The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

OUT at the Junction round house, in a stall all
by itself, at Jacksonville. Mich, all festooned
with cobwebs and covered with dust. stands one
OF the most interesting pieces OF scrap iron" IN
this region. 1t is an old switch engine used by
the Michigan Central company in its yards at
Bay City twenty years ago. The engine proper
ID encased and looks very much like street car
save for its huge proportions. The water tank
is after the saddle" pattern and is directly over
ana ana confronting to the curve OF the boiler.
When In condition the funny locking iron horse
could pull twenty loaded freight cars but,
nevertheless, was considered too light for fur
ther service. II is many moons since there was
steam In the boiler of this relic aud there prob
ably never more will be within its iron stomach
Iron rust like dyspepsia has eaten away and
destroyed its staying qualities. The engine
looks woefully lonesome in its dingy stall.
The NEUROLOGY of the past year will be read
by thousands with mournful interest, says the
New Orleans PicdytGne. In perusing these sad
records the mind unconsciously reverts to the
well known axioms, which tell us that the aver
age human life is span of but 53lA short years.
That one-quarter Of all born die before they
have seen the opening of their seventh year,
those who pass their teens" enjoy
a felicity unknown to one-half the
human species. In every 1000 persons only
reaches the age OF so; In every 100 only 6
reach to or beyond the age of IS and not more
than on an average in 500 lives to be so
years old. There is sail to be upwards of ,000-
100000 human beings on the globe; of these
one-third die every year, 81, S24 every day and
$3.50 every hour. or 60 every minute. Married
men are said to live longer than single ones;
tall men longer than short ones, Women have
more chances of life in their favor previous
to the 5eth year than men have, but fewer
atterward.
BETWEEN two huge rocks In the midst of a
piece of woodland northeast OF Hibernia station,
on the Wilmington and Northern railroad, there
lies gun which, strange as it may seem, has
in its interior sheltered many a rabbit which
has been pursued by the hounds of the hunter
The gun is an old cast-iron cannon and has
been lying in the woods many years. says the
Wilmington (Del) Netcs 1t Is about 10 feet in
length and has large bore into which rabbit
may easily pass. The history of the gun as
told by resident Of the locality is an interest
ing one. According to his story it was I'M
earthed at Valley Forge and taken to the old
Brooks iron works at Hibernia, long ago de-
serted. From this place it was taken up into
the woods by an enthusiastic party of demo-
rats with the Intention of celebrating an ex-
ected victory. Defeat anne instead and the
epublicans of the loca hty, hearing of the
cheme, went to the woods and fired the gun
until they ran out of powder They were not
sparing of ammunition, and enormous charges
were used and fred by means of fuse. Windows
in the immediate vicinity, and, in fact con
siderable distance away. W. re shattered by the
explosions and the election was considered to
have been fittingly celebrated The gun was
afTerwerd spiked by the democrats, but the
victories After some years the practice was
abandoned, as was also the old gun and it lies
in the woods, serving only as retreat for
frightened rabbits,
SILAs B. BEACH, In his treatise on the alphs
bet, numerals and characters, says: will now
give you some observations on the origin of the
Roman numerals Hold up your open hands
before you. palms outward, thumbs at an acute
angle Begin on the left; little finger, l.; little
and ring finger. H. little finger, ring finger and
middle finger. Ill; all the fingers OF the left
hand, I'LL; the hand and thumb at an acute
angle form perfect v; or in place Of the HI
as given above. use the fourth finger from the
left, still holding thumb at acute angle, and we
have ~. Now pass to the right hand. The
thumb and hand held at the same angie as be-
fore gives US VI; by using the index and mid
die finger we get the characters VII; while the
make plain VIM. Now join the
two VS. made by the thumbs, inverting
| one. and we have X. or ten. Then use the
X. with the last little finger before it and it will
give TX. The combinations following X are
obvious The forehnger of the left hand with
the thumb at right angle makes perfect L.:
the little finger OF the left hand curved toward
the thumb, a u, the initial of centum (;00) and
so on with the hundreds. Now join the two
thumbs with the foref1ngers, or two VS. inverted
(AN and use them for the 1000 mark and you
have the hieroglyphics complete l little
thought that the two hands were the
foundation of the Roman numerals until mad
traced out three alphabets, one Asiatic. which
, had been wholly taken from the various changes
which the moon undergoeS during the month
This curious moon alphabet had twenty-eight
letters, every one of which resembles the moon
in some of its phases.
rambler about New York says in local
paper: Mrs John G. Carlisle, wife of the Ken
lucky senator, is a frequent visitor to this CITY
and she always attracts attention. saw her
in the Fifth Avenue hotel parlors, the cynosure
of respectful admiration from those who did
not know her. She is tall and superb looking
The blue grass region in Kentucky is famous
for beautiful women and Mrs. Carlisle comes
from that region. In looking at Mrs Carlisle.
her commanding hight makes one think of
Tennyson's lines in the description of the barge
and It's occupants of tall, fair women who bore
King Arthur away to the happy isles where
he will one day heal his wounds But
this busy wife of the Kentucky senator and
exspeaker is not poetical but highly
practical Even when her hair was not tipPed
with gray. as it is now, and her form was
slender she knew how to assist her husband in
his work. Her bright eyes, the decision of
character in her Notwithstanding face and
her quick physical movements, all indicate a
woman well equipped to cope with almost any
emergency. When Mr. Carlisle married wears
ago, he was young lawyer more noted for his
logical orations than his energy. His wife is
credited with squirting him on and never losing
an opportunity to assist hin. to advance politi-
cally If the senator is i'll his wife takes
hold and keeps his correspondence up. And
as to the tariff she is almost as well DoSted
as her husband. She knows what Is going on in
the political world and is a close reader of the
daily papers. There Is nothing dictatorial in
her character; 1t is strong will force and deter
mination. One could tell by her unostentatious
manner of dressing that she did not aspire to be
q social leader But those who know her sav
that she hopes to see her husband President Of
these United States one day She is continually
working to that end. How much she has done
to help her husband only few intimate friends
know. Her life has been one of mixed sorrow
and Joy. She has been her husbands guardian
angel He is Away in her thoughts. She has