Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-11
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


annually amount to more than s6O,OOo,oOo.
"A barber of Ionia, Mich, has broken
the record of shaving man in 26 seconds.
"A temperature of 112o has caused the
destruction by fire of 10,90O acres of grain in
California.
The oldest surgeon in the world is said
| TO be NJ. W. Salmon, of Cambridge, England
He was born in March, 1880.
Forsyth county, Ga, claims progidy
in 4-year-old child-Michijah BadweIl-who
can read any piece Of music at sight.
There are spiders no bigger than grain
takes 1000 of them to equal in magnitude q
| single hair.
| DIR. Hinekle, of Amerieus, Ca, has
piece of chinaware 791 years old. The date,
100, is plainly stamped on the bottom and
its only flaw is a broken handle.
| AN Oregon town has been enjoying
some queer foot contests. One foot race
over plowed ground and another over rail-
| road ties, each for large stake, are among
| the unique events.
"A farmer near Conway Springs, Kas,
recently sold his corn crop in the field for
| So 80 an acre. The purchaser assumes the
| risk of the crop maturing and takes care Of
| 1t until it is in the crib.
1t is said that an Atchison, Kas.,
woman who never pays more than IS for a
bonnet once refused to marry Tom Scott,
the Pennsylvania Railroad magnate, who
| died several years ago worth several millions
of dollars.
George Simms, who, on a wager, under
| took to walk from Galveston, Tex, TO Chi
cago. without cent in his pockets" in go
days. finished the trip Thursday four or five
hours ahead of time. He was fed and lodged
by kind-hearted people along the route.
"A cubic foot of aluminium weighs 157
pounds. A cubic foot of copper weighs $50
pounds. A sheet of aluminium 12 inches
square and one inch thick, weighs II pounds
A bar of aluminium. inch square and I3
inches thick, will weigh LII pounds A
cubic inch of cast aluminium weighs 0.O92.
"A Norwegian living in the sixteenth
century was accounted master hand at
minute contrivances. In proof of this it is
recorded that he made Is 900 dishes of turned
ivory, in every respect without q flaw and
SO tiny that all of them could be safely
Graded in pepper-corn cup of usual size.
One of the most benefcent inventions
| recently reported is a type-writing machine
which can be easily and effectively operated
by the blind 1t is confidently stated that
those who are deprived of sight can work
the machine with as much certainty as those
who can check with their eyes the work of
their fingers.
The ideal lighthouses are in Birming-
ham, England and are from so to 100 feet
long, and from to 3 feet deep. The poor
bathe for penny, or two of our cents, while
the well-to-do get towels and dressing
room for II cents. These lighthouses de-
velop swimming classes, and from these e1-
pert swimmers are made.
Lexington, Ga, has a town marshal
well equipped for his duties. A few days
ago, 1t is said he had occasion to arrest
three eyil-doers in a bunch He gathered
arr hair 1aer- Hn,,o o,If~ ~.
the air, ana drove the third along in 'front.'
and in that way proceeded to the calaboose,
where all three prisoners were locked up.
The well-known freaks of English Justice
are illustrated by. the case of a man at
Arundel, charged with having injured some
turnip tops. The foreman of the prosecutor
testified that some turnip tops found in the
pocket of the prisoner fitted the turnips in
his masters field, and on this evidence the
accused was sentenced to pay O fine of 81 so
or go to prison for IA days.
1t is not generally known that there is
a colony of Syrians in Macon, Ca, yet such
is the fact. They are small tradesmen,
dealers in fruit, etc. For some time they
congreated at little fruit stall on Fourth
street, near Cherry, but are now scattered in
various places around the city. When at
home they wear the fez and some other
parts of Oriental costume, but when at busi-
ness they don ordinary clothing and appear
as American citizens.
1t is believed in Philadelphia that the
only one of the original continental flags in
existence is in the possession OF the City
Troop of that city. The old flag is spread
between two large pieces of plate glass,
which keep the air away from it The prob
abilities are that were it removed from this
ease 1t would fall to pieces. In design it is
somewhat similar to the English jack. The
design was made by committee, of which
Benjamin Franklin was a member, in 1776
A few years later the first American stand
ard accepted by Congress was submitted
and adopted.
AT meeting of the English Chemists
Assistants Association a member described
a little microphone which would render
audible the footsteps of fly. The little ap-
paratus consists of box with a sheet Of
straw paper stretched on its upper part.
Two carbons, separated by morsel of wood
and connected with the two circuit wires,
are fastened to it, and a carbon pencil,
placed crosswise between the two, is kept
in this position by groove made in the lat
ter. very weak battery is then sufficient
to set the instrument at work, and when the
fly walks over the sheet of paper it produces
vibrations strong enough to react energet-
ically on the ordinary telephone.
The French Academy of Sciences ten or
fifteen years ago offered prize of 81, 500 for
the discovery of some means by which even
the inexperienced might at once determine
whether in a given case death had ensued
or not. physician obtained the prize for
having discovered the following well-known
phenomenon: If the hand of the suspected
dead person is held toward a candle or other
artificial light with the fingers extended and
one touching the other, and one looks
through the spaces between the fingers
toward the light, there appears scarlet red
color where the fingers touch each other.
due to the blood still circulating, it showing
itself through the tissues which have not
congested. When life is entirely extincs
the phenomenon of scarlet space between
the fingers at once ceases. The most eI.
tensive and thorough trials established the
truth of this observation.