Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-19
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


"A very old pear tree is now standing on
the grounds of Mr.. W. II. Smith in Richmond,
Me. Its exact age is not known. but its identity
can be traced back for LOO years IL stll pro-
duces fruit
Mrs. Gill, of Mulberry street, is the
only woman shoemaker in New York She
made pair of shoes before she was IA years
old. and has worked at the eobblers oencn ior
the last ten years.
"A short time ago, a lady, the first OF her
sex, graduated in medicine in Mexico. AS an
appropriate compliment. her fellow-students
OF the other sex got up an amateur bull nght
In honor Of the occasion.
"A Eustis (FIa.) paper tells of pet
alligator that drinks cider, going to the barrel
and turning the faucet himself. He has been
taught to use palm leaf fan, which he han
dies with skill, to keep of the flies
Twenty Baltimore girls who have plenty
of money and are good German and French
summer and to write book Of their advent
ures. There will be 20 chapters, one BY each
girl.
"A Dutchman has started from Amster-
dam for Paris on roller skates on a wager that
he can cover the distance in seven days. Un-
less he is exceptionally fortunate in headers"
he will often cover parts of the distance with
less than thatmany feet.
1t is q curious fact thatthere are 200, 900
people in the United States who have artificial
legs or hands. This number does not include
the veterans of the Union or the Confederate
army: In New York City and vicinity there
are about 900 men and women who have sup
phed me place OF lost limbs with the manu-
factured article.
John Brown, of Long Branch, is q vet
eran fisherman. and last Thursday he donned
bathing suit and sauntered into the surf to
coax out the finny creatures of the sea. His
first bite nearly pulled him of his feet but he
landed his victim. 1t proved to be striped
bass weighing 80 pounds and measuring 3 feet 8
inches in length.
"A Congo warriors outfit, which has
just been received by the Smithsonian Institu-
ton at Washington from Lieutenant Taunt,
United States commercial agent in the Congo
State, consists of q bamboo shield six feet long
and one wide, a spear four feet long. kuife
that looks like pfEning knife. and bow with
bamboo strings and two iron-tipped arrows.
I'm Meadyille couple of days since q
young man allied on Court Clerk Gaskill for a
marriage license. On giving the lady's age as
20 he was told her parents consent was neces-
sary. He meditated, and concluded: "Just let
it go few days. I've got another girl that
like pretty well, and think she's Of age.
1 may change my mind; I'll see you again any
-1ucrc - u new luuuStLT db 1EcQLOQ, ".
j.; the making of dynamite guns. Six of these
guns are now being constructed by the New
Jersey Steel and Iron Company. The guns are
to be 80 feet long, IL inches in diameter, and
will be made in three sections. They will be
constructed Of cast steel plates, bolted securely
togetner Inc guns are to be completed by
January next.
1t j. said that the common cowcatcher
attachment to locomotives Is about the only
article Of universal use that was never
patented. Its inventor was d. B. Davies, of
Columbus, who found his model IN the plow.
Red lights on the rear car of trains. it is fur
ther said, were adopted at the suggestion of
the late Mrs. Swisshelm, after q railway acci-
dent IN which she had narrow escape.
An anti-sewing machine guild has been
formed by the Chinese tailors of Hong Kong.
A Chinaman who had joined "the party of pro-
gress" and had been using the sewing machine,
was recently waited upon by deputation from
the guild, and requested to pay to its members
30 taels as compensation for using the foreign
devil" He refused and was instantly assailed.
The police saved bis life. but he is not quite SO
eager now to use the sewing machine.
There was grand stampede Of passen-
gers from the restaurant in the station of the
Central Railroad, of New Jersey, at Communi-
paw, the other day. A negro waiter saw a rat
tlesnake gliding under the seats, and gave the
snake was as much frightened as the darkey
was. Two men cornered the reptile, and held
it with their canes. 1t was Il inches long, and
was secured alive. 1t was put in a glass jar
and taken away as curiosity.
1t is proposed by the Chickamauga
Memorial Association that the ground on which
the celebrated battle of Chickamauga was
fought be bought by the Association and CON-
verted for all time into National. park. ThH
project VIII be pushed at the annual reunion
of the Army Of the Cumberland. when it is hed
rfa an nHNar ID
being made to secure the attendance at this
reunion of members of the Confederate Army
who fought IN the battle of Chickamauga.
Conductor McLinn was riding as pass
enger on a train to Harrisburg a day or two
since. At Mount Alto Junction colored camp
meeting excursion was waiting on side track,
and Just as the train passed on there was .
bang and shower of falling glass. Instantly
the supposed coIored culprit lynched. McLinu
allayed It by confessing that the glass was so
clear that he thought the window was open and
thrust his head through the panes. To escape
guying he finished his trip on the platform.
The Swedes of the United States are
making preparations to celebrate the thirtieth
anniversary of the landing of the first of their
who came to this country. The
actual date of the landing is not known. A set
tlement Of Swedes was made in Delaware 252
years ago on land bought from William Penn,
the early coming of the Swedes to this country,
but it is known that an expedition set out from
Sweden nearly half century before andlanded
on these shores. 1t was about 800 years ago, and
the Swedes have concluded to call it 300 years,
and make September IA Swedish Day. There
will be celebrations all over the country.
"A gentleman, accompanied BY his wife,
called the other day at Portland, Me-, ticket
office and asked for ticket to his home, which
he stated was Fort Vermillion. He was not
surprised when told thar the office did not have
such ticket. and contented himself with a
ticket to Montreal, remarking, incidentally,
that he hardly expected to be ticketed through,
since his home is ]. 200 miles from any railroad
station. Such remarkable distance from n
railroad in these days Of quick transportation
was surprising, nor was his next statement any
less so. 1t is 700 miles from his home to post
office. A newspaper published not more than
two months before is great rarity in that far
away Northern home.
FUNNY MEMS FANCIEs.