Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-29
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

| "A porter at q large 1lllaQel Q01a 0ObcA
is worth sso.0O0. while the propnetors are in
solvent.
A new Doot-cleaning machine cleans
boots at the rate of pair minute, and IS
/ worked in the same manner as a sewing ma
| chine.
a Judge who is holding court at Broken
Bow, Neb., is forcing attorneys to get up in the
morning, as he has the docket called at 7:3O A.
| n. sharp.
There is 4 small, unobtrusive society in
London known as the NJ A. B. Y. S; otherwise
| the Metropolitan Association for Befr1endIng
| Young Servants.
| The aggregate wealth oil the United
States Is nearly so times what it was 10 years
| ago when the figures were 81 600, 600 OCG. Now
they are $50. 20C. O0O,OOO
| The somewhat startling intelligence
comes from London that the Lady Guide Asso-
citation is about TO organize a society for the
| employment of gentle-women in the making OF
] cigarettes.
| I'm Detroit red placard with the words
Scarlet fever here" printed in black letters in
| three languages-French, German and Eng
| li,h-notIhes the neighDorhood OF the conIar
\ gion present.
The Vienna Housewives Society started
| about seven years ago, and has taught the no
girls, and is now to give courses OF instruction
| to nursemaids and goyernesses
The spirit of organization has struck
the beIringers of the English churches, the
| first annual meeting of the Central Council of
| Church Bellringers having been held. with 70
| delegates attending, representing 1000 MEM
! bers.
Scientists say the chemist will dominate
coming inventions. All our fuel will presently
II
of a century more shall wonder why man
was ever such fool as to carry coal into the
house and burn it.
Much anxiety is felt at the spread of
irreIgion 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
| 10000 irreliglouS persons who have never been
baptized.
The greatest novelty in dolls has now
been invented in Nuremberg, the great Ger
man town for dolls and playthngs. ma
chine in the doll causes it to move its hand and
write neat little letters on slate or on paper.
Whole sentences can be written, 70 the great
amusement Of children.
While clouds, especially the higher
forms, have a general tendency to move in the
same direction as storms. that is, from west TO
east, 1t has been decided that they are very
poor guide to follow in special Instances. and
they fail especially at such times when such
assistance is most needed.
The agreeable odor of the soil, the
''earthy SMELL" has been traced by NJ. Berthe
lot, the distinguished French chemist. to a mi
mute trace of camphorated body. he also con-
cludes that the occasional presence of alcohol
is due to exceptional cases of spontaneous fer
mentation OF vegetable matter.
One Of the largest devil fishes ever
caught IN the Sound was caught near Port
Madison the other day by some fishermen.
When first caught it would measure, spread
out, 10 or 20 feet across from tip 70 tip OF It's
arms. On each of its eight arms were over z0
suckers. making in all upward OF l,BO0
"A Wyoming man has settled the ques-
ton of how the prairie dogs obtain the water
they drink. He says they dig their own wells,
each village having one with concealed open
ing. He says he knows Of several or these
wells, from so TO 200 feet deep, each havinga .
circular stairway leading down to the water.
The Turks esteem the beard as the most
noble ornament of the male sex, and consider
it more infamo US for anyone to have his beard
cut off than to be publicly whipped, pilloried
or branded with q red-hot iron. Almost any
orthodox Turk would prefer beiag DuI to death
rather than have his beard removed from MS
face.
Vegetation in the Alps recedes down
ward from year to year. Formerly Alpine roses
grew at IN dlLlLuuo Ol lsOOO Lecb. w" AAOJ oAO
seldom found higher than $500 feet, and are at
that height stunted. Beeches have gone down
LOO feet. Various berries, which once -four
ished = 500 feet above sea level. do not grow in
higher attitudes sOw than $500 feet
The one-hour verdict of Maine court
in 1859 believed to be the shortest sentence to
Imprisonment in a criminal case in this coun-
try, was greatly underdone by an English Judge.
VINO sentenced a woman to nve minutes in Jail
for having married man without obtaining q
divorce from a former husband. Tnis stands
now as the shortest sentence on record
A curious discovery has been made on
Cedros Island. Mexico, in the form Of bed OF
white sand, extending along the top of the
mountain, 1t is believed TO be the remains OF
an ancient quartz ledge, pulverized by intense
heat, and it is said to be as fine as though it had
been run through battery of stamps. II varleS
from to feet in thickness and Is asserted to
be rich in gold.
Grows are commonly said to live for 100
years, and turtles are reported to have even
longer life; but the greatest amount of longeVi-
ty is possessed by fishes. A naturalist once said
that as a fish has 10 maturity there is nothing
to prevent it from living indefinitely and grow
ing continually. He cited in proof, pike in
Russia whose age Is known to date back to the
fifteenth century, In the Royal Aquarium at
st. Petersburg there are hundreds of fish that
were put in over l5O years ago.
The total population of the Sandwich
Islands is set ar O.046. The net increase from
1884 TO 1890 is g. 46S 1t is also learned that for
the first time In the history of the kingdom the
native Hawaiians, including all of either pure
or mixed blood, are an absolute minority OF
the whole population. This is due partly to the
decrease of natives. who have fallen of about
s per cenr, but still more to the increase Of
H awaiian- born foreigners and foreign born,
who have gained over l3,OOO, or about 36 per
cent.
"A novel experiment has been devised
for the entertainment of dinner guests, the
serving of a salad grown under the eyes Of the
guests who partake of it. The secret of per
forming this magic feat lies in soaking good
terminating lettuce seed in alcohol for about
Six hours and sowing it in an equal mixture of
unsacked lime aud rich soil After the soup
has been served sprinkle the seeds with luke
warm water and they viii sprout Immediately,
the lettuce growing TO about the size OF hazel
nuts before the time for serving the salad ar
rives-
Passengers on the west-bound train on
the Baltimore and Ohio road were treated to
novel sight recently. At Bascom, o., man
stepped into the train and Immediately stepped
hurriedly out, followed by a sedate-appearing
cid gentleman, yelling stop the thief" A
short fOot-race was the result, when finally the
fleeing passenger was captured and the old man
was seen to strip the pantaloons from his shIv-
ering legs. leaving him no protection whatever
from the biting winds and in this connition the
fellow was compelled TO pursue his journey
westward.