Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-25
Curious CONVERSATIONS

Steel chimneys are becoming common.
-Philadelphia is now to have college Of
undertakers.
limited States farm mortgages amount
to SIS $50, $4,000.
American tourists spend 500, ,oOO, 900
each year in Italy.
I'm a year $500 churches have been
built in the United States.
Twenty million acres of the land Of the
United States are held by Enelishmen.
The oldest building in the world is the
Tower of London. Itantedates Cesar's con-
quests.
The first tinware ever made in this
country was manufactured in Berlin, Conn.,,
in 1740.
The total value of unclaimed mail
matter in the London postoffice Is some
thing over $50 900 year.
Siam has Just sent over to England q
youths, all belonging to the siamese aristoc-l
racy, to complete their education.
Violin makers prize above all other
kinds of wood that which they extract from
the seasoned timber of old houses.
There are over 1000 tons of silver bars,
coin stored in the Philadelphia mint.
London has firm of opticians whose
speciality is the sale of spectacles for horses.
The object of the spectacle is to promote
high stepping.
Prior to 1906 the horses of England were
never shod, William the Conqueror being
the person who is given the credit Of intro
ducing horse-shoeing in the British Isles.
There is very curious word in the
dictionary that is spelled lizard, and
means a small French silver coin q dapple-
gray horse, and also a balsam poplar tree.
"A farm in Pithole, Pa, which was
bought some years ago during the oil e1-
citement by Chicago spectators for $780,
600. was sold recently at tax sale for
$lC0.
Dean Swift proposed to tax female love-
illness, and to have each lady rate her own
charms, saying, "The tax would be cheer
fully paid and would prove very produc-
tive"
The custom of shaking or giving hands
can be traced to the DAYS CT the ancient
Israelites, and was intended to signify
peace. to swear friendship, promise alliance,
or give security.
"A mining expert, just returned from
Alaska states that the country is rich in
minerals of all kinds, and ventures the opin-
lon that the finds OF gold there Will exceed
that of ls49 In California.
There is in Ireland-or has been-a
class of professional mourners who attend
funerals and wakes for pay. and wall until
the welkin rings. These people are called
keeners, and when in full blast are said to be
keening.
The block which probably has the
largest population o. any in the world is in
New York, bounded by Avenues B and c.,
Second and Third avenues. It has popu-
1ation of $500, or at the surprising rate OF
1000. 900 to the square mile.
The snake story Of the season comes
from Rome. Ga. snake was seen near
there recently, lying asleep bv the road
side. A man stabbed it with his umbrella,
and it Immediately stretched out "two
long wings like goose, and sailed away
across the field"
An Austrian provincial paper lately
contained the following advertisement: "a
widow, who still possesses the entire ward
robe of her deceased husband. is disposed to
enter into correspondence with q suitable
gentleman, If such can be found, with q
view to matrfmony."
A curious illustration of the domestic
economy of the Egyptians has been met
with in the unwinding of the bandages OF
the mummies. Although whole webs of fine
cloth have been most frequently used, in
cases Ty,.
and have seams, darDs and patches
The Hindoo places clock In his PR
Ior not because he ever desires to know
what the hour is, but because a clocRis a
foreign curiosity Instead, therefore, Of
contenting himself with one good clock, he
will have, perhaps, a dozen in one room.
These clocks are signs of his wealth
A boy, IA years old, who lives near
waycross, Ga, is said to greatly resemble
an alligator Scales of a delicate texture
can be seen all over his body. He has a fat
head, long, wide mouth and eyes like an
alligator. His legs and arms are fiat and
crooked at the joints: he can neither talk
nor walk, but bellows and crawls like a rep
tile.
One of the most interesting sights along
the Rio Grande is to see a regiment of Mexi-
can soldiers taking q compulsory bath. 1t is
only under compusion that the rank and
file OF the army ever do bathe, and when the
ceremony Is in progress, one-half Of the reg
stands guard on bank, rifles in hand, to
shoot down any man who deserts
The Esquimaux when he goes fishing
uses a funny-looking boat made of seal skins
stretched over q wooden frame. He calls
this craft kayak. On the upper side of the
kayak. directly in the middle, is an openingi
which the fisherman climbs into
the boat, wrapping n1fnSelI up IN Il nap OF
sealsktn, which he laces tightly about tho
opening so as to keep out the water.
"A man went into a bank in q town
down East the other day and laid down q
peculiar piece of paper before the cashier.
1t was the exact size of q dollar silver GER
tifcate, but not the color. The man e1-
planned: You see. I accidentally left the
bill in O coat l had dyed brown. The coat
took first rate-so did the bill" The bill
was sent to Washington and redeemed.
One of the latest methods of looseniDg
inc earth to depth of two or three feet and
allowing the absorption of considerable
moisture in periods of drought, is by the use
Of dynamite electrically fired. The inventor
1rills holes two or three feet deep and five
'eet apart, making 600 to the acre. In each
hole Is placed sufficient quan tity of the ex-
olosive, connected with a wire leading TO
he battery, and after the earth is tramped
iown the whole is discharged by spark.
The filigree artisans of India still CON-
;inue making the beautiful round plated
.old chains for which their ancestors have
,een so famous. From some OF these chains
lang smaller ones of finest wire, almost like
.old threads, having minute fishes and
,ther pendants dropping from them. In the
English and French collections OF jevelry,
till guarded as treasure gems, one may see
earrings so dexterously wrought that from
pendant chains tiny birds COW
red with enamel "droop with snlmmerlnS
,eauty."