Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-24
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

At Cambridge, Mass, three theoioglcai
students captured burglar who was attemp|
ing to rob a preacher'sh house.
The jokes about the wilderness IN tne
enlarged city of Chicago are not without
foundation in fact. If an article in recent
These are the headlines: .Hunting in Chicago.
Universal Sporting Facilities. Right WITHIN
the city limits and few hours ride beyond are
some OF the finest opportunities Tor roo anu
gun"
The other day Belfast, Me-, man was
going about the city with tarantula in his
vest pocket asking people what it was. Inc
tarantula was found in a bunch of bananas,
and had been choroformed, else the resnls
might have been different 1t is said that there
are native tarantulas in Belfast nearly as
large as the Western spider, and closely re-
sembling 1t.
The only house ever built by George
Washington at the capital city of the nation Il
still standing in Washington City. 1t was
originally three-story brick, but when the
street on which it stands was graded, two more
stories were added, making it a five-story build
ing, which is now used for a EOtel. Some OF
rooms are pretty much in the same condition
as they were when occupied by Washington in
1872 A few old pieces of furniture are said to
be still secreted about the house.
Miss Jennie Slack. aged 16 years, re-
siding in the blue grass region Of Iowa near VIII
lisca, has this season planted and cultivated 20
acres of corn, besides milking six cows night and
morning and helping in other work about the
farm and household The corn Is in splendid
condition for big crop. and the young lady
who raised it is said to be fine looking, intelli-
gent; and none the worse for the hard work she
has done for her invalid father. who was unable
to pay hired hand or do it himself.
"A decidedly unique affair occurred at
the Avon Beach Hotel, Bath Beach, L. L, on
Saturday night-a blazer hop, which means
that the gay cavaliers stopping here donned
their tennis clothes and sailed boldly into the
ballroom without fear of being politely re-
minded that gentlemen without dress suits will
please retire from the floor. The sight of the
spacious ballroom full of animated dancers
clad in all the prime colors of the rainbow and
few others was at once pretty and odd.
The town Of Newcastle, Eng, has re-
Gently been in a state of great excitement
through the visit of "Dr. Sequah," prairie
flower" medicine man. He was there for three
weeks, and it is estimated that he sold SAC, Oc0
worth of medicine. At his farewell in the largest
hall in the city, the attendance was enormous,
and when he went out a crowd of men seized
the vehicle containing his band and his Indians,
and led it through the streets, headed by
workman who had regaiLed the use of his
limbs by DR.. Sequahs treatment.
The highest birds nest in Atlanta is in
the dome of the new capitol. 1t was built by
two enterprising English sparrows, who have
Matched brood Of five small birds. The nest
is built where several iron rafters cross, and is
near to one Of the open windows. When this
Is closed they search all over the dome for
place of egress, and sometimes are compelled
TO find their way to the bottom of the dome
and fly through the open transom. The nest is
built where no one can mOlest it. and the i've
little birds have been raised in perfect Sc
curity.
Two Santa Cruz (Cal.) fishermen re-
Gently caught a basking shark between 30 and
35 feet long in their net. Fighting furiously to
get free, the fish only wrapped himself tighter
in the folds of the net The fishermen let him
alone until he drowned himself, and, with the
assistance of seven boats, pulled him into the
bay. The basking sharks are not man-eaters,
and are not at all dangerous. This one weighed
% about '" ope.tbifd % Of the % whole isb' s and the
amount of oil fried out of its liver was between
100 and $50 gallons.
1t has, perhaps, never been known until
Friday last that the fish is liable to at least one
| of the ills which have been generally thought
| that human flesh alone is heir to-and that Is
the tapeworm. This rather sigular Information
| is vouched for by Mr.. III. A Seim. of Baltimore,
| who states that while his servant was cleaning
some mullets she noticed something that
wriggled in one of them like worm The at
tention of Mrs. Seim was called to the wriggler;
| she took 1t out and sent to DR.. William B.
Rider, for investigation. The latter examined
| the worm, and pronounced it a genuine tape
worm. He has the worm now in alcohol.
The largest muscaIonge ever taken
there was caught at Swanton. Mass, last week
by Carl Roberts. Claude Sowles and Lewis
| Suter while trolling above the dam. It took
| Roberts spoon near the cove above the iron
railroad bridge, and it took all three to haul
him in. Just as he was landed on shore he
broke the gang of hooks and would have es-
| capped but Louis Suter couldn't think of losing
| such prize. and quick as an athlete he leaped
| upon the back of the 24-pound fish flor such it
| proved to be) and after terrible tussle, in
| which he was badly bitten and a new suit of
| clothes ruined, he succeeded in overpowering
| the fish, which is four feet long and as hand
| some as any trout
Prof. Sayce, who spent last winter in
| Egypt investigating some newly discovered
archives, says that from these records we learn
| that more than 400 years before Christ. and q
| century before the exodus of the Jews from
| Egypt there was active literary intercourse be-
| tween Babylon. Egypt Palestine, Syria, Meso-
| potamia and Eastern Cappadocia. This inter-
| course was carried on through the BabyiOnian
| language and the complicated Babylonian
| script. showing that all over the civilized East
| there must have been libraries and schools
| where this language and literature were
| taught Babylonian at that time must have
been as much the language of diplomacy and
cultivated society as French in our day
The citizens of Warrick county, Ind,
have been in a state of excitement for three
weeks over the appearance Of a monster snake
in the fields and woods of Madison township
All efforts 10 kill it or drive it away from the
neighborhood proved Intellectual until Monday
when Jacob Jones espied it lesurely crawling
under his barn. He at once seized heavy
crowbar and gave it battle. At the opportune
moment when the snake could not present its
head to him in its own defense, he struck it
across the back with the iron crowbar and
paralyzed it. 1t was but the work of a few
moments 70 finish il. 1t measured % feet lO1S
inches long and was Is inches in circumference
four feet from the head. 1t is supposed to be
an anaconda that escaped from a menaoerie