Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-04
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

| France exported shoes TO the value OF
60 900. 945 francs in 1890.
"A New York dealer advertises that ne
will pay cash for old teeth.
The once mighty Indian population of
the United States has dwindled to 244.O75.
"A Galloway county, No., man is the
proud possessor of gourd which was brought
| from Wales IN 1888.
"A Sedalia, Mo-, man who is going TO be
hanged for murder wants to sell his body for
IS I3 to pay off his debts.
| Liberty is the name of a man who was
Yesterday deprived of his liberty in New York
for burglarizing store.
Just above Vienna, on the Danube, is
the convent and school of Melk. which has Just
| celebrated its one tnousandth anniversary.
High heels, it is said, owe their origin
to Persia, where they were introduced to raise
the feet from the burning sanfs Of that coun-
try.
Previous to the time of Elizabeth the
only article TO assist in eating was the jack
knife, which also served for sundry other pur-
poses.
year were f22 952 OO0 against f24. 402 900 in the
previous year. and the exports were Ella, ,270 900,
against fl2, 734 in 1889
"A man in Missouri sues for divorce
from bis wife because she would not 60 any.
where with him, bit insisted on his remaining
at home TO take care of things.
The owner OF a sawmilI near Monroe,
Ga, in attempting to separate two of his negro
workmen who were engaged in desperate
fight, became so excited that he went crazy.
The Legislature of Maryland will be
asked to consider soon a bill for an act to i'm
| pose a tax upon bachelors. 1t will be prae-
| tical reviYal of a in fOrc6 lOO
| ago.
The body of the cat which on Septem-
ber %, 1880, jumped from the top of the WASH
| ington monument at the capital, and lived for
some time afterward, is preserved, properly
| labeled. in the Smithsonian Institute.
| "A young woman of Dakota mas a farm
of 80 acres on which she does most of the work.
employing only one seryant-a woman. Last
| year she bought lot of new stock and ma
| chinery and cleared over s, 900 besides.
"A resident of Tampa, Fla, has a natural
| curiosity in the form of pair of deer's horns
| with a clearly defined hounds head on the
| tip of one of them. formed in manner that
makes it impossible that it should be work OF
art.
The verses commencing, You'd scarce
| EXPECT one of my age" etc.. are said to have
been written expressly for prominent New
| Hampshire Statesman who nourlshed IN the
| first half of this century. He spoke the verses
| when a mere child at school,
The mosquito has at last been put to
practical use. Two Havana physicians are in
oculating new arrivals in Cuba against yellow
| fever by singing them with mosquitoes that
have been contaminated by stabbing persons
| already suffering from the disease.
| One of the largest hogs in America-if
not, in fact, the largest in the world-was
| reared by junction City. Kan, nan. The
| length was feet inches; girth of neck. 6K
feet; girth of center of body, feet; width
across the hips. 80 inches; weight, 1882 pounds.
Our total tonnage is now 4, 424, 497 tons,
against 6, $50 Sl3 at its maximum in 1861. Broad
| ly speaking. our total tonnage has remained
practically atIts present figures since the close
| of the war About $50 600 tons now steam,
| however, which is nearly twice as much as it
was then.
The inhabitants of the interior Of the
Fiji Islands will not partake of food while a
cloud Is in sight, especially if the cloud lies in
| the west, fearing that the Great Air Whale"
whose believing (thuuder) Is often heard in
| that country, will pounce upon and utterly an
| nihilate them for such irreverence.
A recently married young farmer, liv-
| ing at Greenbush near Sheboygan, has hit
| upon a novel and effective scheme for getting
his wife out of bed in the morning. He fills
| the stove with damp shay.ngs lights them and
then shuts the damDer i'll tIe piDe by the
| time he reaches the barn size is efsctuallY
smoked Ou;.
Over 800 years ago, in the reign of
Henry VIII. an Italian ship sank in the River
Stour, at the entrance To the English port OF
Sandwich The river, which is noted for fire.
quently changing its course, recently shifted
into an old channel. and exposed the wreck Of
the vessel which since the year l542 has laid i'm
bedded in the sand.
Despite their subjugation to British rule
the princes of India are still able to indulge in
royal whins and extTavaganees. One of them
recently had made at Paris bed worth 81. 00e.
Its canopy is supported by four AUTOMATIC
female figures that wave fans to cool the air.
The mattress is huge musical box which,
when one lies upon If. plays operatic airs.
1t is said that between the island Of
Madagascar and the coast of India there are
Id, 900 islands. only 600 OF which inhabited.
In any of these islands a man can live and sup
port his family in princely luxury, without
working more than % DAYS in the year. In fact,
on some of these islands, he needn't work at
all, as nature provides the food and no clothes
are required.
Beds are still strange pieces of furni-
ture in Russia and many well-to-do houses are
still unprovided with them. Peasants sleep on
the TOP of their ovens; middle class people and
servants roll themselves up in sheepskins and
lie down near stoves; soldiers rest upon wooden
cots without bedding. apd it is only within the
last few years that students in State schools
have been allowed beds.
1t is not generally known that Henry
VIII, of England, hanged no fewer than 1900
robbers thieves ard vagabonds, and that Good
Queen Bess'' was in the latter part of her reign
responsible for the slaughter of 300 100 crini-
mails yearly. Turning t. the wear 1856. f'r
example, we find that in the county of M r
set alune 40 persons were executed, 80 burned
In the hand and 81 severely whipped
An Augusta, Ga. policeman killed a
wild possum on his beat the other night. The
officer was near the corner of Reynolds and
Mcintosh streets. and he noticed the 'possum
creeping alongside of the wall. which at first
hs took for a cat. When he discovered his
error he struck the 'possum deadly blow with
his club and carried it home. and he and his
family enjoyed fine dinner of 'tater and pos
sum. Where the 'possum came from it Is hard
to say but the police saw that they have seen
several of them running through the streets