Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-05
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

There are 10000 colored Catholics in
Washington, D. G.
Paris consumes !. .20OO, 900 kilogrammes,
or about 2,5OO, 900 pounds of bread per day.
The latest fashion in the way of flower
decoration is to employ only one kind Of flower
TO ornament table.
1t is the latest theory that the electric
ity of thunder storms is due to the friction Of
water drops on ice.
Experience in electrically welding pro-
Jectiles shows that the metal is strengthened at
the point of welding.
-Ihe Russian Government has decided
IN tnat In the future all its railroad trains shall
De lighted with electricity.
-Compressed paper is now used as sub
stiIute I Tor wood in the manufacture Of shuttles
and their wheels for looms.
-Ihe Hawaiian Government has applied
70 the Japanese Government for 900 more i'm
migrants, and they will be sent.
1t Is estimated that a man can 90
around the world in a trihe over 80 days when
the new Russian railway is completed
"A grain OF musk will scent a room for
20 years. and at the end of that time will nor
show that 1t has diminished in the least
Liverpool, England, has $50 miles of
the best paved streets in the world, and it costs
repair.
"A tunnel to Prince Edwards Island
across Northumberland straits. distance Of
619 miles, is the next great engineering feat
talked of in Canada.
Standard time has been fully accepted
in Asia by not less than 40 OOOO. 900 people, in
Europe by almost an equal number, and In
America by more than 60000.0O0.
The dynamo is replacing the battery to
such an extent in telegraphY that its use will,
it is thought. be universal in a few years. 1t ID
both cheaper and more efficient.
Electrical appliances which have been
used to time horse races are now being adapted
to the timing of sprinting races, and are found
to be of great use in close contests.
"A Connecticut Judge has decided that
hotels conducted on the American plan have
the right to charge guests for meals as long as
they occupy a room, whether the meals are
eaten or not.
The Austrian War Office has decided
upon filling the mattresses and pillows of the
soldiers in barracks with wood shavings Ex-
perlments with this material have already been
made in some military districts.
An electric light and power plant, soon
to be in running order at Ellsworth, Me-, will
be run chiefly by water power, and the COM
pany expects 90 be able to furnish power at $50
q
AT Budapest phonograph is now e1-
hibited from which the voice of Louis Kossuth
can be heard on payment of an entrance fee.
The voice of the venerable revoIutionist is de-
scribed as still sonorous in spite of his great
age.
"A brown or black bear would soon be
observed where the coyote makes its home but
the latter, lying in the sides of hills covered
with dried and sunburnt vegetation, is almost
perfectly safe from intrusion if it but remains
quiet.
"A Biddeford, Me-, man offered to pay his
barber 20 cents if the barber would shave him
would do it for nothing if the operation con-
sumed more than that time. The job was done
in 81 seconds.
The receivable traditions Of China 90
back to 5000 years before Christ; and one Of
their sacred books. the Sinking Creating of
history and of the government ard laws of the
ancient monarchs). begins with the Emperor
Yao, 2357 years B. c.
The wood and iron model of the architect
Brentano's design for the facade of Milan
Cathedral is nearly completed. The model will
cost 90 600 francs and will be one-twentieth of
the size of the contemplated facade, so that
critics will be given every opportunity OF max
ing suggestions.
-Populdr Science Monthly alludes to the
belief of some that as man in the savage state
has. for the most part been largely, if not
wholly. carnivorous. he will. with the progress
of civilization, become entirely vegetarian or
nse only the products Of animals, as eggs and
milk, with vegetable food.
An ingenious numismatic has devised
an ingenious method of exhibiting coins, which
is now used in English museums. The pulling
of lever rotates a frame-containing cards in
which the coins are inserted-in such a manner
%In1 ar,Ar fT1ll das0
ton of each coin, are shown at the will Of the
observer.
A hunter in Wesley, Washington
county saws the Portland (Me.) Press, saw
deer dancing about in clearing in the strang-
est fashion. The animal was Jumping up and
down in one place and manifesting the greatest
interest in lis own performance. The hunter
was so amazed that he forgot 10 shoot. At
last the deer saw the hunter and bounded
away The hunter. going to the spot, found a
large blacksnake completely trOdden into the
ground
1t is proposed to introduce bill in the
English Parliament, when IL again assemblesA
providing for the pay of the members of they
House of Commons. AS is known by all familA
lar with English Parliamentary affairs, memt
bers of neither the House of Lords nor the
Commons have ever received salary. Seats
in the House of Lords are hereditary, descend
ing with the title to the peerage, while those
in the Commons are elective, neither member
ship being salaried.
"A wood-carving machine which pos
sesses many radical improvements has been
brought out. The machine is designed specially
for use in furniture factories and in car, organ
and piano factories and other establishments
where wood carving is done. 1t will carve four
duplicate pieces any length at one operation if
not over IL inches wide. or 1T will make two
duplicate pieces any length if not over 10
inches wide and if a greater width is desired
one piece can be carved Of any length, and
from Is to 80 inches wide. The bits can be
handled conveniently and in any direction
within an angle of 30 degrees.