Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-17
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

Denver is a mile higher than the Missis-
sipp1 valley.
-Thirty-tree steamboats, navigate the
Kongo river.
"A Georgia woman caught 80 rats in
trap in one day.
Tine largest public park in the world il
the Yellowstone.
The word Manitoba should be accented
on the last syllable.
The highest altitude ever reached by
balloon was seven miles.
Petroleum has been found e1uding
from stream in Oklahoma.
"A Miehigander mistook strychnine for
smoking tobacco. Herecovered, however.
Indian elephants cannot live in Central
Africa, the home of a larger and more hardy
species.
In Great Britain there is one eleetor to
about six of the population; in Belgium only
one to about 46.
The Kongo river is 10 miles wide In
some places. Steamers often pass each other,
bus out of sight.
The greatest ocean depth ever found BY
measurement was in the Atlantic near Puerto
| Rico, 465l fathoms.
! A man at Athens, Ga, owns an an
tiquity in the form of a water bucket, hewn
| out Of the solid rock.
| "A Kansas farmer who announced that
he had discovered new kind Of chinch bug.
narrowly escaped lynchiDg.
The most watery county in the United
States is Monroe county, Florida. It is chiefly
composed of small islands, or keys
Seal oil and blubber under French
| name would be esteemed luxury in Pittsburg,
| as it is in Greenland. There is much in a name.
The Maine Debating Society is now
wrestling with the question, 'Is a Sabbath
school superintendent justified in wearing .
red neektieT
| The buffalo are in no danger of becom-
| ing an extinct species. Since they have been
! placed under protection of Government troops
| they have been increasing
| A New Hampshi girl who went sleigh
riding with her beau few nights ago was
driven home a corpse having been frozen TO
death with the Thermometer at zero.
A Missouri man has gone before the
Legislature Of that State advocating the intro
| duction and passage of bill compelling the
keepers of railroad restaurants to date their
| pies.
In New York City they have associations
| of men who do not drink during business. In
a big city where competition in all lines OF
| business is so great, cool and clear head Is
| very essential
There is proposition on foot in Seattle,
| Wash, to establish there plant for drying the
| Goldfish caught in Alaskan waters and making
Seattle the great distributing point for tish on
| the Pacific coast.
On Tuesday morning, February "a,
| Nairn in the north of Scotland, was 1So
warmer than London at the same hour, 200
warmer than Paris. 14o warmer than Lyons,and
90 warmer than Nice.
The amount of Canada's imports from
the United States in 1882 S56 96S 800 of which
SCI 737 625 was OF the free list; the imports from
Great Britain in the same year amounted to
S42, ,24y. 300, of which Sl0,O97 722 was admitted
free.
1t is authoritatlvely given out that En-
gIish society has expunged the word ''lady'
from its.vocabulary. Henceforward, in polite
conversation, only the good, plain and unmis-
taxable word woman will be used in refer
ence to the sex.
A man was recently arrested in Balti-
more on suspicion as he was attempting to sell
some antique pearl jewelry. 1t proved on
examination and inquiry that he had stolen the
property from a case in the Smithsonian lniti-
| tute in Washington.
The wife of Boston broker sailed for
| Peru to visit her sister, and when she arrived
there she sent him cablegram which cost him
| 500 to announce the fact The most OF the
message however, told how her dog fell over
board and could not be saved.
The observers on the top Of the Scotch
mountain, Ben Nevis. were astonished to find
that all day on February "a the thermometer
was above 400 on the top of the mOuntain-the
only instance of such a temperature in Febru-
ary there since the observatory was opened.
Some time ago a woman of Brooklyn,
Ind, before selling few eggs wrote her name
and address on one of them. She has received
letter from young lady living IN Massachu-
setts, saying she purchased the eggs and was in
the act of making lemon pudding when she
discovered the name and address.
AN Illinois Sheriff, who has made a
good thing out of selling tickets to see the scat
fold upon which he hangs his prisoners, on
being warned of the indecency of SO doing said
he thought the lndecency came in in refusing
him the right to sell tickets to see the machine
when it was being officially operated.
-fhe gross valuation of the county of
London will be found to have passed the enor-
nous figure of E4O, 100000, even If all the
County Council appeals were to be dismissed.
The actual figure stated in the return is f39,-
S37 47. but this is subject to additions in respect
of the separate assessment OF the hamlet of
Penge and to other additions concerning the
Government property.
1t may surprise many to learn that the
purely American commerce that passes through
the 800" Canal between Lakes Superior and
Huron is much larger than all the worlds COM
that annually mas lLS way through the
Suez Canal both in the number Of vessels and
their tonnage yet figures prove it. During 1853
9579 vessels of T. 22I, ,935 tonnage passed through
the 800" against {, ,425 vessels of 6,7S3 l6 tom
mage through the Suez. And the American
canal is only open part of the year.
According to popular tradition the
Island of Manhattan was sold in 1924 for the
sum of s25. The conclusion one would natur-
ally lump to would be that in the light of Sub
seduent events, the sum was ridiculOusly
small price. But let US suppose that S25 had
been placed out at per cent interest in the
wear 1924 and had been allowed to compound up
to the year 1884. how much would 1t then have
amounted to? Something in the neighborhood
of ST. 600 0O0 600. Is the Island of Manhattan
worth much more than that to-day?
The Marine Hospital Bureau has pub
lished a bulletin showing the death rate in
number of the cities in the United States. The
compilation is follows, giving the city and
then the annual death rate per 600 of:the popu-
lation: Chicago, ILL.,, 1876; st. Louis, Mo-, 1873;
San Francisco, 22S; Cincinnati. o.. 22.3; New
Orleans, La, 292; Detroit, Mich. lS.S; Cleve-
land, o.. 1872; Pirtsburg. Pa. 2l.3; Milwaukee,
Mimi, I47: Kansas City, No., l6.5; Denver. Col.
269; indianapolis. Ind, 1862: Toledo, O.. l64;
Nashville Tenn, 1S.0S; Galveston, Tex, 204;
Council Bluffs, Ia. I4.6; Altoona, Pa, 1873,
Rock Island. ILL.,. IA; San Diego, Cal, 106;
Pensacola, Fla, log