Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-19
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

A baby carriage with pneumatic tires is
one of the latest.
China has porcelain tower, finished In
1880, which cost "a. 100000.
&-Three steamers now connect American
seaports with the Bermudas,
The year 1900 will not be a leap year
though it is divisible by four.
Chicago is aiming for a 81, 500, 900
menagerie for the Worlds Fair.
In the last 80 years the number of zoo
logical gardens has more than doubled.
-One-half of the French Foreign Legion
are aliens, and nearly all are social outlaws.
Aunt Sarah Battle, of Midway, Ga,
witnessed the marriage of Eer great-grand.
daughter the other day.
The last of the Mohawks still lives in
Schenectady. He is james Hartley. a giant
in stature. He peddles roots and herbs.
The destruction of forests has afflicted
Southern Europe with frequent drouths,
but has made the winters, on the whole,
more pleasant
"A Gibbon ape has voice comprising q
scale or three octaves, and musical enough
to mystify passers-by, who hear a savage
yell subside IN flute like cadences.
Marrow houses and small rooms in fats
are necessitating many notifications Of
life in New York. One result of present
cond1t1ons Is the narrowing of the bedstead.
-Mince pie with slip" on it is one Of
the dishes now offered in a New York
restaurant. The monosyllabic adornment
is Welsh rarebit poured over the crust Of
tile pie. 1t is served hot from the pan
AS a merchant on Louisiana avenue.
Washington, was unloading wagon load Of
bananas small boa constructor dropped
from one of the bunches. There was gem
eral stampede,
The jewels worn by Mrs. Langtry in
the different acts OF the "Queen of Manoa
were altogether worth between $4,000 and
t1O.OOO. She is said to be watched by de-
tectiVe when leaving the stage.
Our boldest bridge jumpers were out
done by n Sam Patch of the Middle Ages,
the Austrian Knight Harras, who survived
q leap from the top of cliff to the valley
OF the Zohoppan rivera vertical distance
of 400 feet.
The highest point of the world ever
reached by human feet is probably the top
OF OF Mt ut; Acontagua, in the Chilean Andes,
Z3,OOO 1eet above the level of the Pacitic and
nearly. 200 feet above the summit of ME-.
Chimborazo.
Horses for cavalry service are DUR.
has ed mostly in st. Louis, and occasionally
in Louisville, Kansas City, Omaha, san
Francisco and other points. The prices
paid for them under the contract system
range from $40 to $l75.
BY means of extra sensitive photo
graphic plates, sunk in the Mediterranean
on one Of the calmest days in the year, an
Italian scientist has demonstrated that the
almost vertical rays of the midday sun in
midsummer do not penetrate beyond depth
of $50 iathonlS.
"A prominent Germantown manufacture
er owns q setter dog which has a singular
penchant for hunting snakes. After killing
one, he places one paw on the reptiles head
and, seizing the neck with his teeth, he pro-
ceeus to skin it, much after the manner OF
skinning an eel.
The hottest place described outside of
Dante's Inferno seems to be the valley Of
Amargosas, IN Southern California-a glen
ding below sea level and hemmed in
on the east and west by high, treeIess noun
tains. the average summer temperature is
9So, with minimum OF $40 and q maximum
Of 1920
The Tucson Indians, of Southern Ar
izona, have Tor ages inhabited valley sur
rounded by an old stone wall, and blessed
with the only good springs OF that neigh.
bOrhoOd; but they are now dying out, and
ascribc their fate to the coal smoke of the
railway trains passing the loot Of these
mountains.
The population of the Indian Empire
has risen within the memory Of the present
generation from go 1000, 900 to $50 900 900: fs
has been increasing at the rate o. 25OO,OOO
annually, and is now rising at the rate OF
g. 0C0 000. If no large famines occur it will
exceed SOO,O00,O 900 a the end q
the century.
"A curious clock has been made by Q
clockmaker at Warsaw, who has worked at
1t six years. The clock represents s a railway
station, with waiting-rooms for the traveller,
telegraph and ticket offices, a very pretty,
weIl-iigEted platform anu u flower garden,
in the center of which IS a sparkling fouu-
tain OF clear water.
"A great change may come over the
dreams of our winter tourists If the Mex
lean Central Railroad should ever get COM
pleted 10 the mountain paradise of Oaxaca,
where winter resembles a rainless May, and
the SIerTas exhibit ever variety of vegeLa-
tion, from the pines OF the summit forests
TO the palms and orange groves OF the loot
hills.
"A man registered at a Madison, Ga,
hotel a short time ago. After retiring he
he was on Il railroad train, when
he diseoyed that another train was coming
toward his on the same track and q collision
wns inevitable. The conductor called out,
Jump and Mt that moment the dreamer
escaped injury.
What is believed to be the fastest time
on record was made by n compound loco
motive of the Vauclain type OH the Bound
Brook route between Philadelphia and New
York, November l8 The record was broken
between PlainfieId and Elizabeth, where
one mile was run in 81 seconds, and two sue
cessive miles in IS seconds, or az the rate OF
97 miles per hour.
AS a protection to oysters against star
fish, Long Island oystermen use "mop
Iredge." This is u bar of iron. mounted on
two small iron wheels. From I6 TO 20 ropes,
affixed to the bar, trail behind it as it is
drawn along over the sea bottom The
Stars affix themselves TO the ropes and
warp and are lifted out of the water and
killed in not water tanks on the dredging
boat.
The superstition about the number 18
being unlucky is put into multiplied test in
The new % cent piece. On one side OF the
,oin there is no less than ten repetitions OF
The number l3. There are l3 stars l3 letters
m the scroll held in the eagle'S beak, 10 mar
yinal feathers in each wing, l3 tail feathers,
Il parallel lines in the shield, l3 horizontal
1ars, l3 arrow heads in one claw, u leaves
IN the branch in the other claw, ana 10 let
.ers in the words quarter dollar"
The plan of curing pulmonary COM
plants by the influence Of low tempera-
ure has been tried with success in the case
If many far-gone consumptives, and has
made The fortunes OF several Colorado ana
Oew Hampshire hotel keepers; utthere IS
strong probability that winter lrostS
would serve the purpose as well as the cola
.ir OF the Sierras, and that thousands OF
lealth seekers could find relief at nome "
opening their bedroom windows.
HEE, HEE! HA, Hal HOO, Hooi