Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-04
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

of the IL largest cities in the world
three are in Japan.
The population of Paris is stated to be
296Oe45, or 162 O24 less than it was five years
ago.
"A society has been formed in Berlin for
the breeding OF rabbits to serve as an article
of food.
The French make paper umbrellas, rem
dered wholly waterproof by gelatined BIZ
chromite of potassium.
-Zola receives about e4,0 600 for each
| novel, irrespective of the s1,200 he receives
in the first instance for serial publication.
The male locusts have the power of
emitting loud chirping sounds, the means Of
| effecting which varies in different families.
1t is quite fixed belief among the Rus
sian peasantry that throwing the dead body
| of q drunkard into the river is sure to bring
! rain.
The Russian Hebrew must serve In the
army, but can never be more than private.
He must pay taxes, but can never be
| mayor or elder" of his town.
king Humbert of Italy understands
agriculture thoroughly, and manages his
| large estates in Piedmont with the skill OF
practical expert in farming.
The people of London, according to the
AohO9S WdboA ouDPAy ECpOEsJ use Af SCVBVVo
gallons of water per day, which is BOAT gal
Ions per head for all purposes.
The water with which Alexandria Vic
toria Alberta Edwfna Louise Lady Fife was
christened was brought from the River Jor-
dan by Prince George of Wales.
The most precious life in the world is
that OF Yiscount Dudley, who has jnst been
insured for 81 200, 900. The Prince OF Wales
cannot get his life insured for more than
f650 000
On at least one great English railway
| the luncheon baskets which travellers take
up at one station and leave when emptfed
at another are provided with very service
able table napkins made of starched tissue
paper.
The favorite page of the Crown Princess
of Sweden is a little negro boy who was i'm
ported from Egypt. He is a pretty little
fellow of IL years and is dressed in a pictur-
esque costume topped of with diminuttve
red fez.
-Dressmakers read with alarm descrip-
tions of some of the costumes worn by Bern
hardt in the character of Cleopatra. Several
yards of costly material are simply swathed
about the body and limbs, and pinned in
place, to give the drapery an artistic effect.
BY means of a powerful jet of COM
pressed air German military engineer
officer drives dry cement down into the
sand OF mud at the bottom of a stream, so
that the water Immediately fixes the cement
and it becomes like solid rock, suitable for
foundations.
The largest fig orchard in the world is
expected to be one that will soon be planted
in Pomona Valley. Cal. Over 700 acres will
be planted or 1900 trees The projectors
believe they can produce figs equal to the
best Smyrna varieties. The trees will be
imported from Syria.
drunkenness is the failing of the Her
cules beetles, a South American insect. 1t
sometimes attains a growth of six inches 1t
is said that it rasps the bark from the slen-
der branches of the mamma tree until the
juice flows. This it drinks until it drops to
the ground intoxicated.
Interesting experiments have been
lately made upon the effects of giving cows
hot water to drink instead of cold. The re-
suits satisfactory. 1t has been proven
that when the COWS drink water at a tenn
perature of 45o (centigrade) they yield one
third more milk than when they drink cold
water.
Steam pipes have been made in England
from the ramie fiber. This material is sub
jected to tremendous hydraulic pressure,
and, having the property of beng unaffected
with moisture, will neither shrink nor swell,
besides being a non-conductor of heat. The
pipes are said to have q tensile strength
twice that of steel pipes.
The British Gentlewoman's Cigarette
Making Society Is an 1nSLlIutlOn recently
started. The ladies employed by the society
receive. Sd. per 100 cigarettes made-more
than twice the price generally paid. The
best brands are kept, and every cigarette is
rolled by hand-an important consideration,
as every tobacco epicure knows to his cost.
The electric light which Sir E. Watkin
intends to have fixed on the summit OF
Snowden is to be so powerful as to light up
every crag and precipice of the great
mountain, even in misty weather. Moon
light ascents of Snowden in summerare very
popular, but one would expect that 1t would
be as nothing compared to what ascentS by
electric light viii be ii Sir Edward is able to
work out his scheme.
"A peculiar case of increase in coal con-
sumption is reported from France. An Off
cial engineer, having been called to investi-
gate the cause OF q considerable augmenta-
tion of the consumption of fuel by a large
battery of boilers, discovered that the phe-
nomenon was due to the presence of water
in the smoke shaft. The measures which
were taken to exclude the water have re-
suited in the saving of l6 per cent in the an
nual coal bill.
"A new use for foxes has been found in
Sable Island, which has exemplined In its
time several curious vicissitudes of animal
population. The island is as overstocked
with rabbits as New Zealand itself These
the century for the benefit of the life-ssving
staff which constitutes the whole popula-
ton of that wreck-strewn island. Once the
rabbits were exterminated by castaway rats,
and again by a flock Of Arctic owls. A third
time the rabbits were introduced, and now
have SO increased that there will be no grass
left for the cattle and ponies unless some
thing is done. 1t has now been decided to
import q number Of foxes, with the hope
that they will keep down or kill of the
rabbits without themselves becoming
nuisance.
Some persons in Yorkshire found toad
which, from whimsical curiosity, they
placed in pot with slate upon the top Of
it, and buried it three feet in the earth, in
situation to prevent its receiving any
moisture from the rains, etc. They wished
thereby to determine whether the wonder
full relations respecting the subsistence Of
that reptile were true in any degree. The
spot was marked, and it was resolved not to
open it until the same day in the follow
ing year. A great number assembled on
that day and the pot with its contents were
dug out, when the toad was found
not only living, but greatly improved in
size 1t was viewed for some time, to OBJ
serve whether it seemed affected by its ex-
posure to the air after so long a confinement
but no change was discovered. 1t was after.
ward set at liberty.