Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-26
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

Brandy was first made in France 1,
1870
| in Mexican theaters one has to pay fo
each act separately.
There are 1, 900, 900 and more species
| insects in the world
The first dictionary was made by Chin
! ese scholars B. c. l109.
| In California there are oak trees in eI
istence nearly 1000 years old.
| The bronze cents, such as are In circula
tion now, were first coined in 1854
Dried reeds of the sunhower are eater
by the poor at Bengal and Bombay.
| Rhode Island is tie only Eastern State
in which they allow Sunday baseball.
| The Davy safety lamp for miners wa
invented by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1875
Peter the Great superintendsd tho
management of the first Russian news
| paper.
| Strawberries measuring IL inches in
circumference were grown this summer
near Colville, Ore.
| There is red kangaroo in the London
| geological garden. Its color is caused by u
| secretion from the skin.
The rarest and most desirable coin Of
| the regular mint series is the silver dol
| lar of 1904, which Is worth $500.
Coins are classed, according to their
state of preservation, as proof" 'uncircu
| lated, fine, good, /" flair" and poor"
| "A Philadelphia physician asserts that
| clam broth is elegant substitute for
| alcohol, and cheers but does not inebriate.
ALL the chickens in the western part
| of French Guinea are perfe city white. It
| impossible to find one with coloreo
| feather.
-Underg round London has 8, 200 miles
sewers, "a, 900 miles of telegraph wires, 800
| miles of gas pipes and 4,5OO miles of water
mains.
Quite a popular cigar among some
the rich men of New York is a special Henry
| Clay, which comes in handsome box
wrapped in gold foil, and retails at 81 y
apiece.
| "A Massachusetts, man has invented o
recording device for scales. Upon a roller
marker records the weighings Of the scales
as desired.
The costliest cigars ever brought to this
country were a box OF the brand especially
made for the Prince of Wales in Havana
| the manufacturers price for which was
81 81 apiece.
There are said to be 1892 artesian
| wells west of the 9th meridian, which irrt.
gate more than 100 900 acres of land; 200 OOO,.
| 900 gallons of water often flow from a
single we'll
Arthur Bloche, valuer of the French
| crown diamonds and an expert on the sub
ject Of gems. states that q transparent pearl
| IN carats is owned by an Eastern potentato
and is held at $500 000
| The German Government has expended
$400, 900 in building a factory at spandau for
| the preserving of all kinds of provisions for
the army, and about $50 operators are to be
| regularly employed there.
-Four different peaks in the mountains
| of Idaho are from 13 to % feet lower by act
| ual measurement than they were 10 years.
| ago. Biologists do not attempt to EXPLAIN
| the "why" of their settling.
The Empress of Germany has requested
| the Minister of Public Instruction to pre-.
vent the admission to the art museums Of
| Berlin of young girls unless under the guild
| ance of teachers or parents.
The invention of drawing wire is as
/ cribed to RadoIph OF Nuremburg, about
410. Mills for this purpose we're first set mp
| at Nuremburg, in 1858. The first wire mill In
| England was erected in Mortlake, in 1868.
| The longest tunnel in the world will be
that now to be commenced through tht
| Simplon. According to the final plan
| adopted it will have a. length of l26 mile
| or 81 miles more than the st. Gothard Il
| mel.
1t is thought that in the giant ferns
| the tropical regions we have plant whicl
was largely instrumental in the formation
of the coal beds, and that these beds repre-
sent the enormous swamps OF the early geo.
logic ages. -- s. - es-svi> -
"A day or two ago what is said to have
been the largest fruit train that ever left
California for the East. pulled out of Sacra
| mento. 1t consisted of 27 cars. and these
were loaded with peaches, plums, apricots.
apples, etc.
AS compared with gas illumination the
advantages of electricity on health is the
result of two things. In the first place, the
electric light does not draw on the oxygen,
and in the second place It gives of no
no1ious gases.
Mr.. A. Rea, the Superintendent of the
Archaeological Survey, Madras, has reported
and important discovery he has made of
another casket, some relics and Inscriptions
in the Buddhist stupa at Bhatuprolu in the
Kfstna district.
"A piece of ordinary gingerbread makes
a capital barometer. If the atmosphere is
in that condition which threatens rain, the
ginge rDread becomes moist and plant,
while the approach of dry weather restores
1t to its normal condition.
The Belgian Minister of Public In
struction offers a prize of 25 900 fran cs for
the best memoir of the meteorological n.y.
drologicaI and geological con dition of the
countries OF equatorial Africa, regarded
from the sanitary point of view.
The French Canadians in the United
States own sl05. 1928 500 worth of real estate,
and 10 696 of them are in business for them
selves. There are now 500, 900 French Cana
dams in the United States. JO0, 900 of whom
are in New England and New York.
That which is popularly known as the
funny bone, Just at the joint OF the elbow, is
in reality not bone at all, but q nerve
which lies near the surface. and which. on
getting a knock or blow, causes the we'll
known tingling sensat ion in the arms and
fingers.
Asphalt is often found combined with
limestone-a very curious mixture Of tho
vegetable and the mineral. 1t is believed
that this has been brought about by bot
vapors from decomposing vegetable beds
passing through the porous rock and leav-
ing the bitumen behind.
FLIGHTS INTO rUNNYDOM.