Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-16
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

-Four men in every six use tobacco
"A gold double eagle of 1S49 is worth
sl0d.
"A woman in Nebraska has q nose ~
inches long.
Grape cultivation employs $500, 200
persons In France.
One Minneapolis mill alone makes
Is, 300 barrels of flour day.
A field of corn in Kansas is reported to
have grown 80 inches in Is days.
Gray published his "Elegy" at 81 Il
is said to have occupied his time for seven
years.
1t is said that the fountain of perpet-
ual youth has been found in San Diego coun-
ty, Cal.
"A New Jersey man gives as cure for
hay fever tho smoking Of pine needles with
tobacco.
-Macaulay was Al when he began the
brilliant fragment known as the History Of
England"
Seals, when bathing, place one Of their
number on guard to give tie alarm in case
of danger.
John Blackstone, 1t is said, sold the
site of the city of Boston in 1885 for the small
sum of $780,
An English paper asserts that !, 200, 900
bonnets were sold in London during one
week recently.
"A horse in Lock Haven has black
coat in winter, but In summer it becomes q
beautiful roam.
"A fisherman in Montgomery county,
Tenn, is IS years old and never voted but
twice in his life.
There are 81, 900 women telegraph oper-
ators In the United States, and the number
Is constantly growing.
Missouri was named from river. The
word is from the Indian Min-he-sho-shay,
signifying muddy water.
In Chinese the letter fi" has 145 ways
of being pronounced, and each pronuncia-
tion has different meaning.
"A man while fishing in Lapwal creek,
Idaho, hooked a rattlesnake three and one
half feet long that was swimming across the
creek
The "pine-tree" shilling of 1850 is
worth s25. A Maryland shilling of 1859 is
valued ut SO, and Louisiana crown, coined
in France, at s25.
The name of the State of Wisconsin is
derived from a mixture Of French and In
dian. 1t was formerly spelled Ouis-con- sin,
which means westward flowing"
The tame buffalo which was recently
killed by an unknown vandal in Kiowa
county, Kan, was valued at $500. 1t was
the largest buffalo bull in the country.
The original standard chain authorized
by the act of Congress OF May IS. 1884, made
for the purpose of executing surveys of the
public lands in the North thwesteru country.
will be exhibited at the Worlds Fair.
The only man in the world who lives In
house of copperis an iron manufacturer
named N. Poulson, whose unique residence
stands at the corner of Eighty-ninth street
and the Shore road in South Brooklyn.
Paper manufacture is one of the chief
industries in Corea. The paper is made in
the most primitive manner from the bark of
a tree which is indigenous to the country
and which is closely allied to the mulberry.
The State of Massachusetts, was named
from the bay of that name. The origin Of
the word Massachusetts, is from the Indian
word "massa," great, "wadehuash," noun
tain or hills and the suffi1, "et, meaning at
or near.
The finest grades of razors are 30 DELI
cate that the famous Damascus sword blades
cannot equal them in texture. 1t is not gen.
orally known that the grain of a Swedish
razor is SO sensitive that the general direc-
tion is changed after short service.
"A fresh terror seems to be n store for
the unfortunate inmates of the Russian
prisons. 1t Is proposed tnat the cells S0Oul0
be fitted with concealed mfcrophones, so
that any conv ersation can be automatically
conveyed by wire to a distant telephone.
1t appears that a colored or dark pig
ment in the olfactory regions is essential to
perfect smell. In cases where animals are
pure white they are usually totally devoid OF
both smell and taste; and some, the white
cat for instance, are almost invariably deaf,
The people of China are taught from
infancy to regard the Emperor as the son or
representative of heaven, and the Empress
as the representative of the earth One Of
the chief duties of the Empress is on certain
days Of the year to worship the tutelary
deity of the silk worms.
"A small island in Passamaquoddy Bay
is inhabited only by one man and his family.
1t is said that the man has several wives,
and he certainly has a surprising number 6f
children. They live by fishing and farming,
and although the husband and father
doesn't own the island he Is king there.
OF the.famous English statesman Foxit
was said that If the Bible should get lost he
would be able to duplicate it from memory.
Racine knew by heart the entire Euripides,
Bayle the whole OF Montaigne, Hughues
Doneau the Corpus Juris word for word,
and Metastasfo all of Horace and Corteret.
The reindeer has been introduced into
Alaska by the Government Agent Of Educa-
tion there, DR.. Sheldon Jackson. 1t Is be-
lleved that as THIS uSefal animal uOurlsneS
SO well in Siberia it will soon become ac-
climatiZed in Alaska, where the conditions
of vegetation, temperature, etc., are much
the same.
Russia still has many odd and curious
marriage customs which would be interest
ing to the Mona Caird cult. One Is for the
bride and bridegroom TO race madly down
the aisle as soon as the bridal procession
enters the church, because of the belief that
whoever places a foot first on the cloth in
front of the altar will be master In the
household.
Michael Fritz, of Friedensburg, the
Oldest man in schuylkilI county, has had
three sets of teeth and Is likely to get
fourth. On his eighty-first birthday he was
rendered a big surprise party by members
of his family and friends, and In turn sur
prised his visitors by showing them three
perfectly formed pearly white teeth in his
upper Jaw, where for years there had been
none.
Only one instance in which lady has
changed her name three times in one day IS
on record. Mr.. Croft son of Sir A d. Croft,
was married at Weigh Hill, Hants, to the
eldest daughter of Mr.. Marsh, at one time NJ.
P. for Salisbury. The same day the old
baronet died suddenly and his son sue
ceeded him. Thus the lady was In the morn
ing Miss Mars h. in the afternoon Mrs. Crofs
and at night Lady Croft.
POETICAL AND PIQUANT.
Der changing seasons do not fret
If all the months were May