Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-20
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

The Pruss1ans were the first to divide
their pontons into compartments
The first French newspaper was the
Merclre Francois, published in zoos.
Female stenographers are to serve the
Parliaments of Norway ard Sweden.
In 1886 there were 81, ,210, 900 spindlea
in operation in Europe, America and Asia.
The Roman kitchens were marble
paved and furnished with pictures and
statues.
Brandy was first used incidentally and
miraculous cures were ascribed to its en-
ployment.
The wide skirt, under the name Of
fardingale, first appeared in 1880 at the
court Of Francis l.
Homer says the Greek bow was used BY
placing one end on the ground to secure
steadiness Of aim.
Performances at the ancient Greek
theaters began at o'clock in the morning
and lasted often fully Z hours.
The German Navy now possesses 50
vessels. either afioat or ready for combat,
representing total of 2l9. .O63 tons.
Commercial travellers, it is said, sup
port two-thirds of the country hotels in
America, to say nothing OF instructing the
proprietors how to manage them.
"A Maine inventor has discretion be-
yond his kind. His invention is a flying
machine, and his discretion appears in en-
gaging another man to make the trial trip.
The tresses that sare attached to the
heads of the dolls are made of the hair of tho
Angora goat Its product which is controlled
by an English syndicate, is said to be worth
$40, ,OOO, 900 year.
A Philadelphia boat builder is making
an eight-oared aluminium racing she'll for
Cornell, and another for Harvard. Such
Doats wei@h 10 pounds. A paper or cedar
shell weighs about 225 pounds.
The coyotes in Cook county, Ore, are
becoming TOO hightoned to live exclusively
taste for veal and consequently calves are
disappearing in large numbers.
The cross of the order of ST. Olaf was in
stituted by Oscar l. OF Sweden, to recon-
pense those who had performed exceptional
miscellaneous service to the world. 1t Is
costly affair, being made of gold, with dia-
mond settings.
generally regarded as an unlucEy stone,
many are now being bought as luclly stones.
Mr.. Cleveland appears to have broken the
hoodoo by wearing one of the suspicious
gems for some years.
"A st. Louis man owns a cream pitcher
that once belonged to Washington. 1t is
an interesting souvenir. but the relic of the
father OF this country which the public
would most like to see is the hatchet tnat
played havoc with the cherry tree.
The total appropriation by Congress
last year for the propagation. distribution
and investigation of fish was s295. 600 OF
this appropriation not less than SlS9. .494 or
60 per cent, appears to have been paid out
tor the propagation and distribution of fed
eral office holders.
Two great Corsiean families, the most
powerful in the island, the Galvinfs and the
Casabiancas, have just Deen reconciled
after a political hostility OF more than 30
years. During this entire period the politics
OF the island has cenIered about the heads
of these two houses.
1t is a curious fact that the father Of
Alexander Grahame Bell once devised an
alphabet OF ''visible speech to represent
all the sounds of which the human voice is
capable, ana that his son, from teaching
deaf mutes, should have enlarged the pos
Sibilities of sound almost to infnitY.
The orange growers at Riverside, Cal,
have made arrangements TO defy the frost
this winter Pipes have been laid in all the
large groves, and crude petroleum is run be-
tween the rows of trees. By burning the
petroleum at equal distances the clear air il
disturbed by clouds Of vapor and frost pro-
vented.
"A miniature thunder factory has been
constructed for the science and art depart
ments at South Kensington, England, with
plates seven feet in diameter, which, it is
believed, would give sparks 30 inches long,
but no Leyden jars have been found to stand
its charge, all being pierced by an enormous
tension.
AN arolite, which is said to weigh 40, 900
pounds, fell about four months ago near
JIminez, Mexico. 1t struck a cliff in its
descent, it is further said, and its course
down the mountain side ploughed deep
furrow in the earth and rock, revealing 3
rich vein of silver at one point The claim
was Immediately taken, and is being worked
with good profit.
The famous Oaks plantation in South
Carolina has been sold for the phosphate
deposits on it Tor $4,000 1t plays a conspic-
uous part in several of Simms' novels, and
Marion and his men were often encamped
there. Ono of the great attractions Of the
old piantatlon is a long avenue OF ancient
oak trees as gnarled and rugged as the typ
ical oaks Of the poets.
"A remarkable set of gilt wooden images
from the platform of the great ShwedAgon
pagoda. at Rnngoon, was exhibited at the
Anthropological Institute, London, at q re-
cent meeting. They were seated on the steps
of lofty tagOndain or port, on top OF which
is always perched the figure of the Hentha,
or sacred goose, which is believed by the
Burmese to in some way protect pagodas.
One of the famous white oaks OF New
Jersey stands in the Presbyterian church
yard at Basking Ridge. 1t measures IA feet
in ches in circumference at feet high,
while the branches shade a circle of ll5 feet
in diameter. 1t has been q famous tree for
more than a century and it was, no doubt, q
noble specimen in 1870. when a log church
was built on the ground where the present
one now stands.
The telephone has been put to new
use in San Leandro, Cal. A man Of intelli-
gence, who is afflicted with leprosy, was
isolated in a cabin away from the hospital.
A kind hearted gentleman OF the town had
q telephone put into the cabin and connect
ed with tina reading room OF the hospital,
thus enabling the Ieper to talk with. II he
might not visit or be visited By, people OF
the outside world.
The swallow nuisance continues with
unabated vigor at the naval academy, Ann
apolis From 5000 to 10000 swallows gather
every evening in the five or six maple trees
in front of the Superintendent's residence
and make evening and morning htdeous with
their cries. All efforts to drive them away
have failed, and u bell and gong are kept
going at intervals to drive the pests from
the two trees next the Supertntendenrs
house.
Photographers are now beginning to
realize that the dark room lantern should
become relic of the past, and number Of
the more progressive members of the fra
teTnity are installing storage battery plants
which operate a ruby colored fncandescenI
lamp. They say that this improvement has
had a marked effect upon the health OF dark
room operators and is considered boon to
those whose time is spent continually in
that unwholesome atmosphere.