Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-13
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

-CharieY0l1, Mlcn., mas elothes-pln So
cials
"A train of % cars, loaded with bananas,
recently left New Orleans for Cincinnati
-Mrs.C. L. O'Gorman, of Macon, Ga, has
a mocking bird that has learned to exactly imi-
tate the whistle Of the postman. He has the
note so exact that the neighbors are constantly
running to the door looking for the letter that
never comes. IL has been observed; 700, That Il
the postman changes his Wnlste the bird
\ changes to suit the new sound.
The poor boxes in the Church of the
Annuneiation, at North Fifth and Havemeyer
streets, says a Brooklyn local item, are con-
nected with the parochial residence by bur-
| glar-proof alarm wires, a precautlon made
| necessary by the frequent robberies committed
IN the church. On Wednesday night the alarm
sounded, and a search Of the churen was maoe
| BY the police. They found young man hidden
| in the organ.
The newest personal adornment takes
the form of hairs from the tail of the African
elephant. These hirsute appendages, with
gold embellishments, are strictly the fashion.
The elephant is Just now the most valuable
animal under the face of the sun. Not only
are ms caudal hairs worth more than their
weight in gold, but his tusks cost ESQ ton,
| And as aresult the great ''earth-shaking beast"
Is being hunted down in the most mereiless
| way.
| General Manager Coleman, of the North
Pacific Coast Railroad, has been asked by
number Of people living along the line of that
road to change the road-bed above Duncan's
Mills for distance of some 100 yards so as to
run the track through the trunk of one of the
large redwoods in that neighborhOod. The
| idea is to have the road tunnel as it were, the
high stump of one of the giants of the forest
recently cut down. The tree trunk Is Is feet
in diameter.
The Court Of Errors and Appeals, Of
New Jersey, decided novel case. It was the
suit of John Burns against the Erie Railroad.
The question was whether Burns as an en-
ploye Of the road, who was by contract paid
salary and passage to and from work, could be
refused to give up his seat in a smoking car to
passenger who paid his fare. 1t was held
that Burns eonld not be compelled to give up
his seat, and had perfect right in the car.
DIR. Prior, Of Stamford, Conn, was
lately called to attend q case thar presents
some peculiar features. Near High Ridge
there is family living, and the wife is the
mother Of IA children, none Of them twins. All
the children live at home with the exception Of
two. These two contracted scarlet fever at
New Canaan, and then came home and gave it
TO the rest Of the family, except the parents.
Here were IA children with the scarlet fever.
and the physician had to mix the medicine in a
All are now doing well.
General Algernon s. Bates, retired
officer Of the British army, arrived recently at
the Occidental Hotel, in Seattle, Wash, from
England, and as he entered the dining room
was greatly surprised to find his son, John
Bates, aged u. a handsome young man, en-,
gagged as a waiter, which position he had held
I9r some SIX weeks past. The young man left
Winnipeg rebellion as a volunteer, making a
brilliant record for himself. After wandering
about Canada he finally drifted to Seattle.
The meeting between father and son was a
most affecting one. They left for Vancouver
and will take trip to Alaska
Bridgeport, Conn, has a hen with Q
head for mathematics, She sat this spring and
hatehed out few chickens, which were taken
from her and added to another flock. But she
would not give it up. Instead, she went out.
side the coop and clucked and clueked till she
got her proper number Of chickens-no more,
no less-Rnd strutted about with them at her
heels the proudest fowl in all the nutmeg State,
When the young ones we're big enough to go to
roost they feared to follow her to such height,
and set them off carefully in row, then
perched at the head of them confident that she
had discharged the whole duty of hen.
-Elberton, Ga, claims to have the LATEST
man in the world. He says that he would
starve rather than do ANYTHING in the shape Of
work, and would freeze before he would eut-a-
fire of wood. He fully indorses the sentiments
of the man who refused the bushel of corn be-
cause 1t was not shelled, and preferred to be
buried alive rather than shell it. He says that
he has lived SO days without eating a particle
of food, for the reason that he did not have 1t,
and has more than once lived through the suus.
mer on fruit alone. He was Confederate sol
der and wanted to go to the proposed Confed.
crate Soldiers Home until be saw In the Dewe[
papeES th9Ha zB1all aTr0upr OF land vedfd be \
furnished each one to cultivate, since when he 4
positively refuses to 60.
There was much speculation among the
members of the fire department for a while as
to what caused the alarm of fire which was
rung. Wednesday evening, at Augusta, Me.
Since the truth has been ascertained. Alec
MeCausland, the city driver. resides in the en-
gine house, and when the alarm bell on the
building sounded he sprang out of bed only to
find his little 9year-old son clad in nothing but
his night shirt, tugging away at the bell rope.
Mr.. MeCausland spoke to him, but he made no
reply, and the father was obliged to shake the
youngster before he could be awakened. The
little fellow, in somnOlent state, had arisen
and given the false alarm, and singular to re-
late 1t was almost exactly the time that alarm
OF fire had been given the evening previously.
1t appears that wood pavements have
met with greater success in some OF the coun-
tries Of Europe than in our own, the reason as
signed for this being the fact Of their having
foundation Of concrete to rest upon in the for
mer, at the same time receiving more attention
their, IN the way Of maintenance. than here
Owing to It's hardness and resinous quality,
American yellow pine, 1t is stated, has become
the favorite wood for this purpose in Berlin
and Hamburg; and official report says that
Frederick's Bridge, Berlin, which was paved in
the spring Of 1879 with the wood in question Is
still in good condition, while the approaches,
paved with granite blocks, have twice since re-
Quired repaving. The Opera platz, also, in
front of the Emperor's palace. was paved seven
years ago partly with yellow pine and cypress,
at point where the traffic is greatest, while at
other points stone blocks were used the laying
of the different surfaces with these several ma
terials being at the same time. According to
the report the area covered with the wood
pavement is at present the one which is best
preserved.
CLIPPED BITS OF WIT.