The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-06
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


member Of their tribe until a slave can be
{ procured, who is beheaied at the intement
+ OF crematcd, TO attend the deceased in the
next world.
Many intelligent people who have not given
/ the matter serious thought imagine that the
magnetic needle points toward what is known
I as the geographical north pole. This is a
large-sized mistake, says a St Louis Repub-
/ lie writer. as l shall now proceed to prove. 1t
/ can be properly said that there are two north
/ poles. The geographical north pole the
place where all degrees Of longitude intersect
ana where there is no longitude,l and the
north magnetic pole. the latter being the
needle 5 attraction. The first mentioned or
/ geographical pole Is fixed and constant, but
the magnetic pole is constantly changing po-
sltlon, and, at the rate it IS now travelling
Will make complete circuit Of the geOgrapn-
ical pole about once in every $40 years OBJ
seryatlOns on this point we're first made from
the Greenwich Observatory in 1888, at which
date the magnetic pole was on that meridian.
During the last 235 years IL has crossed the
Atlantic ocean and IS now well on its journey
| across the northern part Of the American
| continent. At the present time 1t is on or
near the southwestern shore Of BOothla Pc
| nlnsula, at about 76o north latitude.
In the making of thimble. says Hardware,
there are several operations, the blank pass
ing into the cup and then the rolling on of the
band. Then the thimbles which nave as
| sumed form warranting the name, are car
r1ed TO the factory proper, and after FURNISH
ing, the more interesting process of knerling
is performed This knerling IS the forming
OF the little lndentatOns which receive the
end of the needle and assist in pushing the
point through the fabric. The cup is placed
In lathe, and the operator with "a suitable
tool knerlS the end Of the thimhle During
this operation peculiar and by no means IN
pleasant musical sound is emitted with vary
ing tones. The point of the thimble being
reached, a fat knerler finishes the side, and
with a sharp-edged tool the polished cut
ting at the sides OF the band is performed
Then on another lathe it is placed in hollow
block and the inside Furnished All the oil
and dirt are then removed, and the thimble is
polished and made ready for the market
ThlmDleS are made Of various metals those
of gold naturally being priced very highly,
while one on exhibition at the worlds fair OF
cOlOred gold studded with band of forty dia-
mondS Is mt for princess. A monstrosity at
the same eXhlbltlon is thlmble nine inches
nigh and seven inches wide, the maker hav-
ing at one time some idea Of teaching an ele
phant the art of sewing.
A writer in Mcclure Magazine for Septem
Der, writing about the wonderfully fast train
between New York and Chicago, says: Mean
time, what is the engineer of the fastest train
in the world doing for the passenger? In the
first place, the Chicago flyer is not driven by
one, but by many engineers, In order to
cover the 964 miles between the two cities in
twenty hours, including nine stops, there are
required seven huge engines in relays. driven
by seven grimy heroes. A run of less than
$50 miles is the limit per day for each engine,
while three hours of the plunging rush wears
out the strongest engineer. Sixty, seventy,
miles an hour - what does that
mean to the man at the throttle? 1t
means that the six and a half feet drivers
turn hve times every second and advance one
hundred feet. Tic-tic-tic, and the train has
run the length OF New York s highest steeple.
The engineer turns his head for FIVE seconds
to look at the guages and in that time the
terrible iron creature putting forth the
strength of a Thousand horses ba bOt
past red signal with its danger warning FIVE
hundred feet away. Ten seconds. and one
| thousand feet are left behtnd-one-fifth OF a
mile. VINO knows what horrors may lie
within that thousand feet! There may
! be death lurking round curve, death
spreading its arms in tunnel. and the en-
glneer must see and be responsible for every
thing. Not only must he note instantly all
that is before him, the signals, switches
bridges, the passing trains. and the condition
OF the rails, but he must act at the same mo-
mer I, working throttle. air brakes, or reyers-
ing lever, not as quick as thought but quick
err for there is no time to think. His muscles
must do the right thing automatically under
circumstances where a second is an age. In
the three hours of his vigil
there are ten thousand eight hundred
seconds, during each one of
wnlch ne must watch with the mental
alertness Of an athlete springing for a flying
trapeze from the roof Of an amphitheater
with the courageous self possession of a
matador awaiting the deadly rush OF mad
engineers watching well, because, If ne fails
by hairs breadth in coolness or precision OF
judgment there may come destruction, not
only to himself but to hundreds of passeu-
gers, who while he stands guard are perhaps
grumbl1ng at the walters in the dinining- car
or telling funny stories in the smoker
The early history of our great flag is very
interesting, says the September St. Nicholas.
1t is a matter of record that during the
early days of the revolution the colonists
do 4iRrr Of
nowadays generally accepted as fact that
the final idea of the stars and stripes as a
national nag was borrowed from or suggested
10y the coat of arms of G en-. George Wash
fngton S family. In the spring OF TIT con
gress appointed committee authorized to
design suitable flag for the nation" This
committee seems to have consisted of Gen.
George washington and Robert Morris.
They called upon Mrs Elizabeth Ross of
Philadelphia and from pencil-drawing by
Gen. Washington engaged her TO make q
nag. Mrs. betsy Ross was a mlliner
whose principal customers were the
Quaker ladies. She came from
good colonial stock The story
goes that during this call at that little old
building at 230 Arch street Philadelphia
gen. Washington, after explaining his draw
ing to Betsy Ross, directed that the stars
should be 6pointed ones. Mrs. Ross objected
to this, and argued that the stars In the sky
seemed to have but five points. Following
her argument by practical demonstration
she folded piece OF paper, and with a single
y VI bAlt SGlSSOES CUT OUT u perfect O-DOlQted
star. This was too much for the committee
and without further argument Betsy Ross
prevailed. This flag, the first of a number
She made was cut out and COMPLETED in the
back parlor Of her little Arch street home
1t was the first legally established emblem
and was adopted by congress June a. 177-
under the act which provided for stripes
alternately red and white with a union of
thirteen white stars in field OF blue This
act read as follows Resolved That
the flag of the United States be thir-
teen stripes, alternate read and white.
that the union be thirteen stars white in
a blue field, representing new constellation
Words IN those days were few-actiOns were
rapid, and spoke loudly. In May I'm con
gress made an order on the treasury to nav
Mrs Ross Ga l2s, Id, for flags for the fleet in
the Delaware river, and contract to make
all government flags Because of the admis-
sion of Vermont and Kentucky. the flag was
changed by an act of January 49, 1894 which
provided that after May l. 1875, the flag of the
United States should consist of fifteen stripes
and fifteen stars. But in 1918 the flag was re-
established as thirteen horizontal stripes al.
ternately red and white, the union to consist
of twenty stars, white in a blue field one star
to be added to the union on the admission Of
every new state; such addition to be made
on the 4th day Of July succeeding such adnis-
sion. This flag went into effect July g. 1918
and remains the present regulation
national emblem Of the United States
OF America. Some description of the syrn hol.
ism OF the colors in the flag is not without in
terest. Red is supposed to represent courage
and divine love; white, integrity of purpose
truth and purity; blue steadfastness and
loyalty. The quaint two-and-a- half story