Chapter V: Part 5

She was assassinated at the instigation of her father-in-law, the King of Portugal, who had other marriage plans for his son. Three years later, when Don Pedro ascended the throne, he had the body of Iñez taken from the grave, placed upon a magnificent throne, arrayed in all the robes of royalty, and crowned “Queen of Portugal” with full ceremony. One fleshless hand held the sceptre and in the other was the orb of royalty while the assembled court did her homage as if she were a living queen.

* * *

Oliver Cromwell was hanged after he was dead.

* * *

The posthumous trial of Pope Formosus is famous. Pope Stephen VII (896-897), for some political reason, had the body of Pope Formosus exhumed and arraigned for trial. A legal defender was appointed and the entire trial was conducted according to the laws of the living. Pope Stephen appeared in person as the prosecutor and won his case, whereupon the body of Formosus was stripped of the papal robes and insignia, mutilated, and thrown into the Tiber.

* * *

The Cid, noted Spanish warrior, led his troops to battle after his death.

In the eleventh book of the “Chronicle of the Cid,” Southey relates that the embalmed body of the Spanish warrior was placed in the saddle, according to his wish, and at the head of his army advanced to battle against King Bucar and his countless hosts of Moors ... winning a great victory.

* * *

Benjamin Franklin invented the harmonica.

* * *

There was never a famous twin.

* * *

OLIVER CROMWELL
WAS HANGED
AFTER HE WAS DEAD

TOM M^cAULIFFE
--of Buffalo.
THE ARMLESS GOLFER
PLAYED 18 HOLES
IN 98 STROKES.

J. JOHNSON
DROVE THE ‘ROYAL SCOT’
300 MILES IN 338 MINUTES WITHOUT
A SINGLE STOP.
1927.
Euston-Carlisle.]

* * *

THE KAISERPOKAL

The most celebrated of all drinks is the drinking of the Kaiserpokal. In fact, it is still celebrated each year with a festival.

In 1616, during the Thirty Years’ War, Burgomaster Nusch of Rothenburg on the Tauber saved himself and his city by draining in a single draught the huge stein of seven pints of wine.

Each year the city of Rothenburg commemorates that occasion with a celebration and the present mayor takes a long and ceremonious drink from the same stein--the Kaiserpokal--that Herr Nusch used.

* * *

A COUGH IN THE CAR LOAD

In 1851, during Napoleon III’s coup d’état, when an aide reported that the mob was facing the Imperial Guard, Count de St. Arnaud, who was just troubled with a cough, exclaimed, “ma sacrée toux!” (my damned cough!). This the aide understood to mean, “massacrez tous” (massacre everybody). The order to fire was given and thousands of human lives were lost.

* * *

HOT DOG

The wonder “weenie” of all time was stuffed by the German Butcher’s Guild for their celebration in Koenigsberg in 1601.

This hot dog was more than half a mile long--exactly 3,001 feet--and required the efforts of 103 butchers to carry it on parade. It weighed 885 pounds and was later equally distributed among the members of the guild at the banquet table.

* * *

FLAMING YOUTH

Charlie Pardie, of Albuquerque, got lit up one night and had a hot time.

No wonder.

He drank 15 cans of canned heat in 24 hours.

* * *

“O P Q R S T”

The above letters were sent by Hué in 1867, and were correctly interpreted by the French to read “Au Pecu arresté”--Arrested at Pecu.

* * *

All the books of both the Bible and the Talmud contain no more than 6,654 different words--including derivatives.

* * *

GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS _NOT_ THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

This is a statement from my daily “Believe It or Not” stint that also caused my readers to doubt--and the mail man to stagger.

Who was the first President--if not Washington?

A man of whom you have never heard--John Hanson, of Maryland.

Although there had been meetings of the Continental Congress from 1774 on, it was not until 1781, when Maryland finally signed the Articles of Confederation, that a union of all the original 13 states became an actuality.

John Hanson, who signed for Maryland, was then elected President of the United States in Congress Assembled, 1781.

George Washington, himself, addressed Hanson as President of the United States in his reply to the latter’s message of thanks upon the occasion of the victory of Yorktown.

