Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-02
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


The Korean alphabet is phonetic and
can be learned In day.
The First American-made illustration
appeared In Tully's almanac of Boston in
The first gloves so far as known were
made Of bysus, known otherwise as the "silk-
worm of the sea-"
i'm 1865 the United States had 687 ships
ON the navy list, the greatest and strongest
heet in its history.
"A local preacher of Pottstown, Pa, has
been living on one meal a day for. 30 years
and is in excellent health.
Sixteen men were required to lower the
body of New York woman, who died re-
recently, into the grave She weighed go
pounds.
The Master BARRIERS Union, of Louis
vile, Ky, in order to drive out non-union
shop have established free shop. 1t is, Of
course, overrun with customers"
-Aggregating the national, State and
county indebtedness, the per capita in this
country shows decrease from s46 50 in 1880,
TO SO 46 in 1890, or more than one-haH
The model husband was seen on a Detroit
street car recently. He had a letter written
by his wife stuck in his hat band so as to
not lady in the car who did not catch on
and smile approvingiy.
They have law in Boston that if q
man loses money at gambling and does not
make demand for it within three months
anybody may seek TO recover three times
the amount so lost from the winner. A case
Is on now based on this law.
The other morning a Bound Brook, N.
j., physician was taken with violent it
of Tv.h fFr-@o 60
commissions he broke a rib on his right side.
The accident Is said to be as unusual as it Is
peculiar. The sudden shock given by the
fracture frightened away the sneezing it.
An official weekly in Germany calcu-
lates how an invalid workingman can live
for 800 days In the year from the SO allowed
him by the Old Age and Invalid Insurance
Fund: First breakfast, $l12 Is annually; second
breakfast, 81 80; dinner, sls 75; afternoon
coffee, q 80; supper, SIS; rent, sll 25; cloth
ing, a IS.
1t has been discovered that shale, fine
substance, with apparently no value, which
is taken from ore mines, will make better
quality of brick than the best of fire clay.
It Is thought that this new discovery will
shale is taken from the ore mines and
dumped over the banks, and it was thought
to be entirely worthless until this discovery
was made.
Cremation fourishes In Japan. Toxic
has six crematories, in which the bodies of
at least one-third of the dead are burned.
In 1884, n,o23 OF the "a IS7 persons who died
were cremated, and since burial in the city
was forbidden the number has been in
creased. According to the style of crema-
ton the price is 50 IS, g, or 81 Sixty-six
pounds Of wood, which costs approximately
- cents, sufhces Tor the burning of body in
three hours
f. of \ L
fouled a submarine cable in New York waters
and towed goodly length of it to New
Haven. There the piece of cable was cleared
away, coiled down on the dock, and subse-
Quently sold by the steamboat company to
another corporation whose business it Is to
maintain electrical communication between
places. That corporation put the cable into
service; and $50 the story goes) is using it at
the present time
Passengers on steamer to Kingston,
N. Y, recently witnessed novel sight.
When the boat was nearing the lighthouse
it ran under a bridge of wild geese. The
birds were about 50 feet from the river sur
face at the highest point and as they flew
they formed an arch extending from the
lighthouse to the east shore. This semi
circle was maintained until the steamer had
passed underneath and beyond the flock,
which numbered about 800 birds
1t is reported that the observers at
Mount Hamilton have lately kept a sharp
eye turned upon the shadow of one of the
moons Of Jupiter. The shadow seemed
double, indicating that the tiny moon which
cast 1t Is also double. Since the first hint of
the discovery many observations have been
made through the Lick glass, all tending to
this particular satellite of the greatest of
planets is double-a dot of q moon revolving
around the main moon. .~
In Mexico is situated the most mag
nificently constructed railroad in the world.
This is the Mexican Gulf road, where the
ties are made out of the finest mahogany
and the bridges built of marble. The waste
actuated by motives of economy, as they
find the mahogany and marble along the
trackside. The road has not really cost
much to construct but If the materials were
mount up into millions
"A search light for railway purposes was
tested recently by the electrician of the
New Jersey Central Railroad. One Hunt
ngton light of $500 candle power was
on the switch signal bridge 20 feet
above the track. AS result, the bricks
could be counted in station building one
third of mile away; when turned on the
rack the ties could be counted to the same
station. Colors were plainly distinguished
1t half-mile distance. At 500 feet It would
enable an engineer to tell the position of
The reflector was shaped like
hose of locomotive, headlights, silver
plated and highly FURNISHED.
The Japanese author does not write
books. He paints them. As soon as he
reaches the Indispensable minimum of ideas,
le shuts himself in his study, frightened
,lighly by soft light from four-cornered
white paper lantern He has before him q
polished table, one foot high, on which he
las his idyllic writing materials. The paper
8 of an agreeable yellow, and Is marked with
perpendicular and horizontal blue lines,
His ink is held in rich ebony plate, elabor-
Itely carved, and with d depfession in which
he black tablets are rubbed 70 nothing. The
,late carries also five bamboo brushes, which
erve as pens. With the aid of these imple-
nents the novel is painted"
An electrical novelty Is s.direct-acting
electric elevator. The motor is suspended
,eneath the car and equivalent to 81 horse
,ower, while the movements of the car are
controlled by switches. The motor is
connected with a system of gear wheels, and
hey grip the ropes on each side, and the
ar moves up and down onlywhen the motor
; in motion. Should an accident happen to
he machinery, the gear wheels are auto
natically locked and the car stops In case
f such an accident happening while the ele-
ator Is between the floors, the elevator boy
nav attach q crank to the gear that extends
inside of the car and it can be wound up or
lown until a point is reached where the
may alight without difficulty.