Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-18
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

John Brown, o negro Of Macon county,
"a. in few days caught 554 rats in pot Of
"A potato weighing two pounds and
zen ounces Is one OF the curiosities exhibited in
Aroostook county, Me-
"A rare and fine violin Of the great mas
Yer; Nicolaus Amati, made in 1914, is owned By
a. n Pitkin, Of Hartford. Conn.
John Praugh, of Goshen, Ind, aged g.
mas become the father Of q bouncing baby boy,
presented TO him BY his wife, aged 76.
a young hcusekeeper of York bought
chicken the other day, but returned it to the
deaier and got another because it had can
cer. II was the arst gizzard shs ever saw.
"A hen at Madison, Neb., has adopted q
litter of kittens. For the past week she has
sheltered them with her wings. tries 10 feed
'Aei' anu SHOWS ngns "hen anyone approaches
Roy LePort, IL years old, of Burlington,
La, was in apparent good health, except for =
aOd DO, on On MS neck Friday night the boil brpks
physicians are mystified over the case.
An English tenor who gets about 500
for singing at a concert at home, asked s5.OoO
to sing in i've concerts in Boston. He explains
wny ne asked such an exorbitant price BY saw
ing tnat it Is worth that to sing in an Americas
provincial city.
-One ofthe objects Of curiosity at Ken
neounkport Me-. is the stone house Rev Z. L
Ciarske' s' Of Ney York, built Of rocks hauled ous
Clarke put on his oyeralIs and steered ths
7seers part OF the time himself
Miss Rebecca Fairbanks, the last of
iAniy tnat came over in 1885 is said to be still
,h,vlng h.l, IN house at Dedham, Mass, that was
~ \. over IN the year mentioned and located
scale man 81 sue At that time. The Fairbanks
"A Miss Annie Johnston went down and
stayed IN the water at summer resort in En-
gland minutes 10 seconds. which beats tba
amateur record Of minutes 5I/ seconds
Miss Johnston is only 10 years Of are and h
accounted the best lady swimmer in the world
Hamilton Maffett, who resides north Of
Lawrenceville. Ca, has been almost at death.
door since campmeeting. caused from a spider
bite inflicted on the left shoulder a wear or two
ago.. Mr.. Maffett il now in his I'd year, and
the family are fearful that should he recover
ne VIII lose his eyesight.
-On Saturday last Mrs. G.. NJ. Howard
of Dublin, Ga, went into her kitchen for the
purpose Of cooking dinner. Seeing the oven
door Of the stove open she closed it, and after
building good hre in the stove went out in the
garden for her vegetables. Returning she
smelled something burning. and opening the
oven door she found the family cat baked to
turn.
"A new process for burning coal without
smoke has lately been discovered. II consists
in sprinkling water containing a special prep
aration of resin over the coal, and the result is
that there is no smoke, and the glow is as in
tense as coke. An English Company Is 10 be
formed to work the new patent An authority
vouches Tor the fact that it works admirably,
and IN It's nre Is remarkable Improvement on
coke.
The largest brook trout ever caught on
this continent was landed recently at sprine
Creek, N. Y. The fish weighed six pounds and
two ounces, and its proportions were perfect
This was one Of the species of brown trout the
spawn OF which was imported from Germany
on feDruary IL. 1854, so that its age cannot
Inc largest ever caught previously weighed q
tribe over fYe pounds.
There is lady in Ellijoy, Ga. who
has a singular experience about reading. When
she was about 20 years old she was converted
and Joined the church. She did not know how
to read. just barely knew her letters, and she
was very anxious to read the Bible She got
her sister to help her read three chapters in
me sne 6lole' ana t5e1 sne took II up herself. and
pronounce all the proper names CORRECTLY.
The strange part Of 1t is that she cannot
read an ything else but the Bible She cannot
get any sense out of a newspaper or any other
book
According to the customs Of Chinese
society, the wife Of the Chinese Minister to this
country will comb her hair up from her fore
head, to show that she is married. Her tresses
reach to her feet, and so dificult is the task Of
dressing them that one arrangements lasts sew
sral days. For the preservation of the coiffure
she lies while asleep on willow pillow as finely
woven as an imported bonnet, shaped like
oaf of bakers bread. The maids dress their
'ack hair In queue, and arrsnge q bang. IL
inches deep. from ear &c ear A bit ef c0f9etry
ooseiy in front. Of the face and over the
houlder. The hair of the Chinese girl Is
iever cut, and. as result of the splendid care
1t grows luxuriantly.
One Of the very interesting things seen
It the Paris Exposition are the dwarf trees
which the Japanese horticulturists are show
ng. and which are attracting much attention.
Pines, thujes and cedars, said to be 100 or $50
vears old, are only Is inches high, and with such
pecimens it would be easy TO have coniferous
crest on balcony. These arboreal deformi-
ruth is told about their ages, this work Of
Irresting the trees development and forcing is
nto contorted forms must be persisted in by
everal generations Of foresters. All this pains
aking is hardly paid for by the beauty of the
esulting abortions, but look at these trees
will explain where the fantastic forms come
rom which serve as models for the plants We
ee on the laequered trays. bronzes and en-
roideries which come from Japan
The Cable Car Company, in New York,
mend running q drawing room car on their
ne to see If it will pay. Thecar is 80 feet long,
uth rounded ends. and will seat % persons.
he windows are heavy plate glass, and blue
hades with gold borders hang at each. The
lterior of the car is finished In bird's-eye
laple and French walnut. 1t is furnished with
ushioned seats covered with dark green
,ather. Sixteen Of these seats are parlor
hairs turning on pivots. Ten of them are
laced at the windows up forward, and the re-
lainder extend midway down through the
enter of the car. Two lamps of four burners
ach are supplied with gas from two tanks run
ing lengthways Of the car outside. Two radi-
tor gas stoves are supplied from the same
inks, and are expected to prove a neat and
way of heating the car. Swinging
oors at the rear of the car are opened and
osed with a lever BY the conductor. The car
,st $500. Should it prove success, Is feet
i'll be added to the next one of its kind. This
xtension will be used as a smoking car and
i'll be so arranged as TO be closed in winter
nd an open car in warm weather.
FUNNY MEMS FASCIEs.