Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-04
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

| The first English Parliament was
. opened e27 years ago.
-Seven-eights of the bread baked in Lon
! don is made of foreign wheat.
The household maintained by the Queen
of England consists of nearly 1000 persons
"A new herring bank 100 miles long has
been discovered Off the west coast OF New
| foundllnd.
The Hindoo nose ring is to be abandoned,
and a flower worn instead in the nose Of
Indian women.
Philadelphia has the biggest reel truck.
It weiqhs l6 COO pounds and can carry or
bear lJo 600 pounds.
The Jains of India frequently undergo
fasts OF 40 Gays. partaking during that time
! only of warm water.
Out of the 240, 900 domestic servants in
London, it is estimated that 10 600 are always
out of employment.
abraham is in the Missouri LEGISLATURE
from Cass county and Noah edits paper at
Spickardsville in that State
Mrs. Priscilla Scroggins, of Hare
county. Ga, who is said to be lis wears old
has living l2 children, lC3 grandchildren, 63S
great grandchildren.2 .272 Great grandchildren.
go great great grandchildren. in all family
OF ], "a souls.
The old penalty against a German
soldier or sailor qf the standing army or
nsyy who left the fatherlnnd was n fine of
100 marks or 40 days imnrisonment. That
mas now been raised TO 1,090 marks fine or
imprisonment for four months.
House purchasers will be panied to
learn that the diminishing supply of white
oak is leading to the substitution of the
cheaper red oak. Car builders rerort that ft
Dends well and is valuable for doorstiles
rails and some other parts of the interiors o.
cars.
-1p London a lady ordered from a sta
tioner number of invitation cards. which
she proposed to issue to an evening party.
she particularly instructed the stationer to
print "'igh tea" in tue left-hand corner of
ench. When at length the cards came home
they bore the letters 81. IT, in the corner
specified.
The famous Salton Lake of Southern
California, which was reported drying IN.
has not decreased TO an area of less than I45
square miles since its formation last wear
Early freshets in the Colorado and Gila
rivers are causing the waters of this lake to
rise again, although reports to the contrary
nave been freely circulated.
"A remarkable diamond has been re-
Gently found on the Kofreyfontein Diamond
Mining Company's ground in Australia.
which appears to be of such value that even
competent judges hesitate to name n price
commensurate with its worth. 1t is said TO
be OF beautiful shade of pink. entirely de-
void of spot or blemish and to weigh l3%
carats ~
The custom of drinking healths" had
most curious origin. In the days when
the Danes 1orded It in England thev had n
very common habit of stlbbing Enolishmen
in the throat when drikning. To avoid this
v1iiainy man when drinking would re-
quest some of the sitters-bY to be his Dledre
or surety while taking his draught. Hence
the custom.
-Leuwenhoek has computed that 10 600
threads Of the web OF full-grown spider
arc not larger than a single hair OF q mans
beard. He calculates that when young
spiders BERN TO spin 400 of their threads are
not larger than one from a full-sized insect.
If this be fact 100000 webs of Young
spider are not as large rs a single hair from
mans face.
Sometimes families who desire to bury
their dead in the clothing worn in iffe-in
evening or wedding dress, for instance
substitute less costly limitations for the
1eTelry worn in life, partly from motives OF
| thrift and partly from Il superstitious fear
| that anything taken off a body when 1t is
| ready for the tomb will bring ill-luck to fu-
| ture wearers.
The practice of cremation is on the in
crease in Germany. In addition to the cre-
matorium which has been in operation at
Gotha since 1877. and where from 500 to coo
| bodies are now cremated every year. q new
| establishments of the same kind has been
| consecrated at Ohlsdorf. Another crema-
| tory will be opened in October at Carlsruhe
| making the third in Germany.
France. has enacted stringent law bv
| which it is prohibited Q) to give to infants
| under year any form of solid food unless
| such be ordered by written prescription
signed by legally qualified medical man;
| (2) it is further prohibited for the nurses to
| use. in the rearing of infants confided to
fheir a
| whatsoever, a bottle or bottles with tubes.
| The Paris Ttmps publishes case of pre-
mature burial prevented by the daughter of
| the supposed dead man, who on kissing her
| father perceived that his body was not cold.
| The funeral cortege was on the point of
| starting. Suitable measures restored the
| man to consciousness, and he opened his
eyes and uttered one or two words. His con-
| dition is reported serious, but he was yet
| alive.
The puma possesses in a remarkable
degree the power of adapting himself to
varied surroundings. The animal endures
severe cold during the winter in the Adfron-
dack Mountains and other parts of the
| northern frontier of the United States, and
tracks his prey in the snow. He is equally
at home in the hot swamps and canebrakes
along the river courses of the Southern
States. In South America he inhabits the
treeless, grass-covered pampas as well as the
forests.
When the Queen opens Parliament in
person sine proceeds in state to the House of
Lords and commands Black Rod to let the
Commons know "that it is Her Majesty's
pleasure that thev attend her Immediately
In this House" Black Rod proceeds to the
House of Commons and formally commands
their presence, on which the Speaker and
the Commons go mp to the bar OF the House
of Lords, and the Queen delivers her speech.
which is read by the Lord Chancellor, kneel-
ing on one knee.
An extraordinary archaeological find is
reported from Helsingfors, in Finland. 1t
consists of huge chest with complicated
fastenings of iron. which. together with the
other details of its structure, point to a date
early in the Middle Ages. On being opened,
it was found TO contain quantity of ancient
ironwork and a large roll of parchments.
The manuscripts begin with the following
words: "Suger presb. abb. S. Dion dixit
~ Then comes complete and detailed
treatise in Latin on steam considered as q
force and on its applications-in short. g.
very accurate discourse on modern physics.
SOME THINGS FOR SMILEs