_Ref.: Fiske’s “Critical Periods of American History,” Senator
Dollivar’s speech in the Senate, 1910._

* * *

THE HEN THAT BECAME A ROOSTER

This apparent impossibility has happened many times. The particular hen chicken that I saw lived, laid eggs, and cackled in its home in a Pennsylvania poultry yard for several years before it manifested anything unusual. Then its owner noticed new sprouting feathers, bright hackles, and the growth of a long drooping tail, and most surprising of all--three full-sized spurs grew on each leg.

The owner, Dr. M. S. Gillespie, brought the bird to the Natural Science Halls of the Brooklyn Museum where the sex-changed chicken was exhibited for some time.

This freak of nature is by no means unprecedented. It is caused by specific changes in the physiological processes--frequently the product of abdominal tuberculosis.

_I refer you to Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, October, 1927, and to
George P. Engelhardt, Curator, Dept. Natural Sciences, Brooklyn
Museum._

* * *

THE MAN OF CHAINS

This Faquir--once a familiar sight in the city of Lahore (India)--was dressed entirely in a mass of heavy chains weighing more than 600 pounds.

He was a Mohammedan. “Sahib Allah Shah” was his name he said, but when you consider the meaning of the words it is obviously an egotistical assertion. The Punjab public called him the “Jingling Faker” and made considerable fuss over him as he slowly crawled along under his self-imposed burden.

“Sankal-Walah”--the “Man of Chains,” was an adopted surname, and it became him very well. He began collecting this chain suit of armor when quite a young man--gradually welding on the links and chains, bit by bit, until his groaning load--at the time of his death--weighed 670 pounds.

He had borne this burden for the last 13 years of his life.

* * *

A FLEET CAPTURED BY CAVALRY

The entire Dutch fleet, ice-bound in the Zuyder Zee, was captured by the French Hussars under Pichegru who galloped across the frozen sea. The Dutch ships were powerful, but, alas--immovable and became easy prey to a charge of cavalry! The result was that the government of the Netherlands collapsed, and Holland was forcibly allied to France (1795).

* * *

“IF YOU WOULD SEE HIS MONUMENT, LOOK AROUND”

The above inscription is placed in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, to the memory of Sir Christopher Wren, who built it.

* * *

MOTHER GOOSE

“Mother Goose” was a real character, and not an imaginary person as has been supposed.

Her maiden name was Elizabeth Foster, and she was born in Boston in 1665. She married Isaac Goose in 1693, and her famous rhymes were written for her grandchildren.

* * *

THE GHOST SHIP

The Gloucester fishing schooner, “Columbia,” went to the bottom in a hurricane in August, 1927, with her crew of 20 men. On the following New Year’s Day, Capt. Myhre, on the “Ventosta,” while dragging the bottom of the sea, caught something with his trawls and suddenly there rose to the surface the battered remains of a dead ship. For a few minutes the “Columbia,” with masts erect, remained suspended before the eyes of the startled seamen. Then as suddenly as she had cleft the waves, she disappeared from sight as the 3-inch cables which had hauled her to the surface parted.

* * *

WHAT PRICE PRIVACY

Francesca Nortyuege, famous reformer of Dièze, who died in France in 1903, left her fortune to her niece with the proviso that, for the sake of decency, she keep her goldfish always clothed in tights.

* * *

T I P

Comes from the initials of the words “To Insure Promptness.”

* * *

HE WHO LAUGHED LAST

Chalchas the Greek died from laughter when the day that was predicted to be his death day came around and the prediction did not seem to materialize.

* * *

A YEAR AND A DAY

A Japanese child is one year old the day it is born.

* * *

Dr. Schmeckegut (taste good) changed his name to Dr. Schmeckebesser (I taste better) in Vienna.

* * *

A case that has been in the Courts since 999. In that year, a wealthy land owner who expected the world to end in 1000, donated the mountain of San Tisone, near Naples, to the Convent of the same name. The world did not perish of course and the owner claimed to cancel his donation. At present the two communities of Ravella and Lettera are still disputing ownership. For 929 years testimony has been taken with never a decision.

* * *

THE SHORTEST POEM IN THE WORLD

“Hired.
Tired?
Fired!”

* * *

When I printed the above poem a number of readers called my attention to this one which is even shorter. It is entitled:

“Lines Written on the Antiquity of Microbes”

“Adam
Had ’Em”

* * *

EVEN UP

Patrick and Eleanor Grady, of Crookhaven (near Cork, Ireland) were born in 1796 in the same house on the same day--were married on the same day--and on the same day fell sick and died on the same day at the ages of 96--leaving 96 descendants.

