Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-24
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

II
| -Sardou, the great French playwright,
writes a hand so fine that it almost requires
magnifying glass to read 1t.
Every workingman in Japan wears on
his cap and on his back an inscription CIV
ing his business and his employers name.
"A wealthy German has offered prizs
Of $4,000 to any astronomer who will salts
factOrily demonstrate to him that the sun,
moon or stars are inhabited.
| Two men in Clyde, Mich, have been
paying taxes on the same piece of land for
| the past seven years. The wrong man Is
now trying to find out how to get his money
back.
AT Mansfield, La, a farmer shot q
mother fox and took the young ones, four in
number, home. He gave them to an old cat,
and she Is now taking the best OF care OF
them.
The painting of the cruiser Charleston
cost about $4,000. OF course the finest paints
had to be used, but part of the heavy ex-
pense was due to the fact That the work was
much delayed.
Two Frenchmen recently swindled
German merchant by representing to him
they wanted a cloth made to cover the Eiffel
tower in winter, and as a guarantee of good
faith had him to pay them ST. 200
The smallest screws in the world are
used in the manufacture of watches. The
screw in the fourth Jewel wheel, that looks
to the naked eye like q bit of dust, is so small
that lady's thimble would hold 1OO0,O0 OF
them.
"A steamer which arrived in London
from Auckland brought a cargo consisting
10000 sheep and 1000 beeves, all dressed and
frozen. This Is the largest single cargo Of
dressed meat that has ever been brought to
England.
The japanese language is said to con-
tain 60, 900 words, every one of which requires
different symbol. 1t is quite impossible
/ for one man to learn the entire language,
and a welleducated japanese is familiar
with only about 10000 words.
Reid Marshall shot quite large bird
on Glade run, near Dayton, last Friday. 1t
measured six and one-half feet from tip to
tip of wings and four and one-half feet from
point of bill to toes. Some say the bird was
blue heron, others say it was a crane.
"A new safety match has been patented
in England by Belgian, who places on
different parts Of the same match two COM
positions, which, in ordinary safety matches,
are generally placed respectively on the box
and on the end of the match. In obtaining
a light the match is broken across the
middle and the ends rubbed together.
Thomas Marshall and Fred Grace, Of
NOW Od5Uic, Td, HcT0 OuO uullblnS buo
other day and captured q creature not de-
scribed in the books. 1t is a frog with wings
and a tail something like a fantail pigeon.
1t weighs exactly nine ounces. The wings
are composed OF elastic-like skin, and when
stretched out measured inches from tip to
tip. When the frog bird is in the water the
wings and tail fit closely to the body andare
hardly noticeable.
One of the most remarkable home
comings in the worlds history is that Of
Lucas Negreiras Paez, who returned to
Barcelona, Spain, the other day. Senior Paez,
now 90 years of age, has been in business at
Boston for 10 years, and is very wealthy.
When he sailed for his native land, on one
of his own ships, commanded by one of his
grandsons, he took with him his entire fam
| lily of 279 persons. PaeZ was married three
times and is the father of 80 children.
Prof. Harvard, of Vienna, Ga, cannot
bear the sight OF egg, so John Mcdonald
says. 1t makes him sick to look at one. A
small piece Of egg placed in his hand will
cause the flesh to turn blue. If a plate has
been used for eating eggs at breakfast he can
detect 1t at supper, even If the dish has been
to Macon, he was induced to eat some ice
cream and the small amount of egg in the
cream made him so sick thata physician had
to be sent for at once.
About three weeks ago two cows and
several hogs of A. j. Todd, who lives near
Fort Valley, Ca, were bitten by a mad dog,
and on last Thursday they were foaming at
the mouth and went about swapping at each
other and otherwise showed unmistakable
signs of hydrophobia. Mr.. Todd killed them
all at once, but in doing so he got some foam
on his right hand, which was sore, and which
has since swollen considerably. The family
used the milk from the cows until the time
they were killed, and more serious results
are feared.
One of the curious results of the fnan-
cial success of the EffeI tower in Paris has
been the institution of Portable Captive
Balloon Society. The projectors argue that
there is evidently q latent passion in the
human breast to ascend to high elevations
and gaze upon extended views, and they
propose to travel throughout the country
with captive balloons capable of lifting
spectators to q height One-thiFd greater than
that of the Paris tower. They calculate that
each balloon will be able to make So assents
day, and that great profits will accrue from
q tariff of 10 francs head.
The largest gold coin now in circulation
is said to be the gold ingot, or ''loof," Of
Anam, French colony in Eastern Asia. 1t
is a fiat round gold piece, and on it is written
in India ink its value, which is about S220.
The next sized coin to this valuable but ex-
tremely awkward one is the "obang" of
Japan, which is worth about $50; and the
next comes the "benda" of Ashantee, which
represents a value of about $40. The Cali
fornia $50 gold piece is worth about the
same as the "benda." The heaviest silver
coin in the world also belongs to Anam,
where the silver ingot is worth about SIS.
Miss Margaret Smith lately determined
claim for 10000 against the estate of the
deceased Mr.. Park, of London, almost
rivaled the bacearat case. Miss Smith was
described as "an Irish lady of gentle birth,
good education and considerable attain
ments" Mr.. Park died four years ago, aged
g. leaving 100000. Thereupon Miss Smith
rrOdupad n contract which hOnnd Mr. Parr
to pay her ESQ, 900 if she succeeded in marry
ing his son John. Twenty thousand pounds
were guaranteed to her in case of failure.
The trial showed that Miss Smith was
possessed of a passion for litigations She
had had l5 of them for all sorts of purposes.
In this case she swore that young Park had
asked her to marry him and had given her q
ring, all of which the young man denied, and
at last Miss Smith lost her case.