Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-16
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

-Engnsn mines employ o,A1S "Ohch'
The magic lantern was the invention OF
Roger Bacon in 1890
up to June !, 200 miles of railroad had
been built this year.
Lambs first printed poems came oui
when the author was % years old.
During the chivalric ages an army was
computed by the number of lances.
Whales are seen in larger numbers than
ever this fall along the coast of California.
"A farmer living near Furlong, Pa, dug
up ITO stone knives in his garden the other
day. IN
The ground IN which Yakutsk, Liberia.
stands is peri etu lily frozen to depth OF
over 600 feet.
The Greenwich clock was electrically
connected with several London railway
clocks in 1860.
Japan is rapidly becoming civilised.
There are now 1900 newspapers where there
was but one % years ago. ..'.-.
Germany has recognized the centi-
grade thermometer as the official instru-
ment in place of the Reaumur.
One small dose of strong alcohol
shortens the time that food remains in the
stomach by more than half an hour.
With two-handed sword Godfrey Of
Bouillon, at the siege OF Antioch, cut Turk
In halves from the shoulders to the hips.
The bones of the head of some large
prehistoric animal were taken out Of the
ground at Ruby Creek, Wash, fast week at
depth of $50 feet
"A dwarf residing at Shigaken, in Japan,
is 36 years old and but II inches high. He is
well educated, and earns a livelihood by
teaching penmanship.
"A fisherman caught an immense trout
in the Austrian Province OF Istria short
time ago. The fish is said to be over a yard
In length and half II yard in circumference.
The deepest sounding yet made on the
coast of Africa was OFF New Guinea by 81. NJ.
S. Challenger, whose 400-pound lead struck
botto m at the enormous depth of 20, 700 feet.
Small cups are now being used with
great success by oculists for the cure of
long -sightedness and kindred diseases of the
eye. The cupping restores the circulation
and strengthens the tissues.
The rivers of Russia grow shallower
year by year, and the Vorckla, once an
abundant tributary of the Dnieper, and COM
parable to the Hudson or Della ware $50 miles
in length, has completely and permanently
dried up.
Princeton has two trees which were
planted previous to the declaration OF inde-
pcnuence. Inc SycamOro6 In the dean
yard were planted in 1851 by order of the
trustees to commemorate the resistance OF
the stamp act.
Statistics show the American to be the
greatest traveller. The records Of rail way
trips taken by each nationality gives the
following proportion: Americans, %; English,
l9: Belgian, II; French, 5; Turks, Swiss and
Italians, each.
John Boyd Thatcher, of Albany, has
Dreaented that with tho orioiDol hill
signed by Queen Anne and Earl Godophin,
to compensate Albany's first mayor, Peter
Schuyler, for taking 1our Indian chiefs to
England in 17l0.
Owing to the long rest which metallic
currency had in this country during the
reign of greenbacks and shinplasters United
States coins are remarkably clear cut and
well preserved Even coins minted before
the war retain part of the milling.
Plentiful and varied as golden rod is in
all the fields that edge the boundaries Of
New York, the Park Department cult1vates
one variety of the plant, and there Is q
nursery of uncommonly fine golden rod in
Central Park, near Mount St. Vincent.
The points of the compass can be told
from trees by the following simple observa-
tions: The side of the tree on which most
OF the moss Is found is the north. II the
tree is exposed to the sun the heaviest and
longest limbs will be on the south side.
1t has been found that horsefies, bees,
bumblebees and other insects of that iIk can
be held by the legs and made to produce the
humming or buzZing noises so character
istic OF the two-winged insect family, even
though their wings be entirely removed.
"A Mr.. Ballard, of San Francisco, pos
sesses a So gold coin coined by the Mormons
In 1919. In tnat year Brigham Young estab-
ished mint and coined about 81 900 900 In
niecaa TbRaa coins hai
way to California and passed current. The
metal in the coins was unalloyed-so soft
and pure, in fact, that 1t wore away very
rapidly. l.-
Major Allatt, of the British army,
thinks that ducks would be preferable to
pigeons for carrying naval dispatches over
the sea, because they would drop down and
sit on the sea when tired, and resume their
flight after resting. Moreover, ducks can fly
by night, while pigeons cannot Major
Allatt also suggests that sea gulls might be
trained for message bearing
|, There is a curious group of rocks near
Milan which form the oft-described INA
ture's City" An irregular mass of rocks
some 200 feet high resemble citadel. Below
are five depressions, OF which one is q
gigantic amphitheater, and the second q
metropolis, third parade, and the fourth
q regularly laid out city quarters, with pub
lie monuments, gates, streets, etc.
The Maine fishermen spread table ON
board their vessels that would surprise the
average person. Barrels of cabbage, ,turnip,
sweet corn, fish, meats canned goods, ETC.,
are included in the outfit, in fact all the ar
ticles necessary for frstclass hotel are
found in the pantry. Though they handle
immense quantities of fish, neither on board
nor at their homes does it often appear.
The smooth raised edge running about
the face of modern coins and inelosing the
device as frame incloses a picture not only
adds a great deal to the beauty of the piece,
but serves a double utilitarian purpose, first
to protect the design from wear, and second
to afford a horizontal surface so that the
CO ins may be piled up vertically one on top
of another without danger of toppling over.
Red clover grows in New Zealand with
great luxuriance, but until recently it was
necessary to import all seed from England.
Darwin showed that the plants could be-
fertilised and made to produce seed only
through the agency OF Dumble bees, and, as
these creatures were unknown in New Zea-
land, they were finally, about ten years ago,
carried the entire journey alive while in Q
torpid state, in freezing chambers.
FLIGHTS INTO FUNNYDOM.