Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-09
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


in day.
The peach is of Persian origin and the
apricot OF syrian.
Over 300 mixtures are known as purely
American in use.
The game of ches. Is taught In all the
Austrian public schools.
No fewer than 1, 173 persons have been
buried in Westminster Abbey.
In the old Roman theater women per.
formed in mimics, but not in regular plays.
"A man in Streator, ILL.,, once wrots
41UO words on the blank side of postal
card.
Two years ago there were but A voters
in Chino. Cal, while this year 22S are regis
tered.
A New York inventor claims to have
discovered a process for making rubber re-
sisr acids.
Some of the wooden towers erected to
attack besieged city were ten stories high,
about 100 feet.
i'm the fourteenth century blend1ning
the hair with some preparation OF sulphur
came into fashion.
In almost every nation wine was used
as libation, being poured out, on or before
the affairs of the gods.
Annoy, in China, bears the doubtful
distinction Of being the most dirty ana un-
healthy city in the world.
1t would take Z, 3,25O of the little yegeta-
Bile parasites which grow in the human hair,
to cover the white center of nonpareil O.
-Palamedes, of Argos, was the first COM
mander to array an army in regular line Of
battle to place sentinels or to give q watch-
word.
The famous bank of Venice began busi.
ness in 1199, lasted 600 years and might have
existed to this day but for the invasion Of
Napoleon
Puget Sound oysters are sometimes az
much as "a feet long and 20 to Is inches
broad. and weigh, exclusive of shell, from 10
to so pounds.
"A gun has been invented by French
man which fires cartridges loaded by COM
pressed gas. The gun is said to be noiseless
and to emit no smoke.
Probably the finest specimen of en-
graved gem now in existence is head OF
Nero, carved on q first-water diamond by
the Castanzi brothers in 1880.
Last month was the most prosperous in
the history OF the Brooklyn Bridge. There
were 4,33O 920 persons carried on the trains,
and the receipts were slls625.
The antlers and bones of an elk have
been unearthed l0S feet below the surface, in
a shaft, near Newbridge, Ore. They were
found fmbeded in strata of gravel.
Telephones have been introduced at
the Government rife ranges at Fort Sheri-
dan, ILL.,, as a means of Communication be-
tween the firing points and the targets.
The original picture of ''Sheridan's
Ride" painted by 7. Buchanan Reed, now
hangs in the private office Of Thomas L.
-Tor of fhn In pouI IL Of
New York City.
A valuable asbestos formation has been
discovered near Casper Wy. 1t is reported
to be the best colored asbestos yet found,
and is pronounced d superior to the best quail
ity OF Italian asbestos.
-Noblemen in scores were created BY
Christophe, negro, who ruled as Emperor
of Hayti from 1911 to 1920 Among the titles
conferred were those of the Duke Of Mar
malade, the Count of Lemonade and the
Earl of Brandy.
There is point near the famous Stony
Cave, In the Catslzill Mountains, where ice
may be found on any day in the year. This
locality is locally known as the Notch, and
Is walled in on all SIDES by steep mountains,
some of which are more than 5000 feet high.
Louis XIV. was great as feeder. The
Duchess of Orleans once saw him eat four
plates of soup, a whole pheasant, two part
ridges, a plate of salad, another Of mutton
hashed with garlic, two large slices OF ham,
dish of pastry, fruit, sweetmeats and three
bottles of wine.
In many countries the rainbow is spo-
ken of as being great bent pump or sfphon
tube, drawing water from the earth by me-
chanical means. In parts of Russia, In the
Don country, and also in Moscow and vicin-
ity, it is known by name which Is equiva-
lent to "the bent water pipe"
The longest horse railroad IN the world
runs from Buenos Ayres to San Martin in
the Argentine Republic, the distance being
about so miles and the schedule time of the
trip 13 hours. Trains leave Buenos Ayres
every hour in the day and twice during the
night. Every morning and evening express
trains leave carrying only baggage.
Boxing matches are very popular with
the Burmese. They hold public contests, at
which prizes are offered for competition,
and to which peop,e e ock from all the coun-
try round. The form displayed would, how
ever, scarcely meet with the appreciation of
British patrons of the noble art of self-de-
fense. Every sort and kind of hit is allowed,
and the combntants attack one another
with feet as well as hands.
I'm the famous cellars of the Hotel de
Vile, at Bremen. there are a dozen cases OF
holy wine which have been preserved for
250 wears. II the cost of maintaining the
cellar, payment of rent. interest upon the
original value of the wine, and other Incl
dental charges are all considered. bottle
of this choice wine has cost S2,000,000, each
glassful $270 478, and a single drop could not
be sold without loss under 5000.
The relative area of woodland in the
various countries of Europe is as follows:
Forests occupy 59.7 per cent OF the total
area of Sweden, 36.9 per cent of Russia, 3s.5
of Austria, 2s.4 of Hungary, 25.2 of Germany,
"a of Norway, 1919 OF Servia, 1876 of Bel
guim, 1873 OF Switzerland, III Of France, II
OF Spain, l52 of Roumania, l31 of Greece,
L. of Italy, of Holland SIS OF Portugal, AZ
o; Denmark and of Great Britain and Ire
land.
The fumes and exhalations from the
sulphur springs of Colorado can be distin-
guished at q distance of fully 20 miles The
peculiarly pungent smells resulting nom
bush and prairie fires may be perceived at
distance of 80 miles or more. The delicious
perfume of the forests of Ceylon is carried
by the wind 25 miles out to sea, while IN
foggy weather travellers 100 miles from the
land have recognized their proximity to the
coast of Columbia by the sweet smell
brought to them on a breeze from the shore.
POETRY EN- PEASANT.