Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-12
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

There are !, 100000 gypsies in Europe.
The highest altitude ever reached by
balloon was seven miles.
The total number of Buddhists in the
world is estimated to be 100000.
1T is said that nearly 10000 men desert
from the German army every year.
In 20 years there has been no counter
feiting Of American postage stamps.
! The 1241z miles between Newcastle and
Edinburgh, which is done without stop, is
| at present the longest run in Britain.
| The national debt of Germany, which is
much smaller than that of any other great
! country in the world, is, in round figures
! f39.000 co.,
-Medici and Henry II. collars, after
dwindling in size until they lost all chsrac-
ter have been set aside, at least for this
summer, in Paris
In France little more than 100 years
ago it was impossible for anybody to work
unless he Joined the union of his particular
trade and submitted to its rules.
The social magnifcence of State ball
at ST. Petersburg is such that on one occa-
sion the guests numbered 1900, yet there was
no erowdfng and every arrangement was
perfect.
"A provincial British postmaster is in
trouble. Through hole in the roof Of his
office the rain poured in one night and
stuck together 600 worth of postage
stamps.
Sixty years ago only one public bank
ing company existed in London. and Mt the
Bank of England private accounts were at
that time opened rarely and with the grea sesb
difficulty.
The gross aggregate income of the
0f n 60 4 :
which s5469, III Is derived from ancient on
dowments and f2s4 1856 from private bened-
ciaries since 1908
Scotland contains so towns of more than
10000 inhabitants. Seven of these number
more than 80 900 inhabitants, nine have be-
tween 20 900 and 300G0 and the remaining Il
have from 10000 TO 10000.
"A woman fell overheard in japanese
waters and was eaten by q shark. For three
years her husband has done nothing but
hunt sharks, and up to date has landed about
800 of them and is still fishing.
About 1910, when ships at Nfiddles-
brough were loaded at the staiths in the
Tees, a ships boat-sail was frequently used
on n coal wagon when the wind was favor
able, and by its aid ran up to Stockton.
The principal relic belonging to the
Church of Sainte Gudule, in Brussels con-
slsts of thorn which is said to have formed
to the Netherlands in the time of the Cru
sades.
Turkish soldiers are said To be verv poor
marksmen. Recent target contests in the
Turkish army "demonstrated' that not 1
soldier in 90 could lit man at 20 uaces. 4
target about four feet in diameter. placed %
rods away, was hit on an average only once
out of 20 shots.
Further discoveries have been made in
the excavations under Messrs Dimsdale-
Fowler & Co.'S bank in COrnhill, resulting i'm
a skull and two Roman medals being found
Everything tends to give authority TO the
claim of st. Peters. Cornhill. that il stands
the site of the oldest Christian church in
England
"A handsome Burmese bell from Manda-
lay has been placed upon the North Ter
race. in the vicinity of the Winchester
Tower, at Windsor Castle. There are native
characters upon the upper part of the tro-
ply, which is supported by three cannon
shot and mounted upon a stone pedestal.
The latter bears the the inscription, "Man-
dalay. 1881"
The ancient Firms believed that q
mystic bird laid an egg on the lap of
Vaimainou, who Matched it in his BOSOM
He let it fall into the water and it broke the
lower portion of the shell forming the earth,
. the upper the sky; the liquid white became
the sun and the volk the moon, while the
little fragments of broken shell were trans
formed into stars.
The Duke of Cambridge, since the age
of 10, has been in the Queens employment
The following are the rough estimates oftns
amount of money he has received: Grant o.
$4,000 for 80 years, f4Gs,O0 army emolu-
ments from 1887 to 1861 Gl6COO: Colonel Of
Grenadier Guards. 1861 to 1862 f45 600: Com
mander in Chief. 1852 to 1889 & 70, 900; Ranger
ship of Parks, fl7,OOO; total, s67l,OOO
There is at present discharging the
humble duties Of assistant baker at the PEN
ftentfary of Lille NOu, New Caledonia, a
polish convict named Berezowsky. This
man was tried before the Court of AssiZeS
of the Seine, in 1861, for an attempt to assas-
sinate the Gar Alexander H., who had
come to Paris to enjoy the magnificent hos
pitality of the Emperor Napoleon III.
While Mr.. Irving was in Essex last
year he had an opportunity of performing
one of those transformations acts of genero-
sity with which his name is so often coupled
To the village in which he was staying came
n band of strolling players with a booth.
Doing badly, and hearing that the ''head Of
the profession" was in the neighbOrhood.
they sent a deputatiOn to him to beg the
loan of Gj, which they promised to repay as
soon as their luck changed. Mr.. Irving in
quired into the circumstances of the case,
found that the sorrowful tale OF bis petit
tioners was true, and sent them flO as q
gift.
1t is estimated that the treasure living
idle in India in the shape of boards or or1Ia-
ments amounts to ESQ 100000. A competent
authority calculates that 'in Amritsar City
alone there are jewels to the value of e.
OO0, 900 sterling" As regards some other dis
tricts the figures that have been furnished
are not less astonishing. The miserable
waste of Montgomery is estimated to pos
sess about 80 Iakhs in ornaments. The hill
sides and valleys of Kulu are put at 81
lakhs. In Jhelum two-ffths of the wealth
of the district is said to be vested in prop
erty of this nature, and in KOhat, probably
one of the poorest districts of tue province
in this respect, the estimate is taken at 500
rupees for each HindOO family and 10 rupees
for each Musselman family, and l"kh in
aggregate for the Nawab and other Baises,
ma king total for the district of 10 lakhs."
A lakh is worth about f1,C0o.
RHYMES AND RHYNKLES.