Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-18
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS


"A colored boy IN JefersonvilIe, Ind.
swallowed a lead pencil. The pencil and the
boy were saved, but it took four doctors several
hours to doit.
--AKansas bridegroom sold balls Of pop
corn to his wedding guests and the papers are
inclined to think his action detracted nom the
dignity Of the occasion.
Sea lions are 50 plentiful on the coast OF
California this yean as to be nuisance, e.
gravates the farmers for two miles inland
AT Scranton recently parrot had very
lively tussle with bat The bat got IN the
birds cage and couldn't get out. Then It began
attacking the parrot, diving At her and 21sing;
Folly yelled: Gracious, how that nurtsE an9
pitched into the bat. The bird used wing ano
Dlll; and soon tore the little intruder LIND A1OW
The steamer Newfeld landed at Halifax
the other day, and sent two sailors on shore -
get eats, They secured over 30 in two hourg
The. cats are to be taken to Sable Island ana
used for destroying the rabbits which are De.
ginning to oyerrun the island. They burroU
the ponies to stumble and break their legs.
The promenade of the Brooklyn bridge
was the scene Of q great massacre the other
day. Several thousand lives were snuffed out
They will not be seriously missed as they Be.
longed to potato bugs, a tremendous swarm OF
which, probably borne slxyward in q whirlwind
They were crushed under the feet 81 hundreds
OF bridge crossers.
"A Connecticut gardener stepped on .
needle IL years ago and it entered his foot. Sun
day night he felt sharp and severe pricking
sensation In the hip near the joint, and an ex-
animation revealed the end Of a needle Just
under the skin With small pair Of pliers Il
blue silk thread, which had been In the needle
when he stepped on 1t.
The other day child of John Genther,
Of Kearney, Neb., was bitten on the hand by .
snake over six feet long. The child's hand inn
mediately swelIed mp and the father extracted
three teeth Of the snake, which were imbedded
given big dose Of whisky and put to bed. and
Is recovering from the bite. The snake was
what is called bull snake.
"A novel way of defrauding . railroad
company has Just been discovered by Conductor
Baxter, of the Erie. he did not like the looks
Of the Communication ticket Of youth who
lived in Ridgewood, and an examination showed
been plugged and repunehed, that is to say, had
been travelled on twice. The young man had
In each case picked up the piece OF card
dropped from the conductors punch and neatly
replaced it
1.-THE wearing Of the green this spring
of the girl of the period. The fashionable
precious stone at present is the emerald, though
it has only secured third place In popularity.
The diamond will always retain the lead in
popular favor. and the ruby comes second. The
majority of hne emeralds come from Burmah
and other Asiatic countries. The American
emerald was discovered by Prof. Htddan. IN
North Carolina, and is quite extensIvely used,
though the stones are not anything like as nne
as the Oriental stones Emeralds cost any
where from $50 to So 500.
Some men would be rather tough sub
jects for execution under the New York laws;
Mr.. Schwartzing, of Williamsburg, Iowa, for
example. Last Saturday his barn was struck
by lightning, the fluid passing down post,
dividing into two currents, killing three horses
IN its course. Mr. ScnWartz1ng, VINO was un-
the horse falling on him. When extricated he
was found to be terribly burned and lacerated
BY the electric current re- ~ which struck his LETT
and down his leg, tearing OF the sole Of hfS
shoe. Next day he was well enough to 60 to
town to see his physician.
An Indiana man has Just written to the
Secretary of the Interior stating that he wants
$500. He says he is old and feeble. and needs
the money and thinks the Government ought
to give it to him. He therefore asks the secrf
tary for the amount suggested, and reques
that it be forwarded as early as possible. .
Ohio man Is . little more modest In his reQu'
He says he has farm OF $40 acres, and thf
Is mortgaged for 5000. That amount
says will Just exactly get him out of deb
start him square with the world, the 64
of land, of course, beng on the credit 81
asks the Secretary to send him 200 b.
mail as loan and says he will payf
the Government in installments.
The Secretary Of the Interior has re-
ceived a novel request from a school teacher in
Kansas City. This teacher makes q mild
reouisition for full set of blanks such as are
used in the Interior Department. He explains
his request by stating that he teaches civil
government in the high school and wishes to
give his scholars an object lesson concerning
Government blanks, applications, appoint.
ments etc. In postscript he adds that full
set Of Patent Office, pension, Indian Bureau,
education and census blanks viii be dOubly
Appreciated. AS full set of the various blanks
reduested would about I'LL two freight cars, it
is not likely that the Secretary will forward
them.
"A special from Cambfia, Wis, tells
this seasonable story: A few days ago II citi-
zens of that burg each received letter signed
&c. B. Clark" desiring him to meet the Con-
gresham at Beaver Dam on business relative
to the Cambria postofice. These II are candi-
dates for the postmastership and SO all but two
of them went to Beaver Dam ION the quiet"
each supposing himself chosen for the office by
Clark After fruitless search for the Heenah
statesman some of the gentlemen met On
comparing notes 1t was discovered that every
one had come to Beaver Dam on precisely the
same errand, and that individually and coli
lectively they had been egregiously fooled by
some cruel wag. There never was such q
'swearing tram" in this State before as the
one that left Beaver Dam for Cambria that
evening.
One of the most interesting achieve
ments in modern engineering Is the electric
mountain railway recently opened to the public
at the Burgenstock, near Lucerne. The rails
describe one grand curve formed upon an
angle Of liz degrees, and the system is such
that the journey Is made as steadily and
smoothly as upon any Of the straight funicular
lines. The Burgenstock is almost perpendicu-
lar-from the shore Of Lake Lucerne to the
Burgenstock is 1880 feet, and it is 2S60 feet
above the level OF the sea. The total length Of
the line Is 086 meters, and it commences with .
gradient of 81 per cent. which is increased TO IS
per cent after the first 400 meters, this being
maintained for the rest Of the journey. A sim
gle pair Of rails Is used throughout and the
motive power, electricity Is generated by two
dynamos, each of % horse power. which are
worked by water wheel Of nominal1y 10
horse power, erected upon the river Aar ae its
mouth, at Buochs, three miles away, the cleo
tric current being conducted by means Of In,
sulated copper wires. The loss In transmission
Is estimated at Is per cent.