Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1893 — SOMEWHAT STRANGE. [ARTICLE]

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVERYDAY I.IKE. Que?r Facts anil Thrilling Axlvenj tures Which Show That Truth Is | Stranger Than Fiction. Mr. J. B. Dyke. a Colorado capitalist, rured a case of dipsomania the other day 1 very promptly, though unintentionally. , Mr. Dyke wears a very curious scarfpin. It is a tiny chameleon about three inches long, which is confined to his scarf by a fine gold chain. Sometimes the little animal sprawls with outstretched legs on Mr. Dyke's shirt bosom, sometimes it diugr. to the lapel of his coat, and again takes refuge under his vest. In shape it is ungainly; in motion ungraceful, but. as it lies peacefully breathing upon his shirt frout. scarf or coat lapel, its ever changing flush of colors is beautiful. Through the green sometimes shines the gold; upon an inhalation purple mingles with and drives away the gold; next is a hideous black, and then a glow of red or orauge, and so on ad infinitum the hues chase each other until a curious linger makes the reptile seek cover. It is perfectly harmless. A few days ago, while traveling, Mr. Dyke went into the buffet with some of his friends to take a drink. A party of traveling men were there for the same purpose, and one of them had evidently been there a good I many times. He was just raising his I glass to Ilia lips with an unsteady hand I when lie caught sight of Mr. Dyke’s ! lizard. He put the glass down untasted, i and remarked to Mr. Dyke: -“That is a ' strange scarfpin you wear.” Mr Dyke j took in the situation at a glance, and re- | plied: “What pin? I wear no pin.” lie brushed his hand over his scarf, and the chameleon ran over on his coat collar. “Great Heavens, man, it's alive!” cried the drummer; “it's on your collar now.” | “My dear fellow, you're mistaken,” said j Mr. Dyke, putting his hand to his collar ! while the lizard shot uuder his vest. ! “There’s nothing there. Have a drink i with me.” The drummer stared at the i collar where the lizard had been. “It looked like a lizard on fire,” he remarked, “but 1 guess it is ray brain on fire instead. I reokos; I'll stop drinking,” and lie walked away, leaving his liquor untasted.

Hkaki.nt, the statement made in Holly Springs, Miss., that a remarkable negro woman freak lived only a few miles from this town, aTimes-Democrat correspondent determined to obtain the facts in the case. A middle-aged negress greeted i the visitor. The woman is quite dark, of a pronounced African type of physiognomy, five feet three inches tall, and in f3.il- healjh, but has never had any children. She wore a white cotton tin- \ ban tied about her head and tucked in at the back to support the immense weight of her hair. This she removed and laid upon the table, and unwound the braids of her wonderful hair, which, went many times around her head, and dropped it upon the floor. It was, indeed, an amazing sight. Three braids almost ns thick as a man's arm close to the head, hut tapering to the thickness of a finger at the ends, closely plaited and measuring eight feet six inches, braided as it is. in length. It looks a good deal like Spanish moss, but is darker, crinkled, and grizzled, coarse and almost repulsive to the touch, suggesting ghastly stories of the abnormal growth of hair after death. Daniel McNeil, a young colored man of Helena, Ark., is puzzling the physi- ! cians. About a year ago, while having i an epileptic fit, he fell into an open fire- i place and when found he was lying in j the fire in an unconscious condition. I His scalp, the muscles of his head and the j bones of the side, as Avell as the tissues ! covering the left shoulder, were parched. He was in an unconscious condition for two days and recollected no incidents happening prior to his regain lig consciousness. The bone and flesh were burned from his head to such an extent that the pulsation of the brain could be felt. Very little medical attention was given him. onlv household remedies being applied. The burn removed onehalf of the skull. Now, after a year, the bony substauce of the skull is being reconstructed and bids fair to completely heal, making almost new bony covering for the brain. The man has fewer tits than he had before the accident. Ilis mind is clear and he now does the work of an ordinary farm hand. I A very useful kind of tree to have in one’s front yard is reported as growing near some springs about twelve miles north of Tusearora. Its truly wonderful characteristic is its luminosity, which is so great that on the darkest night it can he plainly seen a mile away. A person standing near could read the finest print by its light. It is about six feet high, with a trunk which at its base is three times the size of an ordinary man’s wrist. Its foliage is extremely rank and its leaves resemble somewhat those of the aromatic bay tree iu shape, size and color. The luminous property is due to a gummy substance, which can be transferred to the hand by rubbing. The principal objection to the use of this kiud of tree for a street lamp would seem to be that its luminosity is probably due simply to phosphorescence, and therefore if it were not planted in a damp place and if the sun did not shine every day, it would not be up to candle-power at night.

