Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-16
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

THE sole is the favorite ash in England, yet
absolutely nothing has been learned of its
habits, what it feeds upon or how it may be
cultured. ..
The last Vice President preceding Mr.. Hen
bricks who attended the Yale commencement
intro uced there the custom of buttering
watermelon.
YESTERDAY the sacred caravan set out from
Constantinople for Mecca and Medina, the
holy places of Islam. 1t bears, as usual,
many presents to the sanctuaries.
THE oldest collection of Scotch tunes extant
is known as the Skene manuscript and Is the
property of the Faculty of Advocates of Scot
land. 1t contains 40 Scottish airs.
AN erroneous plea Is prevalent that all
waters used for drinking contain large
amount of living organisms. Pure spring
water contains scarcely any or no organic
forms.
Two NOISES one hears in every Mexican
street, the jingle of the piano and the CHATTER
of the American sewing machine or its Ger
man counterfeit shipped from Hamburg.
Inc sewing machine, like the horse car, is
everywhere in Mexico.
INDIAN VILLAGES near Bombay are afflicted
with the ravages of wild hogs to such an ex
tent that pig-stcking club has been organ
lZed among Bombay sportsmen, and the pork
after the most approved scientific methods.
FREEM AsoNRY was introduced into China by
an Englishman about sixty years ago, and
among the Chinese in America about fifteen
years ago. The ritual has, of course, been
translated into Chinese, and in China thirty
two degrees are administered, but in this
country only three are allowed to be con-
ferred. There are 10000 Chinese Freemasons
in America.
THERE are two sorts of ice in MexlcO-the
ice brought down from the ravines of the vol
cano Popocatepetl, or that made over at To-
luca, on the National road, by the artificial
process. The price is three cents a pound, and
the average weekly supply of a Boston family
would there cost from SO to Sl2. The dryness
of the air favOrs the "keeping" of things
sweet, although milk sOurs readily.
THE venOmOus hoop snake, which takes its
tail in its mouth and rolls along like hoop,
and the blow snake, the breath of which is
deadly, exist only in the imagination. The
idea that serpents sting with the tongue is
erroneous. An impression prevails that the
number of poisonous snakes is great, but in
North America there are but three-the rat
tie snake, the copperhead or mOccasin and
the coral.
THE inhabitants of Cochin China prefer
rotten eggs to fresh ones. The Tonquinese
and the inhabitants of Madagascar prefer
q
fat gull would be preferred to anything else;
in the West Indies large caterpillar found
on the palm tree Is esteemed luxury, while
the edible nests of the Java swallows are so
rich dainty that the ingredients Of dish
would cost several dollars.
PROF. DOUGLAS, after many years of re-
search, says China has no such teeming mil
lions as are usually credited to her. Two
hundred and fifty millions ne thinks about the
oatiro 70 Manv af tho hin raopIaa of
China at the present day are not Chinese at
all. The Chinese civilization and culture are
not purely OF native growth; their elements
were brought from Western Asia-perhaps
from the neighborhood of the Aral-by the
Chinese ere they set out for China.
THE domestic arrangements of the Mexican
household revolve around the patio or inner
court yard. Here it is that ones cook re-
ceives the itinerant vender of berries, eggs
and fruit. Here also twice day come the
bare legged leCherO, or milkman, with huge
can carried on his back and adjusted to his
head with band of leather about his fore
head Here, too, comes the aguador, or water
carrier who in the cities of Mexico, take the
place of your invisible iron pipes.
THE uniform of the famous "Black Watch"
of Scotland, consists of a white helmet and
veil, red plume, black chin strap, red tunic,
with blue collar and facings, tartan kilt
white gaters, spOrran of white badger skin.
white equipments. A French military Jour-
nal recently printed a cut of Black Watch
Highlander in this garb, and added that he
''lOo ed altogether like a most lll-cOnditiOned
ruffian," for which remark several Scotland
papers are now calling the average French
man hard names.
A CHICAGO DRUGGIST puts his brethren to
the blush as follows; pineapple, strawberry,
raspberry and other essences are made from
butyric ether. which has very fruity flavor.
Butyric acid is the oily limpid fluld contained
in all fats. Ii that is distilled in alcohol you
have butyric ether. Enanthic and acetic
others also make excellent fruit essences. All
these others are made by distlling alcohol
with acids. The fact is there is no such thing
as essences of apricot, apple, banana. pine
apple, strawberry, raspberry. cherry, ounce,
pear, blackberry and such like, made from
the fruit"
WHEN the viii of Peter Van Damme, of De-
troit, Mich, was opened a few days ago, an
extraordinary mistake was discovered. Van
Damme had made viii leaYipg his property
to his wife, and the latter executed her will at
the same time, leaving her property to her
husband. The wills were in the same hand
writing. and each signed the others will.
mistake was not noticed until after Van
Damme's death. All Of the heirs unite in
petition to the Probate Court that the will
signed by Mrs. Van Damme be admitted to
probate as the VIII Of her late husband. The
amount Of Van Damme's property Is about
$4,000,
THE wives and families of the Peruvian
army always travel with them like the squaws
and papooses of the North American Indian.
In camp the women do the cooking; on the
march they carry on their backs and heads a
great part Of the camp equipage, and in battle
they nurse the wounded and rob the dead.
They are poor, miserable, degraded creatures.
Just one degree above the dogs which follow
at their heels. Their powers Of endurance are
extraordinary. Often IL is the case that they
will march twenty or thirty miles day over
dusty roads, carrying a child on their backs,
without water or food. When the latter is
scarce they eat the leaves OF trees which. when
mixed with lime. are said to be very palatable
and nouTishng. Each soldier and each woman
carries little bag OF lime around his neck,
into which he dips his wet finger and draws
out a foW grains Of powder TO leaven the lump
OF leaves nc is constantly chewing.
LIGNuM WIFE stands first among our native
woods in power to resist 'indentation," which
means in the census tests compression in a
line perpendicular TO the 1bre. punch one
centimetre square was used and the force re-
quired 10 press this into the wood to a depth
Of q millimetres was recorded. with lg-
mum vtW tins force was 7g3 Kilograms. The
next 10 species arranged in order of their
power OF resistance. belong. as does the first.
10 semi tropical Florida, and the frat wood on
the list which is commonly known in the Mid
die states Is the persimmOn, ranking No. 32.
The hardness Of persimmon wood as com
pared with lignum VITA, however, is only as
32i 10 1913. OHaRe orange offers resistance of
mi q q ahu arb Htglr