Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-01-14
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

AN Atchison (Kan.) man has attained
considerable local reputation as mortuary
prophet. he has predicted the demise OF
number of people, and in every case his prepne-
cies were speedily fulfilled.
"A list of wealthy bachelors of New
York, with the amount of their income, and OF
maiden heiresses with an estimate OF their
fortune. has just been printed for the informa-
ton of the manageable members Of fashlona-
BILE society.
One of the Caroline islands Is owned BY
an American sailor named Benjamin, who has
10 wives, about so children, and who has moth
ing to do but smoke his pipe and boss the
ranch. He publishes a letter In California
paper advising other sailors to do likewise.
"A community in Nebraska opposed to
lynching recently to teach a lesson, gave
desperate what might be termed an introduc-
ton to Judge Lynch. They put a rope around
times Then he was told to 60 and never re-
turn. He went.
Mr.. Paul Walker, of Knox county,
Kentucky, has herd of I3 deer on his lands,
which have become tame. He feeds them Just
as he does his other stock, and they seem to
he wants venison he goes out to the herd and
Kills one, Just as he would sheep.
"A peculiar story comes from Banner,
Neb. A new town called Harrisburg has grown
I'D in the same county, and recently an enter.
prising citizen of the latter town went to Ban.
ner, loaded the pOstoffice on his wagon, and
carried it triumDhantly to Harrisburg Ban
ner succeeded in recovering 1t after struggle.
Apple men in the lake counties and
other sections of New York State are being
subjected to no little worry through the mild
weather which has caused fruit to rot. About
half million barrels of apples, according to
persons who claim to know, are stored in the
Empire State, and half of these, it is feared,
will go to loss.
Among the possessions Of family OF
emigrants at the depot at Milledgeyille, Ga,
the other day, was straw mattress, the inside
of which was worth about 25 cents. and yet the
he said he could sleep sounder in strange
country il he had beneath him even a small
portion of Baldwin.
"A case of wonderful growth, after death,
of hair and beard was brought to light by the
recent disinterment of AMI Colyman, who
died in Belleville, N. J., four years ago. His
beard was fully "a inches long and covered his
breast, while his hair rested on the shoulders
and, with the beard, almost hid his features.
During his life the deceased, it is told, never
allowed his beard to grow more than two
inches in length, and always kept his hair
short.
Henry SCOOTER, st. Louis lad, who
was kidnapped three years ago, was restored to
his parents this week, having been found
(through the aid of q newspaper picture Of
him) on a farm near Cairo, Ill. After being
abducted, so the boy states, he was bound out
to a brickmaker in an out-of-the-way spot,
reached after fast ride of three days. He
afterward ran away and engaged with farmer,
thinking it resembled his little employe, looked
into the matter.
John Edward, an engineer of the Illi-
nois Central Railroad who was thought to be
going into consumption, the other night
coughed up bony substance, which, on exam-
ination, proved to be a large double tooth. A
few weeks ago Edwards underwent the opera
tion of having his upper teeth extracted, and
during the operation one of the teeth, without
the knowledge of either the patient or oper-
ator, slipped into his throat, where it caused
the racking cough which was looked upon as
an unmistakable sign of consumption.
"A Bridgeport (Conn. man has invented
a boy, not the ordinary human boy. but one
that walks and pushes cart before him-a
mechanical boy. This boy when in motion
makes as much noise as a railroad train, be-
cause of the internal workings of his forces.
His head is out of proportion to the rest of his
body. and has horrible grotesque appearance
with its tin eyelids. The head is calculated to
frighten the average woman and the noise to
scare the sensitive horse. Consequently the
trial trips of this mechanical pedestrian have
been made at night.
There is a terra incognita outside of
Africa, and that is Labrador. The Nascapee
Indians, who live on the table-lands of that
country. have long told of an immense water
fall, to which they refused to guide the whites
fot fear of the vengeance of a god that lived
under the fall. During the past season an Iro-
quois Indian, who was a god-fearipg savage,
guided an exploring party to the place, and
they found fall 1000 feet high, carrying an
immense volume Of water, and undoubtedly
the greatest in the world. Niagara is only l64
feet, and the falls of the Yosemite and along
the Columbia are of small streams These
Labrador falls are on the Petchikopou river.
Trees of the palm family have larger
caves than any others. The Inaja palm, which
grows on the banks of the Amazon, have
caves which reach length of from 30 to 50
feet and are 10 or II feet in breadth. Specl-
mems of the leaves of the Talipot palm, a native
If Ceylon, have been met with that are 20 feet
ong and is feet broad. These leaves are used
)y the natives to make tents and form very eff
icient shelters from the rain. The leaves Of
he double cocoanut palm are often 30 feet long
md several feet wide. When the wind is strong
hey clash together with a noise that may be
leard at great distance. Onlyone leaf is pro-
luced each year, and they are so firmly at
ached to the stem of the tree and so strong in
themselves that man may sit on the end Of
ne and rock to and fro in perfect safety.
-Bogota, the Capital of Colombia, is Sit
ated in the "heart of the Andes" something
ver 5000 feet above the sea level, and ranks a.
he third highest city on the Western Hemis-
here, Potosi aud Quito only taking precedence.
here is a peculiar tradition as to the event Of
ts founding in 1542. 1t is related that three
jpaniards set out with the purpose of selecting
capital for the new vice-royalty of New
irenada. One entered the territory through
a second ascended the Magdalena,
7hile the thirds gateway was by the Pacific
oast. All meeting on the spot where the city
|, now located on the same day, with true
panish superstition they hailed it as an
omen," and with great formality founded the
resent city under the name of Santa Fe de
,ogota" Later the santa Fe" was dropped,
nd it remains simply Bogota. Its population
estimated at about q, coo.