Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-26
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

During the past few years crime has de-
creased to such an extent in England that over
s20O, 900 a year LEGS is spent upon prisons than
was the case ten years ago.
Maple trees have been set out at various
points through the South, and if it is found the
sap will run well. groves of them will be planted
instead OF orange groves wherever possible.
-Thirty-fve years ago, an Augusta, Me-,
man bought a clock from jeweler The clock
ran and kept good time until the night of the
jewelers. death, which happened about two
months ago, when the clock stopped and has
not run since.
Pearls get sick, and, like men and wo-
men, require a change of climate when their
health is bad. or else they will crumble and
die. When Ill they lose their luster and be-
come chalk-like. but rapidly improve if given
a change of air.
"A subterranean Roman temple has just
been unearthed at the foot of the Calvarien-
berg at Baden, near Vienna. In a niche Of this
cave or Mithras grotto are the remains of an
altar hewn out of the rock. Fragm ents Of
Roman vessels and utensils as well as knives,
arrows, lamps and coins were also found.
The largest flowing we'll in the world
has been struck two miles west of Huron 8. D.
The well is 935 feet deep, but will be put to .
depth of 1000 feet if possible. The flow is esti-
the ground rapidly that great bitches were
cut to carry the water into the Missouri river.
"A mule shipped from Kentucky con-
cluded he could not wait TO be unloaded in the
regular way from the car and while the train
was switching about crawled through the little
window in the end of the car, fell to the track
and threw the car off. How an average-szed
mule could get through the little window is .
mystery.
turn mol faafa
at a house on Bean Hill Norwich, Conn. II
cut half an inch off the rim of an inverted gob-
let on a table and left the goblet sitting as 1t
found it. This work is said to have been done
as neatly as if it had been done with diamond.
The electricity also sent the hands on the dial
of the clock four hours in advance or the true
time without stopping the clock.
There is in an Alabama town a colored
man who is quite a well.known character.
He is chronic laugher, and, no matter what
kind Of conversation is begun, his risibles get
the best of him, and he bends himself double
and often rolls over when he is very much
overcome with laughter. The boys frequently
stop him on the street Just to see him laugh,
and It is an amusing sight to watch him.
"A Newburyport, Mass, man has in
vented and built novel craft. She is about Is
feet long, and has two cockpIts, which are large
washtubs, the handles being left on. She is to
be named the Washwoman, and will run as an
auxiliary to the American Yacht Club. to do
their laundry work during the summer season.
In the winter the tubs can be taken out and
used at home. A patent has been applied for.
An editor in a large French town re-
Gently published this notice: The wine mer-
chant who sold me last week a bottle of lemon
ade favored with yitriol for a bottle of cham
pagne, is requested to send me, within "a hours,
a bottle of genuine champagne, failing which
his name and address will be made public"
The result was that he received almost unlim-
tied contributions of hrst-class wine forthwith.
"A soldiers widow with two children
moved from the East to Wyoming two years
ago for the purpose of holding a mining claim
left her by her husband. She maintained her.
self by teaching the school in JawbOne @ ulch,
and held possession of her claim by doing with
her own hands the required amount Of assess
ment work. While dong this she has uncovered
a body Of rich quartz, and the mine promises
TO be one OF exceptional value.
An Alabama colored boy about 16 years
Of age who has only had short apprentice
ship at the blacksmith trade, has constructed
bicycle out of raw material. The wheels are
made of tire iron and steel rods. the beam of an
old iron pipe and the saddle of scrap iron. Il
is very strong, and while not quite as light rum
ming as the factory machine, 1t answers the
purpose admirably. He rides his bicycle with
skill. He is at work on an invention, but will
not divulge the nature of it
"A curious story is told by Texas man.
He said that last Wednesday colored woman
living along the river bank lost her 2year-old
child, a boy Just able TO walk and search was
made, but unsuccessfully, and the mother
gave it up for lost. Further, that some fisher
men, while returning from an exe1rslon. found
driftwOod drifting placidly toward the Gulf,
about 20 miles down the river: that it took the
fishermen two days to discover the mother aud
restore the babe to Its home.
There is a goose in Alpharretta, Ca,
that walks around on an artificial leg. The
goose met with the misfortune to lose
foot somehow. 1t hoped when it travelled but
could not hop fast enough to keep up with the
balance of the geese Its owner took JOINT
of cane and fitted the leg of the goose in the
hollow of the cane, bound it to the leg of the
goose with a cord a nd cut of the lower end Of
the cane even with the foot that was not in
seemingly without pain
"A great sheet of plate glass that fell and
went to flinders in Brooklyn the other day, had
a queer history 1t was about II feet square
and was worth 81, 200. IL could have been made
in this country, but 1t could not have been
carried to Brooklyn, because of the tunnels it
would have to pass through. 1t was too big to
travel on the canals. So it was made in the
south of France. 1t met with trouble in its trip
across the Brooklyn bridge, and had to be
canted to one side to pass under the passenger
platform. After all that, Just as it reached its
destination it was smashed
"A sable cloud invaded the western sky
over Norwich, Conn, at $50 o'clock the other
afternoon, and single thunderbolt, shaped and
flashing like cimeter, fell straight to the earth
at East Great Plain, in the suburbs of the city.
1t went down the chimney of new house in
that village, in whose cellar carpenters were
working and speared one of them, killing him
About him were several other men,
but it picked him out in the group and the rest
were not hurt. The crash of thunder that fol-
lowed was deafening. There was no other
lightning flash. The sky was clear at the time.
and the cloud moved around to the southeast.
An inquest was held at Falmouth, Ire
land, on Friday on the body of a butcher, car
rying on business in Princess street, Falmouth.
who met with his death under singular oircum-
stances. The deceased and his wife were on
the best of terms. On rising from dinner on
Wednesday they went into their shop, when
the decease ed remarked that he should have o
hot job in running down fat His wife took up
4 sharp knife and commenced scraping the fat
into basket. saying she could jump over her
husbands head for doing work. Deceased laid
hold of his wife, and swung her sharply round
when doing so the knife which she held pene-
ira. ed his chest and he died shortly afterward
The Jury returned a verdict of accidental
death.