Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-29
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

New York City's area is less than one
third of that Of Chicago
The dishwater in which the plates and
dishes are washed in PARISH only changed
and renewed once in every Il months.
Java is said to be the region of the
globe where it thunders oftenest, having
thunder storms on 81 days Of the year.
"A blind black eel was found in a pond
in Maine recently and sent to the United
States Fish Commission as a curiosity.
In China all wines are drunk hot. The
thrifty Chinaman believes that heated wine
! intoxicates more expeditiously than cold
wine.
1t is said that goats IN the Kalahai
frequently pass months without water, and,
according to Mr.. Mackenzie, there are certain
anteiopes which are never seen to visit the
drinking places.
The telephone is making the ladies OF
Honolulu stouter. They used 20 do their
own shopping, marketing, etc. Now they
send their orders by telephone, and the lack
or exercise has caused an accumulation OF
flesh.
1t is by the thumb the miller tests the
character and qualities of the grain he
grinds; spreading the sample over the
fingers by a peculiar movement of the
thumb, he gauges its value by the thumb
ITSELF
The diamond cutting business is mainly
concentrated in Amsterdam and Antwerp,
but diamond mounting is very largely done
in London, which is the center of the dia-
mond trade, both in the rough and the I'm
ished brilliants.
No people in the world are more de-
pendent upon boats than are the natives OF
Southeast Alaska. They live in a region
where the coast line is broken into many
channels. straits and barbors by the numer-
Gus Islands of the Sitkan archipelago.
"A woman in Bucksport, Me-, whils
feeding small pig, dropped in the pen q
roll of money-s20 in gold coin and $50 in
notes. The coin was found subsequently
near the mangled remains OF a SO note, but IL
was evident that the pig had swallowed the
rest of the money.
-Lepers in India were treated with
shocking inhumanity before Christianity
entered that country. Many of them were
buried alive. The English rulers have put a
stop to this custom, and for IA years there
has been special Christian mission to the
l3o,OOO lepers In India
Whereas the total population of India,
according to the preliminary results of the
census published some months back, was
2s4 6l4, ,2l0, further revision and examination
OF the returns brings out the still larger total
OF 2SS, lj9, ,692, or an average density OF close
upon 1SS persons to the square mile.
The bulk of the diamonds found in the
South African mines weighs between a half
and three csrats. A two-carat stone of good
color would cost from f10 to sl2. In cutting
of ao0u per ana s5 the so eSs
per carat according to size, the smaller
being the more costly.
"A specimen of prehistoric hatehets of
peculiar form was exhibited by NJ. Villanova,
of Piera, at the meeting the French Associ-
alton. About 200 of them had been found at
Elcho. They were simple emblems or images
OF a hatchet, made of a thin blade Of metal,
ornamented on both sides from one end to
the other, and without edges.
Old newspapers are said to make valua-
BILE anti-moth wrappers for furs and winter
clothing, the ink upon them being nearly as
repulsive to all kinds of vermin as camphor
or coal tar paper. They are likewise good
to lay on carpets for like purpose. Being
1mpermeable to air they also form excellent
envelopes for vessels containing ice and
fresh liquors.
The King of Siam has recently pre-
scribed rigorous test for those of his SUBJ
jects who claim to be endowed with the
mantle of prophecy. An enactment has
now been made providing that no prophet
shall be entitled to public confidence unless
midst of a sea-coal fire for the space Of at
least half an hour.
The most unhappy period of marriage,
according to French divorce statistics, is for
tirS period extending from the fifth to the
tenth year. After that the figures drop rap
idly. Only % per cent of couples seek divorce
between their tenth and twentieth years OF
union Only one pair in one hundred seek
to cut the knot after the period of oyer 30
and under 40 years.
The old Parliamentary Oak" IN Clip
stone Park, England. is believed to be 15O0
years old. The tallest oak in that country,
called the Dukes Walking Stick" is higher
than the spire of Westminster Abbey, and
the largest is the "Cowthorpie," which now
measures 7s feet in circumference, and at
one time, with its branches, covered more
than an acre Of space.
A couple in Biddeford, Me-, have sepa-
rated four times and reunited three times
since their wedding in May. The last time
the wife returned to her spouse she ad-
mitted that she was little quick tempered.
but declared that she would give him $50 IL
she made another break in six months. She
broke away in two weeks, and now the hus-
band will sue for the $50.
1t is said that the old black overcoat of
the German army will shortly be abolished.
have been made with various
regiments during the last IL months with
overcoats of various shades of grey, which
have led to the conclusion that light grey Is
the color least distinguishable at a distance,
and therefore best adapted for wear in view
of the use of smokeless powder.
The lobster breads thunder, and when
the peals are very loud numbers of them
drop their claws and swim away for deeper
water ANY great fright might also induce
them to drop their claws. But new claws
begin at once to grow, and in short time
are as large as the old ones, and covered
with hard shells. The LOBSTER often drops
its she'll, when it hides until the new shell Is
hard enough to protect it.
The rate of travel of thunder storms
has been studied by Herr Schronrock from
The record of 1877 such storms in Russia in
1885, The velocity is found to have varied
from 13 to so miles an hour, with a mean of
IS g miles an hour in the hot season and in
,reasing to 80 miles an hour in the cold
season. 1t was least in the early morning,
increasing to a maximum between 8 and 10
P NJ. The storms Travelled most quickly
rom southwest, west and northwest.
ann RHVMET