Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-18
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

CURIOUS COMBINATIONS.
Wa. ..nd,es were first used in the
twelfth century.
The donkey is the longest hVed among
our domestic animals
-Physicians' carriages have the right Of
way in the streets of Berlin.
Among the members of the German
Parliament are six cigarmakers-
The palace at Versailles, France, which
Louis XIV. built cost f40,000,O00.
Eighteen of the London theaters are
occupied for divine service on Sunday even
fngs.
One of the London theaters admits fres
to the performances all soldiers and sailors
who come in uniform.
The Navajo Indians shun habitation
where a death has occurred. In its territory
are numerous abandoned huts-
The imperial diamond owned by the
Prince of Wales is valued at 1900 900 francs
and weighs about 1S2 carats.
Glass, as far as research has been able to
determine, was in use 1000 years before the
birth of Christ, and was even then not in It's
infancy.
Glass beads pass as money in parts Of
Africa. In NASSAU five blue beads will buy
q woman, but ten of them are necessary to
buy cow.
There are now, it is computed, over $780,
600 words in the English language, or about
10000 more than in the German, French, and
Italian languages combined
Flower farming for the manufacture of
perfume is attracting much attention in
Australia An experimental Hover farm
has been started at Dunolly, Victoria, and
promises to be highly successful.
Raising an umbrella indoors is said to
be very uni ucky, and more than one man
who has tried it in pool room, for in stance,
has had his umbrella torn to pieces.
I'm some parts of Ceylon the natives ara
accustomed to dig in the mud during the
hot season for fishes. which are found
buried in the soft clay at depth of two
feet or more.
While, according to European andAmer-
ican returns, the number of women always
exceeds that of the men, the reverse is the
case in Japan, where for every 100 men,
there are only 97.92 women.
"A heavy plate glass shade, ornamented
with gold and securely locked to three
staples set in the marble top of a pulpit in a
church in Brussels, is said to cover one of
the thorns which formed q part OF the
Savior's crown.
Among the smallest products of mans
constructive talent must now be numbered
a tea kettle which has been hammered by
an ingenious foreian metal worker out of q
small copper coin little larger than an
English farthing.
"A German biologist says that the two
sides of face are never alike; in two cases
out of five the eyes are out OF line; one eye
is stronger than the other in seven persons
out of ten; and the right ear is generally
higher than the left.
"A Glasgow paper states that an en-
gineer resident there has, after 10 years.
labor and experimentation, devised an ar
rangement in an engine by which he returns
all the steam back to the boiler after doing
its work in the cylinder.
The condition of the public teachers in
Spain is not to be envied. The payment of
their salaries Is almost always far in ar
rears, and case came up the other day of a
man who had received not farthing from
the Government for IL years.
The Belgian Minister of Public In
struction offers q prize Of 25 900 francs for
the best memoir on the meteorological, n.y.
theological and geological conditions of the
countries of equatorial Africa, regarded
from the sanitary point of view.
The Maoris believed in the immortality
of the soul long before the arrival of the
missionaries: but the spirit land to which
they imagined all men journeyed after death
was as grossly material as the "happy hunt
ing grounds" of the North American In
dians.
Asphalt is often found combined with
limestone-a very curious mixture of the
vegetable and the mineral. 1t Is believed
that this has been brought about by hot va
pors from decomposing vegetable Deds pass
fng through the porous rock and leaving the
Oitumen behind.
Supposed to be associated with deity,
snakes are, in some parts Of India, well
cared for, and even worshipped. The low
caste natives therefore, who will alone
undertake the work of determination,
receive but scant assistance from the COM
munity at large.
A watch for the blind is among the
newest inventions. A small peg is set in
the middle Of each figure. When the hour
hand reaches given hour the peg for that
hour drops. The sightless owner, when he
wants to know the time, finds which peg if
down, and then counts back to II.
Castle Gardens, New York, well known
as depot of immigration, is to be trans
formed into an aquarium, at cost OF $780,
900. There will be $50 tanks for smaller fish,
and a special feature in the shape OF large
pools or ponds for sharks and other large,
dangerous fish. 1t is expected that the
aquarium will be ready in the fall
The fossil skeleton of a monkey has
been discovered in quarternary strata on
the north side of the Pyrenees-that is to
saw. in France. The discovery is surprising,
because it is known that the Pyrenean
glaciers had then attained great develop
ment The monkey is of the same kind as
that living on the Gibraltar territory.
In the German artillery they have tried
a trap or three-legged ladder of steel tubing,
for enabling the captain of battery to sur
yey the enemy and direct the firing. The
trap is erected in the body OF wagon and
the officer climbs to the top with his field
glasses to reconnoitre. The tubes are point
ed and the trap can be dismounted and
packed in half minute.
Another new india rubber substitute is
described. 1t consists of Manila gum tenn
pered with benzine, to which an addition Of
per cent of Auvergne bitumen, also mixed
with benZine, is added. These are thor
ouohly blended, and after per cent of rosin
oil has been added, a product is obtained
having it is said, the suppleness. elasticity,
solidity and durability of the best rubbers.
A barrel of wine, beer or cider contains
BIZ gallons, the Cincinnati lamp oil barrel
has 43 gallons, the Kentucky whisky barrel
from 40 to As gallons. In several States in
the East a BARREL as q measure of articles
other than LIQUIDS, is legal fixed quantity.
In a half dozen of the Eastern States a bar
rel of grain is five bushels: OF rice, 20
pounds; of flour, 1876 pounds, andof lime, $40
pounds.