The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-04
ITEM 5 OF INrRR REST.

1t is said that when the Shah Of Persia visited
England some years ago he was entertained at
Stafford house, the town residence of the Duke
or sutherland. So impressed was the Orient al
visitor with the magnidcence of his hosts sur
roundlnss That he afterward privately advised
the Prince of Wales to have the duke quietly
strangled and conflscate the estates.
EVIDENTLY the day of the sidewheel ferryboat
has passed, says the Philadelphia Record. The
six new screw ferryboats on the North river at
New York are declared TO be speedier more
economical and easier to handle, while afford.
ing 81 per cent more space than the old style
or vessels. Within the next quarter century a
sidewheel steamboat is likely to become a rarity
even in American waters.
A SCIENTIFIC MAN who has been talking to a
st. Louis Globe Democrat reporter is certain
that the women of this country are growing
taller. This is especially true. he says of the
women of the gre It middle class. The tall girl
is not so plentiful among the plutocrats and the
very poor, but majority Of those young ladies'
whose parents are in comfortable circumstances
are above the medium hight. my theory is
that the growth of the very poor is stunted by
bad food and hard work, and that of the very
rich by surfelting and lack of proper exercise.
Inc mlddle-claSs girl has plenty OF wholesome
food, and is required to lead moderately
active life The result Is that sne grows up tall
ana graceful, with the easy carriage of an ath-
| ete. believe that the young ladies of to-day
will average an inch taller than their mothers.
| The men of America are also growing taller
but the advance Is not so marked as in the case
| of young ladies. Iattribute this bacKwardness
| to the very general use of tobacco or liquor or
both, by the boys Of America"
AN engineer of the Louisville and New Albany
railroad, whose name has not yet been revealed,
is responsible for one of the most novel worlds
fair schemes yet formulated. His idea is to
lease piece of land the exposition
grounds and build a railway track q mile in cir
cumference, with another track inside both
tracks to be connected by switches. Around
one side of the track he would build an amphi
theater with o seating capacity for 30, 900 peo-
pie. On these tracks he would place two loco
motives. To close the show he would start
these two engines in opposite directions,
aud when at full speed the connecting switch
would be thrown open and the locomotives al
lowed to collide. To make the collision more
realistic he would have the engineers Jump lust
in time to save their lives. 1t is his opinion q
real railroad wreck would be an attractive spec
tacle. He says that he can furnish an enter
tainment of this sort for 81, 500 performance
about twice week. 1t Is his idea to use aban-
dOned locomotives, which can be bought cheap.
and ne says that the beauty of the project lies
in the fact that this Is an easy and profitable
way to break the old locomotives to pieces and
get the old iron. The engineer is still looking
for q hacker.
THE CREEPING of rails has attracted some at
tention Of late, says the Scientific American,
and while we do not attempt to explain It we
offer point on the fact that on lines running
north and south, the western rail "creeps" faster
than the eastern rail; that is this strange move
ment OF the rail toward the south is more
marked in one rail than the other on the same
track. Furthermore. it has been noticed that on
such line the eastern rails wear out the fastest,
Both of these points, we think, can be explained
by the motion Of the earth as It turns from the
west toward the east. Motion tends to over
come gravitation A rapid skater flies
oyer the thin ice without breaking
| has been known to leap q broken
bridge unframed. Momentum overcomes
gravitation and the greater the speed the less
weight on the rails. Everything that Las free
motion is dragged after the whirling GLOBE
every wind that blows and every tide that moves
feels the influence, and our train going north or
south is pulled over toward the east and
| naturally presses the eastern rail most heavily
The western rail, being relieved OF its share of
weight, "creepS" more freely aud quickly. 1t
is also noticed that the wheels that run on the
eastern rails wear off first and we can but
think that this earth motion is the true cause
The practical side of this is that the eastern
rails and wheels should be stronger.
HoLTUM, the American who created such a
sensation throughout all Europe fifteen or
twenty years ago in his great role of cannon
ball catcher" is dead In his day says the St
Louis ReDublio, he was worth more than half a
dozen broken necked freaks or big footed girls
to any manager His first great hit was at the
Folies Bergeres, Paris, in the spring of 1878,
where he nightly caught flying cannon balls,
fired from real cannon in the presence OF as
tonished thousands. One night Pierre Vernon
editor Of the Monde liGStre, publicly announced
his belief in the general opinion that Holtum
was fraud of the first water, and that the
whole performance was a delusive trick Hol-
| tum promptly offered to bet Vernon 95 600
francs that he could perform the feat any place
that the newspaper man would name;
moreover, that he might bring along his jour-
palistic friendS-as witnesses and Judges. The
Maoille was chosen as the place of exhibition,
and all of the newspaper writer's of the French
capital were on hand to witness what turned
out to be a truly marvellous DerfOrmanoa al
turn and his cannon were taken to the great
theater early In the evening, and when Vernon
ct al arrived everything ready. -Four
judges minutely examined the heavy cannon
and slowly passed the solid iron ball from hand
to hand. II am no longer in my own house"
said Holtum as he mounted the stage; you are
masters here and must carefully watch every
detail The cannon was then charged and
heavy plank target placed on the stage ten
yards away. Holtum made a spot about the
size of dollar on one side OF the target near
the top, carefully aimed the piece and then
stood against the target with the spot between
the point of his shoulder and his left ear When
everything was ready he gave the order to fire.
There was deafening roar. sound OF splinter
ing timber and a dull thud" as the ball struck
the wall twenty yards to the back of the target
The ball had cut away the whole upper left
hand corner of the target, and left no room for
donoting 1t to be real iron cannon ball
propellud by real power. This was the
preliminary exhibition. Again the cannon was
charge with the same ball and the same
amount of powder as before. Holtum again
mounted the stage aud slowly adjusted his back
to what remained of the splintered target. The
gunner was told to ain at the abdomen and
while the proper "siRhtings' were being OBJ.
tanned the Intrepid performer donned pair OF
heavy leather gloves, There was a moment Of
awful suspense, then another loud report and
Holtum was seen advancing through the
smoke to the footlights, toying with the still
warm ball Vernon paid the wager and the
journalistic experimenters dispersed after re-
fusing Holtum's offer of 5000 francs TO any