Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-12-09
GENERAL NOTES.

Attorney General Brewster has estab-
lished himself in the house lately occupied
by the French Minister, and the furnish
ings Of his home in Philadelphia have been
transferred to his new residence. His
taste for engravings and rare bric-a-brac
is more than ever noticeable, while the
accomplished hostess has shown even
greater art and skill in the arrangement of
her new home.
\ murder once in sixty days makes
Maine. a State which frowns on capital
punishment, somewhat repUlsive in its
aspect. The Attorney Generals report
gives an account of the death rate by
violence. Eleven homicides in the past
two wears in that State gives nearly the
average mentioned. Two alleged muir
derers are awaiting trial. changing is
played OUT there, but murder is not, up
to date.
Mary WhartOn's parents, of Lebanon,
o., thought nothing of their daughters
playful remarks as she stitched industri-
ously away upon black velvet dress for
her own wear. but when they heard agOn-
lied grOans proceeding from her room last
Saturday night, and found her past re-
cOyery from the effects Of strychnine, they
realized that she was seriously in earnest
when she had remarked, ''ThiS is the last
dress | shall ever make, and | shall wear
it but once" Her black velvet dress
served for her shrOud.
In a cave at the summit of a high bluff
near Gridley, Cal, a colony of bees had
been secreting honey for fifteen years. The
only access to their treasure was an
almost perpendicular wall of rock, and
the difficulty of securing it had always
been sufficient protection until about
a month ago, when a party of invaders
determined upon an assault. They reached
the cave. and, after a three hours battle
with the bees, came of victorious, though
they all felt that another such victory
would have been the ruin of them. In the
cave was found a solid mass of honey in
the comb two and half feet thick.
Mr.. George Dobie, of Edinburgh, is the
fortunate possessor of an extremely inter-
esting relic Of Robert Burns. 1t is moth
ing less than a book called 'The General
Gauger." from which the poet learned
how to perform the duties of his unfOrtu-
nate position as an officer of excise. On
the back of the title-page is a note in the
handwriting of Burns son, which reads
as follows, under date of December ), 1915:
This little treatise on gauging was one of
the books from which the Scottish poet,
my father, learned his duty as an officer of
excise. 1t formed part of his library in
Ellesland before ne removed to Dumfries."
The volume was printed in 1919, and,
though il bears marks of its age, has been
well cared for. The rounded edges of the
leaves indicate that it was carried about
by the poet i'm a coat pocket. At one time
the book was the property of Dumfries
uphoIsterer, by whom it was given to Mr..
David King, of London. From Mr.. Kings
hands it passed into those of Mr.. DObie,
The old bath at TrichinopOly, Madras,
India, in which Bishop Heber lost his life,
suffers from neglect, and steps have been
taken by the English Government to Sc
cure its preservation. 1t has been direct
ed that She bath shall be protected by an
ornamental iron railing placed at sutfi-
cient distance to prevent interference with
the water. The bath will retain its origi-
nal character and is to be kept filled
with water On a side wall is to be set
up a slab bearing the following inscrip-
ton: ''In memory of the devoted, accom-
plished. beloved and universally hOnOred
servant of God, Reginald Heber. ID. D.,
third Bishop of Calcutta, and one of In
dia's truest and most loving benefactOrs;
this stone was erected in the year 1882, at
the expense Of the government, on the
margin of the bath in which he was
1926. His body was laid under the chan
Gel of the Church of st. John, TrichinOpoly.
i'm the hope of the resurrection of the
lust to eternal life through Jesus Christ"
The American civil war afforded Euro
pean nations many fine fields for Observa-
ton and study. Many inventions of sci
ence, tested then for the first time, have
since been improved and adopted by the
military powers abroad. One of the re-
forms introduced was that of an organized
means for rapidly repairing broken rail-
way tracks and restoring communication
between distant points. The English mill
tary authorities are just now improving
upon this. 1t is proposed to convert one or
more engineer companies into railway
corps on a permanent basis. England has
been far behind the other European ma
tiOns in the matter of her military institu-
tiOns. For number of years Germany,
France, Russia and even Italy have been
ahead of England in this matter of an eff
cient and permanent railway corps, as
well as in other important matters con-
nected with modern methods of warfare.
One other improvement likely to be intro
duced into the English armies, but not
vet decided on, is nothing more nor less
than an organized mounted infantry. The
formation of such branch of the military
service has long been discussed, but since
the termination Of active hostilities in
Egypt the subject has attracted universal
attention.
Since the burning of the Park Theatre
in New York a special official eXamina-
ton of the theatres in the city has been
made with reference to the security of an
audience in case of a fire on the stage
during a performance. Not all the the
aires have vet been examined, but the re-
ports made in the cases of eighteen, in
Guiding most of the principal ones, show
that there are but two among them which
have complied with the conditions con-
sidered bv the Inspector of the Bureau of
to be essential. These conditions
are a fre-prOof wall dividing the stage
from the auditorium and extending
through the roof, ample machinery
for quickly drenching the stage
and scenery with water, and large
skylights above the stage so ar
ranged that they may be conven- /
ently opened by hand from the stage, or
will open automatically by the cutting or !
burning of a hempen cord. This last pro- |
vision is to secure draft away from the |
With these features the in |
spectOr says there would be no occasion |
rOr panic on account of fire on the stage, /
he audience could remain in their seats |
and see it burn. The two theatres that /
we're found satisfactory in these particu-
airs are Wallack's new theatre at Broad
way and Thirtierh streets, and Harrigan
and Harris new theatre at $50 Broadway.
AS for the rest, they are supplied with
some of these conditions of safety, but are
deficient in others. The inspector says
he reports plainly show the need of a new
building law.
BURNETT's COCAINE,