Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-18
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

the year round.
The largest library is the Imperial, Of
Paris, which contains over 100000 volumes
Smoke from forest fires is so dense over
the Mackinaw Straits that navigation is Inn
peded.
The heat produced from the light Of
freely is only per cent of an equal amount
of candle-light.
Chicago has the biggest lime kiln. Six
thousand barrels of stone and lime are
crushed in day.
A German professor claims to have dis
covered the bacteria which causes badness
by destroying the roots OF the hair.
According to the last census there were
Is B-year-old married women in Paris, and
two Of them have since been divorced.
"A cup of tea made from the roots Of
freshly-dug dandelions will work wonders
for the nerves. Take three times day.
"A little child in Waynesboro, this State,
swallowed q galvanized iron staple few
days ago, and experienced no bad results
from it.
A woman in Slater, No., pricked her
finger while handling insect powder and
suffered severely from the poison for some
months.
philadelphia taste is growing Frenehy.
The general exchange soon to be established
has been christened "The Philadelphia
Bourse."
Mine hundred and fifty submarine tele-
| graph cables are now in operation, most Of
thern in Europe. Their total length is over
| $1,000 miles.
After time sheep may be useful only
! for mutton. Wool, the chemists say, can be
i made more cheaply from wood fiber than 10
can be grown on sheep.
"A man in Wichita, Kan, is so desirous
| of avoiding trouble that he never allows any
/ of his children TO visit relatives oftener than
| once In every two weeks.
"A scientist of Tennessee thinks that the
Gulf stream every day passes through thou
sands Of miles of subterranean channel that
| is surrounded by living fire.
DIR. Kellar, of Pottstown, cut threaded
| needle out of the foot of William Ellis the
other day. Ellis did not know how it got
there, but has suffered from it for several
| years.
-One-third of the students in Europe, ii
/ Is said, die prematurely from the effect OF
/ bad habits acquired at college, one-third die
/ prematurely from the effects of close conflne,
| ment at their studies, and the other third
govern Europe.
| "A Meadville fisherman takes all his carp
with hook and line His method is to
throw bread crumbs on the water, and then
4 u
j good fat crumb on his hook, being always
1 certain of a bite.
The greatest novelty In dolls has now
been invented in Nuremberg, the great Ger,
man town for dolls and playthings. A ma
chine in the doll causes it to move its hand
4 and write neat little letters on q slate or on
1 paper Whole sentences can be written.
The Presidential train, in its trip ended
last week, was on portions of p different
| railroads, and the average speed of the train
4 when running was scheduled at SO miles an
/ hour, but often when time had been lost be-
4 tween terminals OF roads 66 miles an hour
i was run.
4 German papers express serious alarm at
1 the spread of irreligion in the Fatherland.
/ The number of Germans in the large cities
/ receiving neither baptism nor confirmation
amounts to hundreds of thousands. In
Prussia alone there are 30 900 irreligious per-
sons who have never been baptized.
-Four spinsters of O'Fallon, Mo-, have
become famous by the new paint on their
| eolors, so they decided that each should
have her favorite color on portion of the
| house. and then they drew lots for the por-
tions. The house is an artistic revelation.
i'm one of the churches at Jefferson
City, Mo-, the minister's son commanded the
young woman who acts as organist to OBJ
| serve certain rule in relation TO the music,
\ and when she refused he struck her. The
| pastor paid the fine and costs and spirit Of
| Christian harmony once more reigns in the
4 choir.
| "A Mississippi boy sent to Louisville
| for medical treatment Is abnormally fond Of
| water although previous to an accidental
shooting some months ago he had as strong
| an aversion to 1t. For the past two months
| he has been sitting in tub of water, and
screams as If in the greatest agony when out
of his huge tub.
I'm Chicago to-day, there are by actual
count ], 463 hotels, with total capacity for
135, 900 guests. The floating transient popu.
| lation of the Chicago hotels is estimated at
| about g, ,00O so that there still remains a sur
| plusage of comfortable accommodations for
| 10000 people during the Worlds Fair. Board
ing houses will accommodate $1,000 more.
The meanest man on record is said to
live In Center county, this State. He sold his
4 son-in-law one-half a COW, and then refused
| to divide the milk, maintaining that he sold
only the front hall The buyer was also re-
| snmed, and compelled to carry water to her
three times day. Recently the COW hooked
| the old man, and now he is suing his son-in-
| law for damages.
The Venezuelan methods for collecting
duties are peculiar. If cook stove has q
| brass knob on its door, the whole thing is
| weighed as 80 much brass and duty charged
| accordingly. barrel of flour costing IS
| pays imposts not only on the flour, but the
| slaves, hoops and heads costing, when set
| down, with freight and duties added SIS. And
| yet, owing to cheap labor, bread is about as
low and quite as good in Caracus as in New
York.
Some rare metals, possessing special
qualities, are required for certain work.
| Thus palladium is used in making some
parts Of timepieces, and iridium for the
| points of gold pens Lithium Is the lightest
| Of metals. Rhodium Is extremely hard and
brittle and Is only fusible at a very high
| temperature, and iridium is the heavieSr
| substance hitherto discovered. The un-
| initiated have no idea of the value of these
| scarce products, which are most of them far
/ more precious than gold and silver.
The tower of public building now in
/ course of erection at Philadelphia Is to be
\ provided with clock, which, for size alone,
4 will be one of the marvels of the world. The
i center of the dial Us feet in diameter) will
l be S5l feet above the street. The bell Is to
\ weigh between 10000 and 5000 pounds and
i will be second in weight to the great Mon
/ treal Cathedral bell, which weighs 5000
4 hounds. and it Is calculated that its peal
4 will be heard even to the most distant part
/ of the city. Chimes similar to those Of
/ Westminster will be used, ringing at the
| quarter half three-quarters and hour. The
| minute hand is to be II feet and the hour
/ hand feet in length, while the Roman fig
| ures on the dial will measure feet inches
i in length.