples arc still. Tho body is not odd as n corpse would he, but is oolder than that of other living men, except over the seat of tho bruin. All the socrotions are fully stopped; the hair, nails and beard have, ceased growth. After being resuscitated, the fakir feels great dizziness, and for a few hours cannot stund up without support, but gradually he recovers strength, and enjoys amazingly the wonder lie has excited. It was recently stated that tho Mormons were finding a new country for tho practice of their creed in Mexico, and that the emigration from Utah was already large. 'The report now comes from Halt Lake City that Mr. 8. F. Spenoer, u local real estate dealer, has sold to a Mormon company the Hacienda de la Presu ranch, containing 100,000 acres of land und situated in Chihuahua, about nliioty-fivo miles southwest of the city of that name. The cupitul of tbe.ooinpiiny is said to bo 1d,000,000. Somo 3,500 uoros of the lund are under cultivation, uud tho timber tract is oxtcnsivc. Sawmill and factory moohinery i#to bo transported there in tho spring, when it is understood that there will bo a liegiru from the old Zion to the now. The lands uro described as bMng situated in the foothills of the Sierra Mudro Mountains, at an elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level. The elevation of the region and the presence of timbered hills givos u climate free from the extremes of heat and cold, and the region is noted for its liealthfuluess. Such fruits and vegetables as are raised in Utah und the Middle Statos can bo produced by irrigation, while corn and other usual crops of tho country aro raised without irrigation.

The great fifty-ton linmmer in the Krupp Gun Works at Essen, Germany, gained its name and tho inscription it bears, ‘‘Fritz, lot tty!” iu the following manner: In 1877, whon old Emperor William visited the gun works this great steam ‘trip-hammer was tiie first thing to attract his attraction. Krupp then introduced the veteran Emperor to tho machinist Fritz, who, ho suid, huudled tho giant hammer with wonderful precision; that ho was so expert with it as to drop tho hammer without injuring an object placod in the centre of tho block. Tho Emperor at once put his diamond-studded watch on the spot indicated and beckoned to tho machinist to set tiie hammer in motion. Fritz hesitated out of consideration for tho precious object, but Krupp and the Emperor botli urged him on ny saying: “Fritz, lot fly!" Instantly tho hammer was dropped, coming so closely to the watch that a sheet of writing paper could not bo insertod between, but the jewel wus uuinjurod. The Emperor gave it to Fritz os a souvenir. Krupp added $250 to tho present. William Leary, owner of the Gem Theatre, Suspension Bridge,N. Y.,has entered into a wager by which ho stands to lose his theatre, or win $2,000. Leary wagers that he can organize a "tramps variety show” consisting of five men and five women who will walk from New York to Chicugo in 100 days (Sundays excepted), und give shows on the way. Tho company must start from Now York on Junel, 1892, without a cent of money in their pockets, and they are to use no money except what is earned by the show. They will also have the privilege of showing one night iu New York city. In case any of tho actors get sick, a stretcher will be provided ana the rest will have to cogry him or her, as the case may be, The wager grew out of a discussion on the going to pieces erf shows on the road \nd their being left In towns. One of

