Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

l a third per pound. II makes no dlterence 10
these purchasers how old the bread Is, so long
as It Is not moldy.
A CURIOUS historical document concerning
Panama canal exists IN the archives of
Venezuela, bearing the date of 1880. 1t re-
cords that a canal project was preached in
the reign of Phillip H., and Flemish engineers
surveyed the territory and declared the OBJ
stacLes to be not insurmountable.
~ report for 1884 Of deaths in England
and Scotland from anesthesia nine deaths are
recorded as due to chloroform, three TO a mix
ture of chloroform ana ether, and six to
ether alone. The deaths from choroiorm
took place during slight operations, the pa
tents being comparatively healthy.
DIR. CHIBRET, French oculist, reports to
the Academic de Medicine, that having been
obliged to remove diseased eye from young
girl he replaced it with one taken from
rabbit. At the time of his statement four
teen days has elapsed, ana the eye had re-
tanned its vitality, and was doing well.
DIR. SINCLAIR THOMPSON writes from the
Egyptian sulphur springs of Helwan that re-
cent excavations show that the ancient Egyp-
tan, were in the habit of taking medicinal
baths. He finds that the excellence OF their
public health ceased as soon as bathing teu
into disuse. Helwan is said to be the only spa
which is available throughout the year.
A HIGHLY patriotic citizen of Nacaville,
Cal, who detests the heather Chinese, re
Gently refused to sell a native of the Celestial
! Empire a lot for s. goo, but sold it to an es-
! teemed Yankee friend for $500. With an eye
/ TO business the esteemed Yankee sold II to the
| heather and pOCketed a profit of $500, and the
| patriotic citizen now has CHINESE Washee"
| sign foatinG next door,
TIE first mission of the American board
was established in Japan only sixteen years
/ ago, and there are now in that country 100
| Protestant churches with 5000 members.
/ These churches are mainly self-suppOrtlng
! and missionary work Is carried on chiefly
! through native preachers and teachers. The
| government now favOrs Protestant Chris
| tianty, ana encourages theological training
! schools.
A NOVEL DODGE to defraud the government
has Just been discovered by the Internal
| Revenue Bureau-a barrel so constructed
! that the stave Immediately about the bung
/ and the corresponding stave on the opposite
side OF the barrel were of unusual thickness,
/ thus giving q smaller diameter when the
/ gauger measures the vessel. Thanks to this
! device, about two gallons of every barrel es-
| capped the tax.
! AMONG the native industries of the Ningpo
| hills, China, is placer mining for iron. The
! iron occurs in the form of black sand depOs
tied by the action of water at the foot of a
rugged and precipitous hill. 1t is washed in
| the nelghboring stream, frothy, pink scum
/ escaping during the operation. IT. Is then
| thrown into small mud furnaces, erected here
| and there among the trees, whence 1t issues
! IN rough dirty slabs, which are sent elsewhere
! to be refined.
THE Italian artillery Of to-day dates from
1 the fusion in 1860 of the Piedmontese. Tus-
can and Neapolitan artilleries. 1t consists
of twelve regiments of field artillery, five
regiments Of fortress and coast artillery, five
| companies Of wOrkmen and one of veterans.
/ The mobile militia number thirteen brigades
/ Of field artillery, thirty-twO companies Of
! fortress and coast artillery, and four noun
! tain batteries; the territorial militia, 100
/ companies of fortress artillery. In addition to
! their numerical designation, the cavalry reg
1 lments bear the names of the cities or prOvln-
ces from which they come: First, Nice; sec
| Ond, Piedmont; third, Savoy; fourth, Genoa.
THE pipes by which petroleum is trans
/ ported from the oil regions to the seaboard are
cleaned by means of a stem two and half
| feet long, having at its front end a diaphragm
made of wings, which can fold on each other,
/ and thus enable II to pass an obstruction 1t
| cannot remove. This machine carries a set of
| steel scrapers, somewhat like those used in
| cleaning boilers. 1t IS put into the pipes and
| propelled by the pressure transmitted from
| the pumps from one station to another. Re
/ lays Of men follow the scraper by the noise it
/ makes IN its progress one party taking up the
| pursuit as the other is exhausted. They must
not let it get out of their hearing, for if it
/ stops unuOtlced its location can only be estab-
| lshed by cutting the pipe.
THERE seems to be wide difference of
opinion concerning the cost of the steamship
Great Eastern, and her size as compared to
Noah's Ark. The cost of building and launch
ing the Great Eastern was 50 $500 and this
broke the original company. new COM
pdny was formed which spent 100000 in fit
ting and furnishing her. Then this company
| failed and new company was organized
| with capital of $500. 900. A the close of 1889
| this company sunk fS6,7l5 upon the vessel.
| thus making her total cost 81, 703,575. Nothing
| ever built can stand comparison with the
| Great Eastern excepting Noah's Ark, and even
4 this vessel could not match her. The length
| Of the Ark was 300 cubits, her breadth 30 Gu
bite and her height 30 cubits. The cubit Of the
Scriptures, according to Bishop wilkins,
was 2l.65 inches, and computed into
| English measurement, the Ark was
| 5i7 feet long, 81 feet beam, 81 7-l0 feet depth,
| and q 1852 tons. The Great Eastern is $50 feet
| long, SO feet beam, SO feet depth and 2S ,09S
| tons measurement. SO Noah's Ark is quite
! Overshadowed by the Great Eastern.
TIE petrifed snake spoken of by the New
York papers as having been found in a sand
stone rock Just laid down in a new walk built
from Front street to the river attracts a
great deal Of attention. The petrifaction is
not in the stone. but on it. and the reptile
seems to have been instantly killed while IN
motion, as the body presents all the graceful
curves Of movement The snake, in life, was
about sixteen inches long. Some three or four
inches of the tail have been broken OF. The
head and proportions Of the body are perfect,
| although the stone cutter, in his anxiety Ia
make il look nice, did some chiseling around
| it which had better been omitted. There are
all kinds Of theories ss TO how the snake got
fast on the surface of the rock. and died there
so suddenly. a thin stratum of sandstone
| overlaid that containing the snake, with a
| slight deposit of clay between the two. The
snake seems 10 have been moving in what was
once bed of sandy mud and afterward be-
came stone. IL probably was killed By light
above IL were the result OF subsequent over
low.
DETAILED ACCOUNTS are given in the Ber-
lin and Paris papers of a monster movable
globe, made of copper. the work OF a blind
clockmaker. and on the construction Of which
Il years were spent. The globe represents
the EARTH and, like IL turns on its own axis
| by means OF mechanism, an artificial moon
1 moves round the el0he in - days and siX
| hours, while movable metal band on which
/ the hours are marked, indicates the mean
time in the different parts OF the earth.
| Round the upper portion Of this immense
/ globe. which weighs ton and a half, and
whose surface measures l26 feet in diameter
/ spins "a railrOa4 car CAPABLE Of holding Sin
| persons. and which serves TO give a better
| view Of the regions Of the north pole. The
painting Of the globe is done in oil, and ne
cessitated the employment Of two men during
/ an entire year. The sun IA Represented hy AN
.s.N