Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-12
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

VUhlOUO OUNDENOAllVhDs
The "relief fund" Of the Pennsylvania
Railroad is no small affair. Last year 1t is said
that the employees contributed S377. 46l and the
company S7U, 100. making total OF S447, ,62l. OF
this SS43, 500 was paid out
"A postage stamp was recently found
by Connecticut physician in the ear of a little
patient and on its removal a severe pain, from
which the child had suffered and which caused
the visit to the doctor, disappeared
Mrs. Hobbs, of Albany, N. Y, was an
noyed by English sparrows, and soaked hominy
in strychnine with which to poison them. They
ate it and relished it apparently. 1t did not
kill them, but every one of them turned snow
white.
"A robin built her nest in the northwest
corner of the fence surrounding the Meadville
Glass Works. last spring, and Sunday afternoon
1t was noticed that the nest and its two young
occupants were there, although the fire ragged
within few feet Of it.
The Pennsylvania Railroad is expert
menting with a shaking CRATE on its freight en-
gines. and the result IS said to be satisfactory.
An engine equipped with CRATE ran over five
days without clogging. and the fire continued
brisk. No blower was needed.
The girders and suspenders Of the
Brooklyn bridge are being painted for the
structure. This dangerous work is done for the
most part by men who lave had some expert
enee in the rigging of ship.
Charles Spicer, Carleton, Mich, youth,
has been sentenced to one year in the peni-
tentiary for raising a check. He received =
certificate from the Township Clerk of Ash,
Tor nine English sparrows, upon which the
bounty was "a cents. By adding ciphers he
raised 1t to 900 sparrows and the amount TO 81.
Tha ii - %
mammoth prehistoric animal have been found
near Petaluma, Cal. The jaw is two feet long
and weighs 40 pounds. In it two molar
teeth, the larger of which weighs 2H pounds.
The tusk or horn is nearly 3 feet long and about
inches In diameter. The remains were ex-
posed by huge landslide.
When jay Gould was a struggling
young surveyor. with hardly one cent to rub
against another, he stamped bis initials and
the date on a copper cent and put it in circula-
tion. Tuesday Mr.. Gould received some pennies
In change at the Twenty-third street ferry and
on looking them over he found the coin he had
stamped was not among them.
Sir Humphrey de Trafford, near Man
chester, Eng. has perhaps the finest kennels in
England, When his kennelman wants to quiet
the occupant Of certain kennel he goes to the
telephone in his own room and calls that dog TO
order, for in every kennel is some sort of tel
ephonie apparatus which will make mis- masters
voice heard by the restless dog
William Jones, of Philadelphia, has
received a white raccoon which was captured
in the eastern part of Ohio. 1t is said to be the
only animal of its kind and color known in this
country 1t is not more than year old, and
the coat is as white as that of the whitest Spitz
dog. Whitley" as the raccoon is called is
quite playful and rather affectionate.
Preparations are being made to take out
section of big redwood tree in the NAM
moth forest of Tulare county. Cal. for exhibi-
tion at the Worlds Fair in 1893 This will be
the largest section of any big tree ever taken
from California it is said. The tree measures
80 feet in circumference, and the section to be
taken will be feet in height and 60 feet in cir
cumterence.
-Four hundred and seventy years ago
two men in Hungary went to law about piece
of land valued at $1,000 But nobody was in
any particular hurry, and SO the matter dragged
along until the other day, when the Court de-
cided it. The decision, however, is of little
question has been covered by a lake for the
last 200 years.
1t is estimated that over 10000, 900
cigars are manufactured every day in the
United States alone and this enormous num-
Der requires in the neighborhood Of 10000
boxes for their keeping. AS result there are
over 200 factories in the country turning these
boxes out. The wood o. which these boxes are
made comes from Mexico Central America
and the West Indies.
Grand Secretary E. V. Debs OF the Lo-
comotive Firemen estimates the numerical
strength of the different railroad organizations
as follows: Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi-
neers, 200 900; Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire
men, 5000; Brotherhood of Railroad Train
men, 1900; Sw1tchmen's Mutual Aid Assoeia-
tiOn, 6OOO; Brotherhood of Railroad Conduc-
fOur f6dPrateQ.
and number AZ 600 in all
Residents of California, Nevada and
Arizona have a drink that IS not found in the
East. 1t is called an oyster cocktail. In the
preparation of this queer drink, Puget SOUND
oysters, no bigger than thumb nail. are used.
Four or five of these oysters are placed In the
bottom Of glass, and suthcIent quantity OF
whisky to suit the taste of the drlnker 10
poured upon the oysters. On account Of their
size the oysters are carried easily on the current
of the whisky over the palate.
If DR.. Parke, the plucky young surgeon
who accompanied Stanley. is more imperviouS
TO beauty than his chief not so is the fair sex in
regard to him. When Stanley entered the forest
of the pigmies a youthful female dwarf showed
herself. She would have nothing to say to
Stanley, but conceived great affection for the
doctor. She replied to his signs, insisted upon
sleeping at his tents do while the explorers
were in the forest, and when they lett she
wanted him to 60 with her to her people.
Recently several gentlemen met in
hotel at Kingston, Ont. One of them received
in change 1O-cenL piece on which was in
scribed the mystic symbols, HIS" "By joyeF'
said he, "here's 10-center that some fellow
has marked to see if it will ever come back"
Let me see it," replied gentleman Of the
parry "Gentlemen," he SAID, my name is
Henry Dermond. Twelve years ago. az Hall
fax, N s.. marked 20 l0-cent pieces as this IS
marked This is the third one that has turned
up" He offered the owner of the coin 81 for It
and got it.