Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-10
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS

-willsviIle, Mo, is said to have 1,74o
Inhabitants and 400 dogs.
"A postage stamp magnifed A, 800 dame
ters would cover 21f acres.
There are 3S2 miles of street railways In
operation in Philadelphia
The quantity of air man breathes In
"a hours would fill several hogsheads.
Millions of crickets have made their ap-
pearnnce on the Warm Springs Reservation
in Oregon.
"A Presbyterian pastor atGreenville, ILL.,,
has pulpit inside Of olive wood from the
Mount of Olives.
-Bangor's veteran LAWYER wears a pair
of calfskin boots that he has had since 1851,
and they are In good condition now.
Wax came into use for candles in the
twelfth century, and wax candles were
esteemed luxury in 1900, being but little
used.
Persian opium is said to be imported to
this country in large amounts to be used in
the manufacture of cigarettes. 1t is utterly
unfit for medicinal purposes.
"A person year old may expect to live
SO years longer; of 10 years. 81; of aO 41; of 80
years. "a longer; Of 40 years. %; of 30 2l: of 60
years. IA more; of 70 years. 9; of s0years, l.
VI,
who is so years old and can read the finest
print without glasses, says he has preserved
his optics good by pressing the outside corn
ers.
The French Minister of Commerce has
Issued decree authorizing the employ
ment of pure nickel for the manufacture OF
measures of capacity intended for the use Of
liquids.
"A century and a half ago wig-wearing
was at its height, and little boys or years
of age submitted to having their heads
shaven preparatory to donning their false
head-dresses.
Most people believe that there is no
known chemical that has any effect upon
particles of gold. This is mistake. Le-
1enic acid will dissolve it as readily as aqua
fortis does the baser metals.
Blood travels from the heart through
the arteries ordinarily, at the rate Of about
II inches per second; its speed through the
capillaries is at the rate of three one-hun-
dredths of an inch per second.
"A man was guillotined in Switzerland
two weeks ago for assaulting and murder
ing n school teacher. 1t was the first exc
cution in Swirz erland for 25 years, capital
punishment having been abolished there in
1867.
"A new cement is attracting consider
able attention in England, owing to its ad-
herring so strongly to iron, wood and stone.
1t is made of 20 parts of gastar, IS parts OF
clay and silica earth and parts Of natural
sulphates.
The volcano of Kilauea Is very active
at present. The cavity produced by the
last breakdown has not filled up, but there
is an active lake 200 or 800 feet below the
general level of the floor and a quarter Of q
mile in diameter.
An old negro woman living upon the
outskirts of Columbia S. c.. is said to pos
sess secret that has been fatal to several of
of drug upon which hens will fatten nicely,
but their flesh becomes poisonous to human
beings.
1t Is believed that the most accom-
plished negro hoodoo in the United States
lives near the small creek of Geoseneck, in
the Indian Territory 40 piles from the Kan
sas line. His house is alive with snakes ana
rats, and is adorned with bones and skulls.
His many followers believe him implicitly.
Since 1885 the course of the river Volga,
Russia, has rapidly been changing until the
city of Saratov, once called the "Golden
Port of the Volga" is left three miles away
from its banks. Saratov is a well-built city
of about l25 coo inhabitants. Its trade, which
was very large, depended mainly on the
river.
The Sevres vase, given by Louis XVI
to Tippoo sahib, was sold in London in 1873
for sum equal to s7,275 in American cur
rency. The vase is very thin, urn shaped
and only inches high. The gold exchanged
as the purchase price of this relic weighed
upward Of 1000 times as much as the vase
Itself
The Phenician myth of the origin of
sarth's first human angel is found in the
story Of "Pygmalion and Galatea," where
we are told that the first man carved the
first woman out of ivory, the god Aphrodite
appearing on the scene at the proper time
to endow the statue with life and proper
motion.
"A few days ago j. L. Heath, a reputa-
ble farmer near Marshall, Ind, while re-
moving clover hay from a NOW, uncovered
D live hen which he claims had been there
since last June, when the hay was stored.
There was no possible chance for the fowl to
have cra wled into the place where found,
after it was once closed.
"A prominent horseman says that a
horse can conveniently eat "a hours every
lay, the reason being that 'fts stomach is
really small in proportion to the size of its
body, and therefore, It requires feeding
often, not less than four times a day, two of
yhich should be early in the morning and at
hight, while hay in the stall should be al
ways within its reach"
"A hawk flying over the premises Of G.
". Flythe, near Buck Creek, Ga, chanced to
lee a goose grazing afar OF from the flock
this would make him q nice meal
le few down and attempted to carry the
loose or TO his long home. But the goose
.esisted, and the other geese hearing his
ries few to the rescue, and the hawk soon
ay dead upon the ground.
The buttresses of 'Trajan's Bridge"
Which are still to be seen on the Danube, are
he remains of what was in some respects,
he most remarkable structure ever erected
" man. 1t was not mere floating bridge
Il large beats and massive timbers, but was
permanent structure carried on piers $50
eet high and go feet wide. comprising 20
riches, extending altogether 4,770 Roman
eet.
-wellbaugh and Chening, in their e1-
lorations in the Colombian Andes, have
discovered q species of potato, the vines Of
which were covered with well-developed
ubers, growing in the open air like peas or
omatoes Each potato is protected by
hin film or membrane, not unlike that
ybich envelopes the ground cherry" They
o not grow in clusters, each being given
lenty Of space in which TO thoroughly ma
ure.
IDYLLIC HUMoRESQUEA