Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-01-09
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

A curiosity in wallingford, Conn.,, iss
dog with three tails.
Last year 3O2 vessels, nearly all of steel,
were built on the Clyde.
The weather was so mild andthe ground
so soft that farmers in Middletown town
ship. Monmouth county, N j., plowed tnelr
fields last week.
"A Milwaukee man, who charges the
barber at the rate of a dollar an hour for time
spent in waiting for his turn, generally comes
out even at the end of the year.
Persons sending postal cards and who
write upon the address side of them ''in haste"
or other words uneonnected with their delivery
subject them to letter postage, and they are
held as unavailable.
There are in South Carolina 1900
whites who cannot read or write, an equal
number in Tennessee, 20, 600 in Georgia, 10000
In Alabama, 1900 in Mississippi, 10000 in
louisiana, 10000 in North Carolina, and 5000
in Virginia.
Grows have become so numerous in
Maine that it is estimated that they cost the
State 100000 in corn, potatoes, young chickens,
fruit, grain and the like. The mex Legislature
will be asked to pass a law giving a bounty Of
10 cents for every dead crow.
The chair in which Governor Clinton
sou "hC-A SAlC hloI hlCCIlilH VI II new OTk
Legislature was held in Kingston. in III. ia
owned by i physician, of Athens. N. Y. 1t is in
an excellent state of preservation, and looks as
though it would last for a hundred or more
years to come.
On a mountain in Alpine county, Cali
fornia, during a thunder storm the lightning
struck a pine tree, followed it down into the
ground and Immediately there burst forth a
brillianrfire, which has continued to burn ever
aH-oA Il - AIfa-a1 NEn Tp6 - n %
of coal, which is now feeding flame.
Miss Mary Maccribbin, who died at
Washington the other day. nearly 100 years old,
used to say that she had seen every President
from George Washington to Grover Cleveland.
She was living in Baltimore IN 1872. and saw
the bOmbardment of Fort McHenry. She
knew well John Howard Payne, the author Of
Home, Sweet Home" and witnessed his first
appearance on the stage at Baltimore. She
went to Washington first in 1871, and 1t took Il
hours by stage.
The town of Arroyo Grande is on the
boundary line between Arizona and Mexico, a
fact which enables the topers to work an old
game. They step into a saloon on the Arizona
side and ask for a drink, laying down an Amer
lean dollar. The chances are that the bar
tender will give them a Mexican dollar in
change, it being worth only 80 cents. Then
they strike a saloon on the Mexican side. and
tender the Mexican dollar for a drink, getting
an American dollar for change, which in this
case is worth only 80 cents.
The farmers around Elberton, Ca,
know the worth of perslmmons, and for years
have made it a point never to cut down a per-
tree. In places so many trees have
been left standing that the fields look like or
chards; and indeed they are, persimmon or
chards, the trees of which bear fine crops of
fruit almost as valuable as corn for fattening
hogs. The farmers say that the persimmon
tree draws but little strength or moisture from
the soil, and that excellent crops are grown
even beneath their shade.
Probably the oldest timber in the world,
which has been subjected to the use of man, is
that found in the ancient temple of Egypt, in
connection with stOnework, which is known to
be at least 1000 years old. This, the only wood
used in the construction of the temple,i is in the
form of ties, holding the end of one stone to
another. When two blocks were laid in place
an excavation about an inch deep was made in
in each block, IN which a tie, shaped like an
hour-glass, was driven. 1t is, therefore. very,
difficult to force any stone from it's pOsitionl
ties appear to have been of the timarisk or,
Shittim wood, of which the ark was con-
structed.
Here is an effective handbili which is
being distributed in Leicestershire, Eng:
"Englishmen-Read! During the so years of
Vlctorias reign 1.225.00 Irishmen have died Of
faminei 1865, 900 Irishmeu have been evicted!
4, 5000 Irishmen have emigrated, been obliged
to leave Irelandi This means 400 per week died
of famine. 400 per week evlcted, 800 per week
emigrated! Men of LeicestershiTe, do you
II Ilize that l, 255, 900 souls is a number equal to
ten times the present population of your
lands bitter wrongs cry aloud to you for re-
dress?'
The plant from which the Chinese and
obtain the tea is called by botanists
Thea behea. 1t is a small evergreen tree or
closely allied to the camelia-indeed one
Of the latter, called warratah, is also said to
furnish a certain class of tea. The bush of the
genuine tea plant grows from three to six feet
high, bushy, branches numerous, leafy. The
shoots. finely silky, are evergreen. The
lowers are white and not unlike the myrtle,
but longer and usually two togetheT; the an
hers and stigma are yellow: in flower in August
md september in its native country. 1t was
first introduced into British gardens in 176S.
The black and green teas, as we obtain Them
for their color upon the process of dry4
ng. Very young leaves and shoots give the
inest tea.
"A gentleman residing in Bridgeport,
Conn.,, is the owner of a remarkable dog. The
log attacked the family cat in the house and
vas driven out in the rain. He remained out
ide for some time whining piteously to be al
owed to come in. but no attention was paid to
lis appeal. Seeing no relief from that quarter,
he dog proceeded to the hen coop, where the
owls had sought shelter. The animal at once
out the fowls, and soon had the coop
mDty. He next proceeded TO a basket in the
oop. which contained two china eggs and one
cal egg freshly laid. Taking the genuine egg
n his mouth he carried it to the house and de-
Osited 1t on the ground outside the window in
ull view of those inside. He then returned to
he coop and kicked the china eggs into a cor
er and laid dow in the basket. His actions
ad been watched with interest by those inside,
nd the housewife came out and. lifting the
og from the basket. allowed the fowls to re-
inter- the coop. She carried the dog inside and
ewarded him with a large piece of meat for
l. l..-I., "a