Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-27
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.
| The wealth of the negro population o
Alabama is estimated at $40, 900. 900.
1t Is said that one in every ten of the
worlds workingwomen support their hus-
bands.
The river approaches to Lake Nicar-
aqua abound with the only species OF fresh
water shark known to scientists
India rubber trees grow wild all over
Lee county, Florida. At Fort Myers they
are the chief shade and ornamental trees.
The Chinese have their tombs built In
semtcircular form, like q horseshoe, and
the Moors use the same form in their archt-
lecture.
When the Falkland Islands were first
visited by man, the wild dogs found there
approached him without either fear or
aversion.
The Gar of Russia is the largest indi-
vidual landowner in the world. The area Of
his possessions Is far greater than that Of
the entire Republic Of France.
I'm America, as in France, the average
size Of families has been steadily decreasing
for the last half century. The average ID
now 4.94, where in 1850 It was $50
-Horticulturists tell us that the orange
was originally q pear-shaped fruit about
the size Of the common wild cherry Its
evolution Is due to 200 years Of cultivar
tion.
In Michigan double cedar knot is car
ried in the pocket to cure rheumatism, and
in New Hampshire men carried a gall from
the stems of the golden rod for the same dis
ease.
On the eastern shore of Maryland bill
iousness is cured by boring three holes in Q
carefully selected tree and walking three
times around 1t, saying, $50 away, bill
fous."
The average length of life is greater in
Norway than in any other country on the
globe. This is attributed to the TACT that
the temperature is cool and uniform
throughout the year.
The paragraph mark ssT' is a Greek
"p," the initial of the word paragraph. Tho
early printers employed dagger (f) to show
that a word or sentence was Objectionable
and should be cut out.
-Four different peaks in the mountains
Of Idaho are from Ii to % feet lower by
actual measurement than they were Is years
ago. Biologists do not attempt to explain
the "why" of their settling
The greatest days run of an ocean
steamship was about SIS miles. The steamer
in question was 562 feet long and had previ-
ously been known to make 500 miles per day
for three days in succession.
in an area of about Is miles square be-
low Trout Creek there is estimated to be q
band Of at least 700 wild horses, which are
not only eating or the ranges, but be-
coming more direct source of loss to stock
owners.
"A heavy plate-glass shade, ornamented
with gold and securely locked to three
staples set in the marble top of q pulpit in a
In RrnQ Ia ia aoid 70 ,<~F
the thorns which formed part OF tho
Savior's crown
Really beautiful turquoises are very
rare. The Mabarajah OF Ulep Sing. former
King OF Lahore, owns one OF the most
famous and q son of Abd-el-Kader has in his
possession the fetish turquoise on which are
engraved the legends dictated by Moham-
med.
-Caterpillars from six inches to foot
long are common in the vicinity of the
Darling river, Australia The natives twist
them together and boil them in kangaroo
grease. Travellers who have tasted this
delicacy say that it is not altogether
palatable.
The first day of the Chinese New Years
feasts is called Bird Day" (Kay Yatl. and
is supposed to bring to mind the utility Of
the feathered tribes as food. On this day
the orthodox Chinese abstain from eating
flesh. and they sometimes observe it as
day of fasting.
There is only one factory in Russia for
the manufacture of playing cards. 1t has a
monopoly of the business and belongs to the
Founding Hospital. It is figured that there
are 30 900 900 people in Russia who play cards,
and to supply the demand this factory puts
out 100000 packs OF cards annually.
The Chinese, notwithstanding the fact
that they eat the flesh of the dog and esteem
it great delicacy, honor their dogs more
highly and take better care of them than
any other race of people. In every large
Chinese city there Is q workman whose sole
trade is that of making collins for departed
CANNES.
The Eiffel Tower is now the highest
clock tower in the world. A gigantic clock
has been placed on its second platform, and
scientists daily and hourly take obserya-
tions on the motion Of the pendulum, it
being their idea that the revolution of the
earth on its axis may be visibly demon
strated by the experiment.
"A curious practice of the Bulgarian ma
sons which survives to this day testifies to
the vitality of the legend. To insure the
solidity OF the houses they build they meas
ure with a reed the shadow of the first per-
son who passes after the digging OF the
foundation has been completed. When the
foundation is commenced this reed is buried
under the first rock, usually the corner
stone.
AN African, with the additional nerve
force impaired by the kola nut, can endure
from ten to 100 hours fatigue, the half of
which would kill the laborer foohardy
enough to attempt it without using the in
vigorating little nut. Where it takes eight
Brazilian negroes to carry a load with diff
Guilty, four African porters carry it cheer
fully along singing '.as if each muscular ex-
srtion was exhilaratfng JOY"
The body of a man weighing 15S pounds
exactly has been found to contain 23.3
pounds of carbon, 81 pounds of lime. 223
ounces of phosphorus and 1 ounce each of
,odium (salt), iron. potassium, magnesium
md Silicon. Besides the above ''solids" the
analyst obtained from the same subject 5,595
cubic feet OF oxygen and l05 80 cubic feet of
hydrogen, this latter weighing Is pounds
ounces, and 81 cubic feet OF nitrogen.
-Anaxagoras, the Athenian philosopher,
Who fiourished in the fifth century before
christ, taught his scholars that wind was
Iir set in motion by rarefaction: that the
noon owed her light. giving properties to
he sun; that the rainbow was the resulting
phenomena of reflections; that comets were
stars, and that the fixed stars
v ere at an Unreasonable distance beyond
he sun, besides qiving them many other
deas thought to belong to more modern
lines.