MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND FIGURES. 



609 



suction into the heart of the whirlpool, as leg- 

 ends have supposed, but of being dashed to 

 pieces against the rocks. 



Lucky Horseshoe. Most of the houses 

 in the West End of London were protected 

 against witches and evil spirits in the seven- 

 teenth century, says John Aubrey, the English 

 antiquary, by having horseshoes fastened to 

 them in various ways. It was the belief that 

 then no witch or evil genius could cross the 

 threshold which was protected by the shoe. 

 The custom of nailing horseshoes, for luck, to 

 all kinds of sailing craft is still, to a certain 

 extent, in vogue, and we all know how fortunate 

 it is considered for anyone to find a horse- 

 shoe, the good luck being increased by the num- 

 ber of nails that are attached to the shoe when 

 it is picked up. This superstition can be traced 

 back to about the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, and then we find it lost in the ob- 

 scurity of the ages. 



Godiva, Lady, the wife of Leofric, Earl 

 of Mercia and Lord of Coventry. About 1040 

 the earl imposed certain onerous services and 

 heavy exactions upon the inhabitants of Cov- 

 entry, who, in consequence, loudly complained. 

 Lady Godiva, having the welfare of the town 

 at heart, eagerly besought her husband to give 

 them relief ; and he, in order to escape from 

 her importunities, said he Would grant the 

 favor, but only on condition that she would 

 ride naked through the town. Greatly to her 

 husband's surprise she agreed to the conditions ; 

 and on a certain day, after having ordered all 

 the inhabitants to remain within doors and be- 

 hind closed blinds, she rode through the town 

 clothed only by her long hair. This circum- 

 stance was commemorated by a stained glass 

 window, mentioned in 1690, in St. Michael's 

 Church, Coventry ; and the legend that an un- 

 fortunate tailor, the only mai who looked out 

 of a window, was struck blind, has also found 

 commemoration in an ancient effigy of " Peep- 

 ing Tom of Coventry," still to be seen in a 

 niche of one of the buildings. For many years 

 occasional representations were given of the 

 ride of Lady Godiva, the character being taken 

 by some beautiful woman, clothed, however, in 

 considerable more than her hair, and attended 

 by other historical and emblematic personages. 

 The ceremony has now fallen into disrepute. 



Molly Maguires The first organiza- 

 tion of this name was formed in Ireland, with 

 the object, it is believed, of generally misusing 

 process-servers and others engaged in the prose- 

 cution and eviction of tenants, and was com- 

 posed of young men who, in some localities, 

 assumed women's clothing, blackened their 

 faces, and otherwise disguised themselves. It 

 remained, however, for the American " Mol- 



lies " to terrorize whole counties, and leave a 

 blood-red trail behind them in the coal regions 

 of Pennsylvania. To give even a record of the 

 murders and outrages they committed would 

 require an entire volume ; but they were num- 

 bered by hundreds, and the unfortunate vic- 

 tims were, in most cases, well known and re- 

 spected men. The American organization was 

 composed of the restless and reckless element 

 drawn to the coal regions through the opening 

 of the coal fields. There is no recorded in- 

 stance where the disguise of women's clothes 

 was assumed in the United States. Through 

 the efforts of James McParlan, a detective, the 

 secrets of the order were finally revealed, and 

 many of its members were brought to justice. 



Natural Storm Signals. A continuous 

 south wind in most localities will in a few 

 days cause rain, because being warm, dense, 

 and charged with moisture, it is rarefied and 

 cooled by the atmosphere of more northern or 

 elevated sections, and thus its capability of sus- 

 taining moisture is lessened. On the other 

 hand, a continuous north wind dispels all rain 

 signs for the time being. Flaky clouds, or 

 low-running ones, from any direction but the 

 north, denote rain or snow. Salmon, leaden, or 

 silvery colored clouds denote falling weather ; 

 bright red, clear. When the sunset is followed 

 by bright lances or streaks of light of various 

 hues radiating from the point where the sun 

 disappeared, continuing across the heavens and 

 converging to a common point in the opposite 

 horizon, there exists a storm-cloud in line 

 with the sun, though, it may be so distant as to 

 be for a while entirely hidden from view by 

 the rotundity of the earth. If the rays of 

 light are evenly divided north and south of 

 the line between the observer and the radiat- 

 ing point, and continue so until they have 

 faded out, the cloud is approaching. When 

 ' ' heat-lightning ' ' is visible there is a storm- 

 cloud in the same direction, though it may 

 not be seen nor thunder be heard. When the 

 lightning is continuous and very brilliant 

 the storm is a violent one, though the track of 

 the destructive elements may be from 100 to 

 200 miles away. 



Great Bells. In the manufacture of 

 great bells Russia has always taken the lead. 

 The " Giant," which was cast in Moscow in 

 the sixteenth century, weighed 288,000 pounds, 

 and it required twenty-four men to ring it. It 

 was broken by falling from its support, but 

 was recast in 1654. On June 19, 1706, it 

 again fell, and in 1732 the fragments were 

 used, with new materials, in casting the "King 

 of Bells," still to be seen in Moscow. This 

 bell is nineteen feet, three inches high, meas- 

 ures around the margin sixty feet, nine inches, 



