Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 March 1902 — QUEER STORIES [ARTICLE]

QUEER STORIES

A stream with peculiar properties flows near Tucson, Ariz. Wood and vegetables and other soft substances thrown into it become petrified. It is customary for visitors to leave potatoes in it for a few weeks enclosed in wire receptacles and find them turned to stone. The women of Finland of the lower classes perform arduous labor that in other countries is usually assigned to males. They wheel handcarts and barrows of various descriptions containing heavy burdens. They also sweep the streets, act as boatmen and even assist In loading ships. Birds are made to take their own pictures by the ingenious apparatus of O. G. Pike, an English photographer. A bait of fat is placed on an electrical wire which Is so connected with a camera that when the bait Is removed the camera shutter is released, giving an instantaneous exposure of the sensitive plate. The average weight of engines on German State railways Is 42.67 tons, while those in use on private roads average 37.68 tons. During the year 1899 446 engines were purchased by the State railways and 56 by private companies. In the year 1898 $550,000 was spent for the purchase of new and the repair of old engines on private lines. There is considerable amusement in some of the census tables, aud jokes are going the rounds over the fact that Chicago has more hogs than New York, but that New York leads In the matter of goats. Pennsylvania beats all other States in the number of mules, which fact Is mentioned in relation to its factional politics. There is a large number of professional “bee hunters" in the West and Southwest of Texas. Small caves and dark recesses formed by shelving rock abound along the waterways of the Texan rivers. T»ey are the natural hives of the wild bees, and take the place of the hollow tree trunks of the forest regions of the northern country. These caves are used year after year by the bees, and in many instances they have been found to be literally filled with honey.