* * *

IT’S NOT THE HEAT--IT’S THE HUMIDITY!

The thermometer registered 158.8 degrees Fahrenheit in the Oasis of Toauregs, in Northern Africa, 1927.

* * *

THE MORNING AFTER

Herr Reinach, of Vienna, placed a 25-pound cake of ice on his head and allowed it to remain there until it melted. 1928.

* * *

THE JAKUCK WEATHER REPORT

The temperature in Jakuck, Siberia, varied 256.6 degrees in the season of 1928. The thermometer rose from 154.4 below zero to 102.2 degrees above.

* * *

THE FOUNTAIN OF BLOOD

In the center of the village of Vertud (Dept. de Gracias) between San Salvador and Guatemala, there is a fountain--“Mina de Sangre”--which ejects a red liquid that coagulates like blood.

_“Apuntamientos sobre Centro America,” Squier._

* * *

Princess Anthony Kohary, of Hungary, the last of her line, was officially appointed a man. 1889.

[signature]
Shanghai

FINGER NAILS
OF A CHINESE PRIEST
IN SHANGHAI
22³⁄₄ INCHES LONG
He was 27 yrs. growing
them

THE FOUR-FOOTED CHICK
Owned by H.G. BOYDEN
ELY, England.

The Pepe-aweto of the Maoris
STRANGEST INSECT ON EARTH--
A CATERPILLAR THAT TURNS
INTO A PLANT.

Is it an insect or a vegetable?]

* * *

A COMMA THAT SAVED A HUMAN LIFE

Maria Feodorewna accidentally caught sight of the following note appended to the bottom of a death warrant. It was in the handwriting of her husband, Alexander III. It read as follows:

“Pardon impossible, to be sent to Siberia.”

Maria transposed the comma so that it read:

“Pardon, impossible to be sent to Siberia.” Whereupon the convict was released a free man.

* * *

Professor Netomeff, an Assyriologist, who wrote a book about Nebuchadnezzar, the ancient King of Babylon, was sentenced to perpetual exile in Siberia because the caption of his book, “Nebuchadnezzar,” was the same in the Russian language as “Ne boch ad ne tzar” Which meant “No God and no Tzar.”

* * *

The name of the letter “Q” is the French word “queue”--a tail. In other words, a “Q” is an “O” with a tail.

* * *

Cyrus, King of Persia, knew the name of every soldier in his army by heart.

* * *

Themistocles could call all of the 20,000 inhabitants at Athens by their first names.

* * *

Rev. W. B. Hogg, of El Paso, Texas, memorized the Bible.

* * *

Mrs. Wilhelmine Alff, of Cherokee, Iowa, attended the movies every night for 8 years. 2,927 consecutive evenings.

* * *

Joseph Conrad, famous master of the English language, could not speak a word of it at the age of twenty-five.

* * *

The fiancé of Miss Matilde John, of London, died in 1795. She died 89 years later of a broken heart.

* * *

Señora Salomea Wolf had the portrait of her husband tattooed on her tongue to atone for nagging him to death. Jerez, Spain, 1927.

* * *

The editor of The Torch, Central Lake, Mich., assures me that the following paragraph which appeared in his newspaper is nothing but the truth.

“Seven years ago a farmer in Iowa hung his vest on a fence in the
barnyard. A calf chewed up a pocket in the garment in which was a
gold watch. Last week the animal, a staid old milk cow, was butchered
for beef, and the timepiece was found in such a position between the
lungs of the cow that respiration--the closing in and filling of the
lungs--kept the stemwinder wound up, and the watch had lost but four
minutes in the seven years.”

* * *

Hastings, Minn.
Dec. 18, 1927.

“My Dear Mr. Ripley:

I have a little item for “Believe It or Not.”

A gentleman from my home town by the name of Carl (Tiger) Franklin
can swallow three (3) eggs in the shell and cough them up one at a
time without breaking the shells.

In my travels into the far corners of the world, this is the only
case I ever heard of or seen of this kind. I think this might be
mentioned in your “Believe It or Not” section of the papers.

Yours truly,
Wm. Tenner.”

* * *

Herman Heidegger, of London, could call from memory the wording of all the signs along both sides of the street for 10 blocks after once walking past to observe them.

