Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-10
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

| -Silkworms are sold by the pound In
China.
Salmon, pike and goldfish are said to be
the only fish that never sleep.
The new British coinage will bear the
Queens head without her crown.
In Samar beehives hang in the form OF
oblong gourds from the branches of trees.
Thirteen tons of postage stamps are said
to have been solu in New 7 ork City last
year.
I'm 1871 each individual consumed 13
ounces of tobacco; in 1891 he consumed rs
ounces.
Some people have taken to putting
Grape on the walking sticks as we'll as on
their arms.
Bismarck 8 tenants present him every
year with 10l plovers' eggs on the anniver-
sary Of his birth.
-Ifa well could be dug to depth of 46
miles the air at the bottom would be as
dense as quicksilver.
Artificial teeth are so much in use now
adays that It took 40, 900 to supply the
demand last year.
Among the wealthy classes of japan it
is considered undignified 20 ride q horse
going faster than walk.
In China wealthy people buy their cof.
fins long before they need them, and exhibit
them as ornamental pieces of furniture.
In the 25th of Henry VIII it was
enacted that no person should keep above
z,OoO sheep nor hold more than two farms.
Vidal, one of the most famous last dec
ade sculptors OF France. was stone blind &C
the time when he executed some of his most
famous works.
"A dish-washing machine has been for
some time in 11se in Tondon botaI with
two persons to attend to it, it washes 900
dishes an hour.
Cranes, storks and wild geese fly fast
enough to make trip from Northern
Europe to Africa in a week. but most OF
them rest north of the Mediterranean.
In accordance with Chinese etiquette,
all business of state requiring the Emperor's
attention is transacted between the hours Il
2o'clock and O'Clock in the morning.
France has population of 3S,218, ,9O3,
comprising about 100000 families, and of
these 1000 600 couples have no children,
wnle 2,O0O, 600 have only one child each.
"A California company makes a splendid
article of toilet soap from tile froth skinned
from boiling compound. 1t is supposed to
be mixture of borax, alkali and mineral
Oil.
AT Baku, Russia, there is an immense
Oil well that "ebbs and fows' with the same
regularity as do the ocean tides. 1t is be-
Heved to have some mys terious connection
with the sea.
"A curious superstition is alleged to
exist among the Hindoo sentries at Bombay.
Whenever . black cat passes they salute it
in the belief that it contains the soul of an
English officer.
The Brazil nut contains from Is to "a
seeds, which all germinate at one time. Tho
most vigorous one gets first throush a small
hole at the top to the open air and there
upon it strangles and feeds upon the rest.
Rush Valley, Utah, has a mine of nat
ural shoe blacking. An analysis of the pe-
culiar stuff reveals the fact that it is COM
posed of 16 per cent of carbon, Is per cent OF
bitumen and the remainder aluminium al
most pure.
The Leading theologians of the world,
who have been figuring from Scriptural and
other data for some time, have come to the
conclusion that Christ was crucified shortly
after o clock on the morning of Friday,
April 10, A. D. go
The streets of London are cleaned be-
tween in the evening and Gin the morning
Many OF the Carriage ways are washed daily
by means of hose, and the courts and
alleys Inhabited by the poorer classes are
cleaned once day.
The term "tabby cat" is derived from
Atab, o famous street in Bagdad inhabited
by the manufacturers OF silken stuff called
atib1 OF taffety. This stuff is woven with
waved markings of watered silk resembling
q "tabby" cats coat.
The Brazilian pottery tree contains
such a large percentage of silica as to make
it's ashes a valuable ingredient in pottery 4
making. When green its wood cuts like
soft sandstone. To the botanists it is known
as Moquilod utilis.
"A person who has totally lost the sense
80,
agine that the defect is otlittle consequence,
cannot locate the direction of sound to
save his life. even when the center of dis
tul bance is quite near him.
-Lepers in India were treated with
shocking inhumanity De ore Christianity
entered that country. Many of them were
buried alive. The English rulers have put
stop to this custom, AID Tor years there
mas been a special Christian mission to the
l35, 600 lepers in India
One of the most curious stones in the
" orld is found in Finland, where it occurs
in many places. 1t is natural barometer,
md actually foretells probable changes i'll
The weather. 1t is called semakuir, and
turns black shortly before an approaching
rain, while in fine weather it is mottled with
spots of white.
They have Derby in Persia A lot of
rem enter their horses and deposit the
fees with the Shah. The race is
hen run, after whicn the Shah takes DOS
ession OF the winner. and sticks to all the
'ntrance money. There i5 o business-like
implicitly about sport in Persia which
peaks for itself.
"A curious book, in which the text il
Ieither written nor printed, but woven, has
ately been published in Lyons. 1t is made
# silk, and was published in % parts. Eich
art consists of two leaves, so the entire
olume only contains 80 leaves, inscribed
With the service OF the mass and several
rayers. Both the letters and the borders
re in black silk on a white background.
One of the latest methods of loosening
he earth to depth OF two or three feet,
nd allowing the absorption OF considerable
noisture in periods of draught, is by the
se of dynamite electrically fired. The in
entor of this ingenious tilling of the soil
rills holes two or three feet deep and five
eet apart, making 1600 to the acre. In
ach hole is placed q sufficient quantity of
he explosive. cOnnecied with wire lead
ng to the battery, and after the earth is
ramped down the whole Is discharged by
mark