Desert Messenger

Page 22 Today in History, June 13th LaMarcus Thompson's Switchback Railway, an early roller coaster, opened on Coney Island in 1884. Thompson's Switchback Railway at Coney Island is generally consid- ered the first roller coaster in the U.S. In January of 1885, Thomp- son received U.S. Patent #310,966 for the "roller coasting structure" that he had built at Coney Island the previous year for only $1,600. A far cry from Six Flags' 1997 Su- perman The Escape, which cost $20 million to build and reaches speeds up to 100 miles per hour, the Switchback Railway was sim- ply a pair of "hills" on two wooden tracks. The train raced down the 600-foot track until it lost momen- tum. Passengers then got out and re-boarded after attendants pushed the train to the top of the hill on the second track. The popular ride cost passengers 10 cents and earned an average of $600 to $700 per day.. http://thinkfinity.org www.DesertMessenger.com Strange but True By Samantha Weaver It was Canadian educator Laurence J. Peter who made the following sage observation: "An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it." You might (or then again, you might not) be surprised to learn that in this country, the most popular meal, for both lunch and dinner, is a sand- wich. And the beverage to go along with that meal is more than likely going to be a soda. If you're like the average home-own- ing American, you can paint the entire exterior of your house with 30 gallons of paint. If you're the president, though, it takes quite a bit more: The White House requires 570 gallons to cover it. You've probably been to a restau- rant with a dessert called Death by Chocolate, but the real-life event is less appetizing. A worker in New Jer- sey recently fell into a vat of boiling chocolate and perished before co- workers were able to pull him out. It seems that Japan has a vending machine for just about anything you can think of -- even fresh eggs. Here's how it works: The machine has about 10 doors, behind each of which is a mesh bag full of eggs. You drop in coins totaling about $2 to unlock one of the doors. Simply open the door, pull out your eggs and be on your merry way! The town of Waco, Texas, has an en- tire museum dedicated to the popular soda Dr Pepper. Even more surpris- ing is the fact that it gets more than a hundred visitors a day, on average. Thought for the Day: "There are two types of people -- those who come into a room and say, 'Well, here I am!' and those who come in and say, 'Ah, there you are.'" -- Frederick L. Collins (c) 2009 King Features Synd., Inc. June 13, 2012 Don't keep your heap! The economy is showing signs of recovery even with the rising cost of gas. Many people who held on to their car during the recession are now looking to replace it with a more fuel efficient one. If you are one of those people, you have to figure out what to do with your car. If your vehicle does not get good gas mileage, has a lot of miles, is more than 5 years old or is not in good condition, the dealership won't offer you much for it as a trade in. They won't want it because there is no demand for it. It will be difficult to sell it privately for the same reason. One alternative is to sell it for a couple of hundred dollars to a junk yard. A better alternative is to donate your car to charity. Cars4Charities will gladly take your old car, no matter what shape it is in. In return for your generosity, you will get a tax deduction of $500 or more. They have hundreds of charities that can be helped by your car donation. For details, please go to http://www.cars4charities.org/ or call 866.448.3487. NOTICE to Advertisers: Please check your ad(s). Errors/corrections must be submitted before deadline, to be published in the next avail- able edition of the Desert Messenger. DEADLINES are printed - in multiple locations - in EVERY issue of the Desert Messenger! For rates and deadlines visit www.DesertMessenger.com PUZZLE PAGE ANSWERS (from page 20) of the Desert Messenger Email: desertmessenger7@yahoo.com DEADLINE is WED. July 11 for July 18th issue Phone: 541-218-2560 www.DesertMessenger.com

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