Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-14
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

There are said to be 1863, 900 families In
London living in single rooms.
in the reign of Henry vi, the people
of England fed but twice day.
The earth is the greatest distance from
the sun on the morning OF July 6th-
Bombs which resemble oranges are the
latest product of the st. Petersburg NJ
hilists.
There are now in France 419 beet sugar
factories, the majority of which are situated
in the northern departments.
Elections in France are always held on
Sundays. in order to suit the convenience OF
the workingmen and peasants.
-As'long ago as 1866, Benin, leading
German authority, estimated the population
OF the earth at about 1400,o000Oo.
AT Quito, the only city in the world on
the line of the equator, the sun sets and
rises ar O'Clock the year round
"A diver recently stated that he oncs
slept an hour and a half at the bottom Of .
wreck were he was laying pipe.
The shade trees planted along the quays,
avenues and boulevards and in the squares,
parks and gardens of Paris number more
than 400,0o9
The largest sailing vessel afoat, the
France, of 6,l60 tons. recently entered the
of soda from 1quique.
They have had q fall of black snow in
the Canton of Geneva This curious color.
ing, as is now well known, is attributable to
the presence in the snow of a fungus.
AT the present time the Shah of Persia
is the owner OF q Shetland pony which is
but II inches high. This pampered pet Of
royalty wears gold shoes worth f3 each.
More than 100 writers in Britain, male
ana female. have written the life of Glad
stone. and have the manuscript all ready so
that they can rush to publishing house
with it the moment his death is announced.
1t has been computed, as an illustration
OF the cheapening of ocean freights, that a
when burned in connection with the triple
expansion engine, to carry ton mile in an
Atlantic steamer.
Russia has become infected with the
vice of ether drinking, and the pernicious
habit has spread so rapidly, that the Gov
ernment has judged it necessary to prohibit
the free sale of ether and of certain of its
compounds, and to schedule it among the
pOisOnS.
Emigration from Ireland fell off con-
siderably in the last three months of 1891.
The number of emigrants who left Irish
ports in that quarter was 6,S03, being LAT
less than in the corresponding quarter OF
1890, and 2, 439 under the average number for
the fourth quarter of the ten years lSsl-90.
-Schoolmaster Johann records that dur
ing 81 years he distributed s11,517 strokes
with q stick; 24O, 100 "smites" with a birch
rod; 1886 hits with a ruler; l3s,7l5 hand
smackS: 10235 slaps in the face; 1905 boxes
on the ears: 115,s 500 blows on the head; 1878
tasks from the Bible, catechism, the poets,
and grammar.
Professor Elihu Thomson, in a recent
power at 500, 900 volts can be transmitted 24O
miles through three wires about as large as
q good-siZed knitting N eedle, and, moreover,
that this can be sent underground througha
small pipe, using only cotton and cheap oil
as an insulator.
"A short time ago the Moorish Kaids
gave the Sultan of Morocco and his son
ebrate the event of the marriage of the heir
to the Moorish throne. Girls from 10 to IL
years of age fetch about $50 to Sl20 each, aad
the slave merchants find the females more
profitable from 10 to 20 years of age.
Norwegian sailors believe in a myster-
fous water goblin who singes their hair while
they are asleep, knots ropes and commits all
sorts of absurdities. He is small man, with
fiery red hair and green teeth, dressed in
yellow breeches, tall boots and a steeple-
crowned hat He often helps the sailors in
their work, but to see him is certain death.
-'Trajan's Wall'' is rampant made of
earth and about IS OF 40 miles long, extend
ing from Rassova, just at the big bend of the
Danube to the shores of the Black Sea.
Though only an earthwork it is a most for
midabl g line of defense. Even now, l8 GEN.
turies after its construction, it is from 8 to 10
feet in height, with clear cut fosse In 'front.'
of it.
The Scandianavians, in their story of
creation, tell us how Odin, Will and We, the
three sons of Bor, while walking along the
seashore found two sticks of wood one of
ash and one o. elm, and sat down there in
the sand and shaped them into living, in
telligent beings, known in the after ages OF
woman.
Herr Klinge has been studying the
eruption of peat bogs and the stream of dark
mud these give out. The phenomenon is
rare and is generally preceded by heavy
rains, and accompanied by detonations and
vibrations of the soil. He rejects the e1-
PLANTATION that it is due to excessive absorp-
tion of water by the peat,or that it is caused
by exploding gasses-
The longest span of telegraph wires in
the world is to be found in Cochin China,
crossing the river Mekong, and the longest
span of telephone wires in England. 1t hap
pens to be a portion of the wire crossing the
river Dart, and connecting Dartmouth with
the trunk lines between Torquay and
plymouth. The span of the former wire is
stated to be $50 feet, and of the latter 2, 400
feet.
I'm Germany, the smith, when finishing
the shoe, punches a hole in the two ends,
and when the shoe is cold he taps in a screw
thread and screws into the shoe, when on the
horses foot a shap-pointed stud of an inch
in length and with shoes thus fitted horses
can travel securely over the worst possible
road, and have never been known to slip;
ana draught horses are shod in the same
way.
"A new Great Seal for Ireland has just
been completed by Mr.. Allan Wyon. chief
engraver of Her Majesty's seals, to take the
place of the seal designed on the accession
of the Queen, which is now worn out The
new seal is an exact replica of its predeces-
sor and is similar in all respects to the
Great Seal of England, save that in the ex-
cirque harp with shamrock leaves takes the
place of the trident head and sprays of oak
which form the distinctive mark Of the Eng
lish seal 1t is interesting to observe, as IL
lustrating the much greater frequency with
which the English seal is used, IS compared
with the Irish, that whereas the latter has
withstood the wear of 81 years, the English
seal has already been twice renewed In the
present reign once in January, 1850 and
again in August, 1878. A discarded seal on
being defaced becomes the perquisite Of the
Lord Chancellor.