Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-22
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


"A woman in Oregon has worked .
years at stone cutting.
There are 4, 500 women in England VIII.
make living by type setting.
"A gold coin depreciates per cent o
value in 1s years Of constant use.
"A carrier pigeon alighted in an ex
hausted condition on transatlantic
steamer recently many miles at sea-
Carbon is so good conductor of cleo
tricity that in the form OF coke it is used
make an earth connection for lightning rods
Reptiles figure largely in various por
tiocs Of the globe as articles of food. Ph,
Americans and English make use of the
green turtle. but there the line is drawn.
The greatest fshway in the world is ir
the course of construction on the Potomac
at the Great Falls. When it is completed Fl
will carry fish over vertical fall Of n feet
There is tract of land in Levy county
Fla. in which three holes have been dug q
bare parts of the skeleton OF a huge animal
The redevelopment of lost limbs is de-
clared by an English naturalist to be not un
usual among insects, in whom 1t may take
place either during the larval or pupal stage
"A tree was cut in the Puget Sound
were taken without q knot, their combined
length being 179 feet. The tree scaled ls00
feet.
The New York Association of Working
Girls Clubs has 20 different societies with q
membership of $500. Seven societies rent
an entire house, II rent rooms and one owns
its house.
Every lake. river and pond in Germany
fs supposed to be inhabited by water spirits.
n
come ashore, when they may be known by
the wet hem of their garments.
"A specimen of capped petrol, bird
supposed to be an extinct, or at least a lost
species. was found recently in England The
original home Of tle petrol is said to have
been the islands OF st. Domingo and Gauda-
Ioupe.
I'm the Farce Islands it is believed that
on every ninth night the seals cast off their
SKINS assume human forms and dance on
the beach. But if they lose their sealskfns
in any way they cannot resume the shapes
of seals.
yellow pond lilies make fine preserves
Nasturtium flowers are often used in salads.
The flowers of the caper bush enter largely
into sauces, and cloves-used for f1ayoring-
are the unexpanded buds of the Glove tree
dried in the sun.
There are doubtless scores and hundreds
of bodies that are larger than the sun among
the so called fixed stars visible to the naked
eve. Certainly Capella, Arcturus, Sirius,
Vega and Aldebaran are each immensely
larger than the sun.
The entrance of bee into cottage is
in many places deemed a certain sign of
death, and if a swarm of bees alight on q
dead tree, there will be death within a
year. In Yorkshire there is q custom of in
viting bees to the funeral.
ALI Americans of literary turn of
mind who have visited Paris will regret to
learn that the Cafe Procope is about TO be
DESTROYED. For over 200 years, or since the
resort of authors, actors, scholars, poets and
wits.
Spiders are dessert with the New
Caledonians and the Chinese will serve the
chrysalis of the silk worm. The octopus
when boiled and then roasted, is eaten in
Corsica. The Guachos of the Argentine Re-
public will hunt skunks for the sake of their
flesh
Princess Angeline. of Seattle, has
turned prophecies. She says the world'will
come to an end in June, and that the i'm
her by the spirit of TIE great Wah Kee Wee
Kun, who was long ago a powerful and in
fuential medicine man of her tribe.
The perpendicularity of monument is,
although few may be aware of it, visibly
affected by the rays of the sun. On every
sunny day q tall monument has a regular
swing leaning away from the sun. This
phenomenon is due to the greater expansion
of the side on which the rays of the sun fall.
Much of civilized history could be
written in lace. More than almost any other
luxury it has been the burden OF sstatecraft,
the concern OF kings. The Moors brought it
into Spain along with other arts. 1t Is Col
bert's glory to have planted it securely In
France, whence the Huguenots took it to
England, Belgium and Flanders.
Not all the millions of sheep which
have been brought into existence in Aus
tralia, the bunting, shooting. trapping and
poisoning, have served to stamp out the
patient kangaroo, and, given little en-
couragement, q little respite of peace and
security, the animal of Australia Will in
crease and multiply once again.
"A remarkable invention has been pat
ented by Japanese gentleman. 1t is lit
tie instrument which enables the possessor
to send "a cloud of binding dust" into the
ewes Of foe Mt q distance of Il feet. 1t is
said that the poor "foe" is thereby abso-
Iutely deprived of sight and, therefore, Of
course a the mercy Of his assailant.
Diamond is used to cut diamond, and
with regard to the first process of cutting,
two diamonds are mounted on sticks or
holders. The operator, takine one in each
hand, uses an angle of one gem to cut on or
reduce the angles OF the other, and IN tnls
way the natural angles of the stones are re-
moved, the dust being caught up ior subse-
Quent use.
The largest machine now in use for saw
ing stone can deal with blocks feet Inch
high by feet inches long and feet 8
inches wide The saw of this machine is ]
feet inches in diameter, and is steel plate,
mounted on a screwed spindle, along which
it can be shifted by means of large nuts, so
as TO yary its position for cut In any de-
sired place The rim of the saw Is studded
with diamonds.
1t is related that in 1893 a mermaid
swimming in the Zyder Zee during period
of tempest and very high tides was carried
through q hole in a broken dyke and could
not find her way out again. sne was cap
she was washed and cleansed from the sea
moss which had grown about her. She then
a anneared like any woman OF the land, ADOPT
ing proper dress and partaking OF ordinary
food.
-seyenty-five miles an hour is no feet .
second. and the energy of 400 tons, or train
of cars moving at that rate is nearly twice
a. great as that of a 2,0O0-pound shot fired
from 1oO-ton Armstrong gun. This is tne
passenger service: and, indeed, is very rarely
ttained and then but for short distances,
hut go miles is q common speed, and rate OF
10 or so miles is attained daily on almost
avery railway in the country.
JoKELE1s FROM JUDGE.
She-Won't you recite to US the poem
vou spoke of writing the other day?
He-pIpase don't ask to do ft now. because