Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-09
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


Henry Jay says: "A contented wife is
apt to have contented husband"
The Hotchkiss revolving cannon, the
automatic but amazingly effective Maxim gun,
and scores of other death-dealing weapons. at
test the ingenuity of Americans in this field OF
mechanics.
Some cf the swifts secrete from their
salivary glands fluid which rapidly hardens
as it dries on exposure to the air into sub
stance resembling isinglass. and thus furnish
the edible birds nests" that are the delight OF
chinese epicures.
The twentieth century begins on JAN
uary l, 1901 The first century does not end
with the year SO, but with the year 100; the Sec
ond century, therefore, began with the year
lOl. aud the twentieth century, as explained,
VIII begin with the year 1901.
-Biddeford Pool, Me-, is at present in
Vaded by troop of snowy owls from the Arctic
wilds. The hfe-saylng crew has bsen Delying
us name during the past week to the extent of
30 owls. They are sent to Boston and sold for
% or - 5O according to their whiteness.
The famingo ereets in the marshes it
frequents a mound of earth some two feet in
height, with cavity atop, on which the hen,
having oviposite6, sits astride with dangling
legs. and in that remarkable and yet conven-
lent attitude, is said to perform the duty of in
eubatIon.
Nearly 5000, 900 salmon eggs are hatch
ing in the United States hatchery at Clack
amas, on the Columbia river, of which 90 per
cent are expected to develop and thrive. 1t is
little items like this from the far-away Pacific
coast that bring home to the Eastern reader an
appreciation of the restless energy of the great
American Continent.
You can't empty hot, soft-boiled egg
into thin cup without cracking it, nine times
out of ten; unless you follow little trick 1
picked up." said the wise Banquet. "It is this:
Before you open your egg put your spoon in the
cup. Why? The heat follows the spoon up
ward and escapes" Simple, but 1t DOESN'T
cost anything to try it.
Mrs. Anderson, who lives four miles
from Albany in Benton county, Ore, has a gen.
uine JEFF Davis relic. 1t was a piece of the
cape of the cloak which he wore when cap
tured in woman's attire. 1t is of heavy black
goods, and was given Mrs. Anderson by one of
the men who helped to catch him, an old friend
and neighDor of hers.
Alcohol gets its name from the Arabic
alkohol, the powder OF antimony, with which
the people in Asia stain their eyelids. This
powder is very fine and pure, and the name was
in time given in Europe to alcohol, because
1t is pure extract; but the Arabs never used
the word in that way. In other words that sig
nlflcat1on of 1t was unknown in Arabia.
The largest clock in the world is the
great Parliament House clock, and IS usually
called the Westminster clock. The dials are
222 feet in diameter. The depth of the well
for the weights is ia feet. Weight of the
minute hand, cwt.; length. IA feet. Glass
used in dialS, "A tons. The large bell is heard
ten miles off; the small ones four to five.
The new Union League Club, of Brook
lyn, has made a radical departure from club
traditions in setting apart certain rooms. ac-
cessible by a private entrance. for the use of
the wives and daughters of members, and in
placing at their disposal, at certain hours and
under certain conditions, the bowling alleys,
library, and other privileges of the club house.
"A complete list of the Sultan's wives
shows that he has five irst-class wives. valides;
"a second-class or mOrganatic wives; and some
$50 thlrd-class partners, variousIy described as
''favorites" and slaves" The care and at
tendance of the female establishments require
the services of 5000 persons, who are the only
people in Turkey who receive their full pay
with regularity.
-Panes of glass can be cut under water
to almost any shape with a pair of scissors.
Two things are necessary for success; first, the
glass must be quite level in the water while the
| scissors are applied, and secondly to avoid
risk, it is better To perform the cutting by cut
' ting off small pieces, thus reducing the form
gradually to that required. The softer glasses
| cut best and the scissors need not be very
sharp.
Il
! kind were dispersed by the confusion of
tongues, :Haig. martial son of Togarmah, a
son of Conner, a son of Japhet, went to dwell al
the foot of Mount Ararat. and from there ruled
| the surrounding country. The descendants of
this warrior call themselves ''The Haiks," but
as one of their early chiefs was named Ar
menak. they are known to foreigners as the
ArmenianS.
There are over 80, 900 suffering children
| in the schools of Germany. The increase has
been SO great during the past four years that
the defect is considered contagious. The fa-
| nous DR.. GutZman is authority TOR the state
ment that the increase is due to mimicry; that
| the young mimics who initiate Sufferers soon
| become Involuntary Sufferers. The schools OF
the city of Breslau have total of 2 100 stutter-
| ing children.
| The original meaning of vampire, which
appellation has been given to certain blood.
| sucking bats, was that it was usually supposed
to be the soul of dead man which quits the
| buried body by night to suck the blood of living
persons. This belief chiefly prevails in SlavonIc
| lands. 1t is thought that those who turn vam-
| pires are generally wizards. suicides and per-
| sons who have come to violent end. or have
/ been cursed by their parents or Dy the church.
Travellers describe the wounds inflicted
by the large sharp-edged incisors of the South
| American vampire bat as being similar to those
| caused by a razor when shaving; portion of the
skin is shaved of, and a large number of sew.
I cred capillary vessels being thus exposed, a
constant flow of blood is maintained. From
| this source the blood is drawn through the ex.
| ceedingly narrow gullet-too narrow for any.
| thing solid to pass - into the intestine-like
| stomach. whence it is, probably, gradually
| drawn off during the slow process of digestion,
! while the animal sated with food, is hanging
in state of torpdity from the roof of its cave,
or from the inner sides of hollow tree.