Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-23
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

Il
In England about 81 peers are directors
OF public companies.
One dog of the Convent of st. Bernard
IS said to have saved more than 40 human
lives.
| If you catch an animal in steel trap,
every minute it stays there its meat Is growing
| There is one society Of boys and girls in
do GngIand GSG to protect animals, which has over
A velocity of about six or seven miles
| second would suffice to carry a body away from
| the graVltatlon of the EARTH
There are hundred chances that any
ooy OF girl VIII be struck by lightning for every
one chance of having hydrophobia.
-"Sun-diar' rings, said to give the hour
with great exactness." and the zodiac rings'
| were often IN use among the ancients
-Fifty-fve ladies practicing medicine ia
India have presenreda memorial to the Viceroy
| that the age of consent in marriage NAV be
raised to "A.
"A resident of Richmond, Va, has
| come into possession Of q Revolutionary relic
in the shape of General Daniel Morgan's mess
chest, which is estimated as being 125 years old.
iron. and is closed By an old time pOnderous
lock.
In the village of Erchfont, near Devices,
there are five brothers living whose united ages
amount to 4l5 years. In q neighboring village
nve persons, related to each other, live in one
house, their united ages making up 39l years.
A horse 30 years old serves them for all their
outings,
1t is not only poor men, but some of the
greatest men of the world whose lives have
been made happier by the love of these Iower
creatures. Sir Walter Scott, the great novel;
1st and Sir Edwin Landseer, the great painter
their whole lives were made happy By theiI
love Of dogs.
One thing especially noticed in Maine
is the impetus given to the apple canning bus1.
ness by the partial failure of the apple crop.
Fruit that was formerly considered only good
enough for cider escaped the press this year
and has gone into cans to help furnish the
world with apple sauce.
"A Norwegian bark, laden with ice, ar
rived in New York Monday after a tempestuous
voyage Of "a days. She left Norway in August
and the long voyage has left very little OF her
Ice cargo. Most Of the experiments of bring.
ing ice from Norway have proved failures be.
cause OF the great wastage of the voyage.
Medical students in London are COM
PEELED to go through course of four years.
study. hospital attendance and lectures before
being qualified to appear for final examination.
BY an order of the General Medical Council Of
England the term of preparation has been ex-
tended to five years.
Tucson is one of the oldest as we'll as
largest and bestknown towns in Arizona. In
fact it is so old that there is no record showing
when 1t was first settled. When the nrs5
Spanish explorers visited this country about
$780, they found an old Mexican village there.
and 1t was then said to have been inhabited for
centuries.
An increase of 296 national banks in
the United States will be shown by the annual
| report of the Controller of the Currency during
| the II months which ended September 80. This
| IS the largest number in a single year since
| 1865. The aggregate capitalization of these new
institutions is mostly IN the growing regions Of
| the Northwest and Southwest.
1t is claimed that the first silver mines
| worked in the United States by Europeans ara
situated in the mountains near Tucson, and al
| though they are represented to have been SO
| securely hidden by the Jesuits ere they were
| driven from the country thar their location is
| now unknown, tradition states that some OF
| them were marvelously rlch.
The United Crosses OF England and
Scotland were first used on the flag in 1906 by
| order of King James. then sovereign of the
two countries. In that year some differences
| having arisen between the ships of the two
countries at sea, the King ordained that a new
| flag be adopted, with the crosses of st. Andrew
and st. George interlaeed.
-SIsal hemp is the product of a thick
| leaved plant, Agave sisilana, resembling the
well-known century-plant except that the
! leaves, instead of being serrated or spfny on
| the edges are perfectly smooth 1t is native to
| the whole of tropical America, and as early as
| 1888 was successfully introduced into Florida
| by DR.. ii. Perrine, who foresaw its value as
| commercial hber.
| When Brigham Young invited Made
moiselle Rita Sanganelle to appear at Montana,
he fixed the charge of admission at one fowl
and
| as plump as it might be. The nights receipts
| amounted to 700 fowls and 50 pigeons: and the
| dancer had no reason to complain when she
| was paid their equivalent in cash at the rate
| OF 10 sh1lltngS per fowl and shilings per
| pigeon.
| One of the features of social practice In
| London for many years has been the show
which can be made on fictitious capital. IT. for
| instance, the FitzShams desire to give a big
dinner party, and have no special provisions of
their own for an imposing display, they can hire
| all the requisites. They can rent their silver
| and porcelain from one man, their tapestries
| from another. their plants from third trades
man and garnish the dinner table with the
| costly pineapple Of the dollhouse.
AN association of learned antiquaries in
Paris. called the "Americanistes, who have
devoted themselves to studies and researches
| connected with the early history of the Amer
lean Continents, have held a congress in the
hall of the Geographical Society NJ Quatre-
fages and DR.. Jourdanet are Presidents of the
congress, which is under the patronage of Dom
Pedro. the ex-Emperor of Brazil. The object
OF the gathering is to contribute to the progress
OF scientific investigations relative to North
and South America, especially during times
preceding the sailing of Columbus.
From the earliest times rings have al
ways been emblems Of power. The signet
among Oriental nations now, as in olden times,
is used for all documents, papers of State never
being signed with the name. but stamped with
the seal. These ring seals" are engraved with
the name and title, and with them Impressions
are made From time lmmemorial for thou.
sands of years, rings have been worn by all
peoples and nations History is too young 10
record their origin, which is lost IN
the dim distance of past ages One
of the most interesting of all the nu-
merous kinds is the pretty love-token in
vented by the French, called sometimes the
"armllary," but usually the "gimmar' ring.
Our modern puzzle ring" is copied from this
old idea, and is made upon the same principle,
These consist often Of four even Of nine,
slender circles, playing within each other and
forming, when put together, a solid ring set
either with jewels or with an odd design.