The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-02-06
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

NOT LONG SINCE the people of Achill, or Eagle
Island, lying off the coast OF Ireland, in County
Mayo we're accorded a privilege rare in the
annals OF the human race-nothing less than
the uncommon sight of a stranded devil fish,"
The animal, although visibly shrunken and dis
torted, measured as follows: Length OF ten
tacles, or long arm, so feet each; circumference
OF body, 60 feet; circumference of arm near
body feet each. Only four other instances
OF the appearance OF this strange monster in
British waters have been recorded.
BERNHARDT and the English queen have very
decided ideas on beds and their equipment. The
queen travels always with her own special
sleeping couch among her luggage. Bernhardt
is content with packing about the country her
own bed linen, an eiderdown quilt of pale pink
silk, and great collection of pillows of all
sizes, covered with finest linen, frilled with
lace and deliberately monogramed. They are
the last things to be packed when she starts
the first TO be uupacked when she arrives at her
destination. A man, the husband of her maid,
has charge of all this packing and unpacking,
and is responsible for the costly gowns and
celebrated jewels.
CALIFORNIA will astonish and interest visitors
to the worlds fair in 1898 with TWO elegant
railway cars made entirely from the trunk of a
single tree. The work is In progress, and not
only is the scheme perfectly practicable, but
the trunk must be pared down little to bring
It to the right size for passenger cars 1t is Of
the famous SeQuoia gigantea species, is one Of
the big trees Of Tulare county, and the origina-
tors and managers Of the scheme are Messrs
Doyle Meyers and Bachman, of that county
The tree IS 20 be bored and sawed down, accord
ing to the method in use, precautions being
taken to have it fall 50 as not to splinter; then
out OF the best part of the trunk sections are to
be sawed off the length of passenger oars The
work is then to proceed by making one side fiat
for She bottom, cutting in the doors and win
dowS then boring saving and AIDING out the
interior, rounding the roof, polishing and fin
ishing. The bark and all the part cut out will be
made into souvenirs.
In q letter addressed to 1.-THE Curious Man"
of the st. Louis Republic, ]. S. of $50 Olive
street writes as follows: 81 want to call up the
wheel once more and try and convince you that
you are wrong in regard to the top of wheel
moving faster than the bottom, instantaneous
photography to the contrary notwithstanding
| demonstrated, 20 my own satisfaction at
least, that the theory was wrong by taking my
bicyc and bracing it up about half an inch
from the floor. and then turning the
wheel. Under these circumstances there
could be no difference, yet the top seemed to
turn faster than the bottom. The whole mat
wheel from. If you look a.: the center and
from that point outward. all around, there is no
difference. Viewed from any OF her point tle
opposite point will appear to be going slower.
This is because when you are standing with
your eyes at or nearly e en- with the top of a
wheel-Say foot away from it-you are look
ing trough The spokes in the upper part and
downward along the spokes in the lower part
S'AAASS
pears as II you see more spOkes in the lower
part of the wheel in the same length of time
than you do in the upper"
JOHN SEwEY of the little seaside village of
Noank, Conn, has a wonderful old parrot and is
very proud of it. It is Sc years old, but spry and
handsome yet. Thirty-siX years ago MIR. Sewey
took it out of its nest in thick forest in Mex
leo and brought it north with him on his ship.
1t speaks English as tuently as and rather mo! e
correctly than any one in Noank, and in defer
70 bsa nd mo If
rest of the villagers it always SWears in Span
ish and without raising its vote. 1t listens in
| teliigently to conversation and knows all the
| gossip of the place. It's table manners are it's
most remarkable accomplishment. 1t eats
with the family, sitting at the table in
chair that just fits it, with a napkin
tucked about its neck, and balances itself
| on one foot, holding spoon with the
other claw and feeds itself very neatly with the
| spoon. 1t partakes Of whatever food is on the
| board, but prefers ice cream and other danties.
| III there is Ice cream on the table it must have
some of it at once otherwise the bird will eat
| nothing; after the cream has been served 1t is
ready for the rest of the meal. Aside from its
Crotchet about tackling ice cream before other
food, it ia a we'll behaved bird and its temper is
never ruff1ed. Mr.. Lewey thinks the parrot is
the smartest and finest bird in Connecticut,
, and Polly evidently thinks nobody else is quite
as good as her master. When he is at home
she has little to do with other folks. She Likes
| to stand on his shoulder on one leg with the
other drawn up under his wing, and she COCKS
htI u6du duI ISl6Ds 10 us lhlh VIII a al
| look.
/ HAVE SEEN numerous specimens of our
saurian no longer than an ordinary lead pencil;
this was i'll the season of their Matching, says
writer in the Century. l have also seen q few
| living specimens about i6 feet in length. In
| the autumn Of 1875 / obtained for the late
EfinSham Lawrence member of congress and
commissioner from Louisiana to the centennial
exhibition. the dried skin of an alligator which,
after at least IS inches had been cut from
| the Snout and skull and 10 inches from the end
| of the tail, still measured II feet 10 inches in
| length. Allowing more than 6iuches for shrink
age in drying, this monster of his kind alive
must have measured more than 20 feet. He was
killed in the lower part of Bayou Lafourche
Probably the largest alligator ever seen in
Louisiana was killed in small lake on the plan
tation of H. j. Feltus In Concordia parish Ac-
cording to the statement of Mr.. Feltus, now of
Baton Rouge, this specimen measured 22 feet in
length. The great reptile bad long been famous
for r1ilts around, having destroyed numbers of
hogs and hounds owned in the neighborhood of
his retreat. He had become so wary, from the
mum Der of Intellectual shots fired at him, as to
be almost unapproachable. Finally he fell q
victim TO long shot fired from a Mississippi
rifle in the hands of Mr.. Feltus, who had per
severed in hunting him, having been the great
est loser by his depredatons. The huge car
cass OF this reptile was towed to the bank by a
boat. 1t required the strength of a pair of
mules and a stout rope to haul it ashore, where
the measurement was made with the result
noted above.