Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-11-24
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

London covers 6S7 square mileaf
Most sheep die before they are year
old.
"A fine stradiyarius violin will fetch
90, 900.
Women of rank 60 bareheaded in
Mexico.
Europe is reported to have $4,000
match factories.
Ginger essence contains twice as much
alcohol as whisky.
1t would take a man 5000 years to read
all the standard works.
|; The temperature of the planet Neptuns
is estimated to be 5000 below zero.
Every year the population OF the
United States is increased by l.00O, 900.
About 10000 young men and women
attend the colleges and universities in Kan.
sas.
France will spend nearly 81, 900, 900 for
arms and ammunition for the cavalry alone
next year.
Artificial grass for the grounds of Sea-
side cottages is one of the industries at Man
chester, England.
Among the wealthy classes of Japan il
is considered undignified to ride horse 90
ing faster than walk.
Europe consumes upward of s24, 900, 600
worth of gold and silver annually for plate,
jewelry and ornaments.
AT the top of Pixies Peak the air is so
rarifed that cats taken there invariably
have Its and die before they get acclima-
tized.
-Electrotype reproductions of rare pieces
of silver, such as are found only in museums
or valuable art collections, are among the
latest fads.
"A costly pipe is that which the Shah of
Persia smokes OIL state occasions. 1t is
stated to be worth $500, 900 and is set with
rubies, diamonds and emeralds.
The translation of the New Testament
into Ganda or uganda, the language of the
Uganda territory. has just been finished and
the complete book will soon be issued.
-Theosophists favor cremation for two
reasons: 1t is the common Hindoo method
of disposing of the dead, and tits n convent
ent and expeditions way o: letting loose the
astral body.
1t is singular coincidence that the
United States Collectors of Internal Reve-
nue. at Ogden, Utah, and at Lincoln. Neb.,
are both from Farmington, Me-. and both
named Norton.
The yearly waste in the United States
years sl00o0O00,0OO have been thus wasted
This is equal to the whole savings of the
people from 1888 to 1851.
The oldest arm chair in the world is the
throne once used by Queen Hatafu, who
fourished in Egypt 1000 d. C. 1t is made of
ebony, beautifully carved ami is SO hardened
with age as to appear to be carved from
black marble
A late portable plate-warmer is made
10
body of the rack, which is a stoutly made
wire frame, shaped like q half circle, rests
on four legs and is divided in way similar
to IL toast rack.
Some of the native women of Australia
have a queer idea of beauty. They cut
themselves with shells, keep the wounds
open for long time, and when they heal
huge scars are the result. These scars are
deemed highly ornamental
The cities that claim to be the birth
place of Columbus outnumber those ancient
cities that claimed Homer-Italy. England,
Ireland ana Spain, all having their advo-
cutes. Only two or three, however, insist
that they have his remains.
The compass plant of Asia Minor, known
all along the eastern shores of the Mediter-
ranean and as far east as Arabia and Persia,
is mentioned in the Bible, where the pro-
phet refers to THAT senselesS thing which
Is more stable than man. inasmuch as it
always pointeth in the one direction"
The Vienna Academy of Sciences is
about to publish the Etruscan ritual book
which was discovered in the wrappings of
a mummy last year by Prof hrllll. This
book is the only survivor of the famous
Etrus can literature of divfnation and ritual
OF W hich we hear so. much in the Latin
classics, especially in Cicero and Lfvy.
Dentists say that the greatest difficulty
they meet with IN their work is the match
ing of false teeth with the natural teeth of
their customers. The tooth factories supply
dentists with rings upon which are strung
thin metal bars, each carrying a tooth at its
extremity. There are 25 OF these sample
teeth, that run all the way from nearly
white to shade that is almost olive.
Among the great men of the world blue
eyes have always predominated. Socrates,
Shakespeare, Locke, Bacon, Milton, Goethe,
Franklin, Napoleon and Renau all had blue
ewes. The eyes of Bismarck, Gladstone,
Huxley, Virchow and Buchner are also Of
this color, and all the Presidents of the
United states except General Harrison en-
joyed the same cerulean color as to their
optics.
The horseshoe superstition is very old.
The ancients believed that iron as a metal
had unknown powers, and would drive nails
into their walls to keep off pestilence. 1t has
always been thought uncommonly lucky to
find piece or the metal, and as horseshoeS
were the form in which it was most fire.
quently found, the superstitious regard came
10 be transferred from the material to the
shape.
In the Northern part Of Peru, in what
is otherwise an arid desert, the celebrated
"rain tree" grows. This species, Batas va
pero though not large or OF much CONNER
cial value, is veritable South American
wonder, having the extraordinary property
OF condensing what little moisture there is
mist to exudc (seemingly) from its leaves
and branches.