Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-10
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

| "A rallrOdu III JIe Argentine hepuDll0
has one stretch of I'll miles without curve
Or bridge.
On the Missouri Pacific road, $50 miles
west of st. Louis, is Waterloo, and in the i'm
| mediate vicinity are Napoleon and Yelling
i ton.
1 1t is related as a curious fact that Paris,
with population of nearly 2,5O0,OOO SOULS
has less than 100 negroes within its limits.
| statisticians say that the whole of France
cannot muster q negro population exceed
| ing $50.
| In the museum of the Dead Letter
4 Office at Washington, ID. c., there is a piece
! of parchment upon which is penned a copy
| OF the Lords prayer, written in 81 different
languages.
| 1t is known that wasps' nests often take
! fire, supposed to be caused by the chemical
action of the wax upon the paper material
| of the nest itself. May this not account for
| many mysterious fires in barns and out
| buildings?
"A house still standing at Cieopee, Mass,
is reported to be 225 years old, and is proba-
bly, the Oldest building in the common
wealth. 1t is in good state of preserya-
tlon and its present owner has occupied it
81 years continuously.
Australia, it would appear, has some
gigantic eaterpillars. Mr. A. g. orlif, of
sidney, mentions one moth larva, abundant
| to 10 Inches long. Species are numerous
which vary from to 8 inches in length
-Vergennes, VT, is the third oldest city
! IN the United States, having been chartered
| in 17ss. Hartford and New Haven, Conn,
were chartered in 17s4. Yergennes is proba-
| bly, the smallest and most quiet city In the
country, having population of l,7T3 and
covering only 200 acres.
In big trees the new State of Washing
ton is quite rich, Seattle paper mentions
a fir in Sumas which is 50 feet in diameter.
Near StanwOod there is a cedar IL feet in
diameter S3 feet from the roots and II feet in
diameter ll2 feet from the roots. Nooksack
reports u hr IL feet in diameter.
Ten species of North American birds
are put down by the ornithologists as miss
ing" Of these, two-the great aux and the
Labrador duek-are believed to have become
extinct within the memory of living men.
Perhaps representatives of the other eight
will yet be found. Most OF them are very
diminutive.
"A curious fish has been caught at At
lantie City, n. j., struggling in the surf close
TO the shore. 1t is about five feet long with
big fms more like hippers, fore and aft and
an immense mouth armed with four rows of
teeth. The body is fiat, after the order of
the founder, and its skin is brown and as
coarse AS sand paper 1t weighs loo pounds.
The most unhappy period of marriage,
according to French divorce statistics, is for
the period extending from the fifth to the
tenth year. After that the figures drop rap
laly. only Is per cent of couples seek
divorce between the tenth and twentieth
years of unions, Only one pair in 100 seeks
TO cut the knot after the period of over 80
and under 40 years.
All Esquimaux are superstitious about
death, and, although they hold festivities In
memory of departed friends, they will
| usually carry dying person to some aban-
dOQod hut there To drag amin
days without food, medicine, water OF at
| tendance After the death of a husband OF
wife, the survivor cuts the front hair short
and fasts for % days
Miss Hattie j. Chips, who lives near
Budds Lake. n. j., has fashioned portions
of hair from the head of over 1000 individu
ais into large wreath of over 600 flowers
and leaves. This unique oddity is composed
of hair of every shade and color known TO
the snthTopoiosisti The Young artist spent
before commencing work on the wreath.
The dog-catchers succeeded in getting
whole fire engine company after them in
DeKaib avenue, Brooklyn, the other day.
They managed to secure two fine dogs which
belong to Fire Company No. II, and are kept
In training to run to fires. boy saw the
act and gave the alarm, and the fire COM
pany turned out in full force i'll u chase
which ended in the rescue of the dogs from
the wagon.
"A queef-looking animal, that might
possibly be young sea serpent, has been
seen on the banks of a stream near Shields
vile, MINI. 1t was seen by only one man,
and he got but an unsatisfactory look at it.
the animal disappearing when he got close
to it. He describes the ''what Is it'' as being
the shape Of Cigar, brown in color and
about 25 OF 80 feet long. 1t is alleged that a
beast that answers this description was seen
in the same neighborhood about three wears
ago.
1t has been claimed that the seeds taken
from ancient Egyptian tombs are capable of
growth, but proof of the claim is lacking.
1t has been demonstrated, however, that
seeds Of very great age are capable of de-
velopment. RaspberFies have been raised
from seed taken from the stomach of man
who died during the time of the Emperor
HadFian, who reigned in the second century
into new life after lying dormant l6 CEN
turiesi
The average weight OF the brain of man
bears q definite relation to the climate in
which he lives q heavier brain weight being
found in cold than in warm countries In
proportion to their stature the Lapps have
the largest heads in Europe, the Norwegians
ne4t, then como the swedes, Germans,
French and Italians. In the Arab the head
is found to be smaller than any OF the above,
while In the Far North there exists q people
called Chugatshes, whose heads are remark
hply idiSof
"A curious and interesting calculation
has been made by Prof Rogers, of Washing
ton, ID, c., on the dynamic power of coal.
According To the professor, single pound
of good steam coal has within it dynamic
power equivalent to the work of one man
for one day. Three tons of the same coal
represent mans labor for period of 20
years, and one square mile of a seam of coal
having a depth of four feet only. represents
as much work as one million 4, 900, ,000) men
can perform in 30 years,
"A very pathetic story is attached to the
death of 7-year-old Annie keefe. of Port
Chester, n. Y. She was playing "follow the
leader" her pet dog being with her, and in
scaling q picket fence she fell forward on the
pavement, her curly head striking the curb
stone. playmate ran to pick the little girl
up when she opsnsd her eyes. Seeing her
pet dog beside her she raised herself up,
and, nntting her arms around his neck, said:
sob, Dick; goodby Dick; goodby old fel-
low" Then the little arms unclasped and
the child fell back dead. Her skull had dbeen