Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-04
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

"A Philadelphia cigar seller gives away
Sunday newspaper with every quarters
worth of cigars.
The locomotive engine was known, it Is
said. in China at the beginning OF the
eighteenth century.
1t is estimated that two-thirds of the
public money held by the London banks
does not bear interest
The mines of the world produce 25 tons
of gold every week, but the precious metal
remains as rare as ever
There are two eclipses of the sun every
year. and sometimes five. though the OBJ
scuration is only partial.
Twin brothers, residing at Arcadia,
Ind, celebrated their soth birthday on Sat-
urdav. They married twin sisters, who are
now 75 years old.
The American Bible Society will make
an exhibit at the Columbian Exhibition, In
which will appear copies of Bibles in more
than zoo different languages.
Probably the largest mountain trout
ever caught in the United States was caught
az Twin Lakes, Col, recently, 1t measured
2612 inches long and inches thick.
"A Western theater which had been
temporarily closed announces that it will
shortly reopen with Mile. Flyaway, the cele-
DRAFTED danseuse, newly painted and dec-
GRATED.
Like some of the rings of TODAY the
signets worn by the IsraeIites bore inscrip-
tions. The breastplates of the high priests
were set with II precious stones, each one
representing tribe of the children of Is
rael.
"A lobster measuring 81 inches in length
and Weighing 1917 pounds was taken from
trap in st. Andrews Bay, near Robbinstsn,
will he
pared by q taxidermist Tor exhibition at the
Worlds Fair.
On one of the islands off the coast of
Maine lives man, now 80 years old, who
was born there. and has never been Off the
island. He has accumulated fortune in
the grocery business, and is content to live
and die or the seagirt acres.
"A few years ago 40 pigs ran away from
James DuvaI, near Novelty, Wash, and
since that time the drove has increased to
about 5O0 and is making the farmers very
miserable by their frequent raids on
gardens. Some OF their tusks are six inches
in length.
1t is said that the practice of ether
drinking in Ireland originated in the time of
cholera, more than 40 years ago, when II
"quack" sold drains of ether as a preventive.
Finding the intoxtcant Il pleasant one, the
people continued its use after all need or
excuse for it had disappeared
Some remarkably clever person in st.
Petersburg has arranged and placed on e1-
hibition a clock with phonograph attach
ment, the dial of which is human face,
from whose uncanny mouth comes the an
nouncemeut of the hours, as well as any d.
rections that may be left with it.
English capitalists are complaining at
the number of steamers that are lying idle
In that country. In tile Tyne and Wear go
steamers are tied up, while great number
are to be found at West Hartlepool, Cardiff.
Southampton and other ports. 1t is esti-
mated that altogether there are GOO vessels
not in service.
"A heroic woman recently made dan
gerous journey into the province of va
kutsk, in Siberia, in search of a plant which
she had heard would cure leprosy. She rode
on Yakutsk horse with a wooden saddle
for two months without having an oppor4,
tunity to bathe or change her clothes. She
found the plant she was hunting. but it does
not cure the dreadful disease, although it
eases the suffering.
"A scientist states that in tine course Of
about g. 600 600 years from now the forces at
work on the eartn will have completely
leveled its surface, so that there will no
longer be hills or valleys, continents or dis
tinctive oceans. All the land will have been
washed down into the sea, which will then
cover all with watery mantle and render
impossible any life except that which can
exist without dry land.
The University of Bologna had in 1850
A. D. about 10000 students. Anatomy,
galvanism and the circulation of the blood
were first taught here. Female professors
were among the most, respected in the
beautiful that she lectured behind a curtain,
"1est, If her charms were seen, the students
would let their young eyes wander Ger her,
and quite forget their Jurisprudence"
IL
give q reason why musicians tune their in
struments in public, and not before entering
the orchestra. II they tuned their instru-
ments before entering the theater or con-
cert room the temperature is very apt to be
different in the place OF performance, and
therefore the Instruments would not be in
tune. a piano that is in tune in a cold room
would get out of tune if the room we're sud-
denly heated
Some queer little animals arrived in
New York last week from Australia. They
are called kangaroo rats, and resemble the
kangaroo very much when viewed through
the reversed end of telescope. Their
metho of locomotion is the same as that of
the kangaroo. The females carry their
young in pouch and their faces are very
bright and pretty They were en- route to
the Golden Gate Park, the first of their kind
ever sent to California.
The development of the banana trade
by science, through modern carrying 1acil-
tiles. Only four years ago n company pur-
chased 35 square miles OF land in Dimes,
Cuba, then covered with Gense forest and
having only ten inhabitants. About half
the land has now been cleared and 5000
acres plantet with bananas. Broad roads
have been laid ont, a town OF $500 lnhab-
itants has been created and nine steamers
are kept running throughout the year to
carry the banana product to New York.
"A large "oficial" envelope containing
4 blotter, two paper American flags and
picture of Morgan Backus, cashier of the
san Francisco postoffice, has just finished
It's tour around the world. The envelope
was addressed to Backus at Calcutta, with
Instructions to the postal officials there to
forward the letter to Nice if it could not be
From Nice it made a tour
through Europe, going as far East as Tur-
Key. 1t finally crossed the channel to Lon
Ion. 1t next turned up in New York, and
rom there it was dispatched to its starting
place. 1t is now kept as postal curiosity.