Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1894 — SOMEWHAT STRANGE. [ARTICLE]

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE. Quesr Facts and Thrilling Advanturaa Whieh Show that Truth is Stranger Than Fiction. Si Formas, the Florida rattlesnake charmer, collected a crowd in the streets of Jacksonville the other day with a diamond-back rattler, which he had caught near Springfield. It was five feet eight inches long. He extracted its fangs without assistance in the presence of the crowd. A story comes from Harrisburg, Neb., of a cyclone that picked up a log 14 feet long and 15 inches thick and carried it sixty rods. After ;his warming-up heat the wind gathired up Bufus Woody and his horse, ind carried them through the open •oof of a shed and landed them 200 feet away. Neither man nor horse was much hurt, although Woody’s ilothes were blown off. It has been discovered, through agricultural meetings in New England, that certain farmers have been feeding sawdust to their horses. At first blush this sounds absurd; but jvery one knows how fond horses and ;attle ate of small shrubs, and may not sawdust be regarded as prepared grown up sfirub? It is claimed, by those who have tried it, that sawdust beeps the horses in good condition. One farmer fed his horses with a mixture of equal proportions of crushed oats, fine cut straw, a little hay and fresh elm sawdust. The Henderson (Ky.) Courier says of a remarkable woman in Webster county: “The oldest grandmother in Kentucky; the oldest great-grand-mother in the history of the State of Kentucky; the oldest great-great-grandmother in the history of the United States is Betsy Shelton, who is the mother of fourteen children, the grandmother of 117 children, and the great-grandmother of 282 children, and the great-gr|at-grandmother of nineteen children. She was born in North Carolina in 1798. She moved to Kentucky in 1867. She is still living and in moderate health.” Two extraordinary eases of bullet wounds becoming active after a lapse of twenty-four years are reported by a German medical paper. One is that of a watchmaker named Kleeman, living at Duseldorf, who was wounded in the Franco-German war. Thre* years ago he had a bullet success-' fully extracted from his right shoulder, and a week ago, after a month’s illness, a second bullet was extracted from his left side. The second case is that of a station master who a few days ago was operated upon at Bonn and had a French bullet, which pierced his right shjylder in the war, 6ut from his right side. In the town of Ratibor, province of Bilesia, Prussia, on the left bank of the Oder River, stands a maple tree which is a wonderful combination of najure and man’s patience and ingenuity. It is said to be more than a century old, and has been turned into a kind of temple of two stories, each of its compartments being lighted bj r eight windows, and capable of containing twenty people with ease. The floors are constructed of boughs skillfully woven together, of which the leaves make a sort of natural carpet. The walls are formed of thick leafage, in which innumerable birds build their nests.

In a treatise on the subject of alcohol, Mr. Lawson Tait exonerates the human race from the imputa.tion of being the only creatures that naturally take to drink. Wasps, he says, have the same proclivity. Mr. Tait has watched the wasps eagerly attacking over-ripe fruits, when the sugar had had in some degree been coverted into alcohol. Around such fruits, especially rotten plums and grapes, the wasps may be seen fighting and struggling for precedence; and afterwards, when they are absolutely drunk with the spirit, they crawl away in a torpid condition and hide themselves in the grass till they have slept off the orgie. The wasp is even more quarrelsome than usual in his cups, and will sting most venomously on the slightest provocation. “Did you ever hear of a dog having a wooden leg?” inquired S. P. Ordway, of Logansport, Ind. “I know a man near where I live who has a small dog one of whose front legs was crushed some time ago by a wagon wheel. Being somewhat of a surgeon, his master carefully amputated the crushed leg and when the wound was healed provided the dog with a light and strong wooden leg. In the course of time the dog, which is a very intelligent little animal, became aware that he could rest his weight upon this wooden leg and use it for all ordinary purposes. In walking or trotting the dog always uses his artificial limb, but if he has occasion to do any fast running or leaping he will gracefully hold up the wooden leg and depend solely upon the other three for the service required.” “It is a curious fact,” said a New York physician, “ that while it is very difficult for the average citizen to get poisonous drugs in small quantities, it is easy to get them at wholesale. I know of a man who walked into the retail department of a big drug store up town and tried to buy five grains of morphine. The clerk refused to sell it to him without a physician’s prescription. The man simply walked through a passageway into the wholesale department and asked for a package of the drug containing sixty grains. It was handed over to him without a word. The reason for the distinction is doubtless because the person intending to commit suicide usually goes to the retail drug store. At the same time, all the morphine and opium fiends purchase their favorite drugs at wholesale, principally, I suppose, because they get them much cheaper that way.” Away from the shores of the broad Pacific, up in the northwestern part of our vast country, comes the story of two men who were spearing salmon on the Oregon River. As they worked they noticed a large gray eagle hovering over the water, but they paid no attention to the bird until it suddenly swooped down and

pounced upon the big fish. The fish must hare weighed nearly as much as the bird, for it soon became evident that it could not lift it clear of the water. After several efforts the bird next tried to free himself from the fish in which its talons were buried; but he was caught as if in a trap. After a desperate struggle the eagle was dragged into the water, and the swift current bore down the odd combatants until they lodged in the fish net, where they were caught. When the men reached the place, they killed the giant salmon; the reckless eagle was already dead. There is a nurse at the City Hospital at Cincinnati whose strange power over patients is attracting much .attention among those who know of it. She is Mrs. Mutchler, a petite, good-looking widow. She calls her power hypnotic, and the manner in which she handles obstreperous or insane patients is wonderful. No matter how violent they are, at a word and touch from her they instantly become mild and tractable. A few days ago an insane girl who required several stalwart policemen to handle her, was brought to the hospital. Mrs. Mutchler was called, and in five minutes the patient had ceased her struggles, disrobed and was taking a bath. Recently a colored giantess, who long had been a terror to the police, was taken to the hospital. She could whip any three men, and was very vicious. Mrs. Mutchler first saw her in one of her violent fits, and quieted her at once. Mrs. Mutchler says she cannot account for her power, but never saw a woman she could not control. Mrs. H. R. Ludwig, of Montague, Sussex County, N. J., possesses a gift of magnetism which gives her wonderful control over animals, birds, reptiles and insects. The most vicious horses, which are utterly unmanagable by any one else, become perfectly tractable and obedient under her voice and touch. DogS, cats and other domestic animals, whether belonging to her or to otners, seem to understand every word she speaks, and they do the most astonishing things at her order. Shy, suspicious and unapproachable as the wild fox is, he will not only not fly at the approach of Mrs. Ludwig, but will come to her at a word of command. Wild birds follow her when she walks about her farm, and frequently will not be driven away by her. One particular robin is so infatuated with her that it hovers about the house continually, although Mrs. v,udwig has taken it far away several times and tried to frighten it into leaving her. Mrs. Ludwig insists that birds and beasts have a language, and that she understands it instinctively.