* * *

Porson, the Greek scholar, could recite the complete works of Milton--backward and forward.

* * *

La Croze could repeat 12 verses in 12 unknown languages after hearing them read aloud once.

* * *

Arlinin, the Neapolitan, recited 15,350 lines from Dante without a moment’s pause.

* * *

Gambetta, the great Tribune, had a wonderful memory. Among other mental feats was his ability to repeat the Book of Ruth word for word backward. He was able to do the same with all the works of Victor Hugo and Ossian.

* * *

WOO-OO-EE-EE!
FRED
PATZEL
CHAMPION HOG-CALLER
--WHOSE CRY CAN
BE HEARD 3 MILES.
Nebraska

[signature]

The
LAUGHING JACKASS
IS A BIRD

THE WORD--
‘PERSONALITY’
CONTAINS 1307 OTHER WORDS

WILL
LEA--of
Texas
AGE 67
IS STILL A
CONTORTIONIST

BLUB BLUB

GUS SUNDSTROM--N.Y.A.C.
SWAM 100 YARDS UNDER WATER
--without using his arms.]

* * *

THE MENTAL FREAK

Dr. Charles Bernstein, superintendent of the Rome State School for the Feeble-minded, tells me of a remarkable mental freak who is an inmate of the school at the present time.

“Barney” is 43 years old physically, but his mental age is 6 years. He is unable to read or write, and speaks very indistinctly with a very limited vocabulary, yet he gives instantly the day of the week on which any date falls on either in years past or years to come. Barney never saw a calendar. Several psychologists of note have studied his case but are entirely unable to fathom his mental state.”

* * *

THE WILL OF AKBAR THE GREAT

“Every man should have four wives; a Hindoo to bear children, a Persian for conversation, an Afghan to keep house, and a Turk to beat up as an example to the others.”

* * *

EASY COME EASY GO

Sultan Murad IV inherited 240 wives when he assumed the throne of Turkey. He decided to dispense with their help by the simple expedient of putting each wife in a sack and tossing them one by one into the Bosphorus.

* * *

Alexander Richter, placed a wreath on his own grave every week for 60 years. He disappeared, and when he returned he found that the body of a drowned man had been buried as his own under his name.

* * *

Each of the five husbands of Frau Irmgard Bruns, of Berlin, committed suicide. 1928.

* * *

Frank Damek, of Chicago, compiled a complete deck of cards by picking them up from time to time in the street! After 10 years he was 15 cards short. It was another 20 years before he finally completed his deck, in 1890.

* * *

THE CRUISE OF THE SKELETONS

“While cruising near the coastline of Punta Arenas (Chile) the British sailing ship ‘Johnson’ sighted what appeared to be a boat with sails floating in the wind. The British signals eliciting no response, the craft was approached and it was noticed that masts and sails were covered with some kind of green moss, and that the vessel seemed abandoned by its crew. Upon boarding it the skeleton of a man was discovered beneath the helm. The deck was decayed to such an extent that it gave under the footsteps. Three more skeletons were found near a panel, ten were found in the crew’s quarters, and six on the bridge. Upon the ravaged prow of the vessel, the words _Marlborough Glasgow_ could still be discerned. The Marlborough left Littleton, N. Z. in January 1890, with a cargo of wool and frozen mutton, and a crew of 23 men under command of Captain Hird. It was last seen on its regular course in the Straits of Magellan. In April 1890 an unsuccessful search for the vessel was made. There were also a few passengers on board and one woman.”

_Reported by the official Agence Havas on Nov. 26, 1913 and by
Wellington (New Zealand) Evening Post of Nov. 13, 1913._

* * *

THE MAN WHO DRANK HIMSELF TO DEATH

The surgeon Dr. Politman, a native of Lorraine, died at the age of 140, having been drunk each day since he was 25 years old. On the eve of his death he performed a major surgical operation successfully.

_I refer you Dr. W. Rullman’s “Die natürliche Lebensdauer des
Menschen” which ran in the “Vossische Zeitung” of Berlin, March 12
and 13, 1916._

* * *

A GOOD LISTENER

William Macdonald, an invalid living in Chula Vista, California, has heard 605 broadcasting stations scattered over the world during the last 3 years. He logged 490 United States stations in every state except South Carolina, and 115 stations outside the country.

