MISCELLANEOUS FACTS AND FIGURES. 



837 



two o'clock A. M., and from two o'clock A. M, 

 to sunrise. After the establishment of the 

 Roman supremacy the number of the watches 

 was increased to four, which were described 

 either according to their numerical order, as in 

 the case of the "fourth watch " (Matthew xiv, 

 25), or by the terms "even," "midnight," 

 " cockcrowing, " and " morning " (Mark xiii, 

 35). These terminated, respectively, at nine 

 o'clock P. M., midnight, three o'clock A. M., 

 and six o'clock A. M. 



Walkyries. The name " Walkyries " is 

 derived from the old Norse val, which signifies 

 a heap of slaughtered men, and kjora, to 

 choose. In the Scandinavian mythology the 

 Walkyries, also called battle-maidens, shield- 

 maidens, and wish-maidens, are beautiful 

 young women, who, adorned with golden orna- 

 ments, ride through the air in brilliant armor, 

 order battles and distribute the death-lots ac- 

 cording to Odin's command. Fertilizing dew- 

 drops on the ground from the manes of their 

 hcrses, light streams from the points of their 

 lances, and a flickering brightness announce 

 their arrival in the, battle. They rejoice the 

 glazing eye of the hei'o with their charming 

 glances, and lead him to Walhalla, where they 

 act as his cup-bearers. Some of the Walky- 

 ries spring from elves and other superhuman 

 beings ; some, also, are the daughters of 

 princes. They ride generally in companies of 

 three, or of three times three, or four times 

 three, and have the gift of changing them- 

 selves into swans. Whoever deprives a Walky- 

 rie of her swan-robe gets her into his power. 



Mourning 1 Customs. From the earliest 

 times the manner of expressing grief at death 

 has differed in different countries. The He- 

 brew period of mourning was usually seven 

 days ; but in some instances, as at the death 

 of Moses and Aaron, it was extended to thirty 

 days. The mourners tore their clothing, cut 

 off the hair and beard, strewed ashes on their 

 heads, and cast themselves on the ground, 

 weeping and smiting their breasts. The Greeks 

 mourned thirty days, except in Sparta, where 

 the mourning period was limited to ten days, and 

 wore coarse black garments, cut off their hair, 

 and secluded themselves from the public gaze. 

 In the event of the death of a great general, 

 the whole army cut off their hair, and also the 

 manes of their horses. The Roman mourning 

 period lasted only a few days ; but if the death 

 was that of some great ruler or general, all 

 business was stopped, and the forum and the 

 schools were closed. Among the Fiji Island- 

 ers the women are required to burn their 

 bodies on the death of a chief, and in the 

 Sandwich Islands the people go into mourning 

 by knocking out the front teeth and by paint- 



ing the lower part of the face black. The 

 mourning color among the Romans under the 

 republic was black or dark blue for both sexes, 

 but during the empire the women wore white. 

 In Europe and America the color is black ; in 

 Turkey, it is violet ; in China, white ; in Egypt, 

 yellow ; in Ethiopia, brown. It is customary 

 for the courts in all European countries to go 

 into mourning on the occasion of the death of 

 a member of a royal family. The custom of 

 draping buildings on the death of a great man 

 or a hero of national reputation has always 

 prevailed in the United States. 



Natural Gas. The earliest use of natu- 

 ral gas of which there is any record is in 

 China, where for centuries it has been con- 

 veyed from fissures in salt-mines to the surface 

 through hollow bamboos and used for burning 

 purposes. There are also places in Asia, near 

 the Caspian Sea, where it is seen to issue from 

 the earth, and a similar phenomenon is to be 

 seen in the Szalatna salt-mine in Hungary. 

 The first discovery of natural gas made in 

 America was in the neighborhood of Fredonia, 

 Chautauqua County, New York, early in this 

 century. In 1821 a small well was bored in 

 the village and the gas was conducted through 

 pipes to the houses and used for illuminating 

 purposes, and, on the occasion of Lafayette's 

 visit in 1824, it is said that the village was 

 illuminated with this gas. Although this dis- 

 covery was widely known it did not lead to 

 any further experiments, either in the neighbor- 

 hood or in other places, till fully twenty years 

 after. In the early part of the present century 

 it was found that the wells which were bored 

 for salt in the Kanawha Valley yielded large 

 quantities of gas, but it was not utilized as 

 fuel until 1841. In 1865, a well which was 

 sunk for petroleum at West Bloomfield, New 

 York, struck a flow of natural gas. An effort 

 was made to utilize this, and it was carried in 

 a wooden main to the city of Rochester, a dis- 

 tance of twenty-four miles, in 1870, for the 

 purpose of illuminating the city, but the ex- 

 periment was a failure. In 1873, a well in 

 Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, was so ar-- 

 ranged that the gas could be separated from 

 the water with which it was discharged, and 

 conveyed through pipes to several mills in 

 that vicinity, where it was extensively used for 

 manufacturing purposes for the first time. 

 From that date to the present day the use of 

 natural gas, both for fuel and illuminating, has 

 increased very rapidly, it having been discov- 

 ered in other parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and 

 Indiana. 



Associated Press was organized about 

 thirty years ago by the following New York 

 city papers : Herald, Tribune, World, Times. 



