The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-19
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

THE longest canal in the world ia the one
which extends from the frontier OF China to st.
| Petersburg. It measures in all 4472 miles.
Another canal running from Astrskhsn to st.
| Petersburg is 1,434 miles long. Both OF these
| were begun by Peter the Great.
| IT is said that in the search for the body Of
a boy drowned near Springfield, ILL.,, lately, the
searchers tied up loaf of rye bread in the lost
boys shirt, and sent it adrift in the water above
| the place where the lad was drowned, the theory
being that the loaf would float until In the near
| vicinity of the body The package was placed
in the stream, and foated until it reached a GER
| tain point, when it began clrcling round and
| suddenly sank IL is claimed that the body was
| found within few feet of the spot.
JOSIAH PENDER of Edgecombe county North
Carolina died during the war. A short time before
he died he was in the West Indies and from there
he sent his wife three drafts of G100 each on the
| Bank of England These were received. but
there being no communication with Great
Britain they were put away and finally for
gotten. The Tarboro SoLtherner says while
Mrs. Fender was hauling over the contents OF
an old trunk a few days ago she came across
these three checks At first she vas disposed to
regard them as worthless paper, except that
they contained the writing of her husband,
but on second thought she determined to as
certain their value So the drafts were IN
[ dorsed and sent through the Pamlico Bank for
objection.
SOME instructive figures have been given In a
recent comparison OF the average percentage of
fires caused by lamps and by electricity in the
United States and San Francisco respectively.
In the United States lamps caused 61.24 per
cent. and electricity "a per cent. OF all the fires
caused by artificial luminaats, while in San
Francisco these figures stand 6a.09 per cent.
and 40 per cent. respectively. In the United
States gas causes an annual average of over
22 per cent Of the fires due to artificial lighting
and candies cause less than per cent, which
indicates that gas ranks next to lamps as fire
producer. For some local reason yet to be ex-
nained the conditions changed In San Eran-
cisco, where candles lead gas in having 21'per
cent. to 10 per cent. for the last named lumi-
nant
A MONKEY capable OF enjoying a stroll along
the streets of London is already 80 much akin
TO human being that to steal 1t seems like
case OF kidnapping says the London Telegraph.
AT the West London police court an omnibus
driver was arraigned for this heinous ofrense,
and was discharged without the slightest stain
OF monkey stealing on his character, for, Al
though there was no doubt that he had sold The
animal for 6s, there nothing at all to show
| that he had not found it wandering at large.
The apes owner was sailor, lately returned
! from the far east and now resident 10 Chiswick,
and his father had. with his permission, taken
| the monkey out for stroll" Upon being asked
| where he had taken it to, the father replied
| that he had taken it to his club" the name of
the latter establishment being the Rose and
| Crown. Either the simian was clever enough
| to slip his collar, or some sportive person cut
his lead and Off he scutted in pursuit of liberty.
| IL 10 pleasant to know that the gallant tar who
! took all the trouble to import the creature has
| regained him, so this monkey, at any rate, does
| not deserve the title of the missing link"
THE death in Puebla, Mexico, few years ago,
of Maj E. V. Wilkes put an end to a career of
| extraordinary vcissitudes-a career that ranged
| 10 a few months from a tramps lodgings to the
| management of great iron industry and hal
| Cyon days OF splendor and wealth. Previous to
his arrival in Kansas City, in 1873. he had been
| soldier in the confederate army, a valued at
tache of the cars secret service at time when
| he enjoyed the confidence of high Russian Off
| Gals and later traveller of leisure through
| Europe, where he learned to speak fiuently the
French, German, Spanish and Russian Ian
| guages. He appeared next as q post-trader
| among the Sioux and reached Kansas City In q
box car penniless but full of schemes. year
| later the major was rolling on a high tide of
prosperity, the bosom friend of capitalists with
| q fine house, handsome wife, carriages, coach
men, troops of acquaintance and all the trap
| pings of luxury Then the major passed out Of
| view one night with a cloud on his name, TO re-
| Oajaca, Mexico, with wages of 80 cents a day
| Again fortune smiled on him, aud his portly fiR-
| ure was clad once more IN broadcloth. but death
| claimed him before he could realize the full
| fruits of his new plans.
THE queerest country ever saw" said ST.
mon AsEins. for twenty-eight years a soldier on
the American frontier TO San Francisco Err
Gmtner writer, sis that Immediately about Dry
Lake in Lassen county. was a sergeant there
| under Gen. Wheaton during the Modoc war.
| Dry Lake usually has no water in it at all 1t
\ is almost an arid plain, with some alkali scat
! tered here and there over it. and its area IL
| about two and half by four miles. On one
| side are the Pit River mountains and on another
/ are big pine woods, while to the west the
! famous lava beds in which the Indians hid
| during th at last great California struggle with
| the savage5 Well, a winding road leads up
| from the valley below into the curious basin
| II q horse walks on this road apywhereN even
/ two are three miles outside the border of the
Dry Lake, he can be heard for many and many
miles up in the interior. The ground all about
| there sends forth hollow sound. Reverbera-
| tons can be heard everywhere. Whether
there are any caves or lost rivers there Cannot
| say, but though l have been almost every
where on the frontier l never found
\ anything like it. football may
| be heard like sound in great cavern. Many
| a night when, as a soldier on duty, antici-
pated an attack from the Indians or the arrival
| of couriers or supplies. have put my ear to
| the ground. II a horse was moving about any,
where within miles he could at once easily be
detected. This enabled us to put ourselves in
an attitude Of defense 1t is q great gallery, a
whispering gallery it may DC called, where the
acoustics are SO perfect that anything said is
| published to the world All the country about
there has ears Even the cav of a crow or the
notes of a songster take on a weird sound. In
| the Indian fighting days we were very cautious
how we moved about there, for the sound Of
our movements was carried all through tho lava
| beds, where Steamboat Charley. Capt Jack
Shacknasty Jim and their bloody hordes we've
secreted. know OF only one thing that could
have moved about there barring a bird on the
wing, without making noise. and that possibly
| would be a bicycle with its wheels rendered
| noiseless by thick rubber bands have never
visited il since the end Of the struggle but am
| sure that some day it must attract great at