Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-13
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


-Yucatan is said to rival Jersey in giant
mosquitoes.
The first cast iron pillow was made by
New bold in 1877.
One inch of rain means 100 tons of
water on every acre.
Mexico has %, 900 miles of telegraph
and G, eco miles of railroad.
Belgium is now declared to be the most
temperate country in Europe.
Only 10 per cent of German school
boys are said to go in for athletics
The centenary of the passage OF the first
divorce law in France has just occurred.
AT the present time the average height
of the tides of the world is only about three
feet
There are but 100 colored voters in
North Dakota, while Baltimore boasts of
$4,000
"A fine ruby of real pigeon-blood color
and eight carats is worth from s45.OO0 to
$4,000.
The King Chan, Court Transcripts, the
Chinese official journal, has been published
In Pekin for many centuries.
"A doctor in ST. Augustine, Fla, owns
the oldest house in America. and lives in it,
too. 1t was built in 1860 by Frenchman.
-Four brothers who are priests in Gin
cinnati lately assisted younger brother,
who had just been ordained, in celebrating
his first mass.
An average of three British seamen
lose their lives every day by drowning, and
500 British steamers and sailing vessels are
lost at sen yearly.
Women require one hour of sleep more
day than men. Fewer of tie latter reach
the age of 80 than the former, but atterwarI
the sIerner sex has the best of it.
The Gauls, to make handles for theiE
stone axes, cleft the branch of q tree, placed
the ak in it and left it till the wound in the
wood had been coh;pletely healed.
An average of 5000, 900 kids are slaugh.
tered every year to furnish u single manu-
featuring town in France with skins. These
Will make 2O0, ,OJ0 dozens of gloves.
The life of locomotive crank piu.
which is almost the first thing about an
engine to wear out, is 5000 miles, and the
lie oi Il 33-inch wheel is &c, 733 miles.
The first Union flag was unfurled on
January ], l776, over the campat Cambridge,
Mass. 1t had l3 stripes of white and red anC
retained the British cross In one corner.
A ten-pound cannon ball was recently
dug uD at Lakeside, Ind. 1t has been identt
ned as n relic of the times when Mad An
thony wayne was in command thereabouts
The youngest doctor" in the world is
an honorary member OF the Southern Medt
cal Society, in Atlanta He knows anatomx
and goes to college, though only years oi
age.
In the archery matches of the eleventh
century the range was 200 feet, and for
target perpendicular willow rod As
IN illx nc flaf finry 4f,-a
used.
The Laplander sleeps in big reindeer
skin to keep him warm. The East Indiur
also sleeps i'll u bag; but it is not air-tight.
and Is only intended to protect him Iron'
mosquitoes.
"A glass factory at Liverpool has ''glass
journal boxes Tor all its machinery, a glass
floor. glass shingles on the roof and smoke.
stack l05 feet high built wholly of glass
bricks, each foot square,"
"A new process of refnining sugar de.
pends largely upon the use OF fluoSilicate OF
lead. As applied to beet sugar the process
Is said 10 cost practically nothing, owing to
valuable residuary products.
Another new Photographic deyelope
has appeared which is described as having
cocaine :or Il basis. 1t is known as cristalloS
and is said to be the most poweriu ul OF agents
In order to balance the muscular &C
count OF young women who develop too
much on the right side on account of Lawn
tennis playing, it has been suggested the,
should learn iencin1 with the left hand.
I'm Mashona, when twin babies are born
both are drowned. This is one of tnost
savage customs which discourage the native
census taker and make hin q strong advo
cate OF conversion to Christian privilege.
The largest species of rootless plant
are the "5eaweeds'' of the Atlantic, Pacifi;
and Indian Oceans. In plants of the sea
weed kind the structure varies considera
bly,some being merely microscopic vescies
while others have vines and stems as lar5t
as the average forest trees.
Some German scientists have recentl,
furnished information III regard to tile age
of trees. They assign to the pine tree 500 {,
700 years as the maximum, AS years to tn.
silver fir, 215 years to the larch, 2i5 years T.
the red beech, 20 to the aspen, 2U0 to tn
birch. 10 to the ash, AS to the elder and Is
to the elm.
The Australian jungle fowl (Mesapo
dius Tuinuus) makes its nests in the shap
of earth mounds of pro1Igious size, one
which measured 5 feet i'll perpendicula
height, and having q circumference of u
feet. These heaps are placed under shelter
and often so envclopeu in foliage that,
spite OF tIeir great size, they can scarcel
be discovered.
Race meetings in India generally il
clude some comic feature, and the lates
novelty is "white-tie race" introduced
Kirkee. The competitors ride certain di
lance and dismOunt, and kneel before q lad
whilst she ties white tie round their neck
in q neat bow, then they remount and rus
or the winnins-post. Much depends on til
lady's deftness.
The insignia of the Order of the Carte
are: A gold medallion of st. George and tn
Dragon, suspended from blue ribben: til
garter itself, of dark blue velvet: L blue We
vet mantle lined with tatfeta, with the sta
of the order embroidered on the left 0reas
q hood and surcOaF of crimson velvet and
hat of black velvet: o collar of gold weigi
ing 80 ounces: and the star with the cross
s. George in the center, encircled By Il
garter.