Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-14
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.
,olsr. u.a discovered in 1881.

Cholera was discovered In 1881.
Natural gas has been struck in Ten
nessee.
A man in FLORIDA reports stalk Of
sugar cane feet 10 INCHES high
The town of Cumberland, r. L. boasts
of a meeting house that was built in E4o
"A 5-cent nickel of 1877 is worth 81 and
q nickel 5-cent piece OF 1878 about Is cents.
"A cein collector at South Bend, Ind,
is said to have q German coin ndnted in
1877.
-Threshing machines were first invented
bv q Scotchman named Menzies in the year
The heat from the sun is said to have
lately Matched five chickens near Munice,
Ind.
Jules Verne was IS before he turned his
attention to scientific fiction in ''Five Weeks
in a Balloon"
According to the latest Chicago direc-
tory the Johnsons outnumber the Smiths by
700 in that city.
"A blackbass in Sunset Lake, N. j.,
choked itself to death recently in trying to
swollow sunfish.
The name Michigan came from Indian
words of Algonquin and Chippewa origin,
'Mitcha," great, and "gan," lake
The usual Presidential year hen has put
in an appearance. She resides in Bath, Me-,
and the initials B. H. are marked on the
eggs
During service in W estminster, Conn,
church, steer dashed against the green
baize door and ran up the aisle with the door
on his horns.
"A recent novelty is a composite metal
wheel made up of skeleton of wire for the
spokes, hub and rim, the whole being i'm
bedded in cast iron.
"A man while fishing in Lapwai creek,
Idaho, is reported to have hooked a rattle
snake three and one-half feet long, that was
swimming across the creek.
Out of $4,000 guesses on a big cake Of
soap on exhibition in Berlin only two were
correct. The cake was a soaprnaker's ad-
Vert1sement, and 1t weighed l, l22 pounds.
The title of prince is almost as common
in Russia as that of colonel in America. A
Prince Solbykoff is a market house porter in
MOSCOW, and Princess Galitzin is an eques-
trienne in a cheap circus.
Aluminium is found combined with 1876
other minerals, and, therefore, constitutes
large part Of the crust of the earth, but un-
I'll recently has been very expensive because
OF the difficulty Of separating it.
In recent appropriation of nearly
$4,000, 900 for an Indian tribe e,attorneys claim
agents, etc, get 100000. In an appropria-
ton of $3.50, ,0OO to pay another tribe, attor-
neys, claim agents, etc., get S67, COO.
Among some young salmon fry hatched
in the hatchery on the River Deveron there
were found two fishes joined together at the
back fin, from which there is only one body
to the tail Both heads are perfect.
There is "well of frozen air. near
Dayton, Ga. The drill passed through a
fve-foot stratum of frozen gravel into a
ing air come with perfect regularity.
African travellers tell rs that the white
rhinoceros frequently dies from eating pois-
onous plants which have no effect on the
black one, probably because the fine scent
of the latter tells him it is dangerous.
The total number of gold pieces struck
at the English mint last year was 81, ,6s83J,
as against 20 s94, AS in 1890 This was by far
the largest number ever executed in one
year. Their value was fs,325, SOB 9s, 44d.
Three hundred thousand people in Eu-
rope suffer from blindness. Spain appears
to be the greatest sufferer IN this respect
An oculist says that scarcely one in twenty
of watchmaKers suffers from weak eyes.
Captain John W. Hull, 80 years old, Of
Mobile, Ala, has applied for a pension as q
veteran of the Indian Black Hawk wars. He
Is claimed 60 be the first TO make an appli-
cation under the late act passed by Congress.
Like some of the rings of to-day, the
signets worn by the Israelites bore Inscrip-
tions. The breastplates of the high priests
were set with II precious stones, each one
representing a tribe OF the Children Of
Israel.
The famous Khajah tunnel of India
pIerces the Khwaja Amran mountains about
60 miles north OF Inetta at an elevation OF
400 feet. 1t is $500 feet long and was con-
structed broad enough TO carry q double line
of rails.
"A man at Macon, GA, has $40 note of
the State of North Carolina, printed in 177s.
On one side is the inscription, Persecution
the Ruin of Empires" while on the other
side appears the words, death to Counter
letters"
The ancient Egyptians believed that
iron was the bone of Typhon, the enemy OF
Osiris, and for this reason it was considered
impure. No one could make use of it even
for the most ordinary requirements of life
without polluting his soul.
A German naturalist enumerates the
following birds and mammals as deserving
of protection: Shrews, bats, owls, cuckoos,
swallows, swifts, nigntjars, tree-creepers,
woodpeckers, wrens. robins, whitethroats,
water wagtails and titmice.
OF King Mithridates of Pontus his
torians say that he spoke % languages, and
knew by name each one of his SO, 600 soldiers.
Cyrus, the Persian King, and Julius Caesar
were also familiar with the name of every
soldier in their vast armies.
"A new material for paving is now being
introduced in London. 1t is composed of
granulated cork and bitumen pressed into
blocks, which are laid like bricks or wood
paving. The special advantage of the ma
terial lies in its electricity. When used for
pavement it gives soft tread which is ex-
ceedingly pleasant, recalling the feeling Of
carpet.
"A Canadian has invented simple and
ingenious device TO be attached to all bottles
pofsons. 1t consists OF mechan-
ism fastened to the bottom of the bottle,
and so arranged that every time the bottle
is lifted or moves it rings a little bell. With
a deaths head for the eye, and kind Of
death rattle for the ear, it seems as If acci-
dents ought to be entirely avoided.
FLIGHTS INTO FUNNYDOM.
Travers-Pve just got letter from my
mother and she wants me to come up to my native
village and pay her q visit, but (sadly) don't