Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-15
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

"A fast stallion who has taken to hating
his driver and won't trot for him any more,
is a York county, Me-, curiosity.
The old-fashioned game of seven-up is
gaining a footing at swell Bar Harbor!
They say Senator Hale introduced it.
AT Deposit, N, Y, q few days ago dog
owned by o. D. Wakeman found q pocket
book containing s4O0 in bank notes. That is
| quite valuable dog.
| "A Texas cattleinan saws the outlook at
present is that the supply of cattle from
that State will fall short 1OOOO Oc0 head as
| compared with the number last year.
"A Lawrence, Kan, drug store window
J is Ornamented with two native leeches
which measure foot each in length, and
have, combined, blood capacity of one gal
| Ion.
There is an absolute potato famine in
some parts of Maine, and the people have
eaten no potatoes for several weeks, the old
crop having been exhausted and no new
ones imported.
"A member of Parliament proposes that
the Scotch deer forests should be bought and
converted into popular farms and pleasure
grounds. The present rental of these areas
is about $4,000 year.
With the idea of preserving the Gaelic
language the Duke of Atho1s daughter is
preparing for the instruction of the GaeIs of
Perthshire in reading, writing and speak
ing their native tongue.
"A remarkable exhibition was opened at
Berlin the other day. The exhibitors are the
undertakers of Berlin, 80 of whom are repre-
sented, and the exhibits are confined to cof-
fms and funeral furniture.
1t is curious little fact, and one worth
remembering that on the same day, April
%, 1915, that William Shakespeare died in
England, Miguel Cervantes, the celebrated
Spanish author of "Don Quixote," )" died in
Spain.
Lightning from clear sky struck a
Helena, Mont, woman the other day, and
traced on her an almost perfect representa-
tfon of a small branch of a tree The figures
OF the leaves were nearly perfect. She was
not hurt in the least.
"A German biologist says that the two
sides of the face are never alike. In two
persons out of five the eyes are out of line;
one eye is stronger than the other in seven
persons out of ten, and the right car Is gen.
orally higher than the left.
They break up jams of logs in the
Androscoggin with dynamite. The charge
the boiling water. The jam leaves at once.
Formerly men went out on the jam, but it
was very dangerous work Sometimes eight
cartridges are exploded at once.
AT Augusta, Ca, a negro aged 73
was bantered to butt down the door of a
saloon for drink. With two or three Iunges
ne drove his head against the door like
steel hammer and the panels were splint-
cred. He then took his drink and walked
off as unconcernedly as If nothing had han
pened.
On the farm of Colonel w. B. Worsham,
at Henrietta, Tex, there is a remarkable
well. 1t usually contains about eight feet of
water, but when the wind blows from the
north the well goes dry, and remains so until
q change of wind, when the water again
flows in and resumes its normal height This
strange phenomenon has been observed for
several months.
The Egyptians had a very remarkable
ordinance to prevent persons from borrow
ing imprudently. An Egyptian was not per-
mitted to borrow without giving to his cred
itor in pledge the body of his father 1t was
deemed both an impiety and an infamy not
to redeem so sacred n pledge. A person who
died without discharging that duty was de-
prtved OF the customary honors paid to the
dead.
"A Western cattle rancher says it is be-
coming an everyday occurrence to see
women out West dealing in cattle and
horses. The loneliness and hardships of the
great pratries do not seem to deter ener-
getic women from the purpose of conduct
ing profitable business. A few days ago a
of fine horses at Omaha at q much better
figure than any man could have obtained.
Charlie Conner, of Beaver Falls, has on
exhibition monstrosity IN the shape of
chicken formed with two beaks, four legs.
four wings and three backs. 1t is fully de-
veloped in every respect and lived for quite
awhile after being Matched out The egg
from which the chicken was Matched was
one of IL placed under a hen. She brought
out ten chicks and then left the nest, taking
her ten chickens with her and abandoning
the eleventh egg. The egg was put under an
old goose that was setting. but as soon as it
was matched out and the goose saw the man.
ner of bird it was, she kicked it out of the
nest and It died.
"A small family, consisting or man, wife
and baby, is living In big drygoods box in
an open field near Worcester, Mass. The
woman is 81 years of age and her babe 7
weeks. She says about year and a half ago
she married farm laborer at GreendaIe.
The baby was born in a boarding house. and
she and her husband have been living to-
gether with the infant in the drygoods box
for two or three weeks. He hires the land
and the woman says he intends to put up a
better shelter. She has a brick fireplace
outside the box where she does cooking
The husband IS cripple and walks with
two canes. The woman is reported as say
ing that she is perfectly satisfied with her
There are now blooming at st. Angus
tine, Fla, Is plants of the agave Victoria
regina species, or what is commonly called
the century plant. A towering column rises
out of the center of the plant 20 the height
of 60 feet, but it is often relegated to the
rubbish heap as worthless, for the reason
that, as thing of beauty, it has no further
charms for the eye. Yet many thousands of
the shaving people of the Old World utilize
this shaft of the plant. They make use of it
as a razor strop. W. A. Chambers, auditor Of
the East Coast Railway Line, has had one in
use for many years, and it shows not the
slightest defect from wear and tear. Tho
strop is made by taking the shaft of the
agave and cutting it into lengths of II
inches; these are split into four, or as many
quarters" as possible allowing to each
piece a sufficiency of the pulp or heart of
the stalk to present surface not less than
one inch, ON which to strop razor. The
heart hardens in time and presents a fine,
soft and naturally fabricated surface for
stropping razor.