The morning news., 1892-02-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

THE microscope has revealed many wonders,
among others that the common caterpillar
has 1000 muscles in bis BODY; that the drone
bees eyes each contain 1 300 mirrors, and that
the large, prominent eyes Of the brilliant dragon
flies are each furnished with $4,000 polished
lenses.
In A catalogue Of Mexican meteorites pre-
pared by NJ. Antonio del Castillo one mass Is
mentioned which exploded in the air aud fell In
widely dispersed fragments, portions of It being
found In three places at the angles of triangle
whose two longer sides were some ffty-dve and
thirty-five miles In length. In one of these
places two plates of stone were discovered.
lying about $50 yards apart, which had
evidently once formed one huge block. Measure
ments and estimations place the combined
weight OF the two blocks at eighty tons. In
this one shower Of moon stones +" according to
NJ. del Castillo's paper, not less than 5000 tons
of rocks fell
A HOTEL recently built on the top of Pixies
Peak. at hight of .4l47 feet above the sea
level, has been frequently referred to lately as
being the highest inhabited point in the world.
Although the new resort is unique in many
ways, 1t has not the particular distinction here
mentioned. The village of Galeria. in Peru,
Is, ,635 feet above the sea, has long laid claim
to being the highest inhabited spot on earth.
But Mr.. Arthur F. Pearce. an engineer who
has been prospecting and making meteoro-
logical observations in the Andes. has found
two mining camps that are even higher than
Gaera. These places are Vicharrayac, which
as 1880 feet above sea level, and Muscapata,
1t an altitude of 16 15S feet Each place has a
population of about 200 miners the year round.
The Peruvian Andes have good many high
things of interest besides human habitaton.
Galera exists mainly because of the Galera tuu-
mel of the Parana Oroya railroad OF Peru, whicn
pierces the mountain at that place. the summit
of the road. But this railroad will be surpassed
by narrow gauge railroad which is now being
built to connect with 1t. This road will attain
an altitude of $3.50 feet at its highest point.
There are five mining camps near Galera, all
belonging to one concern, which are connected
by telephone lines which are probably the high
est telephone lines in the world. The lines pass
over two SUBMITS of more than 1000 feet each.
and the mean hight of the lines is over $1,000
feet.
A VAST amount has been written about the
submissiveness of oriental wives. and few ex-
ceptions to the rule of passive endurance among
them are noted. A short time ago. however,
oriental wife beater was punished by his VIC
tim in an appalling manner. Mahmud Khan,
with his favorlte wives, Ayama and Khairnasha,
was on his way TO Mecca. One night. between
Bolan and Sindh, his tent was pitched opposite
that of a German tourist who observed what
transpired within and thus was able to reveal
the motive in a subsequent tragedy. At bed
time Madhmud Kahn threw himself on his couch
and called in Ayama to give him the
usual rubbing Ayama, however. failed &c
treat her lord to his satisfaction, and snatchng
piece OF wood from the ground, he struck her
a savage blow on the back. The young girl
hardly 10 years old, started under the blow, and
to the surprise of the watching tourist, made
slight, almost imperceptbe. movement, as il
to return it, as she set her teeth ard Klowered
at the ground. Mahmud Khan evidently re-
marked neither the look nor the movement, for
he rolled over and went to sleep while the in
jured Ayam stole away. The little cara
van moved on the next day, and in due
time arrived at Jecobaba whence NAH
mud Khan and his two wives set out for the
last part of their }urney before embarking
Their wa! TO tne next city led through dense
fNFgN hau 10fn KhntaK
asha returned to JacobabSd alone. Tney
behaved strangely, and gave contradictory and
confused answers to all inquiries after Nah
mud Kahn. They were detained aud a search
was made for their master. He was found
naked and tied to tree. At the foot of the
tree was large ant bill, and during the two
days of confinement the ants had eaten much
OF the nesh OH Mahmud kahn's bones. He was
dying when found, but was able TO explain that
his wives had drugged him, tied him while un
conscious to the tree. smeared his body with
wet sugar to attract the ants, and after stir
ring up the ant hill left him to die. Mahmud
Khan lived but three days after the rescue
Ayama and khRirnasha were condemned to
hard labor for life, but hanged themselves i'm
mediately.
The EFFECT of the suns rays is at max
imum In the equatorial regions. where they
fall nearly vertically upon the earth throughout
the year, says Goldthndits's Geographical
Magazine. Here the air is constantly heated to
higher degree than elsewhere, and here it
constantly ascendS, drawing in the adjoining
air from the colder regions north and south in
two great surface currents. The impulse of
this drauEth IS felt two thousand miles away; ;
and across ali the intervening distance, the
trade winds sweep toward the belt of Gains If
the draught created by the upward flow near
the equator were the only force involved, the
wind would blow from north and south instead
or from northeast and southeast. But
the whole atmosphere is in revolu-
tion with The earth from west to east; and at
any given point, with the velocity of the earth
a. that point This velocity, in any latitude
north or SOUTH is less than at the equator, since
the circumference of the earth is ess, and,
therefore, the distance through which O point
on its surface passes In a given time. Thus
while point at the equator moves through
"a coo miles in a day, point on the parallel OF
go moves through only half that distance Tho
trade winds begin at about the thirtieth
parallel OF latitudes. AT the instant
tude yields to the impulse that draws it toward
the equator, it is already In motion to the
eastward, but with q velocity less than that of
any part of the earth's surface over which it
has to pass in its Journey to the belt OF cams.
Hence, as it moves south or north toward this
belt, it is constantly tagging behind. The earth
whirlS past beneath it TO the eastward, giving
to the air an apparent motion to the west The
effect of this feature is less marked as tie
equator is approached, because here the paral-
lels are more nearly of the same length. Thus
at the end of their course the trades blow
nearly due north aud south, and whore they
meet, neutralize each other, producing the belt
of calms that has been referred to. This belt
has an average breadth OF six degrees OF lati-
tude, but is so variable that at times it seems
to be wiped out entirely IL is not unusual for
ship that has lain becalmed there for days Co
see another coming up to her with every sail
filled by the trade wind, which now suddenly
sweeps across until it actually mingles with
the opposite trade. the shift from one to tae
other coming almost instantaneousy in a
violent but short-lived sQuall. Nor Is the calm
belt constant in position. 1t changes with the
changing seasons. sweeping north and south
with the sun, and carrying the whole trade