The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-28
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

|
IT IS CALCULATED that there are over 200. 900
lepers in British India the minority of whom
have places in almshouses and asylums, the
Others roaming over the country and SubSiStlng
| on charity.
ONE COLLINS DEATH, which occurred lately in
Vernon county, Missouri, is said to have been
the result of voluntary fast of forty two days.
| He was a victim of Bright's disease, and
looked forward to death as a relief from great
| suffering
| EXPERIMENTS have been made in Berlin with
India rubber pavement. 1t is said to be very
durable, of course noiseless, and unaffected by
| heat or cold. As a covering for bridges it is
| said to have peculiar merits, its elasticity pre-
venting vibration.
PRESIDENT TAYLOR, of Vassar. appeals to the
friends of the college to contribute the $4,000
which makes secure the 500, 900 conditionally
guaranteed the college for fund for the pay
| ment OF teachers: By the terms of the largest
subscription he has only until Jan. to get the
| sum.
CONTAGIOUS FORM of sore throat has broken
out among the Mexican children of Bernalillo
county, New Mexico and it is said that 200
deaths have occurred in the past few weeks.
| In some villages it RACES to an alarming ex-
| tent. Only a few deaths have occurred in
American families.
HIRAM BLoDGETr of Brooksville, Me-, tied his
boy. playing about, became tangled in the rope
the COW became frightened, broke away, and
ran quarter of mile. dragging the boy after
her. neighbor, by the aid of his dog, stopped
the COW and released the child, but he was so
badly injured that he soon died.
THE only blacksmith in Mohawk, Ari, had
son born to him recently. Although work was
rushing he refused to fill orders, and put in the
whole time making baby carriage Mean
while the town was filed with teamsters anxious
to have their wagons put in order, but the
happy father was master of the situation, and
no inducements could prevent his labor for the
baby.
AT recent meeting of the American Orni-
biologists Union, Ernest E. Thompson of Can
ada said that some birds, especially sparrows,
have ventriloquial powers. Birds, when sur
prlsed in the act of singing, will be silent for
moment, and then give forth faint song that
seems to come from distance, though the
singer be not farther than 10 feet away.
Thrushes and robins, the lecturer said, also
have this power.
A YOUNG LITCHFIELp, CONN COUPLE on their
way to the parsons to be married we're con-
fronted with a torrent so deep and swift that
their horse could not be induced to attempt the
passage. But the hardy long-legged groom
was not to be daunted or turned from his
purpose. Leaving his team in charge of friends,
het took his blushing brideelect on his broad back
and half wading and half swimming reached
the other side in safety, when the happy pair,
hand in hand, continued their journey as
though nothing unusual had occurred.
MASSACHUSETTS has a characteristic society,
whose headquarters are of course, in Boston,
and its name is the Massachusetts, Society for
Promo.i ing Good Citizenship" 1t proposes a
course of lectures this winter. Edward Everett
Hale, the president of the society, will begin
with an address on Possible Boston" Other
eminent men will talk about THE Rise of
American Cities" Boston Under the Town
limo of f1o 1Tllar
City Government in England" "City Govern
menC in Germany Josiah Quincy, the Great
Mayor - and THE True School Board"
How derelct drifts has as an interesting
example in the Norwegian bark Telemach, that
was abandoned at sea on Oct. Is, 1887, $50 miles
southwest of the Azores, latitude go north,
longltued 39o west. Two months and twelve
days after being abandoned she was sighted ia
latitude 80 IL north. longitude $50 2O west
having drifted $50 miles south southwest. She
was last reported on Oct IS of this year In the
neighborhood of the Bermudas, having in the
year and two days since she was abandoned
drifted about $500 miles. At last accounts she
had nothing standing but her mzzenmast and
her deck was even with the water. She Las been
reported six times during the year.
THE NEW NOTES which the Bank of France is
about to issue will be in two colors-blue and
pink-and SO blended as to produce general
tint approaching violet. 1t is believed at the
bank that these notes are inimitable, except at
an expenditure of time and money that would
effectually check enterprise in that direction
The new so and 100 franc notes are now being
printed, and those of SEQ and 1000 francs will
soon leave the engravers' hands. The new notes
have been produced in a twentieth part of the
time spent on those which are now to be gradu-
ally withdrawn from circulation. NJ. Barre was
three years engaged upon the model of the
present 1,OOOfranc note, and that Of the 100
franc was five years in the artists hands.
A CENSUS of the illiterates in the various
countries of the world, recently published in the
StGtistiche Monattschrift, places the three
Sclavic states of Roumania Servia and Russia
at the head Of the list, with about 80 per cent.
If the population unable to read and write. OF
the Latin-speaking races Spain heads the list
with 63 per cent, followed by Italy with 4S per
cent, France and Belgium having about Is per
cent. The illiterates in Hungary number 43 per
cent, in Austria 80, and in Ireland q. In Eng
land we find ID per cent, Holland 10 per cent.
United States white population) per cent
and Scotland per cent, unable to read and
write. When we come to the purely Teutonc
states we find marked reduction in the per-
centage of illiterates The highest is in Switzer-
land, rs; in the whole German empire it is but
per cent; in Sweden. Denmark, Bavaria,
Baden and Wurtemberg there is practically no
one who cannot read and write.
MRS. ANNE w. RYERss, who died in Phiadel.
phia in 1885, bequeathed the sum of $50, 900 to
provide hospital for ill, aged and injured ami
mails. She also directed that the sum of $40, 900
be placed with q safety deposit company and
The interest therefrom used for the support of
the institution. She appointed president and
officers to run the concern, and buildings are
now being erected with a view to CARRYING out
her wishes. IL is to be called THE Ryerss In
Urinary for Dumb Animals and it is to be
operated in connection with the PENNSYLVANIA
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ami
mails The officers have been having a series of
conferences as to how the will should be carried
out. Whether cats and other animals will be
admitted has not yet been decided. 1t has been
agreed, however, that first of all horses of
carriers and team sters, and Others too poor to
shelter and feed their stock, should be received
and cared for 1t Is said that there is not an
other like institution in the world.
A WOMAN who lived near Halifax, Pa, died
shortly after having thirteen teeth extracted.
She suffered greatly from toothache and her
husband becoming exasperated by her frequent
complaints Of pain, threatened to leave home
unless she had the troublesome molars removed.
She was OF an extremely nervous temperament
and after much hesitancy went to the dentists
but tainted before getting into the chair
Eventually the extracting began, aud after
two teeth had been drawn she pulled yio-
lently to escape the dentists operation. II,
was necessary to have thirteen te tn removed
and the husband determined not to permit his
wife to leave the chair until every one had been
taken out. To make the work easier for the
dentist the husband held his wife's head and
arms 80 that she could not move, and the work
continued until all the teeth had been extracted
BY this time the woman was exhausted aud I'M
able TO rise from the chair. The two men
realized that she was in a dangerous condition
m.ssNk l....a H.