Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-15
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

New York City has fewer alleys than
any other city In the world, notwithstand-
ing it is one OF the largest.
A woman by the name of Mary Evans,
Hvingin Harlem, New York City, is licensed
captain of a ship Of which her husband is
chief engineer.
The largest telephone switchboard in
the world is that in the exchange at Berlin,
Germany, where 1000 wires are connected
with the main office.
of the 200, 900 women working at 100
different trades in New York City, 1900 sup
port their husbands. No doubt the same
ratio exists in other large cities.
"A gold coin passes from one to another
1000 900, 900 times before the stamp or impress
sion upon It becomes obliterated by friction,
while a silver coin changes between $780,
0O0, 600 times before 1t becomes entirely Of.
faced.
Glasgow is famous among Scotch cities
for its captive song birds. Belgian canarfes
bred in Glasgow frequently sell at $50 each:
The skylark is often Gagged in Glasgow, and
the bird sings, though it does not breed in
captivity.
"A company engaged in the manufacture
of explosives In New York has for sale now
small bombs about the size Of Frankfurter
sausaRes, with which It Is alleged the farmer
can bring down small showers of rain when
ever he sees clouds over his land.
AN extra census bulletin, recently Is
sued, shows that the size of families has
been steadily decreasing for q number Of
years. In 1850 the average size of families
was 90 persons, SIS in 1850 500 In 1870, sos in
1850, and In 1880 it had gotten down to 49A
Many tons of beeswa1 are imported to
New York from tropical and sub-tropical
parts of this continent and from Spain. It
Is used in the manufacture of lay figures for
museums milliners and mantua makers
and also for candles for ecclesiastical use.
The smallest pony in the world recently
arrived in the world on the famous Shetland
pony farm on the island of Bressay. 1t is
little colt foal that weighed but l6 pounds
and was only 1914 inches high at it's birth. 1t
is perfectly healthy, well-formed animal.
"A Spanish gentleman, accompanied by
his wife, has succeeded in performing the
feat of crossing the Andes in q carriage.
They started from the Argentine Republic
and landed at Catama, a distance of 800
miles. The vehicle was drawn by three
mules. The journey was accom- plished in II
days.
"A brilliant young London surgeon has
aroused the hostility of the profession by
his outspoken denunciation of over
drugging, and his advocacy Of dietic treat
ment of disease, and as a result his name
was removed from the medical register. He
has taken action to have his name re-
stored.
Insects have recently destroyed whole
forests In Powhatan county, Virginia, and
among other trees the famous Pope's pine, a
no.ed landmark in the Old Dominion. 1t
stood for years on an eminence from which
1t was visible for 20 miles or more around,
and lowered high above all surrounding
trees.
South Africa has been scourged by
locust pest, and considerable damage Is still
being wrought. A swarm OF locusts crossed
over one place in a column over six miles
wide. clearing pretty much everything be-
fore them. The mealie crop in the Orange
Free State has been destroyed by the 10
Gusts, causing loss of over 81, ,OOO.0 900.
The Gila monster, heloderma horridum,
is the only species of known poisonous liz
ard in the world. 1t is native of the Gila
river country in Arizona, and has seldom or
never been seen at any great distance from
that stream. The Indians OF Arizona be-
lteve the spittle, or saliva, and even the
breath of the animal, to be deadly poison.
Hundreds of years ago the old world
printers used TO chain copies of their books
outside their offices, and reward peripatetic
scholars who might detect errors with
prizes graduated according to the serious
ness OF the slip-a cup Of wine for broken
letter; cup OF wine and plate Of meat fora
wrong font or turned letter, and so on in
In England rocking stones" are called
"loggans' or 'logganstones," and have been
known since early times. One Of the most
Of these poised stones IN the
world is now lying evenly balanced on top
of Tandil mountain. in South America. It's
"a feet high, 30 feet long and weighs 70 tons.
A man can move it with one finger; even the
wind is said to sway It to and mo.
The Government of Holland has pro-
Iect on hand to drain the Zuyder Zee. 1t is
a vast lagoon of some 100 square miles super
ticial area, and is useless on account of its
for purposes of navigation,
while as agricultural land it is estimated to
be very valuable. The cost of the dam fs es-
timated ut E3 SIS O00 and of the draining at
EI3 COO 600. 1t is estimated that 30 years will
be required to complete the whole.
1t doesn't require an expert to tell
whether diamond is genuine or not. The
test is very simple and can be made in any
place and in a moment. All you need is
piece of paper and lead pencil. With the
tier make a small dot on the paper, then
ook at it through the diamond. If you can
zee but one dot you can depend upon 1t that
The stone Is genuine, but if the mark is scat
ered, or shows more than one, You Will De
safe in refusing to pay 10 cents for
i stone that may be offered you at $500.
In Noble county, w. Va, there iss
athomless sea, composed OF salt water and
,fl, from which gas escapes with tremen-
lous roar Twenty years ago well was
lrilled there to the depth of 1890 feet. Some
ears later water and gas escaped from the
loIe with great pressure, tearing out the
ubino and cutting a cavern apparently hun
reds of feet deep and 40 feet In diameter.
fter it ceased to flow farmer filed 1t up
nd built barn over 1t, and again, a few
avs ago, q terrific report announced an
ther explosion of the well, oil and water
curing out in abundance. In q single day
he hole became fathomless and about 40
eet wide.
The Maine law relating to boiler in
pection needs brscing up ifever statute
id. In that State almost anybody is called
n engineer. An instance is recalled where
he boiler of a large factory was left to the
are of anyone OF half a dozen persons, none
{ them having an engineers certificate.
me of the men, being near sighted, thought
e saw a startling rise in the steam gauge,
nd fled pAcipitately to the top OF neigh
oring hill to await the expected crash,
vhich never came. Another "engineer is
aid to have removed the steam gauge al
oeether, and when asked his reason iof
ding so, the "genius" replied that he mad
he safety valve to depend upon"
REFRESHING JoKELErS