Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-01-18
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

an almanac 20 years old.
| Chicago last week had her first touch
this season of real winter weather.
-Pansy blossoms were gathered in the
Catskills, near Margaretville, N. Y, Sunday.
Fourteen persons were pronounced IN
| sane at Bellevue Hospital New York, Mon
day.
High license has cut down the number
of saloons in st. Paul from 762 to SGl, exactly
one-half in one year.
| The paupers of London Exclusive OF
inmates in asylums and yagrants) numbered
lOO,U ,U6 about ten days ago.
! They do not beat spears into pruning
hooks up at Troy; but the gun foundry up there
has taken contract to build Trought-iron
railroad bridge.
| An infant in Cincinnati while being
tossed into the air ran its fngeri rintoits fathers
| eye, and it is feared the sight has been de-
stroyed. The nail pierced the ball
| AN English joker took down the ealen-
dar in business Office and hung up one two
years old. Dates for important papers were
| taken from it, and loss of $4,000 was the re-
| suit.
"A rocking stone in New Marlborough,
Mass, is so nicely balanced that, notwith-
standing it weighs many tons, the pressure Of
single finger is sufficient to move it about an
inch.
The women of Bridgeton, N. j., are
taking advantage of the prevailing 'White
| Cap craze in peculiar way. case is re-
ported where one of them wrote her husband
a letter IN order to keep him in at nights. 1t
proved efectual
"A cat crawled into the muzzle of
cannon in the British barracks at Cape Colony
a short time ago. When the evening salute
W fTa1 ha yVa thrOwD n distance of 200 feet
but, strange to say, lived for two hours alter
her involuntary flight
Virginia keeps ahead of the rest of the
country in panther stories nowadays. The
latest narrative deals with a 12-foot beast,
who boarded moving freight train, carried OF
lantern and a box of tools from the tender,
and went rattling up the mountain, making
music for miles around.
George Hodges, of Brunswick, Ga,
has secured two stuffed fish that are natural
curios1ties, the one porcupine and the other
a pincushlon fish. The former is covered with
sharp thorns resembling porcupine quills. The
latter is something of the shape and appear
ance of a duck, the mouth being something of
bill and the fms something like wings. 1t is
covered over thick with little fine needle
points.
Oranges are now being moved from
Florida in bulk, the same as potatoes. They
are piled about three feet high. and paper is
run around the sides of the car, while the floor
is covered with fine marsh grass. Numerous
carloads of the fruit thus packed have reached
Baltimore. Several varieties came in a car,
partitions of thin board being put up. The last
car to Baltimore contained AZ 600 oranges and
had been SIX days making the trip. The freight
on the car was Sl55
-"WHIsCo B. LINE, an aged hermit,
died in Massachusetts, the other day. His right
name was Jonathan Reynolds. and his place Of
abode was hole in the ground, over which was
constructed a rough board covering. Here,
with his horse and dog he has lived, doing any
thing for living. Access to his bedroom was
by steps down in one corner of the cellar, and
his bed was on poles. No one visited him, and
he troubled no one, except on business. He
thought much of his dumb companions and
often told of sleeping beside his horse if too
cold in his bed.
"A Louisiana paper tells story of a
bear. a negro and locomotive which reads like
a fable and may be one. The negro undertook
to drive the bear out of his turnip patch. The
bear, however, drove the negro out and pursued
him up the railroad track. The negro stepped
aside to let an express train pass; the bear
grappled with the locomotive with the usualre-
suits, and the negro skinned the fragments Of
the bear and took the meat home to supper. All
this happened near Bayou Goula. The fable
teaches that cool head is rather to be pre-
ferred than great riches when you are between
an express train and pursuing bear.
"A commotion was caused during serv-
ices in st. Paul's Cathedral, at Albany on
recent Sunday morning, by a large Maltese
cat which had, unknown to the organist taken
up home in the large pipe organ. The animal
leaped from the organ. and. after fastening its
claws in a member of the choir, ran down
side aisle, and on an attempt being made to
catch it, the cat turned into tie main aisle and
made straight for the clergyman, who lost his
place in the prayer as he caught sight of the
wild-eyed cat rapidly approaching. The cat
did not pause, but rushed between the feet OF
the excited chorus boys. and few seconds
later was back in its old quarters in the organ.
"A man who was condemned to death
for murder a short time ago, and is at present
confined in the prison Of Ratibor, is being fed
by force twice every "a hours. Four days ago
he began to refuse all nourishment. The
means employed to feed him are as follows: In
presence of the prison doctor a screw is with
great difficulty driven between his teeth, and
his mouth is kept open by small wooden
wedges. An india rubber tube is then put
down his throat, and he is made to take a suf-
ficient quantity of milk Cruel to keep him
alive. He resists the operation-during which
he has to be bound hand and foot-Sturdily.
For months past crows, to the number
of from 1000 900 to 5000 900, have swarmed in
the eastern end Of Douglass county, Illinois,
feeding in the fields in daytimsand collecting
at night. About dusk these birds gather in
from the surrounding country in myriads and
the noise they make is deafening. Frequently
they alight in such great numbers on the trees
that large limbs are broken under their weight.
One day last week black cloud of these birds
was crossing the railroad track, when the
smoke from the engine blinded them. They
flew against the side of the swiftly moving
cars, and persons who watched the strange
sight counted nearly 200 dead crows.
Certain house owners should profit by
the experience of a wealthy Louisville widow,
who, rather than accept fair rent for a DWELL
ing kept the latter vacant. 1t remained so for
m and pVpntually the hOVS the npiOh-
borhood began breaking the windows with
stones. Then somebody tore down and carried
away the front fence. Perhaps other people
concluded after this that the house was stray
one for they tore down the stable and other
Outbuidings. The shutters doors, windows,
floors, ETC., next disappeared. Large loads of
brick began to leave the house. and in a short
time all the neighbors had paved yards and
sidewalks. The walls crumbled away and fell
in, and in a short time scarcely semblance OF
q house remained.