The morning news., 1892-03-27
ITEMS OF INTR BEST.

uuGritlouS 1000 Inat we possess ana even as
representative and ideal one-exceIlent not
only for children FURNISHING as it does every
element necessary to the growth Of the body)
but most valuable also for persons OF every age.
RIGHT at Durango City. Mexico, is one OF the
most wonderful and extensive iron deposits In
the world. the Sierra Mercada," said to be al
most mountain of iron. The ore OF this
famous mountain is said to be magnetic (mak-
netiteJ and absolutely free from phosphorus,
and hence especially adapted TO steel manu-
facture by the Bessemer process. This prop
erty is now owned by United States corpora
ton.
THERE are no great wooden factories In Egypt,
but the looms are scattered in small numbers
over the country. According to Felix Mengin,
IN his ''Histoire Sommaire de rEgypte. 1928
'SS, published in 1889. there were in Egypt in
1888 1000 looms for weaving wooden stuffs
These stuffs were used to dress the feiiahs and
the sailors and for bed covers, etc. The coarse
woos of Upper Egypt were chiefly used for
those purposes, not being suitable for any other
use.
THERE are no laws against child labor in
China. They begin to work as soon as they
walk. A boy or girl at years OF age will carry
the baby piggy back" half an hour at time
and mind it from dawn till dusk. They also
hunt up the pig when be is lost, lead tho water
buffalo or tend a herd OF sheep with almost the
same success as a grown man. They work in
the gardens, bring water from the wells, destroy
locusts, caterpillars and slugs pull out the
cellent horticulturists in miniature.
THE mining and fusing of sulphur ore in
Sicily has been carried on for a great many
years. but from lack Of enterprise and for want
of outside capital, which cannot be induced to
invest in any enterprise on the island, the
mining and fusing is still carried on the most
primitive fashion. In the majority OF mines
machinery is unknown, and in the larger and
more valuable ones only pumps and hoisting
apparatus is used Hand labor is universal, and
Nhf and NlsN
rying in baskets on the head the mineral from
the mine TO the surface.
TIE best boxwood comes from the Caucasus
hitherto Turkish territory, but taken by Russia
Since 1872 some of the forests have been closed
and others denuded Of the tree. At that time
US72), in Persia, a wood was discovered sim liar
TO the Turkish or Abasian lockwood, and as
much as 5000 tons have, in some years. been
imported from that country; but, owing to the
exhaustion OF the forests near the coasts and
the increased cost due to scarcity and longer
land carriage, the price is now almost beyond
reach, except for the engraver, for whose use,
it Is affirmed, there is no substitute yet discov-
cred.
THE different nations Of the world both an.
cient and modern, have employed various sym
bols to represent the fires that fash from the
thunder-clouds. The Chaldeans symbolized IL
with trident; the learned Babylonians used
human arm for the same purpose. The bas-
reliefs OF Nimrod and Malthia the work of la or
and more refined Assyrian artists, show the
trident doubled or transformed into trifd
fascicle. This triumph of the classic art Sc
srS symbol AO the W advantage vantage eSUIo'Aan oveT all
other representations of the thunder
bolt The Greeks represented the storm-dre
when they had begun the use st Of the % Asiatic
form Of the symbol, they put It in the claws of
an eagle and made it the scepter of Zeus. Gaul
,, altered it to the familiar two-headed hammer
seen on the Gallo-Roman monuments. The
same symbol is seen on amulets found in Ger
many, Scandinavia and Brittany.
WIEN a chief is about to be crowned king
paramount of the Swat nation, q warrior
(cslled an impD is sent out to hunt for q lion,
tiger, a buffalo and large snake. This. be-
! cause part OF the ceremony at the coronation
consists of the king eating portions of the
hearts Of the three animals. the oil Of the snake
| only being used. The medicine man rubs the
oil on the breast, temples and between the
shoulders of the king, this TO prevent him being
bewitched. The animal hearts are supposed
| to act on the liver and make his ROYAL majesty
brave indeed. During the ceremony
the king sits upon the skull of the buffalo,
which has been placed upon the ground In the
heart of the village. The exercises last three
days. On the first he is clothed only in the skin
OF the lion; on the second, in the skin OF the
tiger. while the third the skull is in The CEN
ter Of the buffalo's skin and mounted by the
king, who is perfectly naked. In this situation
he receives the congratulations OF his people
who hail him as Great Lion, Great Tiger"
slayer or SerpentS and Rider OF the Buff
falo." By the above titles he is ever after
known TO his people.
THERE are many odd and curious specimens
Of Botanical rarities in the government botani-
cal gardens at Washington None, however
attract more attention than that remarkable
Oriental oddity, the barber plant" 1t was not
given It's odd name, as some might suppose, be-
cause its leaves are like razors or its sap like
lather. Neither will its inner bark make splendid
towels las is said of the vegetable cloth" tree)
or its seeds make razor homes. 1t is simply
called the barber plant because the Juices or
either the leaves or fruit applied to the face
prevents the beard from growing. Mr.. DAVIS
says that this does not apply to cases where the
beard has taken root, but that it may be applied
with perfect safety by boys VINO desire to
keep the hair on their faces from getting a
! start. Another oddity pointed out to the inter
| ested visitor at the government gardens is the
so-called cruel plant" which belongs to the
| "hytrap" order. This vegetable Nero kills lust
| for the pleasure of being a murderer The
| leaves OF the cruel plant exude an intoxicaf ing
honey, which regularly attracts flies, bees, but
| terfiies and other busy little hutterers. The
slightest touch Of these little creatures causes
the leaf to close in the real fiytrap fashion
squeezing the intruder out of all semblance of
an insect. AS soon as death stops the struggles
of the insect and the irritation ceases the leaf
slowly opens. drops the mangled remains to the
floor and automatically sets itself for another