the parties wagering against Mr. Leary is Mr. Whnlon, proprietor of tho White Elephant Hotel, or Suspension Bridge* A forfiet has been posted and the balance is to be deposited by Mardh 1. Mrs. Edward D. Jones, wife of a former well-known business man of Pittsburg, who died recently near Baltimore, was quite a character, though a very retired and refined lady. She had a mortal fear of railroads and of the ocean, and never would accompany her husband on any of his pleasure or business trips, only taking two lengthy railroad journeys in her life. One was shortly after her marringo, when she was badly hurt in on accident. It was ten years before Mr. Jones could persuade her to take another, and her fears were fully vindicut.-d by a gouerul smash-up, in whi.'h, fortunately, though her head was caught between a seat und the side of n car, she was not hurt. That settled the cars for her. Mr. Jones has been a prominent insurance man in London for years, but Mrs. Jones has always stoutly refused to visit his present abode. When Mr. Jones wanted a chat with Mrs. Jones, ho just took tho first boat anil u little trip of 3,000 miles. “I skk a report of the peculiar conduct of u child after being bitten by a cat," said l)r. J. W. Thudheld at the Laclede Hotel, in St. Louis. "The ohild is said to movo stealthily about the house, to mew and to do other tilings like a common Tabby. For my part I believe the statement is purely imaginative. It comes from the idea that one affeoted with hydrophobia imitates a dog. That is n common delusion with ns little foundation ns other delusions. It is true that u person sometimes seems to bark, but wliut is called a bark is due to an intense pain of the throat and the difficulty of speaking. Tho same oausc produces the disliko of nil kinds of liquid —a disliko which the public in genoinl imagine is confined to water. This is tho true theory about hydrophobia upon which so much ignoruuco ut present prevails.'' Parisian burglurs have just covered themselves with glory, from n professional standpoint, uud accomplished what it is safe to say is tho greatest achievement over reached in their line. They sueceeded in steuling an entiro house with all its contents. A. M. Collin, a building contractor, mooted on a lot of ground near Bluo Jassiut, a two-story woodon liouso covered with zinc, in which lie placed a considerable quantity of valuable building materials, tools, etc; One night a gang drove up with horses and wagons, stopped before the building, took it entirely to pieces and oarrlod off tho whole establishment without being interfered with. Tiikuk is a bearskin on exhibition in HuUsou’s gun store that tukos the cake, says tiie Portland Orogouinn. It is nine and ono-hulf foot in length and eight and one-half feet across in the widost pliioe. Tho boar that wore this skin was a grizzly, and lie lived in far-off Alaska. Judging from tho size of the skin ho must have been ns large as two ordinary cows, and could not have weighed less that 2,500 pounds. It is by far tho largest benrs'in that has ever been soon in Portland, and oven old bear hunters who uro told of its dimensions sbako tlioir heads in an incredulous manner until they boo it with their own eyos.

There recently diod in England the man to whom tiie English language is indebted for tho verb "to burko.” In the your 1827 this man, whoso name was Burko, discovered a way to make a lazy anil congenial livelihood by killing people and selling their bodies to physicians for dissection. The pruotice was kept up until stopped by the hand of law. Thereupon the word ‘‘burking” cumo into use to denote killing for mercenary motives and, metaphorically, all political assaults upon ohuraoter. Tho word has hud sufficient life to get into the dictionaries, and Burke will be liandod down to an unlovely but eternal fafno. A tiNiqK murriago ceremony has just been performed lu Baltimore. Tho service was tho Episcopal. The grooin was a deaf mute, but tiie bride was able to talk. The officiating clergyman was deaf. Tho groom's answers woro spelt out in the deaf mute alphabet. He is a painter uud lias done vory creditable work. The minister, by tho way, was the Bov. J. M. Koehler, of Philadelphia, who presides over a church of deaf mutes in that city, though his pastorate extends over Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. Though deaf, he speaks well. Mrs. Garcia, of New Yo k, the other duy, suw a man dash out of the hallway of her house, Sho ran out after him and suw him running up the street. In the uroa was a big Newfoundland dog, the property of u neighbor- "Catch him Charlie,’’ sho cried, and Charlie was after him like a shot, and presently hud him by tho coat-tail, and there he staid until a police officer onmc along, when Charlie released iiis hold und quietly accompanied the prisoner to the station house. When ho saw tiie man properly locked up he returned home. In Berlin there appears to be little reverence for the dead. The old cholera churchyard of 1831, which afterward became a cemotary for the poor, has long boon neglected, though there have been funerals there during the last ten years. The place is now to be changed. In the lower part of the churchyard, where a new church is to be built, the graves have been opened, and the skeletons and remains of coffins taken out, to be buried in a general grave higher up. where it is intondod to make a public garden. The German Kaiser is said to be extravagantly fond of white, especially of white trousers. The lute Governor Hover, of Indiana, had a similar liking for white —a liking that extended even to the use of white rose extract as his favorite perfume. His linen was always iramuccuiate in its glossiness, and he used to buy his white neckties in lots of twen-ty-fivo, so that the instant one became soiled he could replace it with a fresh one Proebssor Notiixagkl, "the Austrian court physician, traces tho grip back to the ninth century, and says it recurs with varying intensity for. three or four years and then dies out for twenty or more years. He knows no remedy. , *" *" g||g|§||g!§ In an address delivered at the Chicago Auditorium under the auspices of the Chicago Press Club, Dr. Leslie E. Kneley, discoverer of the remedy for the alcohol habit, made clear why he so steadfastly refused to give up the secret of cure to the publio. In explaining why he did not make his secret public property, be said he was afraid that it would soon be a sobering-up process instead of a cure; that it would be used by liquor dealers themselves to brace their patrons up after a protracted spree, onlv to get into condition for another debauch. Under suoh circumstances, the doctor said, to give lyi cure to the public would be to destroy its efficacy.