Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-01-02
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS


The women of Milford, Me-, have pre-
sented TO the town a hall which they paid for
themselves by giving entertainments and fa1rA
"A lad named simons is the pride Of
Santa Cruz county, Cal. He is II years old.
stands feet 81 inches high and weighs 200
pounds.
1t is estimated that Santa Barbara
county, Cal, contains 80 bee farms with 2S5O
hives The output Of honey this year was a.
900 pounds.
There is a queerIy matched couple in
Atlanta The husband weighs l30 pounds and
the wife 800 pounds When they were married
the man weighed $50 and tho woman 10
"A MeadyiIle paper estimates that dogs
destroy annually IN Crawford county sheep to
the value Of about $1,000 At this rate they
would kill in the State about $4,000 worth OF
sheep per year.
Sioux City, Ia, has given brick pave
ment a fair trial for nine years. with the result
of making the pavementYery popular. Bloom
ingtOn. H., has also found brick paYement
cheap and durable.
William Hammond. Of Wilkesharre
Heights. aged 79, has worked continuously in
coal mines for over 70 years, having commenced
with his father, in Wales, when he was years
old. He is hale yet.
-Four months ago Christian Kreamer
disappeared mystsriously from wedding re,
ccepsion at Pottsville, and no trace was found Of
hun until Tuesday when he returned from
Visit to brother in Germany.
They had big banquet up at Spokane
Falls the other night The reporter who at
| tended it concluded with the candid admission
tnat 1T IS not distinctly remembered By any
body present who made the last speech"
T. j. Munson, living in La Crosse
county, Wis, should be credited with one Of
the shortest courtships on record. Last week
he went to see the sights Of Black River Falls,
and while eating dinner at one of the restau-
rants was smitten with the waiter girl, whom
he engaged in conversation. In q few minutes
they were friends, in an hour lovers and be-
fore sundown were man and wife, he returning
Saturday night with his bride, having been
gone from home but three days.
The queerest house ever built in Ban
gor Me-, is the magnificent stone structure
just completed in that city by Isaiah K. stet-
son. Estimated cost IL $4,000. and no other
house in Bangor had an equal amount Of work
laid out upon it in proportion to its size. The
first story of the main house is built of stones
of every conceivable size, shape, texture and
color, which were given the owner By his many
friends They come from all points OF the COM
pass, many of them from long distances, and
some are very valuable. The effect is novel,
but the stones are so arranged in regard to
color that it is very artistic. The house has
| O6eu uISCUbS6u 80 much kudb MI 1betsOu AAa
often been weary OF giving information about
il.
An almost indeseribsble color is that Of
the sealsin before it is dyed. It Is silvery gray
| furry brown and two or three other things, all
at the same time. But it is srrikingly pretty,
and here in the East Is so seldom seen that
those girls wearing the undyed skins may feel
pride at having something unusual and individ-
| ual. A young Californian who came to New
I
mas from friend on the Pacific coast cape
and muf of the skin in its natural color, and
had great fun listening to acquRintanees guess
ing what the animal was. By actual count,
eight women and one man each made differ
ent guess, and, strange enough. the man was
the only one to name the skin the hrst time.
But he had hunted seals in bis earlier days and
he ought to have known.
-Rathapura, the city Of gems, in Ceylon,
is the center Of district 20 or 30 miles square,
in almost all Of which stratum Of gravel
feet to 20 feet under the surface exists.
Throughout this area gem pits are to be seen
near the villages, some being worked now,
others being abandoned The natives work
there in companies Of six or eight, and pay
rupee per man per month for the privilege OF
working acertain allotment, where they begin
by marking OF q square of about ten feet.
After removing about three feet OF soil. the
sounding rod, piece OF iron about half an men
in diameter and six feet long is used 70 sound
for the gravel, II successful, the digging u
begun in earnest, Hardly basketful Of earth
is taken ont that does not contain something
valuable, though, Of course, the most precious
gems are comparatively few in number,
That q cat will suck baby's breath is
a belief of many people, and an incident that
would seem TO verify the belief took place In
Beverly, Mass, recently. Mrs. Albert Whitney
had given her little daughter, . child of years,
a drink of milk and laid her on the lounge 70
Sleep A half hour later Mrs. Whitney chanced
into the room and was alarmed TO see large
cat belonging to the family erouched on the
little girls breast, with its head close to her
mouth The mother screamed in terror and
the cat ran away. The child was insensible,
and its face was purple A physician was
called, and the little one was restored to con-
sciousnesa. The madical man was skeptioal as
to the breath-sucking theory. and thought il
more probable that the cat leaped upon the
child's breast TO lap the milk from her lips, and
that its weight suffoeated the little one.
On Little river, near Osceola, La,
Robert Warren, q lumberman, lost his way in
the woods He thought he heard human
voice, and hallooed to attract attention. His
shout was answered, and the cries came nearer
and nearer. Then he discovered that it was .
panther that had been yelling. Being un-
armed he climbed tree and remained in IL
for an hour. The panther finally left When
he thought the coast was clear, Warren DE-
seended and pursued his way, and when he
again nallo0ed to attraoE attention, the pan
ther returned, this time accompanied DJ MS
mate. Up sapling he again went, armed
with a stout club and determined 10 sell MS
life as dearly as possible. In the meantime
the boys in camp had become alarmed az ms
absence and had started out to search Tor MIN:
They had reached point within quarter e1
the sound of his call for help, and, a. an an
swering signal fred of gun, which had the
effect Of frightening off the panthers.