Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-03
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

The wheelmen of England number
100000
-Blakely, Ca, hasan old cclored woman
who is l2o years old.
"A Glascock county, Georgia, negro. ON
hoeing his corn for the fourth time, turned mp
$40 gold piece with the soil.
There are three brothers in Terrell
county, Georgia, whose aggregate height il ID
feet. They weigh 800 pounds.
Mrs. II. Hoffman, of Alloway, Salem
county, N. j., set D trap to catch a rat, but IN
stead she caught a big rattlesnake.
1t is against the city ordinance in Cas-
tile, N. Y. for donkey to appear on the
streets unless accompanied by man.
Big sheets of cork little less than q
half inch thick are now sold TO be used to
stand upon on stepping from the bathtub.
A woman who was arrested for shop
lifting in New York the other day had on Q
double petticoat with pocket large enough
to hold the contents of small dry goods store.
The following advertisement recently
appeared in q Western paper: "A middle
aged woman who is capable, honest and indus
trious, but as homely as a stone fence, wants
work"
The people down i'm Georgia seem to be
too lazy to pick up money when it is placed at
their feet. A drive of two miles in any direc-
ton from Atlanta will show one hundreds OF
dollars in blackberries drying up on the bushes.
North carolina realizes more than a million
dollars annually from her crop of dried black
berries
The assessed valuation on real estate in
New York in 1889 is 81 33 57S 2sI against 81 3O2.
slSS79 in 1888. showing an increase in real es-
tate assessed valuation alone of s29 53l 45S Just
think of il, nearly $50, OOOOO0 of an increase in
one year. The assessed valuation of personal
estate 1888 was $3.50, 623 552 In '89 it amounts
to 2260.822, an increase of 81, ,637, go. The
is So, ,sS6, $50. -O' -
The other day in Nashville an old coli
ored man wandered through the streets carry
ing under his arm a small coffin. in which was
the body of his infant child. He had scraped
together enough money to buy the coffin. and
with it under his arm bad trudged out to q
suburban cemetery. which refused to allow the
interment because he could not pay for the
grave. so he came back with his gruesome
burden to beg enough money to pay for
grave.
The other afternoon during the thunder
storm bolt Of lightning struck the kitchen Of
8. y. Waterhouse, near Orlando, Fla, and de-
molished q leg of the table at which Mrs.
Waterhouse was sitting and leaning upon, but
strange to say she was only slightly shocked.
Two negro girls, who were in the kitchen, also
escaped without injury. The bolt then went
across the open hallway and into the dwelling.
ran across the baseboards, tearing pieces Of the
building of and scattering 1t in divers direc-
tions and lnjuring the framework.
"A gentleman who has tried it, vouches
for this story: Taking gallon jug of whisky.
he passed cord through its cork, which cord
dropped to the bottom of the jug. The twine
was then introduced into a watermelon vine,
by Sitting the vine and the vine permitted to
produce only two melons. When the melons
were matured they were served at a private
barbecue to six gentlemen. The effect was as
tonshing. The gallon of whisky got in its
work. Not drop Of the liquor remained in
the Jug when the melons were ripe.
Statistics show that in the State of
Name women are engaged in over so different
employments, ranging from cotton and other
manufactures to the professions. By far the
greatest number are employed in manufacture
ing, there being about 1000 thus employed. The
average weekly salary is IS. and one maker Of
portraits in crayon gets SIG. One woman is the
owns an extensive orchard; there are dozen
regularly indorsed physicians in practice, and
several ministers. all Universalists.
There is young man working in an Of
fee in Atlanta, Ga, who once had a coffin
bought for him. During the war, when very
young, he was thought to De dying. A friend
OF the family passed his fathers house on his
way to the nearest place where caskets were
made, and, by request, ordered one for the
child. The lads mother, however refused to
allOW IL TO enLeT Qer 0OuSo-an0 the SuggeSt1Ve-
ly shaped box remained on the fence posts for
hours. The boy declined to die and week
later the coffin was buried without any corpse
in IL.
Thursday morning an interesting fight
between q cat and a rat, at a stable in Ameri-
Gus, Ga, was witnessed by a number of gentle-
men present 1t the time. The cat was large
one, and had been watching the rat-hole for
some time. Finally the rat came out which
was large one. The cat waited until IL was
clear of the hole and then pounced down upon
it. The fur flew for a minute or two. First the
cat on top then the rat. On the third round
the cat gave it up and ran of, when the rat
walked leisurely to his home with his fur all
turned the wrong way. The cat was clearly
whipped and cannot be induced to go near that
hole any more.
Here is an illustration of the wonderful
intelligence of some dogs. The dogs owner
and he were in the reading room of hotel in
Scranton, Pa, one day when the dog strobe in
and lay down on the carpet 81 won't mention
his name or make any notions" said the land
lord to his boarder, referring to his dog, "but
I'll say something to you in an ordinary zone
and see IL he will notice it." Then the landlord
added: II think his place is behind the desk
in front Of the safe instead of in this rovm."
The dog seemed to pay no attention to what
had been said, but he got up right away, walked
slowly through the long hall, pushed the gate
open back of the desk and lay down in front Of
the safe.