Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 November 1898 — QUEER STORIES [ARTICLE]

QUEER STORIES

The United States cannot be sued without their consent. Pious Russians do not eat pigeons because of the sanctity conferred on the dove in the Scriptures. Bellows are used as a burglar alarm, the opening of the door closing the bellows and forcing air through a pipe to a whistle. Every soldier knows that a horse will not step on a man Intentionally. It is therefore a standing order in the British cavalry that if a trooper becomes dismounted he must lie perfectly still. If he does this, the whole squadron will pass over him without injuring him. Immense fortunes have been made out of the banana business. Revenues do not accrue alone from the sale of the fruit, for the leaves are used for packing; the juice, being strong In tannin, makes an indelible ink and shoe blacking; the wax found on the under side of the leaves is a valuable article of commerce; manila hemp is made from tlie steins, and of this hemp are made mats, plaited work and lace handkerchiefs of the finest texture; moreover, the banana is ground into banana flour. The fruit to be sold for dessert is ripened by the dry warmth of flaring gas jets in the storage places in which it is kept, and immense care lias to be taken to prevent softening or overripening. A single sniff of highly concentrated prussic acid will kill a man as quickly as a shot through the heart. The odor of a bad egg is due to the presence of sulphurated hydrogen, and the objectionable perfumes of sewers and bone factories are attributable chiefly to the same gas. Chemical laboratories are famous for bad smells. Berzellius, who discovered the element called “selenium,” once tried the experiment of permitting a bubble of pure hydrogen selenide gas to enter his nostrils. For days afterwards he was not able to. smell strong ammonia, the olfactory nerves being temporarily paralyzed. Selenium gas has the odor of putrid horseradish. Tellurium is even worse. There is a story of a physician whose patient, a lady, refused to take an absolute rest because she was ao fond of being always on the go in society. lie gave her a pill containing a small quantity of tellurium, and her breath was affected by it to such an extent that she was not able to appear in public for a mouth. She never guessed what the trouble was.