Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-16
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

Daniel Potter and his wife, of Salem,
Mass, celebrated the sixty-ffth anniversary Of
their marriage recently.
Under the head of 'sNet Gains" st.
Louis paper contains the following: Joy
Faatz, Of Cleveland, lost his wife the other
day"
"A man at 'Walla Walla, W. T., eats an
egg for each year of his life on every birthday.
He was recently a, and ate that number Of eggs
on that day.
The regulation step in European armies
is longest in the German army and shortest in
the Russian. The Belgian march Is the slowest
lilo steps to the minute.
1t is claimed that there are 5000 tailors
in and near Boston out of work, because, as al
legged, the local clothing manufacturers send
ther goods to New York City to be made up By
the cheap labor of the tenement house dis
tricts.
Enterprise, even though it be of fune-
real kind, is always appreciated in the West.
And so there is not little subdued rejoicing
among the live citizens of Chardon, Neh.,
because that town can now support hearse,
Inc nrst funeral at which the vehicle was used
occurred few days ago.
According to a financial contemporary
the Russian Government has accepted the
proposition made by a company, recently
formed in st. Petersburg for the construction
OF a canal to connect the Black Sea with the
Sea OF Azof. The canal will be Ill versts long,
and Will afford passage to steamers drawing
not more than ID feet.
"A leading clergyman of Louisville was
suddenly called away. .and substitute preached
to his congregation. The substitute had no
sermon ready, and he used one of the regular
minister's manuscripts. The tracings on the
margin kept him smiling all through deep
and serious discourse, much to the wonder Of
'bite lib bitterly" 'extreme agitation" "pious
smile and loud, ringing voice."
Several practical jokers in Bridgeport,
Conn.,, finding friend had gone of and left
his store door unlocked, went inside and began
turning the place upside down." When they
had had fun enough, they started out only to
nnd policeman at the door. who, with .
loaded revolver, ordered them back. They
could not convince him that they were not
burglars until a messenger had brought the
storekeeper to identify them and authorize
their release.
The Surrogate of Suffolk county, New
York, has admitted to probate a rather novel
will, that of Richard L. Peters, of Southold,
L. L 1t directs the investment Of a sum Of
money, the income of which shall be used in
keeping the grave of the deceased covered with
growing flowers. Another request is that
sum be invested at compound interest for 100
years. The principal and interest," at the ex-
piration OF the time are to be used to erect
monument and celebrate the centennial of his
death.
"A Georgia physician writes to an At
lanta paper that the solution used in the hand
grenades now offered so extensively for sale Is
easily and cheaply made by taking 20 pounds
OF common salt, 10 pounds of sal ammoniac
(muriate of ammonia, to be had Of any drug
g1st), and dissolving in seven gallons of water.
When dissolved it can be bottled and kept in
each room in the house. In case of fire one
or two bottles should be thrown with force into
the burning place, hard enough to break them,
and the fire will certainly be extinguished.
in April, 1868, Fred H. Woolworth, of
Waterbury, aged .. disappeared Nothing
was heard or him, and it was supposed he had
committed suicide or had been fouIly dealt
with, and large sum of money was expended
in trying to find his body. few days ago
Woolworth's friends received letter post
marked Australia, and. on opening it, discov-
cred that it was from Fred. He said that since
leaving Waterbury he had led somewhat adj
venturesome life He went to Australia,
where, few years ago, he purchased a gold
mine, supposed to be worthless for SIS and
day or two later discovered gold sufficient to
make him rich,
Prof. Baker, of the Illinois University,
writes of the sustaining strength of brick
work, "by actual experiments in a testing ma
chine, the average strength, from Is expert
ments, of piers laid in ordinary brick and COM
mon lime mortar, using the same care as that
with which ordinary brick masonry is built,
stood few pounds Il am writing from mem.
ory) over l,5O0 pounds per square inch, which
Is equal to 2laOOO pounds per square foot, or
the weight OF a column of brick z, 900 feet high;
with ordinary Portland cement mortar the
strength was, for mean of eight experiments,
200 @ and some odd pounds per square inch,
foot, or the weight of a column of brick ma
sonry $500 feet high"
The Oldest pieces of wrought iron now
known are probably the sickle blade found by
B5lzoni under the base of a sphinx in Karnac
near Thebes; the blade found by Colonel Vyse,
in the masonry of the great pyra-
mids: the portion of crosscut saw exhumed
at Nimrod. by Mr.. Layard-all of which are
now in the British Museum. A wrought bar Of
Damascus steel was presented by King Porus
to Alexander the Great, and the razor steel Of
Bhina for many centuries has surpassed all Eu-
ropean steel in temper and durability of edge.
The Hindoos appear to have made wrought
iron directly from the ore, without passing it
through the furnace, from time immemorial,
and elaborately wrought masses of iron are
still round in India, which date from the early
centuries of the Christian era.
1t is told in Boston that a party Of
Harvard students, anxious TO get even with the
Boston police for some undoubtedly good
reason, bought barber's pole. got a receipt.
and started through their property. OF course
they were soon stopped by a policeman.
Hello, there, what yer doin' 18th that poleT'
That's our business" "Oh, is it? Well, you
along 18th me-" SO he marched them TO the
police station. whats the trouble oficer?''
asked the Sergeant. "Stealin a barber's pole"
Then the policeman gave a detailed account Of
the crime and the arrest of the criminals, who
were about to be sent to their dungeon cells
when one of them handed the Sergeant the re-
ceipt. "Oficer, you may return to your beat"
said the Sergeant, and the students fled out,
bearing the pole proudly Two blocks away
another policeman stopped them. Then fol-
lowed the same dialogue. another arrest and
the same scene at the station. And so it went
on until the young men had been arrested six
times. They might have been arrested IL times
had not general notice been sent out to the
police not to molest the party Of young men
parading about Boston bearing barber's pole,