The Curiosity Shop

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3518, 6 May 1905, Page 4

The Curiosity Shop

Ha OlvlEl- HISTORY OF TOCACCO. Hnt Cultivated U> lirvopr as bb Orimmcn- ■. t:il rim-;. name tobacco is thought by some to Hve boon taken from Tobacco, a province H Yucatan, by others from Tobago, an Hand in the Caribbean sea, and by still Hun's from Tobasco, In the gulf of FlorH&,. ’['lie plant, although it is assorted that ■o Chinese have used it from earliest Bties, was not introduced into Europe un■jk after tho discovery of America by CoHmbua, Ho first found it in use on the is- , Had of Sun Domingo in the West Indies, j ■he Indian, among all the tribes from Hem to upper Canada, smoked it in pipes. H Tho seed of tho plant was first introHtcod In Europe by Gonzalo Hernandez de j Hvlcdo, who took it to Spain and cultivate , Hi it for ornamental purposes, but its narHtlo qualities were shortly afterward disHivcrcd, and tho practice of smoking it Hon became general, and its manufacture . Kto snulT followed in course of time. It Has Introduced in Italy and Franco in 15C0 Hid was brought into the latter country by Han Nicot, tho French embassador to For- , Hgal, in whoso honor it received its botan- | Hal name, nieotiana, whence tho name Hlcotino. ■ Tho plant was introduced into England Hr Sir Walter Kalcigh. It was along in ! Ho seventeenth century before it was J Blown to bo used in Asia, but the oriental I Hattons at the present time are probably Ho greatest smokers in the world, accord j Dg to Thorne. Leprosy In the Midille Ages. j In tho middle ages leprosy extended over bo whole of Europe. Nearly every city in Sugland, Franco and Germany had its iospitr.l for such cases, and Italy suffered j orribly from tho disease. Tho maximum vas reached in 1300, when there were 19,- | 100 leper houses in Europe. The patient* yore excommunicated by papal ‘■bulls." They were cut off as ‘‘unclean" from InBroom so (it sill sorts, and only in this way /fas tho plague gradually suppressed. II , llsappeared as an epidemic in Europe in ; ibo sixteenth century. A writer in tho Sow York Timer, rays: It is still found evjrihvhero in tire orient, particularly among the fellah.it of Egypt ami India, in China , and Japan, in all the coast lands of Africa, ■ jjih Madagascar, Mauritius, St. Helena and ; Madeira, in Mexico and Control and South : fl racrictv. Such sufferers are found in Eu- ; 1,,p0 at present, us, for example, in Norway, whore there were 1,000 lepers in 1880 out Of a population of 1,850,000, though this was :• (leereasu from 5i,380 in 1804. They j ore apt.) found on the Greek islands of . Samos and Crete and to a less degree in Italy, France, Spain, -Portugal and the Russian provinces, and single cases arc also occasionally found in middle Europe. | Nature Not Always tlio Best Planter. Although not generally recognized in ! botanical and horticultural works, Men- I ban’s Monthly says it is simply a fact that nature does not always place plants in the localities best suited to theirdevelopment. Bwamp trees, for instance—laces which grow partly in water —grow a great deal better, more vigorously and every way apparently more happily when they can find themselves in dry ground, for specimens of maptos, willows, sweet gums and other supposed swamp trees arc always found In comparatively dry ground. What is known ; as tho Bermuda lily is another case in ■ point. This is a native of Japan, really > Lilium longifiorum, but nowhere docs it grow in such luxuriance as in tho Islands of Bermuda, where it was accidentally introduced or escaped from cultivation a , great many years ago. So great is its luxuriance that it has been recognized as a ; distinct variety from tho Japan plant and Is known in cultivation us Lilium bar- ! risii, having boon first made known to cultivators about It) years ago. Many other Illustrations might he given to show that ' nature docs not always arrange that plants should naturally bo found in places the best suited to their growth. V'- Is F» ulay Lucky or Unlucky? There aro persons who believe that death and disastci stalk abroad on Friday, and who have any number of facts at baud to prove their position. Well, hero is an array of dma gathered by an exchange from Which almost anything pro and con may bo proved; Leo surrendered on Friday, Moscow was burned qn Friday, Washington was born on Friday, Shakespeare was bom on Friday, America was discovered - on Friday, Richmond was evacuated on Friday, tiio Bastille was destroyed on Friday, tiie Mayflower was landed on Friday, Queen Victoria was married on Friday, KiUg Charles I was beheaded on Friday, Fort Sumter was bombarded on Friday, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on Friday, Julius Ctcsar was assassinated on Friday, the battle of Marengo was fought on Friday, the Battle of Waterloo was fought on Friday, Joan of Arc was burned at the •take on Friday, tho battle of New Orleans was fought on Friday, tho battle of Bunker • Hill was fought on Friday, the Declaration of Independence was signed on Friday. Song Birds at Table. The wealthy gonnands of Borne char"Mpbed a strong partiality for song bird#. ' Both Horace ‘and Martial refer with approval to roust thrush, and Ovid recom- / mends “a crown of thrushes" as a lover's present to his mistress. Thrushes' breasts were one of tho ingredients of the celebrated Apician dish ("Patina apiciana"), Which also included mushrooms, sow’« udder, fish and chickens, rivaling the heterogeneous contents of a gypsy’s “pot an \ feu.” Horace relates that tho sons of AcrlÜB, to stimulate their appetite for dinner, lunched on "nightingales of monstrous price," and Varro tolls us of tho aviary ef Lucullus, which was also a "sallo a monger," so that tho epicure gratified his ears and his palate simultaneously, feasting upon tho delicate warblers whose congeners, unconscious of their coming doom, were discoursing meanwhile the moat exquisite music. Fragrant Flowers. Of the 4,300 kinds of flowers growing is Europe only 420 are odoriferous. Less than one-fifth of tho white kinds, which number 1,194, are fragrant, 77 of the 951 yellow kinds, 84 of the 833 red kinds, 31 of the 694 blue kinds, 13 of tho 308 violet blue kinds and 28 of the 240 kinds with combined colors. Koyal Longevity. Oldest of European sovereigns is the : pope, now in his eighty-fourth year. The king of Denmark is 78; Queen Victoria, 74. There are half a dozen or more other •overelgns* who are over 70 and nearly a doaeo who are tvnv.-' w irv? 70.

