Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-15
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


population; France one to 3,I67; the United
Kingdom one TO 1,234; but the United States
one to 600.
-Halsted street, Chicago, is one of the
longest streets in the world, being about lS
miles in length in a perfectly straight line
within the city limits.
Frau August Schmidt, of Berlin, 80
years old, recently announced the birth Of her
sixteenth child. She has had four pairs Of
twins and is the wife Of porter.
The Grass Valley, CAL, Tidings saws
that George W. Jones, who lives in Nevada
county, recently shot a rattesnake, porcupine
and bear inside Of minutes.
"A colored clergyman at Elmwood, R. l.,
who pleaded guilty to a charge OF wife-beatng
on Saturday, urged, in behalf Of his flock,
that 1t would have no shepherd If he was
locked up over Sunday. He was let OF with .
fine.
The original manuscript of Captain
Cooks Voyage Round the World" I768 and
1771, on board His Majesty's bark Endeayor,
with the captains autograph on the last page,
was sold at the sale of the Cozens manuscripts
for E31.
One OF the standing properties of the
prison of Uskub, Macedonia. is a collection OF
large ants. Fifty ants placed on the body OF q
man chained to the floor SO that he can't move
limb or head, will cause as extreme torture as
can be devised.
DIR. S. D. Brooks, of Springfield, Mass,
has some ponderous but interesting mementoes
OF the late John Ericsson's work They are
two 5OO-pound cannon balls fired into the Hud-
son river palisades from one of Ericsson's
monitors, which was being tested.
Lizzie Bates, young girl of East Liv-
erpool, had a stone of one of her earrings drop
in her ear the other day. She tried to pick it
m wi hair hY,f eho ;f ;,S.
the ear further still. A physician was called
in, but his efforts to extract it were of no avail
The girl is about half crazy with her sufferlngs.
of all the vegetables which furnish
nourishment to MAJ the banana is the most
prolific. A single cluster often contains 100 to
$50 pods and weighs from 80 to so pounds.
Humboldt says that piece of land 120 square
yards will produce 1900 pounds weight of fruit,
while the same area will rarely produce more
than 30 pounds weight Of wheat or so pounds Of
potatoes.
"A complete list of the Sultan's wives
shows that he has five first-class wives valides,
"a second-class or morganatic wives; and some
$50 third-class partners, variouslv described as
'favortteS' and Slaves" The care and attend.
ance of the female establishments require the
services of 5000 persons, who are the only peo-
pie in Turkey who receive their full pay with
regularity.
Charles Dawson was a farmer until he
was AZ years old. About II years ago, without
theological training he entered the ministry,
and has since been pastor Of a church in Green.
Vile. Me. Four years ago he was elected to the
Maine Legislature, and recently he defeated
one of the ablest and strongest politicians Of
that State for a nomination to the State Senate,
and the nomination is equivalent to election.
"A Cocoa, Fla, citizen witnessed one day
last week an exciting race between big rat
aud a snake of the variety called coachwhip.
The man was sitting on his front yeranda when
his attention was attracted to a swiftly moving
sDection it proved TO be a monster rat pursued
by coachwhip. They dashed under the house,
where the rat eluded the snake among some
empty orange boxes.
An odd result of rivalry between two
tiger snakes is recorded by d. LeSouef AS
sstant Director of the Melbourne Geological
Gardens. One of the snakes was large, the
other small. "Not long ago both happened to
fasten on the same mouse, one at each end
Neither would give way, and the larger snake
not only swallowed the mouse but also the
smaller snake. In about ten minutes nothing
was seen of the smaller snake but about two
inches Of its tail, and that disappeared next
day."
The electric light is being turned to
very artistic use by prominent wall paper
of New York city. The dark,
,lear-cut shadows caused by the play of the
electric light among the foliage of trees have
1ften been remarked, and the gentleman in
question has been for some time making. by
means of photography, a series OF records of
hese beautiful effects, which he intends to use
n connection with his business. The collection
8 valuable one, and some Of the designs
which have already been made from ft are OF
merit.
"A correspondent at Saratoga the other
ay noticed the dinner order of a modest and
little woman in one of the big
Iotels- 1t comprised the following articles:
little Neck clans, turtle soup, blueflsh, roast
'eef, cold boned capon, fricasseed chicken,
obSter salad, stuffed green peppers, boiled new
,otatoes, string beans, green peas New En-
land pudding, cake, wine jelly, ice cream, as
orted fruits, nuts, raisins and coffee. And he
dds that she partook more or less of all these
ishes Her husband tasted little soup, had
bit of roast beef with mashed potato, and
ONE crackers and cheese.
"A singular phenomenon is described in
Scotch journal. A particular species Of will
DIV tree was in flower, and attached to these
lossoms. which resembled an oId-fashioned
Ottle brush. were a large number OF the "big
lack humble bees" )" with which every school,
10Y is familiar. They remained whole day sip
elplessly to the ground. hardly able to move,
nd next morning were almost dead from eX-
osure. One was observed to cIimb a vertical
oard of few inches, and. when near the top,
o throw out his legs and fall backward, after
be manner of the ordinary inebriate.
"A Cuthbert, Ga, boy found a nest Of
oung rats and made q trap out of a cigar box
nd transferred the rodents into it, hoping to
ct the mother rat. The next morning he
astened to it and found the trap door down
ith which he supposed to be the mother rat
lfely Gagged. Carrying the trap out into the
ard he carefully raised the lid to take a peep
his big rat when, to his utter dumfouuding,
snake poked out its head and significantly
cked its tongue in the boys face. The trap
as dropped, and the boy made hasty retreat
the house. His snakeship had made a sup
Or OF the Juvenile rats. and had had a COM
,rtable nap through the night.
-"Out on Fillmore street." says the San
rancisco Examiner, there is big magp1s
lat is never in its cage, but meanders all over
10 neighborhood. 1t stands on the curb, with
,draggled tail and dropping wings and
histles Amy Old Knives to GrindP If any
an comes up and whistles TO make it repeat,
let's out wailing Shrek expressive of the su-
emest disgust. A favOrite trick of this bird
to whistle for dogs. when every cur within
rec blocks runs To it. When the dogs eongre-
tie the magpie flies up on a butchers hook
I'd ieers at them OF late the pound keepers
,putles have caught onto the bird and its
Lbit OF attracting dogs, and the harvest has
en bountifuP.