The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-19
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Items OF INTEREST.
A SNAKE moves by means of the ribs and the
scales on the abdomen to which each rib is at
tached by a set Of short muscles These scales
take hold of the surface over which the serpent
may be passing, and in that manner aid the
creature to glide, often very rapidly, around the
trunks Of trees and along the smaller branches
Some species climb trees with wonderful agility
gliding up the straight trunks with as much
ease as II they were moving along the level
ground.
THE oldest rose bush in the world is at Hin
dersheim, in Hanover. 1t was planted more
than 200 years ago by Charlemagne In com
memoraton of visit made to him by the am
bassador of the Caliph Haroun al-Rachid
After it had become tiourishing vine a cathed
raj was built over it. 1t is known, however,
that coffln-shaped vault was built around its
sacred roots in the year 61S, the vault and bush
surviving fire which destroyed the cathedral
in 1146. The bush is now 26 feet high and
covers 80 feet of the wall. The stem after 900
years growth, is only two inches in diameter.
The Chinese can reman in one position an In .
definite time. have no consciousness of monot-
ony, can do without exercise, are impervious to
noise, can go to sleep at any time and in any
attitude-all because they have no nerves 1t is
not to be supposed that the nervelessness is
physiological fact; but it cannot be doubted
that the Chlnaman's patience, endurance and
inSuscepttbility to influences which would send
European into an early grave are constitu-
come Curiously enough, this indifference Is not
| associated with want Of energy, for the China
man is exceptionally Industrious. He is simply
insenslole to worry.
IT seems likely that the yacht racing Of the
coming season in the Mediterranean will be of
| more interesting character than IL has been
for the past two years. 1t will be remembered
that last year the Deerhound had matters
pretty well her own way, and that after the
| close of the season she was purchased by an
Italian nOblaman HOyaVar this ha MIL
have to sail well to win many prizes for her
new owner, as the forty rater Castanet is going
out, as well as Mr.. SATELLITES Blue Rock 1t is
also reported that the Earl of Dunraven has de-
cided TO fit out the ValKyrie for the Medaterra-
mean, and il he does so he is pretty certain to
bring back many of the prizes offered.
Joss so far from being as l among others
always imagined, Chinese word, is merely the
| mispronuncation of the Spanish dos, god
The discovery of this fell heavily upon me. 1t
reduced my Knowledge of Chinese from two
words to one; but have learned several since
but will not write them here, as do not know
what they mean. A. and the writer both
started with the determination of studying
Chinese, and the writer let A. buy a grammar;
but on discovering that the single letter II" had
li5 ways Of being pronounced, and that each
pronunciation had an entirely different mean
| ing, we SAID that there was no poetry about the
| Chinese LANGUAGE, that it was not worth learn
| ing, and A. grammar was secretly consigned
| to the river mud by being dropped overheard.
| IN TIE lowest spheres of life the force OF in
ventive faculty may be detected. The burglar
| himself as mechanical genius may be O rival
OF nature An honest genius of an inventive
kind invents lock; straightway another in
| ventive genius of a dishonest kind picks that
! lock. A man, not a burglar, but a professed
| lock picker, picked subtle lock of a bureau
because had lost the key. The science the
man showed, the resource, the ingenuity
| formed study, and his efforts were soon
crowned with success l was struck by the
skill the man displayed, but still more by the
| philosophy. They call the man who invented
| that there look, sir, gentleman, and they say
he's made a tremendous fortune by it. but
| they gives no credit to them as has larned to
| pick it; not a bit OF it not they and some of
| them as can pick 1t they calls burglars and
| gives 'em years of hard labor though they are
| just as clever as the lucky I'm, who set the
| thing a-going.
The standing strength Of the London detect
I've force is about 400 At the head of it is the
director of the criminal investigation depart
ment at New Scotland Yard. The staff attached
! to headquarters, and in immediate contact with
| the director, consists OF superintendent and
| about 80 subordinates; the rest OF the men are
distributed among the 90 divisions of the Metro
politan police. Each division has thus a local
| staff of detectives, consisting of one inspector
| and varying number of sergeants. who are
for all ordinary purposes under the control of
| the divisional superintendent. Every crime
discovered Is reported first to the nearest police
station and then to the superintendent of the
| DIVISION, WHO iulIneqldLeIy taxes IL IN hand and
| issues such directions as he thinks necessary
| to the detective inspector of his division. At
| the same time he refers 1t TO the criminal in
| vestlgation department, either by way of
his daily report or at once If the affair be very
| serious. Such report passes through a chief
officer of the criminal investigation department,
and then goes to the director; if urgent and out
/ of hours it is telegrapned to his house He can
then act in several ways, according to the nature
| and gravity OF the case; he may leave IL en-
| tirety in the hands Of the superintendent or he
may issue instructions to direct the divisional
detective inspector, in which case the latter will
acJin concert with the superintendent; or again.
he may instruct member of his own staff VINO,
! in turn, may act with the superintendent or in
| dependently. Not to weary the reader with de-
| tails, the main points Of the system are % the
local distribution of the detective force and (2)
its interaction with the ordinary force through
| the superintendent Everything. of course,
| depends on the smooth working.
| HAVE often been asked, says a writer in an
| exchange, why the Liberty Cap" is used in
| American illustrations, when it originated and
| why it was adopted AT first was inclined Ia
| give the subject no particular attention, and
| really never did give it a serious thought until
good fortune put United Statas cent OF 1898 in
| my hands. In this rare piece the head of Lib.
| erty is turned to the left. She has pole across
| her left shoulder, surmounted by conical poke,
| which is intended for liberty cap. Here. in
| deed, was an oddity, q subject for immediate
| investigation. Turning to my Dictionary of
| Phrase aud Fable" ian odd place to look sure,
for q liberty cap is neither a phrase nor a
| tabel. found the following under the head of
| cap Of Liberty: The Goddess of Liberty in
| the Aventne Mount was represented as holding
In her hand cap, the symbol of freedom 10
| France the Jacobins wore a red cap; in England
| a blue cap with a white border is a symbol of
| liberty, and Britannia is sometimes represented
| as holding such cap on the point of her
| spear" Here was some pointers, but no real
Information as TO the origination of the symbol.
| Delvlng deeper into volumes of forgotten
| lore, " found that the cap was a symbol of
liberty and freedom in the time of the Roman
| emperors. When the Romans manumitted q
| slave his head was adorned with small red
| cloth cap AS soon as this was done he was
| known as a libertnus, or freedman, and his
name was registered among others Of the city s
| "tribesN In the year 263, when Saturninus in