Chicago Street Kawwa A man from tho country wa« tiding wust on a Madison street oablo earth* other day. Pretty soon the conductor called out, "May!” stopped the car, and* lady got off. A moment or two after be cal led, “Annl” stopped the car, ana two Indies gathered their bandies M>d gtoppwl siff Another block or two, and ho called, ■‘Elizabeth 1” and the stupe performance was repeated. Thou oamcf“Ada!” and a woman and child alighted, After ft fev t more blocks he sang out, “ Paulina 1 and three Indies left the car. The afranger had looked on open mouthed, btA> this was 100 much for him. Clutching fcnoconductor’s coat, ho asked, “Say, mlsteV. do you know tho name of every woman hn Chicago and where she wants to get off# Advance. . Caution*.

Mr. Kidder (at tl*e door)—Hum, herd t a telegram from Moraly 1 Mrs. Kidder (snatching up the youngest)—Don’t bring it in herol .Don’t bring It In here! The Merely children have all got the scarlet fever 1The Momentous Qneitloa. “My heart pleads for you, Horace,’’ she •aid unsteadily, “but do you realize the anguish, tho misery, the remorse, that would follow a union hastily entered Into by two persons not wholly suited to each other?" , . “Evadne,” Impetuously cried tho young man, “if two persons are deeply, sincerely, devotedly attached to earii other, are they not wholly suited? Whasmoro is necessary? Does tho loving heart stop to wagon coldly when, with every passionate throb, it”“Is it not possible, Horace, she gently Interposed, “to mistake a transient impulse for an abiding love? Must there not bo at tho basis of all true affection a mutual respect, forbearance, toleration, that will endure when” — “There Is only one question, svadns Whaokster. Do you’’— ‘ ‘ Horace Huckstep, ’ ’ she exclaimed wildly, “there is more than one question. The momentous consequences of a fatal mistake must not"—

“Evadno, hoar mo” — “Horace, I confess I have no other attachment, and that I cannot regard you with indifference" — “My dear" — "Stop!" “Don’t torture me, dearest. Listen to the voice of your own heart and” — With trembling Ups she interrupted him again. “Horace, you are keeping something back from me.” “Before heaven, I am not I” "Then tell me, Horace Huckstep,” she said convulsively, “how you stand on the question of tho free coinage of silver?’ 1 ■ • She Knew. The house bad been aroused by a burglar. Mr. Jones saw a man with a mask going through tho pockets of his pantaloons, and quick as a thought he shot a* him, the Intruder making good hlfl escape. “Why,” asked Mrs. Jones, thoroughly awake, “what did you scare mo for?” “I saw a man robbing my pockets and fired at him.” “Well, ho didn’t get anything,” said she complacently. “How do you know?” was his gruff rejoinder. “Oh, 1 tried ’em myself before we went to bed.”Deplorable Wait*. Jerry Higgins, from Boston, and lArd Duffor, from London, stood side by ride at Niagara falls watching tho volume ol water as it dashed on the rocks below. “What a pity it is that all this wateJ should go to waste,” said Jerry. “ Yes, ” answered his lordship, “but you know they are going to utilize It for the electric transmission of power.” “I know that,” continued Jerry, “but it could have been used more advantageously.” “Aw, really. Then you are an engineer with a now Idea?” Jerry looked up quizzically. hi sold, "I’m a milkman.”-, _ ~*‘ _ A Throw Off. “Whoopi" Col, tho cowboy king, sank bis spurs In the bucking broncho’s quivering sides. “Who was it bet two to one on the throw?” A smart herdsman by the corral fence nodded his head Indloatively. “Then” — The frenzied pony threw himself on his side and rolled over on hia erstwhile rider. —“this is a boss on me." And they lot It go at that. World. Then Be Started. N They had been sitting in alienee far twe minutes, each of which seemed like as ago. The clock chimed 11, and she suppressed a yawn. “Are you interested In baseball, Ur. Stalate?” she asked wearily. ‘ ‘ Yes. I used to play shortstop. ’’ “Indeed? 1 should think that your qualities would not have fitted you for anything but long stop.” ~ ““ A Newspaper Story. Mrs. Gotham—How strange! The paper says a distinguished foreigner complains that ne was greatly inconvenienced while in Chicago because he could not find any one who could speak his language. I wonder where he came from. Mr. Gotham—Can’t imagine. He must have aqpie {tom some other planet. -' 5 ’ > Toughened. «ay,” add tho deputy, “I put No. Til on the treadmill eight hours ago as a punishment, and I’ll bo dinged if he ain’t goIn on jist as chipper and happy as can be.” “Why, of course,” said the prison ward ain tones of disgust. “Didn’t you know t ie feller was sent here for bicycle stealing? That tort of thing h io hit