The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

4
| London were to be dispatched by a procession
| preceding guards van as far as Liverpool and
| back, the first to return to Euston would find
| $4,000 persons waiting to start.
IN the Sahara region all the creatures assume
sandy hue, which. of course, renders them in
conspicuous in their native home, and among
the fishes especially in those groups of flat
forms which lie among the sand, the skin is all
speckled in character, like the surface on which
they rest.
THE BUTTREssEs of 'Trajan's bIidge," which
are still to be seen on the Danube, are the re-
mains of what was in some respects, the most
remarkable structure ever erected by man. 1t
was not mere floating bridge of large boats
and massive timbers. but permanent
structure carried on piers $50 feet high and %
feet wide, comprising 20 arches. extending alto
gether 4, 40 Roman feet.
AMONG the recent innovations in Berlin is a
matrimonial club house. 1t is large, roomy
building, divided into several apartments. in
one of which portraits of each woman sub
scriber are exhibited, with full descriptions Of
her age, talents, fortune, color of hair, eyes,
etc, size OF her hands and feet, and general
contour. There is also brief account of her
life, whether widow or sDinster.
WEILsAUGH AND CHENING, in their explora-
lions in the Colombian Andes, have discovered
a species Ct potato, the vines Of which were
covered with well-deveoped tubers, growing in
the open airIike peas or tomatoes. cache potato
is protected by a thin film or membrane. not
unlike that which envelopes the ground
cherry" They do not grow in clusters each
being given plenty Of space in which to thor
oughly mature.
A NEW INVENTION is being put in application
in Grace church, New York city, consisting Of
an arrangement to ring the chimes by means Of
an elecUric-ma2netic device operated at key
board The capper in each bell is shaped like
V with a rQWnida hall at the end Of zach
and pivoted at the apex. One ball is held
normally gainst the bell by a spring. and the
other ball acts as the hammer The ball which
is held by a spring is used to stop the prolonged
vibrations OF the bell and is arranged to work
with pedals, producing graduatons of volume
In the sound as the pedals are applied. The
machine is manipulated in the same manner as
an organ, and in this installation the keyboard
will be placed by the organ and operated by
the organist. The inventor Of this instrument
is G. F. Atwood of Orange, N. J. The power is
taken from the electric light circuit and a
battery of acoumulators will be kept at the
church for use IN case of emergency. The
chimes will be played by this means for the first
time on Easter morning.
ONEof the most remarkable duels ever fought
perhaps, took place II 1S0S betweentwo French
men. OF course the quarrel arose about a lady
| a certain Nile 1lrevet-who, it appears was
| unable to decide on which of the two she pre-
| ferred. She finally found a way out of the diff
| fculty by promising 10 marry whichever Of
49,
| matter in a calm and judicial spirit for month
and at the end decided to fight a duel in the air
| Accordingly two balloons were made exactly
| alike, and upon the appointed day each scared
| aloft, accompanied by his second They were
| each armed with blunderbuss, the agreement
being that they were to fire, not at each other,
but at the balloons. They arose to the hight Of
| half mile, and then the preconcerted signal
| was given. One fired and missed; the other
| followed suit with more disastrous effect. He
4 hit his opponents balloon which instantly col
l Iancpd with rpSUlt n ~
the car were dashed to the earth with frt2htful
| rapidity and instantly killed.
LONG HEADS are usually associated with the
1 possession Of great Intellectual strength and
1 mental capacity. Herr D. Ammon, however,
l who made examination of the cranial capacity
of 5000 soldiers at Baden. the results of which
/ he communicated to the German men Of
4 science at Heidelberg, is of the opinion that
| the size Of the skull depends almost invariably
l on the proportions OF the body. Tall men he
i found always have long skulls, or skulls Of
medium length, whereas the short, fat man. as
a rule had round, fiat heads. Further investi-
cation and observation satisfied Herr Ammon
\ that the majority of the round heads come from
4 the Black Forest; those with the long heads
usually came from the valley of the Rhine and
were especially numerous from towns and from
| the neighborhoods of castles of ancient fami-
lies. From this fact 1t is concluded that the
! round headed men were the original inhabit-
ants of the Rhine valley, and that they were
! driven from it by the long-headed invaders
c4rtan relation between the hight of the figure
| and the shape of the skull but his observations
| show that no fewer than 80 PER cent Of the
| men examined who had blue eyes also had fair
| hair.
SPEAK Of condolences" said W. F,
| Wright of Boston, in the presence of a St. Louis
Globe Democrats reporter, to a number OF
friends who happened to be engaged in recall
ing some which they recollected, in the corridor
| of one of the hotels, "a will tell you of one
| which think will probably be set down as the
| most extraordinary on record. 1t was told to
| me by gentleman whom met while on visit
! to iWaleS, and is fully borne out by local anti
| quarians. Indeed, believe it finds place in a
| little work recently published on condolences
| The facts are these: More than 200 years ago
| on Dec. g. 1868, boat crossing the Menal Strait
with eighty one passengers sank during terri
BILE storm. The only passenger
| who escaped death was Hugh
Williams. More than one hundred
| years later, on Dec. 5, 1880, another vessel
crossing the same strait sank under similar
/ circumstances in the same place. On this &C.
| casion, too, all the passengers except one
| Hugh Williams. were drowned. On Dec s.
| 1920, boat laden with thirty souls sank in the
/ same spot. Again one passenger escaped and
| his name was Hugh Williams | have care
| fully examined the sources of information and
find these facts to be proved to the hilt by the
| most reliable authorities. The coincidence is
one which feel justified in describing as the
| most extraordinary on record