The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-13
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

TO show the mayors jurisdiction over the
harbor as admiral of the port. At the cere-
mony last week. says the London Tra1spo TT,
the mayor invited nearly $40 guests. repre-
/ sent1ng all classes and creedS. who were con-
Veyed on two special steamers from the Gus
tom-hOuse quay right out to sea till the linn
its OF the jurisdiction were reached, at q line
/ between Poor Head and Cork Head. Then
the mayor. in his robes. after making a short
speech. advanced to the PROV Of the vessel
and caStinto the sea the dart. which is made
OF mahogany, tipped and feathered with
bronze. Both vessels then returned to har
Dor, ana the party landed on small PENN
sula called Paddy's Point. where spacious
tents were erected and an entertainment pro
Yided.
You have all heard the humming and sing
ing of telegraph and telephone wires as you
passed the poles along the streets. says the
Boston journal OF Commerce No doubt you
have concluded that il is caused by the action
OF the WIND on the wires, and given II no fur
Their thought. But ii Is not true that the
singing is caused by the wind and, ii you are
at all observing, you will notice that often
the humming sound is to be heard these cold
winter mornings when the smoke from chin
ney goes straight up until it is lost in the
clouds, and when the frost on the wires is as
fuZZy and thick as roll OF chenille fringe.
The wind has nothing to do with the sound,
and according to an Austin scientist the v1b-
ratlons are due to the changes of atmOs
pheric temperature, and especially through
the action Of cold as a lowering temperature
induces shortening OF the wires extending
over the whole of the conductor. A consider
able amount OF friction IS produced on the
supporting bells, thus inducing sounds both
on the wires and the poles. When this hum
ming mas been going on birds have mistaken
the sounds for insects inside the poles and
nave been seen to peck with their bills on The
outside as they do upon the apple and other
trees The story is told OF a bear that mis-
took the humming noise as coming from
nest OF bees, and clawed at the pole aud tore
away the stones at its base in the hope of
hndlng the much-coYeted honey,
The globe OF ivory which is knocked about
table in a game of billiards costs, If of good
quality, at least e., says The Million. This
represents It's cost in money There is, how
ever, far more important and formida ole
element in the price which has been paid for
1t. The billiard ball of pure ivory represents,
as 1t lies white and gliStening upon the cloth,
an expenditure of human life blood as well as
OF money Elephants tusks are brought
down to the African coast by caravans, gener-
ally In charge of Arabs which have been trad
ing in the interior. Very often they have
picked up slaves as well as ivory But this
phase OF the matter may be left out of the
account. 1t IS estimated that every large
caravan bringing ivory to the coast has cost
more than 100 human lives through
lights and murders IN the course
of the expedition. Thirty more men
are likely to have succum0ed to feverS or
other diseases and the fatigueS OF the march.
The hunting OF the elephants and the capture
OF the ivory are very likely to have caused
the death OF ten men altogether. such casual
ties are the rule in elephant hunting rather
than the exc option. An average tusk does
not furnish more than enough material for
two good billiard balls. or course, the re-
matnder of the ivory in each tusk is made use
OF IN other ways; perfect cut billiard ball
requires special quality, or sO-called nerve
which is found only in one part of the tusk
The chances are that a billiard ball of the
first quality has cost at least one human lite,
and there is not one such ball which may not
truly be SAID to be stained with mems blood.
They can hardly be considered therefore a
cheerful accompaniment to a sensitive per
son diversions.
A fshway, or Gsh-ladder, as it might be
termed. is to be constructed at the falls of
the Willamette river near Oregon City says
the New York Post. Although the Villa
mette is navigable for 1870 miles above its
junction with the Columbia. salmon. on which
the inhabitants depend so much for food are
not found further than twenty miles from
the FORK OF the rivers cor above the falls,
and in order to obtain q supply of the FISH
people of the valley must have them brought
up by rail This is bad enough, but to be
deprived OF earning livelihood by catching
the salmon. SO abundant in the waters of the
Columbia, is worse The falls at Oregon
City have an average height of forty feet,
but In places the water descends at a slant
over diversified rocks. leaving pools
as 1t goes. BY blasting these rocks
here and there a series of pools forming
kind Of stairway may be provided for the
salmon to make the ascent from he lower to
the upper river. he last legislature appro-
priated $4,000 for the construction Of the fish
way. and the matter was placed in the hands
of the governor, secretary of state and state
treasurer. United States Fish Commissioner
Mcdonald, who recently visited the falls
believes that the work can be satisfa ctorily
done for the sum appropriated. and he enter
tains no doubt of the success of the plan to
bring salmon up the river From one of the
natural pools below the falls no less than $50
fish were taken out in one day last summer BY
local fisherman. GOV. PennOyer is of the
opinion that to allow salmon 10 pass up the
Willamette and breed in all the branches
will do more to replenish the stock
than all the hatche 'ies In operation now or
proposed.
unique opportunity for eating an extinct
monster was lost when the Siberian NAM
moth was discovered, incased in ice the first
instance, we suppose. of frozen meat on re-
Cr1. says the London Spectator But in the
matter Of flesh, the proverb of One man S
meat Is another mans poison still holds |
good. We are glad TO avail ourselves OF the |
fruits and vegetables of distant countries. but
we cannot bring ourselves to eat their meat
any more than they can be Induced some
times to eat ours. There is no real reason |
why puppy properly bred and fed. should |
not be as good as rabbit: but what English |
man could eat puppy: Nor is IL merely |
sentimental prejudice. IT needed the terri |
Bile starvation Of besieged Paris to induce |
Europeans to eat rats and mice which the |
ordinary Chinaman regards as dainties. 1t |
IS said. with what truth we know not that |
since the siege OF Paris the taste of the Pari- |
sian has been attracted toward such |
strange meats as horse and donkey flesh |
and that the price of horse meat per |
pound IS considerably higher now than beef or |
mutton. The flesh of mares was ALWAYS eaten |
by the Tartars. also By the South American |
Indians and to certain extent. by their sue
cess ocs, the Gauchos. The latter have the |
DRY that horse flesh not only preserves. tut |
WhltenS the teeth. 1t is hard to imagine how
II can be preferred 10 beef, for besides its
dlsagreeable color, it has curiously astrin-
gent taste. We eat eels but cannot be in
duced to touch snakes: shrimps hut not
spiders. Other people-Bushmen and New
Caledonians-are said to enjoy spiders and |
we have heard of a German-a scientific Ger
man. Of course-who spread them on his
bread like butter but the taste is not n |
European one any more than taste for cat
cOckchaferS ants and wi-ewor1ns
all OF which are eaten in different parts Of the
globe. VIZ
No thunder from the skies was ever accom-
panied wi tn roar of such vehemence as that
which issued from the throat of the great vol
canO IN hrakatoa, an iSlet lying in the straits
OF Sunda, between Snmatra and Java at 10
o CLOCK on Monday morning, Aug p 1888
says the Youths Companion. As tina. dread
iuI sunday night wore on. the noise increased !
IN intensity and frequency. The explosions |
succeeded each other so rapidly that con
mnuous roar seemed to issue from the island
me critical nonent was now approaching.
ana the outbreak was preparing for a majestic
elimination. The people of Batavia did not
sleep that night Their windows ouivered
with the thunders from Krakatoa. which re-
sounded like the discharge of artillery in
their streets. Finally a IN O'oloctv a., -