Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-13
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

"A Philadelphian fed peanuts to the po-
lar bear at the Zoo" and the ungratefui ami
NAL bit one OF his fingers on
Mrs. Leyton, bright young married
woman Of New York, has opened carpenters
shop. She is skillfnl artisan and finds busi-
ness good.
"A man named Grossman, of Chicago, Is
getting rich raising frogs for the market His
"frogging" as he calls 1T, is a pond on one Of
his town lots.
"A Cincinnati physician believes that
rheumatism is caused by bacilli. They origi-
nate in decaying matter and get into the system
rom the atmosphere. Green plants IN living
rooms he pronounced great source Of danger.
The ill luck attached to the number 13
struck little Katie Fehling, Of New York, with
fuli force the other day. She is 13 years old,
and Is one of IL children In the family. At 6lS
guilty.
AT Sylvania, Ga, few days ago Frank
McCrimmon found a turkey nest on which an
old gobbier was sitting. On examination he
found that the nest was filed, not with eggs
difficulty matter to undeceive the gobbler.
1t is Carrying Place Pond, Me-, fish
erman who relates that while he was pulling in
pickerel that he had caught, one day, another
nsh grabbed the pickereps tail. then q third
seized the second ones tail and so on till there
were seven on the string; he landed them all.
VIII Ogden, of Fairfield, Neb., per-
formed remarkable trick last week He laid
cooked gun on the ground, stood of about Is
feet from i, threw common glass ball into
discharged the gun, breaking the BAH befors
it reached the ground.
"A Philadelphian named Humphrey.
who has been enjoying the delights of Bar Har.
Dor, has high appreciation of the honesty Of
the colored servants on board the boats run-
ming down to Boston. Mr.. Humphrey left his
purse, containing s266, under his pillow, and ir
was found Dy servant and forwarded TO him.
William Sondermann, a brick manu-
facturer Of Hastings. Mimi, having noticed
the appearance of gold in q kiln Of brick opened
in his yard on Thursday, had a sample Of the
sand analyzed by st. Paul chemist, with the
resulting discovery Of pay dirt to the value
OF 20 to the ton. The expense of working the
bed is comparatively nothing. and Mr.. Sender.
mann will seek wealth in the sand.
The latest thing in hotel bills of fare is
an edible menu card. You select the dishes
you want, and then while waiting for them You
amuse yourself by leisurely eating mp the bill
OF fare, it acting as an appetizer. It is the
scheme of London confectioner. He makes
thin sheet Of sweetened dough, and after it
has been baked he prints the menu upon IL in
yet, but it will by and BY.
The dried leaves of the coca plant
which is cultivated on the slopes of the Andes,
form an important article Of internal trade
among the various native tribes. 1t is esti-
mated that not less than 30.0O00Oo pounds are
consumed annually After the morning meal
men and women. alike take mouthful Of the
leaves mixed with little lime; fresh leaves are
added throughout the day, and without any
additional food the consumer Is enabled to do
hard days work.
The smartest horse in Rome, Ca, is the
sorrel horse owned by NJ. G. Mcdonald. For
quite a while Mr.. Mcdonald has been going
into the stable and finding the water turned on,
and frequently reprimanded his servant for
leaving the water turned on when he would go
to water the animal. The other day Mr. Nc
Donald CHANGED to peep in and saw the horse
turning the cranA and presently the water was
moving freely. When the trough gets dry
just turns the water on himself.
About one month ago a young man
named Joe Harpster, of st. Louis, was struck
on the back of the head with pair Of brass
knuckles by footpad. knocking him senseless,
and for more than q month he lay unconscious.
A few days ago he suddenly recovered his
senses, but when he did he was able to conyers
intelligently only in the German language He
was born Of American parents. who spoke Ger.
man, and that was the language he first learned.
He gave that up. however, and learned En-
gllsh, using it at all times entirely Forgetting
his German. Now he can remember nothing
OF English. Scientists are wrestling with the
problem.
Twelve years ago, in Tunkhannock
township, Lycoming county, lightning struck
large elm tree and split it evenly to o point
about midway between the lower limbs and the
butt, leaving the branches undisturbed. The
tree was not killed, and the owner let It stand.
The lower part of the split grew together In q
OwxA al. ~fa f11s
each summer as 1t had been before, although it
little later in getting its full leaf than its
neighbors of the same species During terrific
thunder storm late In June of this year, light
ming again struck the elm, split it clear down
to the roots, tore good deal Of the bark of,
and killed il.
Mrs. Bonfeld went to the Baltimore and
Ohio depot of GAINESVILLE to see some friends
off on train. When the train arrived she
laid her baby down in the gentlemens waiting
room and went with friends to the platform.
After the train departed she entered the car
riage and drove away. She made several calls
and never discovered the loss of the baby until
hastily returned to the depot and found the
baby safe and sound in the arms of a hotel
runner: who had discovered it and took care
Of II. During her absence half dozen persons
had attempted TO secure 1t for adoption. She
vas overjoyed at finding 1t and wept freely.
John Reach, of Denison, Tex, was an
BYE witness of terrible battle between large
wood rat and q blacksnake, near the farm Of
Mr.. Ninon. The snake was concealed In the
weeds and attacked the rat which was crossing
he wagon road The reptile grabbed the rat,
which extricated itself and then turned on its
antagonist, biting q piece of the flesh out Of
he neck near the head The snake struck at
he rat, but the rodent evaded the blow by
umping into the air. The reptile, BY a move
nent which Reach described "as quick as
grabbed the rat second time. The
at bit the snake. and then. Reach says, COM
nauced the battle to the death. The snake
md rat were badly mixed up, and the dust few
o that he could not distinguish one of the
ombatants from the other. The struggle
asted about ten minutes, when the rat lay In
he road dead, and the snake was so badly
Wounded that Mr.. Reach killed 1t with stick