* * *

THE PENITENT EYE

An eye that misbehaved caused its owner, Herr Heinrich Laufer, to shut it up for ninety days.

It seems that Herr Laufer spied on the wife of his friend and landlord, and then, stricken by his conscience, he confessed his advantage and begged forgiveness. Friend husband was irate and threatened Herr Laufer with a jail sentence for “Ehebruch,” but a priest intervened and the matter was amicably settled when the bizarre penance was imposed upon Herr Laufer. The husband kept careful watch over Laufer during the three months.

_Ref.: “Duesseldorfer Nachrichten.”_

* * *

THE LAST NOD OF HOMER

This is the riddle that caused the death of Homer in his vain attempt to solve it--as recorded by Plutarch:

“_What we caught
We threw away....
What we could not catch
We kept._”

Answer: Fleas.

* * *

FARE ENOUGH

Several years ago Mrs. Frank Scott, of Laporte, Ind., got on a street car with her 13 children and offered the conductor a nickel.

“Pardon, Madame,” the conductor said, “but we can’t carry a whole Sunday school class for one fare.”

“And why not. They are my children and they are all under five years of age,” she replied.

Then to settle the argument she produced the family Bible from the luggage and proved to the astounded street car man that none of the thirteen children was over five years of age. Abel and Abner, the youngest, were six months old, and Ashbel, Archer, and Austin, the oldest of the lot, were only four and one-half years of age.

The Laportes had three sets of triplets and two pairs of twins in less than five years!

Fair enough, don’t you think so?

* * *

WHAT IS SO RARE AS THIS DAY IN JUNE?

Jan III. Sobieski, King of Poland in the 17th century, was born, crowned, married, and died--each time on the same date of the year--June 17.

* * *

JOHN
G.
ANDERSON
HAS WON
600
GOLF
PRIZES

Winged
Foot
Golf Club.

HERR
HEINRICH
LAUFER
--of DUESSELDORF,
KEPT ONE EYE CLOSED
FOR 90 DAYS
--as a penance for peeping.

THE SMALLEST CHURCH IN THE WORLD
--near Latonia, Kentucky--ONLY SEATS 3 PEOPLE

JAY BRUCE
California’s official lion hunter
HAS KILLED 284 LIONS

MRS. WM. BURNHAM
of Topsfield, Mass.
OWNS A CAT THAT IS
24
YEARS
OLD]

* * *

THE LOUDEST NOISE EVER HEARD

The loudest noise ever heard was on August 27, 1883, when the volcano of Pik Perbuatan, on the Island of Krakatua, exploded in the most violent eruption within historic times, killing 35,147 people. The Island (which lies in the Straits of Sunda between Java and Sumatra) was about three by five miles in size before the eruption but only a small portion now remains.

Four cubic miles of material were blown miles into the air and a dust cloud subsequently spread completely around the world and colored sunsets in distant parts of the globe for three years afterwards. The sound was heard on the Island of Rodriquez, in the Pacific Ocean--3,000 miles away.

THE EARTH MOVES IN THREE DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS AT THE SAME TIME

1. It rotates upon its own axis with a speed of about 500 yards per second diminishing from the center towards the Poles.

2. It revolves around the sun with a speed of about 19 miles a second.

3. It participates in the sun’s own forward motion in the direction of the fixed star, Vega, in the constellation of Lyra, with a speed of 12 miles per second.

All simultaneously.

A fourth movement in which the earth probably participates is that of the sun’s own rotation upon its axis which is accomplished once every 25 days.

A fifth movement--that of the whole stellar system upon its axis--is possible--but doubtful.

* * *

“THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE” WAS _NOT_ HOLY, OR ROMAN, OR AN EMPIRE

It was not holy because it was secular; it was not Roman because it was German; and it was not an empire because its nominal heads--the German kings--ruled in name only.

This Confederation of German States--for that it really was--lasted from Otto I, crowned in 962, to Francis II in 1806.

* * *

PA’S A SAP

The eternal and paternal palindrome. This line reads the same backward as forward. Pa’s a sap either way you look at him.

