Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-20
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


turers in the field.
Russians use the goose for the same
purpose that we use the turkey.
The fastest record on the typewriter is
held bv a young man who wrote l56 words q
minute.
South American butchers never sell
bones with the meat, nor do they know how
to cut steak.
The Island of Curacao, which belongs
to Holland. has no fresh water except that
obtained from rains.
Ten ac es of land recently sunk seven
feet in Missouri. 1t formed basin which
has been filled with water.
Black potatoes are raised in Zululand.
They are called cetwajo, and the tuber is
blush black and rather wa1y.
Gas and electric lights have been put
in the Royal palace at Berlin, which former
ly was lighted only by candles.
The Chinese consider black and green
very uulucky colors. Red is the most lucky
color, and their lottery tickets are always
printed with red ink.
The little red crabs that used to be
found in canned or bulk oysters are now
sold at So per quart. They have become q
fashionable article OF diet.
The natives of the West Indies still be-
lieve in voodooism. Their folk lore or
spider tales are full of witchcraft, and the
Great Obeab is their god
The largest dam of any kind in the
Southern hemisphere is that at Beetaloo,
South Australia. 1t is built of concrete, has
capacity of 800, 600 900 gallons and cost $685.
600.
-Atchison has damage suit on its hands
which was caused by a banana peel. A
woman slipped on it and died from the ef-
fects of her injuries. Her relations now sue
the city.
"A legacy of 81 900 is awaiting man who
skipped with s22, 900 OF his wife's and mother
in-law's money some time ago from Woburn,
Mass. No steps have been taken to prose-
cute him.
The body of q man, turned into num-
my, was found in Fresno county, Cal, few
days ago The weather dried the body as
well as it could have been done by an arti-
f1cial process.
The manufacture of buttons from blood
is great industry at Bridgeport, near Chi
cago. They also turn out earrings, breast
pins, belt clasps, combs and trinkets from
the same material.
Scotland contains 80 towns of more
than 10000 Inhabitants. Seven of these num-
Der more than 1000 inhabitants, nine have
between 10000 and 10000 and the remaining
IA have from 10, 600 to 10000.
The penalty standing against German
soldier or sailor of the standing army or
navy who left the fatherland was a fine of
2OO marks or 40 days imprisonment. That
has now been raised to GOO marks fine or
imprisonment for four months.
Efforts are being made in Mexico to in
crease the production of cotton and to make
true the prediction in some of the Govern
ment reports that Mexico will one day oc-
cupy position among the first, if not the
first, Of the worlds cotton producers.
"A pair of young lynx, captured near
Tucson, Ariz., recently, before their eyes
were opened, were brought home by their
captor and at once adopted by the family
cat. The creatures are now as large as their
foster mother and as playful as her natural
kittens would be.
Coon cats are becoming quite fashion,
able. They come from Maine, where they
have long been in high favor. These ami
mails are extremely domestic, and have large
coon-like tails. Ex-Speaker Reeds favorite
animal is a coon cat, and he has one in his
study most of the time. New York fashion
ables have recently taken great fancy to
these cats.
There are over 2, 900 walters in London,
not one of whom is paid any salary by his
employers. AS rule, indeed, he has to pay
a sum varying from to shillings a day to
the proprietor of the resta urant in which he
waits. In the case of one large and we'll
known foreign restaurant the walters in
some of the rooms have to pay shillings q
day to the proprietor.
The oldest inhabited dwelling house in
the United States is said to be that of Kill
lian Van Rensselaer,, opposite Albany. 1t is
described as being of brick with a gambrel
roof. The front wall contains two portfolios,
out of which the early inhabitants shot at
Tr,flT lTT1rr Nl0f 70
rear, set up by the Albany Commemorative
Society, the building was erected in 1852.
The Hindoo nose ring is said to be
doomed. At meeting OF the members Of
the Cutchee Veesa Oswal caste, held at
Mandvie Bunder, it was resolved that in
stead of ring women should wear flower
in the nose. 1nasmuch as the nose ring has
led to "much unfavorable comment" hence
forth wearing OF nose rings would be fine
10 rupees and annas, in addition to for
feiture of the ornament.
The walls of the National Library
building. in process of erection in Washing
ton, are about half up. 1t will cost over
$1,000, 900. There are SO arches on the four
sides of the building, and it is proposed to
ornament the keystones of these arches with
representative heads OF the 80 races of man
kind. A number of these have been finished
and put in place and are very effective.
over the arches at the main entrance viii
be the types of the higher order, and the
very lowest types will be at the back of the
building.
The timber wealth of Tennessee isnow
being developed by some ABS sawmills, 143
planning mills, 20 shingle mills, besides the
plants for making barrels, etc. OF these, Il
(including IL sawmills and 10 planning miIls)
prosecute their successful industries in ash
Vile Reports from 81 of the Nashville wood
working concerns show an aggregate daily
sawmill capacity of 456, 900 feet. The lumber
handled or consumed by them yearly is
229, $50, 600 feet: number of hands employed
3, ,l73; weekly payroll, Sl7, ,175, and $500000 is
invested in their machinery for woodwork
ing.
French gardeners have been producing
similar dwarf trees to those in Japan. In
1899 the Secretary of the Royal Botanical
Society exhibited one of these Japanese Gu
riosities, which, though only two feet in
height, was 100 years old. 1t was stated that
such trees were good illustrations of the
power of endurance of plants under severe
In the society's garden might
be seen several specimens of the common
oak between 40 and 80 years old, yet only
some 10 or II inches in height. They had
been planted as an edging to flower border,
and kept clipped like the old-fashioned box.