Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-06
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

Hoffman 8 Moore, of Apalachicola,
Fla, have . cat that d l8 years old, and has
presented the nrm with an average of Il kit
tens per year for Is years, making total Of lSO
kittens.
There is pistol IN the possession of
the Atlanta police which has u patches on tho
handle, and the man who owns the pistol has
stated That every notch represents person no
has killed,
A party from Naples, Fla, few days
ago had with them the Jaws of a leopard shark
measuring IS inches in width and two feet in
the spread. The mouth was large enough 70
take in barrel at one gulp.
The largest pension but one ever granted
= Union soldier was recently granted 70
Christian Holzworth, of Lowyille, N T.; ne re-
cGEes back pension, exclusive Of expenses,
Of sl2sl9 80 and monthly allowance q ~
MI. Holzworth Is an inmate OF the Lewis
County Asylum, and is incurably insane
John A. Fulmer, of Morayia, n. T.,
has IN his possession . neck yoke which has
history. 1t originally belonged to Major Cen
eral Frederick William Augustus Baron De
Steuoen, who came to this country in lE0 he
dled IN lS04, so II will be seen that this meek
YOKE IS quite relic The wood appears 10 %
white oak
"A young Polish lady, who rs desirous
OF cultiyating her musical talent, .begs the as
sistance Of kind friends ito enable her TO pro-
cure piano. which her parents cannot afford
TO purchase." This Is her address, as given in
a.. Lopdon paper; Jadwiga Janina Bogus Taw-
dom Dolinskiogo, Poland.
"A Wichita boy enlisted in the regular
army Of Uruguay. South America, and for Is
months never heard word of his native Lam
guage. While detailed as a guard in the Opera
House at Montevideo, he heard Patti sing
Home, Sweet Home, in English. It made
ho, hat he a.
tunity to come back to his native land, and u
now again in Kansas.
For many years an old COW of light
brown sandy color has been getting her herb
age OF the old hills beyond the depot at Vien-
na, Ga. which has grown seantier year by
year, and In the winter amounted TO almost ac-
tual starvation. It has been noticeable fact
through the bleakest part of last winter that
this COW has tried on several occasions to COM
NIT suicide by jumping upon the track in front
OF the engine Since the grass has come out,
you never see this cow about the railroad at all.
John Lamphere, of Gilboa, Schoharie,
county, N. z, it is said, is the owner Of =
chicken that has four fully developed legs,
The rapid manner in which the fowl scratches
earth it Is alleged, astonishes the other hens 50
that they hide their heads In their feathers and
forget TO lay eggs. When on roOst the quartet
Of feet take up no more room than an ordinary
chickens feet do The curiosity can run twice
terfere with one another.
There is young married lady in Elber-
ton, Ga, who is q snake eharmer She is fear
less of these reptiles and viii capture with her
hands any snake that she finds in the woods,
and has tanned several of them for pets. Once
she captured q large snake that seized her
hand This lady did not experiences any
trouble from its fangs, and continued her sport
of capturing them. She seems to have
strange power over reptiles, and it Is seldom
that they offer any resistance.
Mr.. Smith, while fishing in Lake
Catherine, Fla, lately, caught a strange look
ing fish about two feet long, body like an eel.
but thicker and larger, no scales, head short
and nattened. But the great difference be-
anterior limbs, each about one and half
inches In length, which are used in swimming,
and it can use them in travelling on the ground,
for 1t can move pretty well out OF its own ele--
ment 1t is not a true fish, but reptile. and is
described in natural history as a siren, They
can live long time out Of water. They are
rarely seen. This is the second one caught by
Mr.. Smith within month.
james P. Lott, of Willacoochee, Ca,
has kept a record of all the rattlesnakes he has
killed for the past 20 years, and there are some
interesting and instructive facts in 1T worthy Of
attention. He has killed in all q large rattle-
snakes. nothing less than ten rattles and a but
ton, and curious to say, % of these were on oras
lot of land, about four miles from Leliaton. On
the third Sunday Of March year ago he killed
large rattlesnake, and again on the third Sum
day Of last March he killed another one, which
had just swallowed q grown rabbit 1t also
contained II rattlesnake eggs SO in killing thK
one he killed . dozen, and avenged the POI
rabbit. sr-r II
s-Gum chewing is the prevailing mania
in Albion, Neb. The disgusting habit has be-
come so general that parents and preachers in
weigh against 1t, but TO no effect. During SER
vices in church last Sunday the dominic deli
cately insInuated that the congregation looked
like corral of munohing cattle, so industri-
ously did the jaws wag. While the preacher
was rounding an eloquent peroratiOn on the
beauties of the echoless shore, mighty yell
rent the rafters. 1t came from the paralyzed
jaw Of Mr.. Cato, who had been suddenly
smitten with lead collie, caused by chewing
adulterated gum. Cato was taken home and
the congregation dismissed. Next day ton or
secondhand gum was plucked from the pews
and dumped into the raging Beaver.
"A few days ago at the end of wharf in
Fort Myers, Fla, 40-foot pile of about one
foot in diameter was loosely tied with 100 feet
Of cable. The hands suddenly noticed the cable
running from the coil, and before anyone,could
secure il, both pile and cable were moving
rapidly 20 sea. devil fsh had got tangled
in the cable. Boats were at once secured and
started in pursuit, and after two-mile race
they captured the line and log, the monster hav-
ing become loosened. which accounts tor their
beng able to overtake it. Considering that
this specia of ray attains weight Of 1000 to
!, 900 pounds, and strength to correspond, this
Is not astonishing. Some months ago the
passengers Of the steamship Fearless Rar-
and after towing the steamboat for some time,
the engine being reversed and pulling against
him, they were compelled to cut the line to pre-
vent being carried on bar.