* * *

A
LUZONESE
DANCED 172 HOURS
WITHOUT STOPPING

JAPANESE PLUM TREE
500 YEARS OLD IS ONLY 3 FEET HIGH

[signature] OSAKA]

* * *

THE BLESSED ISLES

Everywhere in the civilized world except the Channel Islands death and taxes are two absolute certainties of mundane existence. In the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, however, there is much doubt about taxes. King George V cannot impose a single penny per pound on the income of his loyal subjects in these islands unless they waive their ancient privilege.

In fact, no act of Parliament is binding to them until transmitted by order of the King’s Privy Council and duly registered there.

* * *

THE BOOZING BISHOP

Johann Fugger, an Italian Bishop, died and willed that--

“... A barrel of wine might be annually upset upon his grave so that his body might still sop in that delicious fluid.”

He bequeathed a large sum of money to the city of Montefiascone for the maintenance of his purpose.

_Ref.: “Central Cities of Italy,” by Hare._

* * *

THE ONE-ARMED PAPER HANGER

Yes, there is one. Albert J. Smith, of Dedham, Mass., has but one arm and he is a paper hanger by trade. And he has had the hives too.

* * *

“Bobby” Leach, who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1911, died from injuries received when he slipped on a banana peel while walking quietly along the street in Christchurch, New Zealand, on April 29, 1927.

* * *

THE RIVER THAT RUNS BACKWARDS

The River Tadjoura, on the northeast coast of Africa, flows from the Bay of Tadjoura inland and empties into the Lake of Assal.

* * *

A SQUARE EGG

A chicken owned by James Cook, of New Bedford, Mass. laid a perfectly square egg.

* * *

NOMAD
OCANA
MADAM
ANACO
DAMON

AN AMERICAN
PALINDROME--by
Doc Applegate
Ogallala, Neb.

THERE IS A
NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHED FOR
BEGGARS
IN PARIS

WALTER
HAGEN
PLAYED 18 HOLES
IN 59 STROKES
Zurich
May 23, 1928

HIROHITO
OF JAPAN
IS THE 124^{th} EMPEROR
OF THE SAME FAMILY!

THE JAPANESE ROYAL FAMILY IS THE OLDEST
FAMILY IN THE WORLD--AND HAS
MAINTAINED AN UNBROKEN LINE FROM
JIMMU TENNO--2588 YRS AGO]

* * *

THE WORLD’S WORST THUG

Buhram, who gleefully murdered 931 men, was a member of the Thuggee sect--a gang of professional murderers who flourished in India in 1830 before the English suppressed them. The Thugs were worshippers of Bhowanee; and to this god they sacrificed anybody that came handy; but they were careful to keep the dead man’s things themselves as they believed the god cared only for the corpse. Men were initiated into this sect with solemn ceremonies. Then they were taught how to strangle a person with the sacred choke-cloth, but were not allowed to perform officially with it until after long practice. It required practice to choke a man expertly. Then the job was done instantaneously; the cloth was whipped around the victim’s neck, there was a sudden twist, and the head fell silently forward, the eyes starting from the sockets; and all was over.

Mark Twain tells of Thuggee in “Following the Equator.”

* * *

Robert (Lefty) Grove, the star pitcher of Connie Mack’s Athletics is generally considered to be the best pitcher in baseball today. He has tremendous speed and a great curve which has always caused his opponents to swing aimlessly.

He recently struck out 5 men with 16 pitched balls: there were no fouls.

The record depicted opposite was made while he was a member of the Baltimore club, about 5 years ago.

* * *

HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS!

A letter addressed to “GOD” was forwarded to Rome from Liptau, Germany, in 1926. It was returned to the sender marked “Addressee Unknown.”

* * *

SOLVING THE SERVANT PROBLEM

Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the famous Hungarian “tigress” (1560-1614), killed 650 servant girls in 6 years. Being a noble woman she was immune from punishment.

* * *

THE WORLD’S WORST THUG
BUHRAM--MURDERED 931 MEN IN 40 YEARS!

[signature]
Drawn in India

LEFTY GROVES
of Baltimore
STRUCK OUT 68 MEN
IN 45 INNINGS
1923

Miss
LUCILLE NOONAN
San Francisco telephone operator
HAS MEMORIZED 2000 NUMBERS

A TOAD HOPPED 75 MILES IN 5 DAYS
from Wakefield to Old Center, Mass. June, 1923
OWNED BY FREDERICK SIDNEY.]

