Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-28
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS


"A sO-year-old drummer boy Of the war
Of 1872 was married in Iowa to o1year-old
widow.
The town or Orlando. Fla, has an
ordinance forbidding saloons to be less than 10
feet apart.
"A gourd 81 feet long is one Of the prod
ucts Annie Lowe (colored). Of Marietta, Ca
raised in her garden this year. She has 10 OF
these gourds some Of them four feet long.
Elder Punkum, an Etna, Me-, Advent
tist, heard a boy blowing one of the new fan
gled whistles on Friday and thought it was the
signal for the consummation Of earthly thingA
"A conscience wave is sweeping over the
land The Secretary Of the Treasury has Just
received . letter containing four 2cent stamps,
which the writer says is the amount, with IN
terest, Of twostamps which he used twice.
AN Indian boy was vading In the
Fea ther river, in California, near the Golden
Gate mine, Thursday, when large nsh carried
of the great toe on his left foot The little
boy wants to die. Just because his companions
win can him "Nine-toed Jimmy"
"A swindler sold Clinton county,
Mich, farmer recipe for making his wheat
weigh twice as much as it ought TO, and signed
a contract to divide the money gained By the
extra weight with the scientific sWtndle. Tne
contract eventually turned M as promls-
sorry note and the farmer paid <5Oo for lt-ana
didn't advertise the matter with brass pana
either.
The growth Of the organization known
as the Christian Endeayor Society is phenome-
nal Three years ago last July there were l, 100
members in New York State, and about 5000
in the world; year ago there were in all uo-
600 members, OF whom 5000 lived IN New
York; to-day there are 10000 Christian En-
deavorers, ana New York heads the list with
E~-fn ~I4rm
members.
"A few evenings since Rev. DR.. Sharp
married Mr.. Perceville D. Heath. Of Califor-
mia, to Miss Annie E. Young. handsome
young lady Of Alexandra, Va. Mr.. Heath adj
vertised for a wife. and the advertisement led
to correspondence with Miss Young and he
came from California to see her. be met her
last Sunday. They became mutually inter-
ested, were married Thursday evening, and
have gone on marriage trip to New Hamp-
SHIRE, where Mr.. Heath's parents reside
The most profitable book ever printed,
at least in this country, was Websrer's Spelling
Book. More than 80 100000 copies Of this pro
duction have been issued, and could Dr. Web
ster and his heirs have enjoyed the royalties
from it they would have found it more vAlna-
BILE than the cave Of Monte Cristo. Yet Dr..
Webster wrote 1t that he might procure the
means to support himself while engaged In
other work, notably his dictionary which was
really an elaboration Of the spelling book.
"A small boy at Marshall, H., has voiced
. sentiment which would be good thing for
general adoption. He was very tough urchin,
and together with his little brother got 50 bad
| that the townspeople decided to send him to .
| reform school, SO he was arrested on an old
charge Of theft and advised TO plead guilty.
| The little fellow stoutiy maintained his inno-
| cencs OF this particular crime, and while ac-
| knowledging that he ought to 60 to the reform
/ school declined to plead guilty 70 something he
i had not done He won the sympathy OF both
/ the spectators and the court, and was finally
discharged.
"A musical troupe crossed the frontier Of
saxony the other day. The officers Of the
Douane hoped to get great prize and were
very much disappointed with the way matters
turned out. But they did their duty m2nfnllY
to the end. One Of the properties was crown
OF laures which the musicians carried Oh from
the latest Of their triumphs. The officials taxed
the laurels as spice. Massenst, the composer.
had somewhat . similar experience-in Ger
many also, He was crossing the frontier with
a crown Of laurels, and he also was attacked BY
the Chekof the Douane Hislaurels bad 70 pay
duty. They scheduled them a. medicinal
plants"
Uncle Samuel Gardner is the veteran
farmer Of Ransom township. LackaEanna
county. He was born on October u l708 and
he Il rugged. hearty. active and joyial. Uncle
Samuel celebrated his 9lst birthday By husklne
corn out in the field from early IN the morning
unril niehtfaII and he said he never fols bethel
or tougher since hs left the old home m the
fall Of 1873. when be was u years old. lie hal
| always been temperate in his habits kept regu
| lar hours and taken good care Of himself. Onl
Of the products Of bis well.tlled farm this zeal
Is . squash 8 feet inches m circumference
and Uncle samuel Is wiling g 6et barrel o
cider against peck Of apples that no 1einths
township can beatit
Macon, Ca, has queer freak In an En-
. giish sparrow. Every morning this sparro1
flies into the ofice Of the City Clerk through
the window, tarries while on TOD Of the lnne
blind. chirps merry good morning. and thel
, | makes itself at home. It does not seem 1t Al
{ frightened at the people coming In and goin
I out hut fits about the room from window .
. window. from the top Of the bookcase 70 81
mana on the walls, as unc0ncerned 40 II 3por|
inc amid the branches Of q tree. The chill
) the morning causes the flies to remain doruan
0 for some time, and it has been noticed that n
' bird makes meal on these limp MES ALls
!. gathering them In and making hearty mes
fhe sparrow perches on the window throux
which It came, chirps its profuse thanks 90
then skins out to Join its less fortunate coup1r
iona II happened several days ago when th
morning was chill1er than usual, that the porte
At the City Hall did not lower the window
= tbe top as usual That day the bird was see
to fiy against the window pane and kick up con
siderable fuss at not being allowed 70 cone Il
And it was not until the window was loEere
that It seemed to be satisfied
The oldest specimens of combs preserve
{ in the British Museum belong to the period Q
second Egyptian dynasty; they are made .
: wood. with coarse teeth rather wide apar'
where there Is only . single row, thsre 10
q rough attempt TO carve the back into sen
q bIarice Of sacred animal, such a. the Gov Q
Athor or the Goddess Of Beauty. The forms
b tion Of one specimen, In bone, six-pronged an
4 rudely cut at the edges, suggests th9t y v1
y worn As an ornament for the hair. From tn1
" time to the middle ages there Is no eyldonc
q to show that decorative combs were IN ~
{. The Greeks were specially fastidious u the q
raneemens Of their hair, and the Spartan
whose general habits were more severe. vet
M whit behind them in the care elavlsbed upc
ie calling il very shreHiiY the cheapest Of o|
| naments and before proceeding 20 battle. n
n Gambling and dressing Of their locks part0ok {
d All the solemnity Of religiousrit Before u
: battle Of ThermopylR, Leonidas and bis iollos
Z ara were discovered By the Persian sDy IN th
y performance Of this act. That Il was 10 som
. way associated with preparation Tor the wo
ship OF the gods among the homans eso
evidenced By the presence OF combs n 90
cista. or cylindrical vase with covered n'
which contained the articles used during "
| -i<oa ~ Corou and 4aochua