Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-07
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

LOCUS Is Tile ubIuCob "O~s
-Switzerland is building its first sugar
refinery.
Palestine is about one-fourth as large
as the State of New York.
AN Indiana man claims to have an or.
gan which was made in 160S.
The best corks come from Algeria,
where there are 2.5OO.OOo acres OF CORK forest.
The smallest church in New York 10
the Peoples in Harlem, room over drug.
store.
Abraham presented his sons wife with
a pair of earrings. the first of which there 10
historic mention.
Oxygen means "acid generator" bu.
hydrogen is really the essential factor, and
many acids contain no oxygen
The marmot is civil engineer; he does
not only build houses, but constructs aque-
ducts and drains to keep them dry.
Single women live longer than single
men, while married women on an averags
live two years longer than single ones
Out of S23, ZOO, 900 paid yearly for me-
chanics in the building trades of New York
City, less than $1,000 900 go to American
born men.
1t requires about double the power to
propel steamship 2l miles an hour as 1t
does to move along the same vessel at the
rate of 16 miles an hour.
The County Commissioners of Carbon
county, Pa, last week sold 10, 900 acres of un.
redeemed mountain land. Some of it was
sold for less than cents an acre.
There is a curious snake (hydraci yeti) !
in South Africa that lives wholly upon birds [
eggs. 1t has no teeth or signs OF teeth in t hs
mouth, the whole dental array being To-
Gated IN the stomach.
"A unique method of celebrating the
Columbus centenary in Spain is proposed by
the artists of Barcelona, who intend to pro-
Ject colossal shadow of the navigator upon
a peighboring mountain peak.
The Egyptians had operas and enjoyed
them. The first use of the term ''opera in
musica," which subsequently gave place to
"opera," WIS in 1856, the first "opera" per.
formed being the "Orpheus' OF Peri.
An obelisk of red granite, II feet in
height, with pedestal of black porphyry,
is shortly to be brought to Austria from
Alexandria, where it has been lying in the
garden of the Austrian Consulate since 1S47
In some of the ancient temples of
Egypt. known to be more than 1000 years
old, the stones we're dowelled together with
hour-SlasS shaped ties of the Timarish or
Shittim wood. the dowel sinks being only
about one inch deep.
The Eskimos are gamblers by nature,
but they never impoverish themselves by
their games. Cards they do not care for, but
dominoes and even chess are played with q
skill that at least equals the best of the
white men who visit them.
The death rate of English soldiers sta
toned In India in 1853 was SO per 900 Since
that time certain changes in housing, food,
water, clothing, ETC.. have been adopted.
with the result that in 1886 the rate was l5 IS
or nd n I
Although it may not be generally
known, the woods OF Northern British
America are still infested by queer species
of bison known as the ''wOOd buffalo, He
Is much larger than the buffalo OF the plains
which formerly abounded in such numbers.
The perpendicularity of a monument Is
visibly affected by the rays of the sun. On
every sunny day a tall monument has q
regular swing leading away from the SUD.
This phenomenon is due to the greater ex-
pansion of the side on which the rays of the
sun iall
The first high hat ever worn was car
ried upon the head of a nobleman whose
portrait appears among Albert Durer's mar
ginal illustrations of the celebrated prayer
book of the Emperor Macmillan. In Jost
Ammann's Book o: Escutcheons," pub.
nshed in 15s9, high hat forms the crest of
nobleman.
a common enough thing of late years, es-
pecially among coiored servants, who, with
the easy irresponsibility and indolent
philosophy OF their race, not unfrequently
quit work when they have saved a few dol
lars. and enjoy a months idieness among
their friends.
California will send to the exhibition at
Chicago a section of one of her famous big
trees. The section will be % feet in diameter
and 80 feet long. This will be divided into
three parts, and these will be placed in their
natural position, one above the other, and so
arranged as to form something like q two
storey house.
Robert Braybrook, Bishop of London,
who died in 14G4. was taken from his tomb
after the great fire of 1866, after having been
buried for 262 years. Notwithstanding this
his remains were found to be perfectly fresh
and uDshrunken. His hair had grown more
than u yard in length, and had a natural,
H!e-l1ke luSter.
The first Worlds Fair or universal e1-
position was held in London in 1851 and the
second in New York in 1853 The credit for
the first W orld's Fair is generally awarded
to Albert. the Prince consort of Queen Vic
tOria- The first expeditions in Paris were
held in 1855 and 1867: the first in Vienna in
1873, and the first i'll Berlin in 1881.
But one species of venomous bird Is
known to the student of ornithological oddi
ties-the Rpir N'Doob, or "Bird of Death,"a
feathered paradox of New uinea. Persons
bitten by the creature are seized by mad
dening pains, which rapidly extend to
every part of the body. Loss of sight, con.
vulsions and lockjaw are the other symp-
toms which follow in rapid succession.
The rage for the antique which makes
it profitable for the purveyor to this taste to
visit daily q score of junk shops has ex-
tended even to warming pans. These uten-
sils when made of copper fetch from 81 to 81
apiece, and are hung up against the wall by
their purchasers along with other brlc-a-
brac, though they have q practical use as
corn-poppers which the collectors probably
ignore.
FLORISTS have managed of late years to
produce curious and striking neutral tints in
nasturtiums quite out of keeping with the
brilliant splendors that one usually expects
from those flowers. But the plants mani
testify suffer from the process that leads to
unnatural chromatic color developmentifor
leaf, stem and blossom are all weak and deli
cate in comparison with the usual robust
nasturtiums of the brighter colors.