Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-20
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS


because s4OOOO.OoO worth of their work is done
in the East.
The city of London, England, will
build and rent houses to Worklngmen at
slight profit.
Two million and half is the number of
persons who are said to work on Sundays In
this country.
1t is said that Judge Means, of Evinston,
realized sl6 per box for the first tangerines
shipped this year.
Emperor William has given orders that
women shall not be employed at night in any
Government factory.
1t is alleged that the catacombs of Rome
contain the remains of 6.000 900 human beings,
and those of Paris about 8, 100000
The Socialists are again active at Ans
terdam, the police having torn down several
placards with the words: ''Long Live the Re-
public"
All of the postofices in Italy receive
money on deposit. allowing interest at the rate
of 81 per cent per annum and dividend paid
every five years.
There are dozen bathrooms in Wash
ington that have cost all the way from 81 600 to
$40. 900 apiece. One Senator's house has nine
bathrooms, all of which are finished in ma
hogany.
The use of Prof Koch's curative lymph
will be prohibited by the Russian Medical
Council until such time as the specific has
been investigated under Government super
vision.
-Cobweb parties are a new thing and
popular in the country. 1t is played by hiding
packages attached to intricately woven cords,
and the fun consists in following special cord
to Its prize.
The balloon proposed for polar explora-
tions is SO feet in diameter and 500 cubic feet
in volume. The journey will be made from
SpitzbHrgen, and. with favorable wind, will
last four or five days.
The Spanish Government has instructed
the Minister of Finance to issue DEGREES rails
ing the duties on foreign articles of food. The
Minister has also been instructed to prepare
new protective customs tariff.
Engine 1856, st. Louis division of the
Big Four. on Sunday last hauled the South
western limited train of six cars from Paris to
Terre Haute. making one stop, in q minutes.
The distance is 20.7 miles.
-Smokeless powders are not noiseless, as
is so frequently stated. The noise Is somewhat
different from that of black powder, being on
higher key; but it can be heard quite as dis
tinctly and as far as when the latter is used.
Some one has invented an electric mouse
trap. 1t consists of metallic cage containing
cheese. The mice naturally approach it sor the
purpose Of investigation, but the instant they
touch the wire an electric current strikes them
dead.
Cloth is successfully made from wood.
Strips of fine grained wood are boiled and
crushed between rolls and the filaments, hav-
ing been carded into parallel lines, are spun
into threads from which cloth can be woven in
the usual way.
The principle of the compressed paper
car wheels, which are so widely used through
out the world. is applied in France to the manu-
facture Of puileys for power transmission. The
pulleys are said to be very light, cheap and
serviceable in every respect.
DIR. Fraser, of Fernandina, Fla. has an
interesting fossil experiment from the Black
Hills. 1t is that of fish embedded on a rock
that seems to be half sandstone half clay. 1t
is about four inches long. and the outlines of
the finest fin is as distinct as that of the verte-
br8.
-Workmen on the farm of Abraham
| Drushel, near Canton. o., have discovered the
| remains of huge animal, supposed to be .
megalherium- They were digging in a marsh
| which proves to be the bed of an ancient lake.
| One short rib measured feet, indicating feet
| for the longest rib. The claws, still perfect,
were inches long.
The Old Colony Railroad Company Is
trying a new wrinkle in locomotive driving,
having built new engine in which the engineer
| is seated on the left-hand side of the cab, in
stead OF the right, as is invariably the custom.
This road also runs its trains to the left but has
never before departed from the usual practice
regarding the engineers position.
AT Vclepich, in Southern Russia, a
| Jewish father has been arrested for having his
| child crcumcIsed, and the police are looking
for the rabbi who performed the operation,
| but who disappeared on learning that he was
hnrWN aaar had for Nna aha ru
| manning. 1t Is the first time that any such
prosecution has been instituted in Russia.
| An Irish farmer named Cassidy was re-
Gently evicted from his farm in Kingman
| county, Kan, by the Jarvis Conklin Loan Com
pany, which had foreclosed a mortgage on the
| property. A tenant was put in possession.
| One night this week a dozen men broke into
| the house, bundled the occupants out in the
| cold and reinstated Cassidy. The tenant rec.
ognized two prominent farmers in the group.
"A negro hack driver in Macon, Ca,
drove blind man to his home and received in
payment what he thought to be two dimes and
| a nickel. After awhile, when the negro was
| balancing his cash, he found IS gold piece
| among his coins. He at once remembered
| where he had gotten ii, and as he could not find
the blind man, he carried it TO the city officials
to be turned over to its owner.
"A Wichita, Kan, jury was out on a
murder case for 81 hours, when the Judge con-
cluded to hurry matters. He went with q
clergyman to the jury room. The minister
sung hymn, the jury joining in the chorus.
| He then preached for an hour and a half on
| the Immortality of the SOUP and left. When
| court opened the jury came in with verdict,
reached on the first ballot after the sermon.
The case will be appealed.
There is an old graveyard in Clarks
county, Ga, which is held in superstitious fear
| by the neighborhood. One story about it is
that rabbit has taken up its home there and
| burrows in a sunken grave. The boards cover
| ing the vault have rotted. leaving a cavern ex-
| tending into the coffin itself. For a long time
| a rabbit has used the den as its lair. and can be
| seen at almost any hour entering or leaving the
| cavern. Time and again the hunters have
| sought to kill this particular rabbit, but tt Is
! like firing at a sun ray. The little duadruped
| seems quite tame, and will invite a near ap-
| proach of the sportsman, but upon the dis
| charge of his gun Brer Rabbit bounds on un-
| harmed. And no dog, either, can be found to
| chase that rabbit any distance. They will run
| it few yards and then return to their owners,
| with mystifed look and their tails dangling
| between their legs.