Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-31
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

There is said to be spring in Men,
docina county, Cal, from which rises such
noxious gas that one Whit of it will extin-
guish life.
"A Maine farmer who believes in a
strict observance of the Sabbath went out
and killed a lamb which persisted in bleat-
ing on recent Sunday afternoon.
For IA years ''Son of the Marshes in
Scotland has been trying to get sight of q
wild animal in the act of guarding its young
IN time OF danger. He has tramped day
after day for the purpose, but without sue
cess.
"A West Chester (Pa) man who went
to his stable yard early the other morning
TO investigate a queer noise found that q
horse had broken loose and dog was hold
ing on to the halter to prevent the animal
leaving the premises.
Captain Maletta, of the bark G. G.
Goss, vouches for the story that one of his
sailors, a japanese, fell overheard and was
swallowed by whale in the Pacific Ocean,
but was presently ejected-cast on deck in
fact, petrOleum-cOveredo oil suit the sailor
wore proving too much for the whale.
One day Mrs. W. s. Wallace, of But
Ter, Fla, decided to tear up and renovate an
old pincushion that she first made over 50
years ago It had on it nine coverings that
had been put there from time to time. From
the inside of the pincushion she got 90 whole
needles, besides several broken ones and q
number of pins.
"A prominent citizen of Bath, Me-,
moved the grass on his lawn last week. and
his friends are having lots of fun out of it.
He hung the scythe backward and cut the
grass from him, instead Of by the customary
way. One OF his neighbors said the lawn
looked like the boys hair after the firss
haircut done by his mother.
There is story that $1,000 worth OF
diamonds are buried in a Brooklyn grave.
They adorn the body OF an eccentric person
who died several years ago. The costly
jewels were placed in the coffin despite the
strenuous protests of the undertaken who
had charge OF the funeral and who feared
the dissertation of ghouls.
"A statistician, who does not place great
confidence in parental instinct" shows
that throughout one-fourth of England, dur
ing the year ending the lst of April, the po-
lice courts showed convictions for injuries
inflicted on children in the cases of 358
mothers, 81 fathers, q stepmothers, 10 STEP
fathers, brothers, aunts, uncles, grand
mothers, nurses and Isl others.
The earliest Connecticut patent found
on record was granted in October, 1717, to
Edward Hinman, of Stratford, for the exclu-
sive right and liberty of making molasses
from the stalks of Indian corn in Fairfield
county for ten years, which grant ended
said Hinman makes as good molasses and
makes 1t as cheap as comes from the Wess
Indies"
Fifty years ago a dress suit of black
broadcloth was the everyday attire ofmany
gentlemen and most clergymen in New York.
and It was worn in the street as well as a5
home. Fashions for men changed but Ham
nibal Hamlin did not, and in time his dress
coat became remarkable. Some old-fash-
ioned clergymen, like Rev. DR.. Brown, OF
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Utica,
cleave to the clawhammer in the pulpit and
make 1t in their case q clerical robe.
Near Dayton, Ga. there is o we'll
locally known as the "weIl of frozen air.
In drilling the well a stratum of frozen clay
and gravel was encountered at a depth Of
55 feet. After passing through five feet Of
this numerous cavities were encountered
from which the cold air came in gusts. The
e-cape of the air from the well can be heard
roaring for nearly 200 yards. A bucket of
water set over the opening will freeze
through and through within few hours.
"A recent issue of a Trinidad, Col,
paper contains the following news item:
"There was born yesterday morning to the
wife of the Hon. Jesus Maria Garcia, at his
residence at Plaza de Garcia, one mile below
the city, a daughter. We do not mention
this occurrence as matter of news. as the
same accident has occurred to Don Jesus IL
times, but having contracted the habit OF
publishing tho item we intend TO continue it
ut suitable intervals until there is u change
in the programme"
Captain Stephen A. Bills, of Toms
River, n. j., has a very novel set of domi-
noes, which he prizes very highly. They
are made from pieces of q different wrecks
which have come ashore on the Atlantic
coast between Barnegat Inlet and Point
Pleasant. They we're made by Captain
Charles Tilton, of the life saving SERVICE
w in mixing the cOl1RcriOr
Every particular domino has n history, and
Captain Bills likes nothing better than y
chance to relate it.
The activity in the royal gun factories
in Spandau, near Berlin, has almost ceased.
A year ago more than 1000 workmen were
employed in the factories. To-day less than
one-tenth of that number remain. There is
great discomfort among the townspeop1e in
although dsinterested per-
sons look upon the discharge of the laborers
as guarantee OF peace. Spandau, by the
way, is the scene of the famous well in which
part of the money paid as indemnity by
France in 1871 is kept.
Being an expert swimmer will not
always save a man from drowning 1t is
told of Sopiel Dana, the Indian who was
drowned recently in the river near Calais,
Me-, that one winter he was returning from
the indian village at Lewis Island with
Father ConIon, of Calais, when the ice on
the lake broke Dene0Cn them ana VallS0
the chalice and other sacred YES
5els was lost. Dana brought the priest to
and and, returning of his wn,accord, dove
for the valise and searched for it eight
hours until recovered
The King of Siam is saidto have in one
1f his country palaces wonderful pavilion.
It was built by Chinese engineer as q
refuge for the King during the extreme heat
Of the summer. The walls, ceiling and floors
Ire formed of pieces of plate glass an inch
,hick. They are so perfectly fitted together
With transparent cement that the joints
ire invisible and no fluid can penetrate.
rhe pavilion is 2S feet long and II wide and
stands in the middle of q huge basin made
If beautifully colored marbles. When the
King enters the pavilion the single door Is
,losed and cemented. Then the sluice gates
re opened and the basin is filled with water.
Iipher and higher it rises until the pavilion
5 covered and only the ventilators at the
op connect it with the open air.