The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-02-26
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


growth in the human species has bsen noted in
France by member Of the French Academy Of
Science, and reported by him in the annals Of
that institution, The subject herein mentioned
was a lad OF about years OF age when I first
saw him; but his tender years notwithstanding
he measured feet inches anS 1 lines high.
his people had observed his marvellous growth
when he was only years Of age. At 4 be was
able TO Lift and carry oushel OF wheat and to
throw rhe bundles Of hay (6S pounds to the four
horses each night; and at he could Lift as much
as sturdy fellow of 20. But although he thus
increased 10 bodily strength, bis understanding
was no greater than is usual with childrea OF his
age; playthings were also his fsvorite amuse
mentS-"
TIE BIRD called the ''deviIb:rd OF La
Souffriere" by both Labat and Dutertre, has
webbed feet like duck or goose aud claws
ike bird Of prey, a sharp ana curved bin, and
large eyes which cannot bear the light of day.
When surprised in the daytime at a distance
from its nest it viii run fly against every
thing in its way. Father Dutertre, In his de-
scription OF Guadeloupe, where the volcano of
La Souffriere is situated, says that the natives
call the bird by name which means devil"
and that they do so on account of a popular
belief among them that the bird nests in the
very crater Of the VOLCANOES at place inaccessi-
Ole to man, among the melting lava and
suphurous fumes. Father Dutertre finishes his
account of the devil bird in these words: Here
we have bird Of wonderful and surprising
ingenuity, which fishes by the light of volcano
and matches its eggs by the warmth of It's gas
eous discharges"
FEW PEOPLE, says a naval officer "appre-
ciate the tremendous power Of the blast caused
by firing big gun on board of ship An ex
ample OF its effect seen in some recent
trials 10 firing of the 67-ton gun of the new
oattleship Trafalgar, considered one of the
three or four finest vessels in the British navy.
The gun was pointed directly ahead aud fired
with a charge of $50 pounds Of slow burning
powder and $50 pound projectile The blast
produced by the rush of the powder gas and the
shot was SO tremendous that the plates of the
forecastle were forced in and the deck beams
we're bent out Of shape, while almost every
| round carried away some fragment of the pro-
| jecting portions of the ship, even when the
training was to the right or the left 1t is esti-
mated that the vessel would be reduced to some
| thing very like a wreck were twenty five rounds
| to be fired, either directly ahead or directly
astern. This interferes with or renders Impos-
| sible firing when either in flight or chase, and
has caused our naval contractors to modify
the plans for the projected battleships, as il is
not deemed desirable to have them sink from
| the discharge OF their own guns"
| YEARS AGO, away back in the early seventies,
one of the leading families of North Davenport,
Ia, were possessed of an only daughter fair of
form and face, whom they had betrothed TO a
young gentleman of good family living in the
| neighboring city of Dubuque (all names being
| withheld out OF consideration for these good
people, who still reside in the cities named)
Everything was arranged for a speedy marriage
OF the young pair, when the happy prospective
| bride took sick and died The grief OF the Young
man was dryeyed but terrible when he saw his
| loved one arrayed for the bridal of death in
| stead of a union with himself He followed the
| remains to the Oakdale cemetery returning
| home in an distracted sort of manner only to
| be stricken with nervous fever the same night
| Then peculiar hallucination took possession
| OF his fevered brain-he believed the lost one to
| be present with him in the room. His parents
gently but vainly demonstrated with him vet
| he would talk to her that should have been his
| bride, describing her dress and appearance to
| those attending him in his delirium even
though others would sit or stand where he de-
| clared her to be. Finding that he was rapidly
| sinking under this peculiar delusion, it was de-
clded to array young lady in clothes that
| were an exact counterpart of those in which
the bride-elect had been buried. and which were
the same the young man declared we're worn
| by her when she visited him in the spirit
| While he was sleeping this we'll meaning coun-
| terfett took her station in the room, anxiously
| awaiting the outcome. When he did awake he
turned his eyes to the spot, flung his arms aloft
aud shrieked in an unearthly voice, my God,
| there are two of theml" Gasping which he fell
| back and expired.
| THERE has always been tradition Il say
| always, because no scholar, no odds how pro
found, has ever been able to trace it to its origi-
| nal source) among the Africans that the first
| man God created was a black man. and that the
scare he and his consort received when God
called upon them to know why they were in
/ hiding, after they had eaten of the forbidden
| fruit caused them to turn pale with sheer
| fright How much of basis OF truth there is
| for this curious belief it would be hard TO tell,
| X,
| cade, added to rather than taken from the origi-
nal tradition. The earliest memorial tablets found
| by the late George Smith in Palestine and other
parts OF the Orient give the tradition high
lets, which has been deposited in the British
| museum In class *, No. 1884, gives an &C.
count of the creation of man by the god Mirku,
| or Noble Crown, and runs as follows: ITO
| fear them (the godS) he made man; the breath
| Of life was in him. Nav he (the god Mir-ku) be
esta eiished, and may his will not fail in the
| mi NJ f}fTrE rnaoxu Ai.aL
made" The italics are by the editor OF "Notes
| for the Curious the words in parentheses by
| Moncure ID. Conway, whohas made close ex-
| animation of the inscriptions. The above, says
| the St. Louis Republic, is said to be
| the earliest allusion in existence to the
| Biblical account of creation, and it distinctly
points to the first race being dark and con
| firm what Sir Henry Rawlnson said long ago:
| that is, that the word "Adamn'' adam means
dark ;n race &C. in distinction from ''sarku"
life put forth many ingenious arguments to
| prove that the account Of the sons Of God mar
rying the daughters Of men {Genesis VII simply
| meant that the Sarku were intermarrvine with
| the Adamn people. TO sum the whole matter
| up, was Adam negrop
EARLY IN JANUARY of the present year. says
the St. Louis Republic, woodman engaged in
chopping some Of the monster oaks in the
| northern part of the great BLACK Forest, Ger
| many, and who had built fire against large
| dead log preparatory to partaking of his mid
| day meal, was surprised 10 see serpent of
glantc proportions crawl from the log as soon
| as the rotten wood had got well warmed
| through The day was bitter cold, and the
| snake only msde few yards over the frozen
| ground until his convolutions became smaller
| and smaller, until he finally ceased to wrggle
| and quietly coiled up near large pile of brush
| The sturdy German chopper. who had been
| more surprised than scared, waited until the
| creature had become thoroughly benumbed with
| the cold and then approached and DISPATCHED
| him with his axe. Measurements showed the
| Shiny creature to be q feet inches in length
| and nearly IS inches Though the bodY in The
middle. But the most curious part of the story
| is yet to be told. just back of the immense
head, which was II inches in length and almost
as broad, a little gold ring had bcea put through
the skin. 1t was 10 the form of two rings rather
a figure s One part Of the O ring WAS was
| through the skin while the other
was through hole in a small copper coin bear
| ing date of 17l2. One side of the coin was per-
fectly smooth, with the exception of these let
tiers and figures, which had evidently been cut
| on it with pocket knife, the workmanship be-
ing very rough: Louis Krutzer B. g. O.,
| 49," Some of the older inhabitants of the
| taRlack EOreSff' m as hal