Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-25
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

There is fine of $500 for practicing
hypnotism in Cincinnati
Defiance, Ia, has a man feet inches
in height, who weighs but So pounds.
Recent calculations upon the pace Of
the sun place it at about 40 miles second
The United States Mint in San Fran
cisco is the largest one of its kind in the
world.
After an existence of two years, the So
ciety for the Protection of Birds numbers
$50 members.
The Prussian Government has ordered
that royal forest timber be sold cheap to the
poor for fuel
An Adrian preacher has been evicted
from his living rooms because he and his
guests prayed too loud.
"A blackbird that was blood red except
head and wings was shot by a sportsman Of
Alloway, N. j., this week.
What is thought to be the largest flag
in the United States floats over a factory in
Chtcopee, Mass. 1t measures IL by II feet.
st. John, N. B., has 6-year-old inVen-
tor: His invention, a toy, has been patented
In canada, and soon will be in this country.
The 12411 miles between Newcastle and
Edinburgh, which is done without a stop, is
There are q royal families in Europe,
which have about 46O male members. OF
these q families no less than IS are German
"A great microscope that is being built
at Munich will, under ordinary conditions,
magnify II, 900 and in special cases Is 900 dis
meters.
There are two bearing apple trees in In
diana county, Pennsylvania, that were
planted in l792. One of them is 10 feet in cir.
cumference-
"A man at Shelton, Conn, has acquired
an appetite for live bullfrogs, which he
swallows easily, If not too large, and with
evident relish.
"A tree near Firth, Randolph county,
Mo-, was found to contain II groundhogs,
ten skunks, two swarms of bees and a large
lot Of fine honey.
"A man in Concord, Mich, makes his
living by raising English sparrows When
the birds feather out he cuts OF their heads
and gets the per cent on them.
The man-faced crab of Japan has body
hardly an inch in length, vet the head is
fitted with a face which IS tho perfect coun-
terpart OF that OF a Chinese coolie.
-Esqimo women are boot and shoe max
ers, as well as taiIors and mantua makers.
Boots are made of sealskin throughout, or
walrus skin.
"A Russian electrician is said to have
lately patented a process of photographing
and engraving on metals by means of cleo
tricity by which the etching method is en-
tirely dispensed with.
The balance of nature has surely been
somehow disturbed. 1t takes 800 expensive
roses to make a teaspoonful of perfume,
while pennywOrth of cooked onions will
scent whole neighborhood.
-Subterranean Florida is honeycombed
by underground streams. When these are
obstructed from any cause they work their
way to the surface, making the great swamps
which are characteristic of that State.
"A curious exhibition will shortly be
opened in Paris at the National Deaf and
Dumb Institute It viii consist of old and
modern examples Of works Of sculpture,
paintings, engravings and drawings by deaf
and dumb artists.
The money of Chile at present is
peculiar. 1t consists of small tags ofpaste-
board, on which man writes the value for
which he is willing to redeem It, putting his
name on the back. 1t then begins to circu-
late until it finally gets back to the source
from which it emenated.
Washington has q cat which is a regular
theater-goer, gaining admittance through q
broken window on the stage, and leaving
punctually at the close of the performance.
1t belongs in drug store near the theater.
Between seasons it's a very domestic animal,
rarely going away from the shop
The museum of postage stamps which
has recently been opened at Vienna COM
prises more than 10000 examples, arranged
in three large rooms, and includes among its
greatest rarities the stamps made for and
used in the balloon and pigeon dispatches
of the Franco-German War of 1s7O-7L
AT the British Museum there is being
gathered together stupenGous collection Of
newspapers. A years additions include
2472 sets of newspapers published IN the
United Kingdom, comprising 170,S3 single
numbers 6i7 of these newspapers we're pub
lished in London and its suburbs, l,420 IN
other parts of England and Wales and the
Channel Islands, 239 in Scotland and l73 in
Ireland.
buckingham Palace is of no great his
torical consequence. 1t was built by Nash
and Blore in ISIS on the site OF Buckingham
House, the mansion erected by Sheffield,
Duke of Buckingham, in 1908; and Queen
Victoria is the first sovereign who has accu-
pied the place as a royal residence. Buck
ingham House itself was purchased by
George III. in 175l, and settled upon Char
lotte in l775 in exchange for Somerset
House.
A singular sight was witnessed not long
ago in Panama Harbor. A man in a small
boat had succeeded in harpooning an i'm
mense shark, when the fish made off with
the boat, and the man had to shout for as
sistance. Other boats came to his aid, until
there were seven boats in line; but this did
not seem to trouble the fish, for it continued
to rapidlow tow them all to sea. At last the
shark contrived to disengage himself from
the harpoon, and then escaped
The Bon Marche in Paris possesses
probably the largest kitchen in the world.
It provides food for all the employees of the
house. 200 in number. The smallest kettle
holds Is quarts, the largest 375 quarts There
are 30 frying pans, each of which Is capable
of cooking 300 outlets at time, or of frying
22O pounds of potatoes. When there are
omeiets for breakfast 1900 eggs are used.
The coffee machine makes $50 quarts of
coffee daily. There are so cooks and 100