Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-30
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

| -Zpnl9
N. Y, married two sisters simultaneously. and
last week lust as simultaneously the two sisters
| obtained divorces from the brothers for cruel
| treatment.
MIR. Dunsrord, an attache of the British
Eastern Consular Service. who is now in this
country. says the English civil service exam
inatIons are far more severe than are those IN
the United States.
--Ex-GoYernor J. Sterling Morton, of Ne
braska, father of the arbor day for economic
eepsnSnS so6 ddn 2 out that way says that more
are growing in that State.
Marvellous powers of vision have given
John Thomas Helsop, of Birmingham, Eng,
| the name of ''The Living Microscope.n He can
| distinguish the animal life in water and so does
| not drink water. The fugitive hair iI the board
Ing house butter is an oak in his side.
Rev. John Prince, Methodist minister,
80 years of age and Mrs. Cynthia Wood, S4 years
| of age, and mother of member of Parliament,
| were married recently in Montreal They were
| lovers when the century was young but their
parents forbade their match and they parted.
Vaccination at sea has been declared by
a number of New York doctors as more dam
| gerous than smallpox, and Cunard passengers
| who claim that they are suffering from blood
poisoning in consequence of being Vaecinated
| on shipLoard have brought suits against the
great steamship line.
In Massachusetts, the birth rate of the
native population is IS per 1000 while that of
the foreign population is more than 81 per 600
which is considerably higher than that of any
other country. The proportion Of deaths
among the foreign born, as compared with the
nations, is one to three.
The raccoon, when he goes fishing, will
let his tail hang over into the water. The
crabs mis- take this for food and lay hold of it.
l ~ ~
tale with sudden jerk, captures his prey and
removes short distance from the water,
where he greedily deyours it.
The Repu6Hque FrancaiSe gives long
account of a learned seal, who comes when
called, gives his paw or rather his fiipper to
anyone. when properly introduced, walks from
his boarding house to the circus where he is
exhiblted, but strangely enough insists on
riding IN carriage when 1t rains.
William Carroll, st. Louis gentle
man, is professional robber of chicken roosts,
and as such is probably the champion of the
world. He was recently captured and proudly
led the officers to pile of 700 heads, represent
ing the number of chickens which he had
stolen within the last nine months. Mr.. Car
roll Is white man.
There is cry of fear in Paris lest
reason assigned is that women with salons no
longer encourage it. Another is that the
waltz, which has for some years monopolized
dancing, is too boisterous and exhaustlng. IL
has disappeared from many Paris salons. A
revival of the art Is called for.
"A gentleman in Paris, Tex, owns
horse which makes habit of eating young
chickens. Every time young chicken comes
within reach of the horse it is sure to be
swallowed. The appetite of this equine for
poultry Is something Unsuitable, and no less
than half dozen infantile fowl have been
rf ro1 IN sfyh hia hnn iro -fn do
"A successful English physician OF 40
dimes at $50 every evening and goes to bed at
9. He rises at 2 in the morning, reads two
hours and writes three hours. He eats break
fast at 7 and goes to bed again, rising at II. He
practices his profession between noon and in
the evening. The amount and quality Of his
work are wonderful. and within five years he
has risen to foremost place in the profession.
Mr.. Nathan Harvey, OF Topeka. Kan,
| has in his possession his wedding suit, which
was made at Richmond, Ind, in 1882. in shopin
which Schuyler Colfax, General Burnside and
| ex-Congressman Shryock were journeymen.
The suit consists of white duck trousers. a buff
vest with brass buttons and blue swallow-tail
! coat also trimmed with brass buttons. The
cloth for these garments cost 81 and the making
| S. Mr. Harvey also has a hat, purchased for
| the same occasion, which was made by Oliver
z. Morton.
An old custom formerly prevalent in
many parts of England was that of ''heaVing"
or ''lifting," mostly performed in the open
street. People formed into parties of II or
| more and from every one lifted" they
torted a contribution. There is said to De
record in the Tower of London of certain pay
ments made to ladies and maids of honor for
taking King Edward L in his bed at Easter,
whence it has been presumed that he was
lifted according to the custom which then pre-
vailed among all ranks throughout the king
dom.
The age of the high hat is under inves-
| tigation. 4 correspondent writing in the
Manner Journal says: Among the marginal
illustrations. by Albrecht Durer, of the famous
PRAYER book of the Emperor Macmillan, there
is man wearing a high hat and in a book of
crests and escutcheons of J0st Amman, pub
lished in 1883, high hat forms the crest of a
nobleman. Had these natS not been worn at
the period, great artists like Durer and Am
mann would certainly not nave painted such
miserably ugly things. which are the most un-
slightly pieces of furniture the world has ever
seen."
The foreign tuba player who ran
against a snag in the shape of a New York
custom house official, who decided that he
wasn't an artist, and therefore couldn't land in
this country to compete with our native talent,
has triumphed after all. The tuba player un-
dertook to plead his own case before higher
authority. who examined him in melody, har-
mony, counterpoint, composition, instrumental
tion, execution, and SO forth. He played
'.Annie Laurie" on his tuba without accom-
paniment, and so entranced the obdurate Gus
toms officer that he was adjudged an artist and
eligible for admission TO our Shores
An engine driver on one of the Scotch
lines reports that he has noticed that certain
hawks of the merlin or stone falcon" species
make use of the passing of the trains for preds-
tory purposes. They fly close behind the train,
near the ground. partly hidden by the smoke.
but carefully watching for the small birds
which, frightened by the train as it rushes
roaring past, fly up in Oewildered shoals.
The merlins then, while the little birds are
thinking more of the train than l9rklng Toes,
swoom on them from the ambush of the smoke
and strike them down with ease. IL they miss
they return to the wake of the carriages and
resume their flight and their hnnt. 4ney can,
il seems. easily keep pace with express
train, and outstrip 1t when they please.