Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-30
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

i ~
| are now supplied with rubber tires to prevent
violent jOlting and deafenng clatteE.
An electrical gyroscope has been de-
vised in Paris and applied to show the rotation
Of the earth and TO correct ships compasses
The foreman Of one of the largest barber
shops in New York is authority for the srate-
| ment that more men part their hair IN the mid
Gle now than ever before.
While the population of Germany has
increased in the last IS years in the proportion
Of 100 to las. the number Of German students
| 21l.6.
1t is fact not generally known that
Massachusetts by recent nominations, is fur
nishing two instances of candidates standing
Ior congress IN districts in which they do nos
reside.
AT Union, Ia, Charles Rever and Miss
Minnie FIagg have just been married. Over
the parlor door of the brides house was hung
the words: "A union of hearts, a union of
hands and the Flagg of Union for Rever."
"A crook at the Kansas State Fair picked
a woman's pocket and found in her purse three
samples of dress goods a receipt for making
angel food. hdIrpin. two bread tickets, pack
age OF court plaster and a nickel with hole
in it.
AT quarry near Salt Lake, last week,
frog hoped out of pocket in the center Of
a rock which had just been blasted. The ami
NAL was of small size and perfectly white. Its
eyes were unusually large. but apparently
blind. Where the mouth should have been
there was only line. The frog died next
morning.
"A paper read at the recent meeting of
the British Association described graphically
the pauper population of England as being sufi-
cient to form procession of four persons
,F If0, in,
single file the paupers of England would. ac-
cordIng to these figures, form line upward Of
4OO miles long.
The Indians on the banks of the Orinoco
river. South America, assert that an alligator,
previous to going in search of prey, always
swallows large stone. that it may acquire ad.
tional weight to aid il in dragging its prey
under water. Bolivar, the traveller, is said to
have verified this statement by shooting sew
eral of the saurians, in which stones were
found.
The total original capital of the 81 Brit
ish breweries which have been converted into
joint stock companies is E5O50O,0O0. A list of
the last dividends paid by these companies in
no case shows distribution of less than )
per cent, while and 10 per cent are quite
common, and IN three or four cases Is and %
per cent have been reached.
In Paris the thousands of sardine and
other tin boxes that are thrown away every
month form tine basis for an industry which
has reached vast proportions These refuse
cans are stamped by machinery into tin SOL
diers. and sold SO cheaply that the poorest chill
dren can possess them; yet the manufacturer
makes fair profit, which he could not do if he
used new material.
The Pope does his private writing with
gold pom, but his pontifical signature is al
ways given with white-feathered quill which
is believed to come from the wing of dove,
have come from larger fowl. The same quill
has been IN use for more than 40 years. 1t only
serves for important signatures, and Is kept in
an ivory case.
Among large collection OF old curiosi-
ties left by the late Herr Leopold Ettel Of
Innsbruck, there was found large cupboard
partitiOned into lockers filled with instruments
of torture of different countries and periods.
The topmost locker was inscribed, Modern in.
struments of torture of the nineteenth GEN.
tury;' and on being opened was found to con-
tain rate papers, dunning letters and sum-
mOnses.
The steam engines of the world repre-
SENT approximately, the working power Of
,OO0 OOO.OO0 of men. or more than double the
working population of the world, the total pop
ulatlon of which Is usually estimated at 1,455-
1900 inhabitants. Steam has accordingly
enabled man to treble his working power, max
ing it possible for him TO economic his phys
ical strength while attending to his intellectual
development.
If box six.feet wide were filed with
sea water and allowed to evap4rate under the
sun, there would be two inches OF salt left at
the bottom. Taking the average depth of the
ocean to be three miles. there woui1 be alayer
of pure salt go feet thick at the bed Of the At
lantic. The water is colder at the bottom than
at the surface. In may bays on the coast OF
Norway the water often freezes at the bottom
before it does above.
The theory that there was q connection
between Babylon ana China in ancient times
has much in its favor, and as the idea seems to
be growing in Importance it may be interesting
to know that 1t was first suggested by an
American, the Rev. William Frederick
Williams, in an unpublished letter addressed
to the Rev Leonard Bacon, d. D., ana daIed
June u, 1858. Tbs document is preserved in
the library of Yale College.
-Moles can occasionally become fends
incarnate, veritable subtsrranean tigers; and
with such energy do they attack each other
that. utterly ignoring the presence of man,
they will rough and tumble at his very feet,
their enormously muscular little limbs working
convulsively and bones audibly cracking be-
meath the pressure of their jaws. No one who
has not witnessed a tourney OF this nature
would credit the extraordinary activity and
fury which is here displayed, for, unless they
are forcibly parted the battle seldom leaves
both combatants in the land of the living.
AS is we'll known, phosphates are very
extensively used in this country and Europe in
the manufacture of fertilizers. Hundreds of
thousands of tons are used annually, and the
demand is increasing. The most valuable de-
posits IN this country have been the beds in
south Carolina but the Palmetto State has
found a new competitor in Florida. where the
vast deposits are richer and extend from Talla-
hassee TO Peace river. about 30 miles south OF
Tampa a distance of over 500 miles, and with a
width, so far as developed. of from 10 to o0
miles.
If a man eats pound OF beef, mutton or
other flesh every day, in a year he will consume
365 pounds and in six years q 800 pounds Of
meat He Will eat the same weight of vege-
tables and quite much bread so here are
(. 500 pounds more. He will drink every day
TWO quarts of coffee. tea. wine. beer or water,
making total of 10000 gallons or about lT5
locsheads of liquid. This estimate does not
include the probability that he will eat 40 or 81
ambs with mint sauce. couple of thousand
,pring chickens, about 500 pounds of butter and
d. 600 or $1,000 eggs, arfd four hogsheads OF
ugar. If all this supply were piled up on the
caIes it would weigh over As tons and If stored
would fill cotton warehouse from floor to
,eiliDg
TIE rrrrzrnDnUrS rORNER