Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-21
Curious CONVERSATIONS.


Southern California reaches q million and
| half pounds.
"A fish dealer in Bath, Me-, on cutting
open n yellow perch, found eight 2O-penny
| nails in shc stomach
More than s14, ,O0O, 900 of farm mort
cages, it IL alleged, have been released OF
| record in Kansas in the last IL months
The hunters who visit Parmachenee
live high, and some OF them have a sweet
tooth, for 500 pounds OF candy disappeared
| there last year.
Boa -Oxus a city on the Ganges, is said
to have been so named because a gigantic
serpent 120 cubits long and having double
head, was killed at the present site OF the
town about the year S6l A. d.
"A common superstition is that if COL
ored person will kiss baby twice In the
mouth the process will assist it in teething
and make this otherwise troublesome
period for children more easy to bear.
-One-fourth of the human race dies be-
fore attaining the seventh year. one-balf be-
fore attaining the sixteenth year. or in the
course of this year. But one person among
10 900 attains the age of 100 years. while one
among 500 attains 30; one among 100 attafns
60.
Bullets made OF precious stones are
rarities in warfare. But during the recent
fighting on the Kashmir frontier, when the
British troops defeated the rebellious Hun
zas the natives used bullets of garnets en-
cased in lead. The British preserved many
as curiosities.
AN Australian agricultural paper makes
note of an immense increase in the number
of sheep in Australia in the last two or
three years, and of the enormous develop
ment Of the grazing capabilities of the coun-
try. The estimated num Der or sheen IN Aus
lie y,, ia OF in
1884.
An old hunter and froutiersman, named
George Darling, reports the discovery of a
long-abandoned village in Mexico. Several
brick buildings still remain. and the sur
roundings show it must at one time have
been q large town. The rnins are situated
west of the ancient city of Temoseche, in the
midst of the Sierra Madre Mountains.
In 1874 Froment constructed a motor
termed "crank motor" The action was
caused by the suction or magnetic attaction
of the magnets on an iron armature which
operated q pair of levers working on con-
Meeting rod and crank shaft, thereby turn
ing fywheel somewhat as grfndstone
would be revolved.
"A curious and profitable business has
grown up in the Maine woods about the
sawmills in the utilizing of the immense
quantities of sawdust by compression.
into compact blocks and bales. and in this
form is finding p ready market for kindling
and fuel in the Eastern cities.
-'The turtle dove" saws Aristotle, "hid-
eth herself most OF all. At the commence
ment of Information it is very fat, and dur
ing that season it loses its feathers, though
they remain thick for long while" 1t
ought to be possible to confirm this observa a.
tion upon the Pacific coasts of this contis
nent. where the turtle dove abounds.
1t is said that many of the German
colonists on the Volga river who are suffer-
ers from the Russian famine, In order to
save fuel, have dug holes in the ground
subterranean shelters in which thev burrow
SS nny gesy oSaed psops Who
day are living the lives Of troglodytes.
The inhabitants of Newfoundland live
on the water and have no interest what
| ever in farming. What they eat and wear
| is all imported. Hard biscuits, tea and fish
| constitute their diet from one year to an
| other. and on the poor mans table meat is
| seldom seen. They are skilled sailors, but
] thev would stumble over plow and break
their necks.
-England's principal source of supply
J for the tomato out of season lies In the
channel islands, Guernsey, Jersey, etc. The
climate there suits the plant, where 1t can
be grown in the open afr. In the year 1890
these islands supplied the London market
with over 1000 tons valued at 1000 The
Azores and the CANARY islands also sent
their quota; and so did France and Spain.
Probably the longest single span of
wire rope in the world is that now in use in
the construction of the great Austin dam at
Austin Tex. The main cable is 1850 feet
long and ~ inches in diameter, and the
hoisting is done with a three-fourth inch
steel rope. The hosting apparatus will lift
a weight of seven tons and carry it the
entire length of the span in about minute
and half.
A contributor to New York paper
saws: "I met a hotel chambermaid the
| other day whose lower teeth were nearly all
| missing, and from a singular cause She
had been, for great many years. in the
habit of holding the pillows in her teeth
while she drew on the slips with both hands,
and it resulted in the loosening and gradual
loss of those teeth upon which the strain
was the greatest"
In the backwoods villages of Oxford
county, Me-, one sees scarcely any other in
dusrry but spool-makfng, and everyone is
in some way interested in the business. The
factories have been eating into the Maine
birch forests for years, but there seems to
be enough left yet to feed them well for
years to come. Hundreds of thousands of
feet of logs are cut and sawed into spool
timber annually.
A new "letter card' has just been issued
by the British Postoffice. 1t is copy of our
letter sheet idea, and is spoken of as filling
"a much-felt want" The idea fs to make it
possible to send short notes without the pub
iicity of q post card and at less cost than
letter. The letter card simply folds once.
across the middle. and the edges can be
gummed down. The space available for
writing is 81 by ~ inches.
"A beach may resist the sea for years,
vet in a few hours it may be stripped bare
70 the solid rock. Shells may be covering
the bottom a mile off shore, undisturbed by
on-shore gales: storm, with winds and
waves apparently much the same as usual,
may sweep them all on shore. In other
words. the will of old ocean in modifying
shore lines is practically irresistible and his
occasional devastation remediless-
"A bureau of press clippings in London
has received the royal command to
furnish 20 distinct sets of newspaper cut.
tinos from every periodical in the world, so
far as obtainabfe, referring to the death of
Prince Albert Victor. The sets are TO be
ma sted each in a separate album The sec
tfon devoted to American clippings should
make a yery edifying collection, if the
bureau II faithful in obeying the command.
Swedish papers describe q novel kind of
construction, termed a locomotive steam
boat. built at KristaDstud, for the naviga-
tton of a chain of small lakes, separated by
falls, the boat being fitted for this purpose
with wheels fitting a track, and power may
he applied to either the propeller or the
driving wheels of tho locomotive part of the
track: the latter is feet 6 inches gauge, with
grades of / in SO, and having curves of q
radius of 100 meters.
No chemist has ever produced brighter
colors than are secured by the Maine Indian
basket makers. For the greater part of the