Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-13
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


/
in, Canada four sons,of one family mar
ried four daughters in another on the same
! day.
-Oyerta million head of cattle are now
feeding in Kansas. Theyswill be sold next
| Spring and summer.
The first diamond insSouth Africa was
| found by two children who were playing
| near stream In ls6f
The waters of the Indian Ocean now
| flow over the site of old Calicut the place
from which calico takesits name.
-Thimbles have been found ihthe Egypt
ian catacombs, in mummy cases antedating
the Christian era Is to Is centuries.
An instrument has been made which
will measure ZOO, 900 lines to the inch. 1t is
to be used in astron omical studies.
The first coins made ON this continent
were made in Mexico in 1886 They were
called he"'real" and are now worth So each.
I'm Missouri the majority Of the church,
goers are females. Out offs congregation of
$50 there the other day only three were
males.
-Atchison, ,,Kan., has q skirt dancer who
is teacher in the public schools. So far
she has not been molested by the school
board.
-Gipsies first appeared in Western
Europe in 1447, when several hundred en-
tered Germany and rapidly spread over the
country.
The Dutch homesteads of Long Island
have yielded many curiosities in the shape
Of furniture which has been preserved as
heirlooms.
I'm England an American diploma of
medicine does not entitle its possessor to
call himself NJ. d. If he does he may be
prosecuted.
One of the trees in the Sequoia Park in
California is st11 feet in diameter and $40
feet high. Another tree is 81 feet around
and $50 feet high.
The salt lake in the Sandwich Islands
becomes nearly dry in summer. Crusts of
salt nearly six inches thick are then depos-
tied all around the edges.
"A Chinese cook in California decorated
wedding cake with these words: aye gen.
Grafton of vipers, who hath, warned you to
nee from the wrath to conner"
New York real estate agents have great
difficulty in renting buildings said to be
haunted. 1t is estimated that there are at
least 20 or these houses now vacant.
An old French proverb says "Salute
no red haired man nor bearded woman
nearer than 30 feet off with three stones in
thy fist to defend thee in thy need"
1t was popular theory, in days gone
BY that the body of drowned man would
float on the ninth day, a notion which Mr..
Henderson says still prevails in the county
of Durham.
Statistics published by the French
Ministry of Public instruction show that
there are in France 525 learned societies, OF
which 1S5 have been officially recognized as
of national Importance.
Two vessels from New York to Cal
cutta nowadays follow very near the same
course. 1t is said that if their course was
mapped out it would be found that at no
time were they 30 miles apart.
The Treasury silver stock weighs Il, 900
net tons, and to carry it would require 1000
freight cars carrying IL tons each, or 1900
cars carrying tons each. or $500 two-horse
wagons carrying 2 tons each.
Deer are very plentiful this winter on
Camas Prairie, Idaho. One man brought six
into Boise the other day which he sold at
and cents pound, and claimed he had
killed 22 in less than four weeks.
New Zealand is great country for
flowers and fruits, although there is not
much Of market for the latter. One
hundred varieties of apples were recently
exhibited at one horticultural show.
If the inhabitants of Chicago should
turn out and walk in double file, they would
form line 740 miles in length. 1t would
take nearly all the cars in the country to ac-
commodate them if all decided to ride at
once.
New Zealand has population of 64, 900
of whom 40 900 are Maoris. One of the prin-
cipal industries is the gathering of kaurf
gum which is used in the manufacture of
varnishes. 1t is usually found there in a
semi-fossilized state.
Several species of wild clover are eaten
by the Indians of North America generally.
When the blossoms appear whole villages
ha ttad; in tl,a oil
plucking and eating the flowers to safety.
The latter are used for cooking also.
There is little silver mining city or
district in Northern Bohemia called Joac-
himsthal or Joachim's Valley. The reigning
duke of the region authorized this city in
the sixteenth century to coin O silver piece
which was called 'joachimsthaler."
The light of the sun will take the tenn
per out of steel and the edge disappears and
is useless until the tool is resharpened
Moonlight has the same effect. An ordinary
crosscut saw is said to have been put out of
shape in single night by the moons rays.
"A queer submarine boat has Just been
launched at Detroit. The propellers are re-
versible and placed amidships, and are in
tended to govern its motion up and down.
1t will stand a pressure of Sc feet of water
and enough air can be stored to last three
men several hours.
Dentists are said to thrive in Mexico.
An American dentist cleared $4,000 there
the first year. He got from 800 to $50 for
full set of teeth on rubber and SO for pulling
q tooth. The price of a gold platefs $500,
and single mouth of filled teeth brings in
s, 600 frequently.
1t is said that the canals across the
Isthmus of Panama will never be used by
sailing vessels even after they are COM
pleted. On either side of Central America
In the vicinity of the proposed entrances
is a region of perpetual calmS, and sail
ing vessel would find it difficult to get
through the canal.
"A cubic foot of silver weighs 657 pounds.
Hence the silver in the United States Treas
ury if melted down into a mass would make
/ column a foot square and 81 miles high. 1t
would take an army of 100000 men, each
bearing 100 pounds, to carry it away. These
men would make file 80 miles long, occu-
oying 80 hours in passing given point.