The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

EIGHTY-YEAR-OLD DAVID FLoRY of Lawn, Pa.
has 20-yearol cat as a companion,
JANUARY is so called from Janus, q Roman
deity, supposed to be the gate keeper Of heaven
He was always figured with two faces, one
looking back and the other forward. One face
IS old and wrinked. emblematic of time past,
the other round and smooth, the type of time
present and future. The German speaking
countries formerly called January Lauw -maand
or FROSTY month";" the old SaXons called il
Wulfmonath, because wolves were very trouble
some at that time on account of scarcity of
food. With the introduction of Christianity
into Britain came change OF the name OF
January. which for 400 years thereafter was
called 4Efter-Y oua meaning after Christ
mas With the opening of the tenth century
the Saxon name for January was again changed.
the new name being Forma- monath or first
month" In the French Republican calendar
IL was called Nivose.
WHEN the Panama canal was first proposed a
great cry went up that such ditch" would
endanger the lives of millions of human beings
1t was argued that the waters on the Pacific
side OF the isthmus were hundreds of feet higher
than they were on the Atlantic side, and that
the or at rush of waters to even up the differ
ence in the level Of the two oceans would drown
out all southern North America, ali the West
Indies aud most of Mexico and Yucatan. Would
be engineers and sensational editors passed
their opinions or wrote yards of scare editorials
on the subject. IL now turns out that the At
lantic and not the Pacific is the higher OF the
Two OCcduS1 anu UnhC III pace OF the QlIIerenCe
in level being hundreds of feet, as had been
affirmed, the surface of the water on the east
side of the isthmus is exactly 6I4 feet higher
than it is on the western side.
THE origin and history of the game Of chess
is involved in much obscurity. Some authors
say that 1t was invented during the seige Of
Troy, to relieve the tediouSness thus imposed
upon the Greciau chiefs. Others refer the in
vention to the Egyptians. and cite a sculpture
of the time of the building of the pyramids,
where a lion and aunicorn are depicted as being
deep in the mysteries Of the game. the Chinese
claim the game as one of their inventions, and
so do several other countries and nations,
among them the Ceylonese. They say that
while Rayan, q king of Ceylon, was undergoing
siege, Setfa, Hindoo mathematician, in
vented the game for the am Isement Of his
royal master, who was thus en- .
abled to mimic the movements of
his enemies of the tiny battlefield before him.
Although we can find no definite trace of the
game in England prior to its Introduction by
the French in the eleventh century. 1t is known
70 nave been the court game all over continent
tai Europe a. least 900 years before. Aphonso
King Of CASTLE, and Pope Innocent Ill, both
wrote works on the game, and the second book
printed in the English language was The Game
and Playe Of the Cheese" Saccheri. a Jesuit
of Turin, called the 'Chess Bishop" could play
with three different opponents without seeing
one OF the boards. and talk with the company
during the time of the play
Dr.. GEORGE w. SLOAN has theory concern
ing the climatic changes that have taken place
in the United States. especially in Indiana and
further to the west and northwest, that is ap-
parently borne out by facts, says the Indian
apolis Journal Spreading a map Of the United
States before the reporter he began to explain
his views: You will observe here" said the
doctor, the level tract of country lying he
tween the Mississippi river and the foothills OF
the Great chain Of mountains known as the
Rockies. Taat tract iu former years was con
sidered, and was for the most part, an arid
plain. Winds from the north aud south swept
: over il backward and forward. IL was furnished
/ with rivers having their sources in the noun
/ talns, but there were no extensive bodies OF
! water such as the great lakes. Air currents
| from the Pacific, laden with moisture striking
/ the mountain peaks OF the Rockies and the
! Sierra Nevadas made snow and rain at the sea-
son these winds prevailed. This gave TO the
Pacific coast wet and dry seasons. In order that
the sky moisture might be precipitated Il was
necessary there should be some electrical con
nections between the upper current and the
ground The plains being practically dry-that
is having no great bodies Of Watei-thsre was
no evaporation OF moisture to produce an cleo
/ Uric current, and in the next place the small
4 amount of moisture In the clouds was carried
eastward and southwark. Coming to the east.
| It came within the influence of the great lakes
| that gave and continue to give us our rain
and snow. Cold winds from she Arctic
| region came rushing down through this
| PLATO, bringing cold with them "Of late
| years there have been built through
| the mountains and across these plains four
| lines Of railway, whose bands of steel act as
| silent electrical conductors, bringing into this
| once arid region good amount of rain and al
| amount of vegetation unknown in former tlnoeE
| 1t is a we'll known fact that moisture has a
| mitigating influence upon temperature and
that there is not now the severe cOh that 0pce
| characterized the immense area OF which arn
speaking. The changes in temperature west OF
| Indiana have brought about changes in our own
state. As to the influence Of great bodies of
water upon climate, we know that the eastern
| shore of Lake Michigan Is a good fruit ANA
That the winds from the west and north vest
! crossing that lake are tempered By its moisture
| aud reduced 10 temperature. The area esst of
| the lake Is peach country. whle further south
| in Indiana, where this influence Ia not SO great.
| peach trees do not Withstand the
winters This. at least has been
! the case: but for the last eight
| or nine winters the temperature has been nilder
| and peach trees have survived. The Increase OF
rain in this state in the winter is not unconuected
with the electrical conditions have named CON
corning the great region here on the map As
railroads nave multiplied and trees have been
removed our winter rains have been more fire.
quent, while there has been less snow and ice
Cultivation of the land. too has brought rain
with it. There are also electrical disturbance
connected with the movements of rains
though perhaps these are less dehnIte
than the other causes | have named
My idea is that while we may occasionally
have cod snap to rush down upon us tbesa
will be but temporary, and we will never again
have long continued cold winters Our climate
| is changing, and these changes come mora
| through the influence of man than from NAT