Miscellaneous.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1175, 14 October 1882, Page 4 (Supplement)

Miscellaneous.

A REMARKKABLE GAS WELL. A well finished recently by the Niagara Oil Company, in Washington county, Pa., is one of the greatest gassers of modern drilling days. The sands found wore not regular, nor as expected, neither did they appear to be oil-bearing. After a six month’s struggle with the drill, a depth of 2,200 feet was reached, when a vein of gas was struck which threw the tools clear out of the hole, and more than fifty feet above the top of the derrick. The strength of the gas can be imagined when it is known that the tools weigh about 800 pounds. All work was then out of the question, as the gas made such a roaring noise that the drillers had to go away from the well fully 300 yards before being able to make themselves understood. The company have expended already more than 20,000d01. and have nothing to show for their money but leases of 60,000 acres of land, and the great gas blower. The well is eight miles north of Washington, Pa., in Mount Pleasant Township. It is just twenty-two miles from Pittsburg, and may be utilised by the latter city in case the supply does not become exhausted soon.— Petroleum Age.

CURIOUS FREAKS OF NATURE. It is somewhat startling, to look over such natural freaks as are recorded from time to time in various journals, and to credit them, requires a large belief in the marvellous and Munchausenisms. A correspondent of the Chicago Live Stock Journal, of May, informs us that a black mare in Missouri, which had been stinted to a Norman horse, in due time gave birth to a colt, with a head that bore a remarkable resemblance to that of a human being. Not to be outdone in this particular line, a correspondent of the London Live Stock Journal just at hand, informs us, that an English heifer recently gave birth to a calf, adorned with the perfect head of an elephant, including a trunk six inches long. It is explained that the dam of the calf, when early pregnant, was very much alarmed at the sight, one day, of an elephant belonging to travelling circus passing by her. Another correspondent, on reading the account of this curious freak of nature, supposes that there are some hundreds of heifers and cows annually frightened in England, by locomotives passing by them, and he gravely asks if there is a single wellauthenticated case, of one of these subsequently giving birth to a calf with a funnel and wheels , instead of a head ? We have often seen cows frightened by dogs, and other animals and objects, but neither a puppy, nor any likeness of these other objects resulted from these frights. On the other hand, wc have occasionally seen colour spots, born on calves which were not natural to their breed. For example, a pregnant Shorthorn cow once coming out of its stall, was suddenly frightened by a black sheep, and the calf, with which it was pregnant, .when born, showed a large black spot on one of its shoulders. Now black spots are unknown, naturally, in the colors of purebred Short-horn cattle, these varying only from pure white, to an intermixture of red or pure red.— Rural New Yorker. HOW BIRDS LEARN TO SING. A wren built her nest in a box on a New Jersey farm. The occupants of the farm houses saw the mother teach her young to sing. She sat in front of them tuid sang her whole song very distinctly. One of the young attempted to imitate her. After proceeding through a few notes its voice broke and it lost the tune. The mother immediately recommenced where the young one had failed, and went very distinctly through with the remainder. The young bird made a second attempt, commencing where it had ceased before, and continuing the song as long as it was able; and when the note was again lost the mother began anew where it had stopped, and completed it. Then the young one resumed the tune, and finished it. This done, the mother sang over the whole series of notes a second time with great precision, and a second of the young attempted to follow her. The wren pursued the same course with this one as with the first ; and so with the third and fourth. This was repeated day after day, and several times a day, until each of the birds became a perfect songster.— Holden's Bird Magazine.

A REMARKABLE BLOCK OF AMBER. Some fishermen of the Isle of Zuigst have fished up, opposite Stralsund, a piece of amber, weighing more than 81b. It is 9|in. long, and s|in. in circumference. It is a most remarkable piece of amber, having all the qualities which distinguish the rarest pieces, color dark yellow, shining like glass, and not transparent. It is rare that a piece of amber weights a pound. The piece, which is preserved in the Museum of Natural History at Berlin, weighs about 141 b.

The deepest mine in the world, according to Professor H. Hcefer, of the Academic Imp6riale des Mines, is the Przibram Silver Mine in Bohemia. The lowest depth is nearly 3,300 ft. below the surface. At this depth, the temperature of the rocks is only 75*90 degrees F., and the temperature of the air 76*3 degrees F. HOW LINCOLN SETTLED IT. “ A farmer said to me,” says Rev. N. W. Miner, D.D.: “ I once got into difficulty with a neighbour about the line between our farms. I went to Mr. Lincoln to secure him. Mr. Lincoln said, ‘ Now, if you go on with this, it will cost both of your farms, and will entail an enmity that will last for generations, and, perhaps, lead to murder. The other man has just been here to engage me. Now, I want you two to sit down in my office while I am gone to dinner, and talk it over, and try to settle it. And, to secure you from any interruption, I will lock the door.’ He did so, and he did not return all the afternoon. We two men, finding ourselves shut up together, began to laugh. This put us in a good humor, and, by the time Mr. Lincoln returned, the matter was settled.”— Detroit Free Press.