* * *

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN NOSE

Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, lost his nose in a duel with Passberg and adopted a golden one, which he attached to his face by a cement which he carried about with him. That nose is distinctly discernible in all of his portraits.

_I refer you to Marryat: Jutland and the Danish Isles p. 305 (“that
eminent man who had a golden nose, Tycho Brahe”)._

* * *

AN EMPRESS’S AGILE EARS

The Empress Marie Louise’s ability to move her ears at will and to turn them inside out, is reported in the Mémoires of M. H. d’Alméras, Chamberlain to the French Court. Madame la Duchesse d’Abrantès, one of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting, also wrote of it.

They add that this was one of the great distractions at the Court of Napoleon III, and that the Emperor himself would hasten to the Salon whenever the Empress could be induced to perform.

* * *

FRIDAY UNLUCKY?

Friday is the luckiest day in American history.

Friday, Aug. 3, 1492--Columbus sailed for America.
Friday, Oct. 12, 1492--Columbus discovered America.
Friday, Nov. 22, 1493--Columbus landed here again.
Friday, June 12, 1494--Mainland of South America discovered.
Friday, Mar. 5, 1496--Henry VIII. commissioned Cabot which resulted
in the discovery of North America.
Friday, Sept. 7, 1565--Mendez founded St. Augustine, Florida, the
oldest city in the U. S.
Friday, Nov. 10, 1620--Pilgrim Fathers landed in harbor of
Provincetown.
Friday, Feb. 22, 1732--George Washington born.
Friday, Oct. 17, 1777--Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga.
Friday, Sept. 19, 1781--Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.

* * *

Shakespeare’s daughter could not read or write.

* * *

Madame de Maintenon, morganatic wife of Louis XIV., had herself bled regularly twice a week, in order not to blush at the stories told at Court.

TOM WEDDERS, of Yorkshire
HAD A NOSE
7¹⁄₂ IN
LONG

400 WORDS
IN ENGLISH
BEGIN WITH
“SN”
APPLY TO THE NOSE
--and its activities--
SNOUT
SNIFF
SNEEZE
SNORE
SNICKER
SNEER
SNUB
SNOOT
SNO
SNI
SN
S

The Empress
MARIE LOUISE
COULD FOLD HER EARS
AT WILL--AND ALSO
TURN THEM INSIDE OUT!

[signature]

A TELEGRAM WAS
SENT AROUND THE WORLD
IN 8 MINUTES.
1917

TERRY M^cGOVERN
WON THE BANTAM AND FEATHERWEIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIPS AND KNOCKED OUT THE
LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION--AND WAS THROUGH AT 21.

ONE PAIR
OF SHOES FOR BOTH!
FATHER AND SON ARE BOTH
NAMED ALBERT FARLER
--BOTH LOST A LEG
AND BOTH WEAR THE
SAME SIZE SHOE.
Kildonan, Man., Canada]

* * *

FIRE WATER

It actually happened.

Fables about breath catching fire became a fact in Lodz, Russia.

After drinking a quantity of vodka, a workman named Stobb tried to blow out a match with which he was lighting a cigarette with fatal result.

Flames shot from his mouth and an explosion followed, Stobb falling to the floor unconscious and dying shortly afterward.

* * *

“My Dear Mr. Ripley:

Here is a little article good for your column. There is a fellow I
know whose first name starts with “A” and his last with “Z.” His name
is Alfred Zimbalist, and he lives on “A” Ave., St. John., Apt. “A” A
31, and his phone number extension is A31.

He eats Apples and Asparagus every day, and loves the smell of Zinc.
It’s very peculiar but, believe it or not, that’s the truth.

Respectfully,

Sydney Retchetk,
321 W. 44th St., New York.”

* * *

THE CHEESE CHAMPION

Zoroaster, the famous Persian lawgiver and founder of the religion of the Parsees, lived on nothing but cheese for thirty years.

* * *

WHOOPEE

The Mayor of Grand Lemps, France, issued an ordinance that any inhabitant may enter a saloon and drink his fill and then leave without paying. He was a prohibitionist.

_Ref.: “Bibliothèque Historique,” 1818, vol. 1, page 317._

* * *

A RECORD TO BE SNEEZED AT

James Lanvier, of Edinburgh, sneezed 690 times in succession. 1927.

