Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1879 — PERSONAL AND LITERARY. [ARTICLE]

PERSONAL AND LITERARY.

—The estate of the late Richard Henry Dana is appraised at $118,937.30, of which $71,500 are iirTeal estate. —Mr. Matthew Baird, the locomotive builder, of Philadelphia, who died recently, left an estate which has been appraised at $4,156,000. —Charles Bennett, a California gymnast who died a few days ago, could run twenty miles at a high rate of speed, and could lift easily a weight of 1,000 pounds. —As Vice-President Wheeler gave up his rooms before leaving Washington it is not believed that he intends' to return to the capital during the present session of Congress. - John C. Hamilton, a St. Louie locksmith, is said to have the keys of the old French Bastile. When the mob tore De Launay, the Governor, to pieces, one of the revolutionists, Lechastel by name, secured the keys. They were kept in the Lechastel family until 1852, when Antoine Lechastel emigrated to this country. Hamilton I secured them from Lechastel, tho lati ter being in need of money. There are ' live keys in the bunch. The largest ) one is rusty, though tho marks of the | armorer plainly can be seen. Thu ■ smallest, eight inches long, is made of lino steel. • —Of Representative Blackburn, who ! is a great talker, the following story is ; current in W ashington. When the i Yellow-Fever Commission was sitting | at Willard’s Hotel the .member from Kentucky was an enthusiastic,worker. A man from Maine, who had come to see Senator Hamlin, walked through the long corridor one afternoon to the dining-room. Mr. Blackburn wasthblding forth to an interested group. The Maine man ate his dinner and came out Still Mr. Blackburn talked. He read the newspapers, smoked, started down the street and baek, and entered the Still the coterie Hatched entranced. The stranger joined them. Mr, Blackburn Was telling how great was his fear of yellow fever, and how nervous he felt about exposing himself to its influence, Finally the Maine man slowly dTawled forth: “Mister, excuse me for speaking, but 1 shouldn’t think you’d feel 'afraid of the fever. I should suspect , tho only thing you’d have a horror of would be the lockjaw.”