A beautiful marine phenomenon in in the shape of an electrical storm is recorded by the Sunderland steamer Fulwell, on her voyage from Bremen to Baltimore, says Lightning. The electrical display occurred after dark. The most peculiar part of the occurrence was that while the lightning flashed a winter gale was blowing furiously and tho sea was running very high. The storm lasted about two hours, and the captain states that it was the most remarkable he ever witnessed. Theshipat timesseemed ablaze fore and aft, and, while no damage was done, it was several times thought that she had been struck. The very beauty of the scene was awful. Theblackness of the night was converted into unsurpassed brilliancy. Even the ocean seemed ablaze, and the waves as they dashed upon one another resembled tongues of fire. Four hunters were snowbound in the mountains at the headwaters of the Wynooehee River, Washington, for five weeks during Fcbruray and the beginning of this month. When the storm which snowed them up came they exhausted their stock of provisions and had killed eleven elk. They lost their game and were three days without food, when they killed an eagle. Later they fouud an elk powerless in the deep snow. They lived on elk and eagle alone for over a month. The snow was eight to fifteen feet deep, and they could not make any progress through it. Eventually they reached a deserted oamp and found an axe, with which they split wood and made rude snowshocs, by means of which they got back to civilization. The novel charge of stealing » bouse

aud the furniture it contained, together with a sheep corral, a load of hay, and other sundries, and carting the whole business away, was preferred against a man in Walla Walla, Wash., the other day. lie was formerly a resident of that town, and a year ago he took up a ranch, adjoining a sheep farm, in Yakima county. The owner of the farm alleges that during the absence of his men the accused tore down the house and the sheep corral and removed them, together with the household furniture, a ton of hay, and other filings, to his farm, on which he rebuilt the house, putting the furniture into it. The accused says it is a plot to get him out of the country, the sheepmen wanting the water .on his farm. ' An example of marvellous industry and power to overcome adverse circumstances is given by Max Meyer, who was born blind in Berlin twenty-eight years ago. lie received his tirst instruction from a teacher of the blind and later attended the Sophien-Roal-Gyinnasium, a scientific college in Berlin. He was always among the best students in the college and passed a brilliant final examination. He entered the University of Berlin a few years ago, to study mathematics, mechanics and philosophy. He took the degree of Ph. D. a few weeks ago, preparing a dissertation upon the differential calculus which excited the admiration of his professors.

Dead as whaling is on the Atlantic coast it is sufficiently lively on the Pacific, though the most valuable product of the voyage is no longer oil, but whalebone. The crude bone fetches in San Francisco from $4 to $0 a pound, and a great many hundred pounds may be taken from the mouth of a single whale. The demand is steady, and much of the bone is used in the manufacture of rich aud heavy silks. No substitute has been found for it here, though other things are used for corsets and stays. Dressmakers make the use of real whalebone the excuse for charging especially high prices for their work, and the genuine article is vastly more durable and satisfactory than any substitute. A strange case is reported from Lewiston, Me., of a man named Whitman who possesses wonderful power at his fingers' tips. When he holds his arms at an angle of 45 degrees he becomes a Samson in strength. He easily lifts cows, toys with tat men on tables as though they were but leathers, shifts pianos and does many other wonderful things. Strangest of all, he has been offered enormous salaries by museum managers and lias declined them because of modesty. An association of artists, architects and citizens with artistic tastes is to be formed in the endeavor to raise the artistic standard ot' the public buildings of New York City aud the statues and monuments in the parks and other public places.