Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-15
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

While examining bunch Of bananas,
Boston dealer found snake two feet long
concealed under the fruit.
"A peddler, given q nights lodging this
week in Cleveland police station. said he was
~ years Old and that he had walked all me
way from Wiliamsport Pa
"A Moorish gentleman rides at his
friends at gallop, shoots his pistol and fancies
tnat ne has done everything In the line Of
courtesy which can be expected Of him.
! Prof. Paul Wiegert distinguished
German, figures that y cents worth Of food VII
5p keep 2 a. strong To man in good form from day 70
out underwear or overcoats.
joaquin Miller, who gave to the ineip-
/ lent State of Idaho It's name SAYS that IL il
written ana spelled improperly. The correct
| form is Idahho, with the accent on the middle
syllable. The name means the light on the
mountains.
"A steer which seems destined TO a circus
| life Is exhibited at Pimlico, Nd. It Is years
old. IA feet in length, II hands high. and weighs
1000 pounds. Notcontent with being curiosity
as TO height the steer has added the feature Of
double joints In mis- legs.
The Emperor Of Germany recently sent
specimen rifle to the Emperor OF Austria, the
barrel Of which does not grow hot After 100
snots mad been fred the barrel was merely
warm The s'magaziner Of this rifle is In the
STOCK, and the load" consists Of 20 cartriges.
- ~ Can Ds @ reloaded in fve seconds and can dis
charge 20 shots minute.
-The following notice is posted in q con-
spicuous place in the Cedar Springs Mich.
postofiiee: "Burchs NH Aug. the z9-s9. notis il
given that A II. Nicholson at burchs Mn hasa
| yoak Of oxen years old to sell first cIas COW
| OF which he will sell for cash Down. the above
stock is orderly the COW comes at cawling as far
stock at burchs mill"
According to decree published by the
Minister Of Education no clergyman can In
Italy be an inspector or director Of q school.
This Is based upon recent law TO the effect
that the local control Of schools should be in
the hands Of heads Of families, who would
naturally take deep interest in their welfare.
OF course, the leading object is to cut the
schools loose from clerical oversight and inhu-
ence.
AN instance Of close figuring has come
tolight In an American city. A woman wanted
some peas for dinner, ahd, coming down town
in the afternoon, learned that Ehey were Is
cents half peck. After considerable argu-
ment she succeeded In getting two quarts for
half peck, she came down town and got the
other two quarts at the same price She saved
] cent. --,i
"A remarkable orchid is exhibited in
Baltimore florists window. The plant is Is
inches square. Pendant from It are 50 blooms,
each bloom three to four inches across, and Of
golden yellow, shading on to cream The
scent Is not agreeable in which respect It re-
sembles the giant lily recently shown In Lon
don. Another curious characteristic It pos
sesses Is that for six months of the year if re-
quires no water whatever, and its bloom de-
pends upon its being kept perfectly dry for
this period.
The firm of Ansaldo Bambini, In Sam
pierdaren, Italy, have recently completed the
colossal engine and boilers intended for the
Italian ironclad Stella. The engine Is con-
structed to work up to Is, 500 horsepower. and
1t is the most powerful hitherto constructed in
Italy. 1t is constructed on the compound prin-
ciple, with eight cylinders and four surface
condensers. II drives two four-armed screws,
which have diameter Of six meters. The
weight of the boilers is 500 tons, and the total
weight of the engine and boilers Is .740 tons.
The town of Szegedin, in Hungary, is
threatened by another catastrophe. Its princi-
pal embankment, erected after the disastrous
floods Of 1873 at cost of 100000 forms, has
collapsed, and is found to require entire recon-
struction. 1t appears that the dam rests on
marshy ground and has no proper foundation.
This failure will bring much severe criticism
held responsible for the bad engineering as
the works were executed under the control Of
Count Ludwig Tisza. the brother Of the Prime
Minister.
sold Jack Phipps, who died lately in
Fairfield, Conn.,, was known as the modern
Pied Piper Of Hamelin. He made a living by
ridding houses of rats. and with his ferrets In
q box in one hand and several nets In the
other he was often seen on the streets optbig
city. After leaving here he went to New York
and then to Connecticut His illness began two
months ago, and all during it his faithful little
ferrets were almost inconsolable. His death
seemed to break their hearts. They would not
eat or drink, and early the other morning one
of them, Nellie" quietly breathed her last
A few hours later her brother. Ted" went to
join her in the fsrrets hereafter.
The problem of the battle of life" has
lust been solved in most extraordinary man
ner by three danes of certain age-sisters to
all appearance, and comfortably endowed with
this worlds goods-who resided in pleasant
villa at LIE Vesinet. For some reason hitherto
unexplained they were weary Of existence and
they determined to die together. The three
with perfect arsenal of revolvers, set fire to
their house on Monday morning. They shen.m
the most methOdical manner, bade each other
a last farewell, and turned their weapons
against themselves. In two cases the shots
were fred with fatal effect, two of the sisters
third inflicted severe injuries on herself, but
hopes of her recovery are entertained Some
perceiving smoke issuing from the
villa, ran in and found the TWO corpses, while
floor. The inhabitants seem utterly at loss to
account for this extraordinary tragedy, which
has naturally caused intense excitement in the
The whole thing was manifestly
planned with deliberation, care being taken to
kill horse and dog, both old favorites.