Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-31

vessel win be reduced to old iron and ready
FOR the furnaces. Several thousand tons OF
material have been taken out OF the DICTATOR,
and vet there are many more concealed 10 her
massive frame. As soon a. the remaining. ing
portion is cut down to the waters edge the
nun will be towed 10 shOal spot on the Jer-
sey side Of the river and blown up.
Mr.. STURGEON told an interviewer the other
day that he thought, on the whole, the world
had grown better since he first knew IL.
There have been many Improvements" he
said, especially in the direction OF temper
ance. A whole class OF men who were verT
numerous when first came 10 London have
become extinct. I refer TO those good and
respectable gentlemen who never got drunk
but who were in the habit OF gettlng-Weus
let us say tOlerably mellow. You never come
across one of these nowadays. AT least l
never do. / think there has also come about
an Improvement IN the attitude OF respeetaole
people toward licentious Literature. Our
grandmothers read books which our daugh-
tiers would be ashamed to open. And IN many
other respects, especially IN that OF open wee
and lawlessness, London has greatly improved.
People did things thirty years ago without
fear or restraint which they would never
dream Of doing now. There has, in fact, been
great progress"
THE steamer Talapoosa, which has taken
Secretary Chandler and family to Newport,
has aboard, for experimental purposes, one Of
Edison's inventions, called the megaphone,
.
for magnifying sound, a sort of telescope for
the ear. The purpose of il is to enable per-
son to hear or carry on a conversation with
people at a distance, and il is constructed OF
two huge cone-shaped tubes eight feet long
and three in diameter at the large end, whleh
diminish to an apex in form OF rubber tuDes
small enough to be placed in the ear. Be
tween these tubes are two smaller ones, con-
structed in the same manner, but not more
than half the diameter. BY placing the rub
Der tubes in the ear and speaking through the
smaller cones the person can hear ana DC
heard at long distance, and the purpose OF
the invention is to aid mariners IN listening
for the sound of breakers, or carrying on con
yersation with people on shore or on other
vessels at a distance. The officers OF the Tai
lapoosa are to give 1t a trial.
AMAN named Cunningham, about % years
old, bought a ticket Saturday at the Louis
Vile and Nashville Railroad Office in New Or
leans for Montreal. In the ticket
Office he told a singular story. which Is briefly
as follows: About four years ago. being an
expert telegraph operator, Cunningham went
places. He finally got to san Francisco,
where he remained for some time. he SUD
denly resolved TO leave there, and took trip
over the Southern Pacific Railroad TO Texas,
and finally brought up at Denison, where ne
was employed as a train dispatcher, but failed
to inform his family of his movements. On
! the night he left san Francisco the hotel where
he lived was destroyed by fire and several per-
| sons persisted in the flames. Cunningham was
| supposed to have been one OF the victims, ana
| his family in Montreal had the ruins looked
/ over. and they found charred corpse winch
| they claimed as that of the lost son, and had
it sent to Montreal and inferred. The pro-
ceeds of a policy of insurance on the life OF the
dead man for the benefit of his parents had
| been collected. He was on a visit to New YORK
when he discovered this latter fact. lie lmme-
| diately telegraphed to his family, but they re-
/ pudiated him as an impOstor Now he Is on
his way to Canada to show in person.