Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-20
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.
.Ice cre.m uaa fr.t made in Pail.

Ice cream was first made in Paris
France has $3.50 public schools and
| H,500 private ones.
| There are rs different kinds of punch
| known to the trade
| Spears are found in the earliest hero
/ glyphics of Egypt
Billiards were invented in France by
| Devigue about I47L
There are nearly 500 bufalos in the
! Yellowstone National Park.
Supper, eaten in recumbent position,
was the principal Roman meal.
Between 1859 and 100 nearly 100 drs-
matte poets f1ourished in England.
"A Georgia woman has a set of silver
teaspoons which she claims are $50 years
| old.
-Four-6fths of the refuse in London to
be carried away consists of ashes and
cinder.
The Milford. Ind, Nail announces edi.
torially that it will take no more wood for
subscriptions
The production of distilled spirits of
all kinds in this country last year was H.
1876, Ia gallons.
About $50 b. c., fashion of goods
with star and dice patterns became popular
all over Greece.
Among the Digger and Ute Indians
there is no edible so highly esteemed as tho
common grasshopper.
Several prominent ladies in Somerset.
England, have discarded the woman's saddle
for the man. 8 saddle.
The English clergy was at first very
bitter against the fork, one man declaring
that its use was impious.
Cargo steamers are growing in size. A
e,o00-tonner was launched two weeks ago.
and another one similar in size is being laid
down.
Brown University claims to be one Of
the first colleges in this country to act in the
matter of making 3 scientific exhibit at tho
Worlds Fair.
The English Cabinet has decided that
for the future the Attorney General and
Solicitor General shall relinquish their pri-
Vate practice
1t does not seem to be generally known
that the turkey was domesticated by the In.
d1ans long before the discovery of this con-
tlnent by white men, but such is the case.
Paris gardeners buys toads, which thew
use as insect destroyers. There ia a repu-
lar weekly sale of these hideous little ant
mails in the French capital. They cost 81 a
dozen.
One Of the largest hides ever tanned
was received in Boston the other day from .
San Francisco tannery. 1t is IA feet in
length, feet In width, and weighs 100
pounds.
Some of the boys of Berlin seem 20 pre-
fer suicide to life. In the last u months 81
of them committed suicide. Fifty-four OF
them were under Is, and one of them was not
Z years old.
The Turkish Government has not ex-
actly introduced civil service into it's army,
but it has decreed that no officer below the
rank OF Major shall have more than. one
wife. The number OF q major is a minor
matter.
The cities that claim to be the birth
place of Columbus outnumber those ancient
cities that claimed Homer, Italy, England,
Ireland and Spain all having their advo-
Gates Only two or three, however, insist
that they have his remains.
The largest specimen of extinct animal
ever found in the world was the skeleton OF
Dinosaurian reptile, discovered in the Bad
Lands in 1882. Theweight of the skull alone
was 694 pounds and OF the whole skeleton
1900 pounds. 1t is now in the rooms OF
the Academy of Natural Science, Phlladel-
phia.
The German Socialists report that they
control 20 newspaper organs, of which q are
political lilies. The subsidies granted to
some of them amount TO Sc, 900 marks year.
The Por10drts, the leading socialist organ,
circulates about 81, 900 copies and makes
money. The Socialist book trade is ALSO
growing.
The fumes and exhalations from the
sulphur springs Of Colorado cau'be distin-
guished at q distance of fully 20 miles. The
peculiarly pungent smells resulting from
bush and prairie fires may be perceived at a
distance OF 80 miles or more. The delicious
perfume of the forests OF Ceylon is carried
by the wind 25 miles out to sea.
In 1SS9-9O 1856, ,973 pupils were en-
rolled in the elementary and secondary pub
lie schools of the nation. In 1880 there were
but 9,s67, sos. The average daily attendance
in 1890 was s. IA. .9Ss. For the support of pub
lie schools in 1890 the sum of $40, 27l 4S4 was
appropriated, or an expenditure OF 81 "a per
capita. School property is valued at S73, 1884,
729.
1t is said that Christian missionaries in
foreign countries have more trouble to oon-
vert Mohammedans than any other class Of
people. Pagans are much more easily
reached. Even the followers of Confucius
and Brahma occasionally yield some OF
their number to the appeals of the Catholic
or Protestant missionaries, but the disciples
OF the prophet are as 1mperviouS as stone.
The last year is said to have been one
of general prosperity to the Oklahoma
farmer. The real and personal property Of
the Territory the Governor estimates at $40
OO0, 900. There are national banks in the
Territory, with deposit account of Sl50 900
each, and incorporated banks. . with S5O,0
capital and with $50, ,OO0 There are also IA
private banks with an average capital OF
SIS 600.
Public executions in Paris prove very
profitable to the owners of houses COM
the scene. Windows are let out
for the occasion. the landlords watching for
the first sign of the execution, and then at
once sending word to the persons who have
hired the room. IF an ordinary criminal is
executed the charge is usually about lis per
place, but should the offender have COM
mitted any remarkable crime the price runs
up to &c.
In Toxic, Japan, surgical operation
are very successful, and the healing process
rapid, owing to the abstinence of the people
from alcohol and their not being flesh eat
ers. The mortality is only 20 per 1000, in
spite Of the large infant mortality due to
lack of care. 1t is not unusual to see week
old Oaby strapped on the back of a child
about 8, and sent out to be jumbled about as
its infant nurse disportS itself with other
children in the streets.