Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-15
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

-Thirty-four pounds Of raw rugar makes
2l pounds of refined. 4.4 So
-Stepladders are used by the Belgian
army for observations.
Five hundred and si1ty-four stores and
3,679 dwellings are vacant in Toronto.
Negroes with red hair are common in
the West Indies and in South America.
"A carpettacking party is the latest
Missouri invention for evening festivities
-Raspberries are still ripe in Tillamooh,
Oregon In that region they get two crops
every year. -
The Bank of England holds in its
vaults sl25, 900 900, and the Bank of Germany,
5000 1000. ---s-.
Sugar made from coal is 300 times
sweeter than ordinary cane sugar, oufi
costs $40 pound. -,
"A watch beats Isl, $50, 900 times in .
year. In the same length Of time the wheels
travel ,55SA miles.
ent species of reptiles. OF this number go
are as harmless as rabbits.
Recent experiments prove that cleo
trictty can be drawn from the sky eyenH
there are no clouds around. -
The population of London is now ,421,-,
6s1. That OF Paris, which comes next in the
list of large cities, is 2,344, $50.
Madagascar people work 25 days in .
year and make enough then to support them
In idleness the rest of the time. q. - -.
English locomotives have neither BELLS,
headlights nor cowcatchers. Warning ID
given by the shrillest of whistles
"A German breed of silk worms thrive
upon the leaves of satisfy. This species
would do well in tho United States. 's-
The owl is unable to move the eyebal1,
which is immovably fixed In the socket by
a strong. elastic, cartilaginous case.
Boise City, Idaho, has a 16-year-old
girl who is feet Q inshes in height and
weighs 207 pounds and she is still growing.
The first vessel launched by the early
American colonists was the Blessing of the.
Bay, launched in Massachusetts Bay, July 4,
1881
Over 18, ,000, 900 cubic feet of water falls
over Niagara every minute. The weight OF
IN hours flow of water is therefore 81, ,250, 900,
tons.
-Humbold County, California, has a
population of $1,000 and sl7,oOo.oOo taxable
wealth, but it is unconverted with the world
by railroads. '..-
Chemists have extracted from coal tar
16 shades of blue, 16 of yellow, IL of orange,
Of violet,sbesides shades of other colors too .
numerous to mention. F-'
-Four skeletons of giants have been
unearthed near Florence, Mo. There is a
tradition that four mule loads of gold are
buried in the same vicinity.
The frog, owing to its peculiar struc-
ture. cannot breathe with the mouth open;
and, IL it were forciblv kept open, the
cyeatureswould die of suffocation.
:. LII - r-.1.-I &.
$3.50 COO acres of which 1,254, coo is mountain
bog and the other Is available for fuel. The
average thickness Of the peat is II feet.
There is no country in the world in
which the raven Is not found to be O. ma tive;
it is also the only bird known to ornitholo-
gists which Is of such cosmopolitan, char"
acter. ...--.. -
The British cuckoo and the American
COW blackbird never build nests Of their
own, but content themselves with deposit
ing their eggs in the nests of other and
smaller representatives of the feathered
tribe.
"A body buried 13 years ago near Ash
land, NO., has recently been uncovered. It
was found to be in a good state OF preserva-
ton. but 1t was covered with a luxurant
growth Of black curly hair which filed the J..
coffin.
As far as is known at the present time
there are but nine words which end in E
"dous." They are: Tremendous. amphibo-
dous, hazardous. apodons, pteropodous,
cepbaledous, gasteropodous, stapendous and!
gastropodous. o. r
The term sttabby cat is derived from
Atab, q famous street in BaEdad, fnhahftedss
by the manufacturers Of silkeu stuffs called r
atabi, or taffety. This stun is woven with
o "tabby" cats coat. =
1t is said that the timber on the Kalama
river is no dense that when the trees are
sawed or they stand on the stumps, not
having room to fall. A Swede recently
sawed of seven trees and Is now waiting for
wind to blow them down.
Queensland has tree-climbing pig.
One of them was recently captured. Il
weighs about 100 pounds, has brown bristles,
small black spots, snout and ears like pig
but teeth like q rodent. The forefeet have
hook claws and the tail is about foot long
and prehensile.
The "Seven Golden Cities" one of the
most popular legends of the latter part Of
the Ozark Ages" were said to be situated
on an island west of the African coast, Tho
island is represented as abounding in gold,
with magnificent houses and temples ''tne
high towers of which shown at great dis.
tance." .t+
"A hitherto unknown stone has been
found in the mining districts of Candelaria,
in Nevada. 1t is of a dark-green color and
takes on very high polish, and is classed
by the State Geologist as "sariscite." Sew
eral beautiful ornaments have been pro
duced from it, but so far it has not been
found in any considerable quantity. -
algeria, Spain and India, for instance,
each have rivers within their borders which
are compesed-not of water, but OF ink.
That in Algeria is water until after the
union of two of its principal tributaries. one
of which flows through country strongly
with iron: the other comes
from n beat bog. The chemical action of the.
iron on the gallic acid from the peat makes
q beautiful writing fluid.
The Webbe Shebeyli, an African river,
is one of the wonders of the Dark ointment.
it is a large, rapid, flowing river
(amost as large as our own Missouri), and
flows for hundreds of miles through fertile
it never reaches the sea. About go
miles below its waters get to the point where
they should mingle with those OF the Indian
Ocean the whole stream sinks out of sight
into the sands OF the desert. "