Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-25
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

The new baby hippopotamus IN central
Park, New York, has mouth II inches wide.
Business men are complaining of
the scarcity of paper money Of small denomina-
tions.
Leather is being successfully tanned in
Florida with palmetto roots; is made as soft
and pliable as finest calfskin.
Austin Corbin's game preserve OF $4,000
acres in Northern New Hampshire is soon to
De stocked with Canadian wild animals
To the English aristocracy we owe the
international novel and the lawn; they also pro-
full value.
On his first voyage Columbus sailed
3.174 miles in 80 days, or 9s miles day. On his
second voyage he sailed about $500 in q days,
or l2O miles day. On his fourth voyage he
sailed 2,7OO miles in q days, or nearly l3O miles
q day.
In Boston last year there was char
liable soup house opened from February 10 to
April 6, during which time 752H meals per day
were furnished. or 1853 to 7.4O7 destitute fam.
lilies. at total cost of but 81 800 S. or an aver
age cost per meal Of .0S 9-20 cents.
"A remarkable case of longevity was
celebrated about a month ago in the town Of
Bergerac. in the Department of the Dordogne,
France. The 111th birthday of Nine. Coudere
was the occasion OF the entire town appearing
ness.
-Amoretti says: "The Island Of Ferro,
one of the Canaries, through which passed the
first meridian of Ptolemy. was the point
through which the line marked out by Pope
Alexander vi passed" pAfter the discovery OF
Brazil by Vincent Pinzon the line was removed
800 TO the Westward.
New York City pays Its District Attor-
ney 500 year more than is received by the
60 M
year more than Is received by either Of the As
sociate Judges. The Supreme Court Judges
have entailed upon them, by the necessities of
their position, social obligations which absorb
at least half of their salaries in the way Of Off
cial hospitality.
"A discovery has been made of unique
description within the walls of ancient Rome,
and that is of a house which belonged to
Christians of the fourth century, as perfect as
any of those that have been exhumed az
PompeiI and Herculaneum- Many heather
mansions have been disinterred; but this is the
only house that has been found that unmis-
takably belonged to Christians.
When Boston was a small hamlet some
of the more adventurous settlers wandered
away off into the wilderness. as much as 10 or
II miles from the coast: and, having concluded
to settle, peTtioned the Colonial Fathers to
build road out TO them. The wise councillors
considered the matter and rejected the request
on the ground of the supposed improbability
Of civilization ever extending so far west.
During storms, electrical lights are
sometimes seen at the mastheads and yard
arms of vessels at sea. The old mariners
hailed them with joy, as a token that the gale
had broken. Pliny speaks of them under the
name of Castor and PolIux; Columbus. Magel-
Ian and others called them the lights of g..
Elmo" The old Italian sailors called them
corpus santo, from which the English sailors
and our own get corposanu
Upon the point that in professional call
ings the means of support are necessary ere
success comes, it is said that there is college
man of considerable ability who, while an in
terne at Bellevue. was justly considered one Of
the best men ever there; yet after six months
practice in New York. his income was just s6.
To-day he is an assistant in a leading medical
college, young man of great ability yet his
income does not pay expenses.
AS typical instance of destitution in
Boston case is cited OF young man working
in manufacturing shop at long distance
from his room. For so hours a week he re-
ceived 81 35 The work was hard, wearing un-
ceasing. Night found him tired to the marrow;
morning met him half rested. He had young
wife to care for. The expenses for both were,
each week: Room, 81 so; food, S. 81; car fare,
60c; total 81 on: margin, for clothes, amuse-
ments. sickness and rlotous living. % cents.
The Canary Islands were probably
known to the PDenlcians The Romans in
the time of Augustus, received intelligence OF
the Canary Islands from Jnba, King of Maur1.
tania (B. c. Is to A. D. 3O). whose account has
been transmitted to US by the elder Pliny.
Pliny mentions Canaria ESQ called from the
number of dogs found on the islands), and the
Niyania (snow). doubtless the Peak of Tene-
Fortunate Islands,"
When Washington Irving was writing
the History of Columbus he engaged Cap
tain Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, of the
United States Navy, to investigate the question
OF the first land sighted by Columbus. After
an exhaustive analysis-which Humboldt con-
sidered the best ever written-the Captain
came to the conclusion that the first land
sighted by Columbus was the island in the
Bahama group now called Cat Island. 1t was
called by the natives Guanahani, and by Column
bus San Salvador.
California contains 156, 900 square miles,
and if she had 1000 more square miles, three
States like New York and three more like Con-
necticut could be laid on her surface. One
third of her area, 10 speak within bounds, is
adapted to grape culture, which gives her vine
yard possibilities as great as France would have
if she were all vineyard. The wine production
of France. is L400.0OO,0OO gallons; while Cali
fornIa has only attained a result of 22,000000
gallons; that is with an immensely greater area
adapted TO grape culture. she yields only one
sixty-third as much wine as France. This indi-
Gates her coming possibilities
"A conservative estimate of the recorded
building association mortgages in Pennsylvania
would be s9O,OOO.0O0. OF this amount fully ST..
100000 has been saved toward their full and
final ownership, or, in other words, that all
building society mortgages now on record could
be satisfied by the payment of 70 per cent of their
face value. 1t is calculated that 81, 800 persons
were before they became members of the asso-
c1ations, paying S12 month for rented houses,
or S11 740 400 per year. while, under this system,
at the end of l42 months they become the own
ers of $50 600 900 worth of real estate that they
have accumulated month by month.