* * *

THE FIJI FIRE-WALKERS

“Vilavilairevo,” the annual fire-walking ceremony of the Fiji-Islanders during which the natives walk and dance with bare feet on white-hot rocks without burning themselves, has long puzzled travelers. Apparently the Fijians are immune to pain. They walk nimbly over the glowing rocks without so much as a blister.

First, a circular shallow pit about thirty feet across is dug and filled with dry branches and fire wood. A torch is applied and then the stones are rolled in on the blazing pit and allowed to heat for half a day. Green leaves are next scattered over the white-hot stones causing clouds of steam to rise in dramatic fashion and the dance of the fire-walkers begins.

Ah--there are tricks to all trades; even fire-walking! I have the Fijian secret. Sh-h-h! The stones are of volcanic origin and so porous that they do not retain the heat although they appear to be white-hot; and the heavy green leaves protect the feet of the dancers.

* * *

THE $4,412,000-A-YEAR-MAN

The largest salary ever received by any one man was that drawn down by the late Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria. It amounted to $4,412,000 or 22,060,000 Kronen annually. This was strictly a salary and must not be confused with his income from other sources.

During his lifetime, Franz Josef drew $274,600,000 from the Austrian state. This amounts to more than 25 times the total salary of all the Presidents of the United States combined.

* * *

THE $2,000,000 COMMA

A clerk in Congress, instead of writing

“All foreign fruit-plants are free from duty,”

wrote

“All foreign fruit, plants are free from duty.”

It was impossible to change this mistake until a new session of Congress met.

* * *

MAMMY!

On December 2, 1927, little Marie Finster jumped from the roof of a building in Vienna and was saved from death by falling into the arms of her mother who happened to be passing along the street below at that very minute.

--_Vienna Tageblatt._

* * *

THE LAST WILL OF RABELAIS

“I have nothing. I owe much. The rest I leave to the poor.”

Transcriber’s Notes

Misspellings and inconsistent, unusual and archaic spelling (also in
botanical, zoological and proper names and in other languages than
English) have not been changed, except as mentioned below. Not all
of the calculations given are correct as given; these have not been
corrected unless given below.

The differences between the Table of Contents and the chapter and
section headings have not been rectified.

Depending on the hard- and software used to read this e-text and on
their settings, not all elements may display as intended. Extremely
long words and names in particular may cause display issues.

Page 91: the line under London on the envelope (This letter was
delivered 64 yrs. late) is illegible in the source document.

Pages 108 and 115: the largest known prime number is given as 2¹¹⁷ -
1 (illustration on page 108) and as 2¹²⁷ - 1 (text on page 115); the
actual prime numbers differ between the two versions as well.

Page 114, ...as indicated by a figure of 2,000,0001 digits: the final
digit is probably erroneous.

Page 145, ...a statuary fine of $75...: possibly an error for ...a
statutory fine of $75....

Page 158, paragraph starting “Barney” is 43 years old...: there is a
quote mark missing or in excess.

Page 169: 400 WORDS IN ENGLISH...: the words following SNOOT (and the
list itself) are incomplete because they are hidden behind the next
illustration.

Changes made

In some places a line of stars has been inserted where it was lacking
in the source document to clarify the transition from one subject to
the next.

Page 9: (See page 35.) changed to (See page 95.)

Page 72, paragraph starting Bismarck always spoke...: the long words
have been hyphenated and wrapped rather than kept as single words as
they were in the source document.

Page 76: paragraph starting Lepado-temacho-... has been wrapped
rather than kept on a single line.

Page 83: Qu’est ce que ça? changed to Qu’est-ce que ça?

Page 86: ...oesters that grew on trees; crabs that climbs their
branches...fish that wor a coat of mail... changed to ...oysters that
grew on trees; crabs that climb their branches...fish that wore a
coat of mail....

Page 96: ... and the Courrier Medical of France changed to ... and
the Courrier Médical of France.

Page 99: Liu Ch’ung, or Liu Min,... changed to Liu Ch‘ung, or Liu
Min,... as in illustration.

Page 113: CAN YOU CHANGE FIVE DOLLARS! changed to CAN YOU CHANGE FIVE
DOLLARS?

Page 123: closing quote mark inserted after ...that his opinion was
wrong.

Page 132: Gazette Medicale de Paris changed to Gazette Médicale de
Paris.

Page 172: The largest salary every received... changed to The largest
salary ever received....