Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895 Part 16

Afloat with the Flag

Ill.u.s.trated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental. $1.25.

Sea Yarns for Boys

SPUN BY AN OLD SALT. Ill.u.s.trated. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York

_For sale by all booksellers, or will be mailed by the publishers, postage prepaid, on receipt of the price._

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BABY ELEPHANT'S MISADVENTURE, OR THE SATISFACTION OF HAVING AN EFFICIENT PARENT.]

A SAFE METHOD.

The treasures of the Bank of France are said to be better guarded than those of any other bank in the world. At the close of business hours every day, when the money is put into the vaults in the cellar, masons at once wall up the doors with hydraulic mortar. Water is then turned on and kept running until the cellar is flooded. A burglar would have to work in a diving suit and break down a cement wall before he could even start to loot the vaults. When the officers arrive the next morning, the water is drawn off, the masonry is torn down, and the vaults opened.

AN INDIAN TRADITION.

Here is an Indian version of the story of the flood, as it was taken by a writer connected with an Australian journal. Says he: "All of the northern coast Indians have a tradition of a flood which destroyed all mankind except a pair from which the earth was peopled. Each tribe gives the story a local coloring, but the plot of the story is much the same.

The Bella Coola tradition is as follows: The Creator of the universe, Mes-mes-sa-la-nik, had great difficulty in the arrangement of the land and water. The earth persisted in sinking out of sight. At last he hit upon a plan which worked very well. Taking a long line of twisted walrus hide, he tied it around the dry land, and fastened the other end to the corner of the moon. Everything worked well for a long time; but at last the Spirit became very much offended at the action of mankind, and in a fit of anger one day seized his great stone knife, and with a mighty hack severed the rope of twisted skin. Immediately the land began to sink into the sea. The angry waves rushed in torrents up the valleys, and in a short time nothing was visible except the peak of a very high mountain. All mankind perished in the whelming waters, with the exception of two, a man and his wife, who were out fishing in a great canoe. These two succeeded in reaching the top of the mountain, and proceeded to make themselves at home. Here they remained for some time, until the anger of Mes-mes-sa-la-nik had cooled, which resulted in his fishing up the severed thong and again fastening it to the moon. From this pair thus saved the earth was again populated."

WHERE IT WENT.

Lunatics often a.s.sume a superiority of intellect to others which is quite amusing. A gentleman travelling in England some years ago, while walking along the road not far from the side of which there ran a railway, encountered a number of insane people out for exercise in charge of a keeper. With a nod toward the railway tracks, he said to one of the lunatics,

"Where does this railway go to?"

The lunatic looked at him scornfully a moment, and then replied:

"It don't go anywhere. We keep it here to run trains on."

A HUGE PIE.

The largest pie ever known was that described in the Newcastle _Chronicle_ for the 6th January, 1770. It was shipped to Sir Henry Gray, Baronet, London, Mrs. Dorothy Patterson, housekeeper at Hawic, being the maker. Into the composition of this great pie entered two bushels of flour, twenty pounds of b.u.t.ter, four geese, two turkeys, two rabbits, four wild ducks, two woodc.o.c.ks, six snipe, four partridges, two neats'

tongues, two curlews, seven black-birds, and six pigeons. It weighed twelve stone, and was nine feet in circ.u.mference at the bottom. It was furnished with a case on wheels, for convenience in pa.s.sing it round to the guests.

The receipt for this pie is given here as a hint to those of our readers who may be thinking of getting up a picnic within the next two or three weeks. A half dozen pies of this size ought to be enough for at least one picnic.

A STRANGE SUIT.

According to the Pittsburg _Journal_, Peter Gruber, the Rattlesnake King of Venango County, has made the most unique costume any man ever wore.

It consists of coat, vest, trousers, hat, shoes, and shirt, and is made entirely of the skins of rattlesnakes. Seven hundred snakes, all caught and skinned by Gruber during the past five years, provided the material for this novel costume. To preserve the brilliancy and the flexibility of the skins in the greatest possible degree, the snakes were skinned alive, first being made unconscious by chloroform. They were then tanned by a method peculiar to Gruber, and are as soft and elastic as woollen goods. The different articles for this outfit were made by Oil City tailors, shoemakers and hatters, and the costume is valued at $1000.