The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-10
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

the Emperor resorted 10 the device mention
ed. The check. OF treasury order, was writ
ten on asbestoes paper and made in the coin.
II would be interesting to know II all this ne
true, how many ive-franc pieces have been
broken open since the story of the check was
first circulated.
Some idea Of the enormous proportions the
business OF bookkeeping has assumed in this
country, says a writer in the North American
Review may be gained from the fact that
there are in the United States upwards OF
fifty thousand hotels. exclusive Of what
may properly be termed inns and taverns and
what are commonly known as apartment
houses, although the latter are in many IN
stances conducted as hotels, in that they have
common kitchen and dining room. During
the past two years there have been opened IN
the city OF New York four new hotels, the ag-
gregate cost OF which including furniture,
was upwards Of 40, 600 900. They are YeritaDle
palaces, both in architectural design and in
terror splendor; and yet they may be said to
be only IN keeping with the large number OF
hotels with which our citizens have for years
been familiar. In proof of this, and as nota-
bic fact, IL may be mentioned that in the
municipal tax levy for the current year the
highest valuation put upon any building, but
one, in the whole city of New York, is placed
uDOn hotel that has enjoyed a worldwide
fame for more than thirty years and another
curious fact is, that the two hotels bearing
the highest assessed valuations are two OF
the oldest in the city, thus illustrating the
high character maintained by the hotels Of
@NCN 1 VI n III many BtHeEdtlOuS.
Rather a strange statement to make but
one which is, nevertheless, historically true,
that for the first fifty years in this country,
clam shells were used for money says the New
York Exchange. And we had free coinage in
clam shells too; there was no government
stamp upon them, but any one could go to a
clam bed. dig his clans live upon the edible
portion, and rub down the shells until they
become round and smooth, when they would
NuT NM nr,A ff,.
Originally in New York six pieces of VAN
pun or clam shells were worth a Dutch
SILVER" or two cents but when the Dutch
men IN the goodness of their hearts told
the Puritans of New England of their
value for trading purposes, the Puritans
made so much money, or "Wampum," that
the value rapidly declined, until twelve, four
teen or even sixteen pieces were only worth
a silver. Then the Dutch government of New
Amsterdam attempted to regulate the value of
the clam shell, and said six or eight pieces
should pass for silver, and precipated the
first commercial panic in America in 1888 re-
sulting in great distress among the poor then
living in New Amsterdam. The government
was finally compelled to accept the CONNER
cial value as the actual value, and thus the
financial panic of 1853 became a mat
ter of history. The value of the clam shell
gradually declined until 1t finally be-
came refused as money. but not until many
complaints are made In the church records Of
New England, as late as 1880, of the Clipped
and worthless wampum, which was put into
collection boxes of the meeting houses on the
sabbath TO pay the minister. "One who runs
may read" Substitute in this little piece Of
history the word silver wherever clam shells
appears, put the Colorado miner in the
place OF the New England Puritan, the gov
eminent to-day stamping 65 cents of silver,
and making the people take It for a dollar
and 1t reads like chronicle of to-day.
Few pieces OF engineering work were ever
undertaken that exceeded the pumping out of
Lake Angelina, near Ishpeming, Mich, where
pumps have been working for sixteen months
me water is all gone now, but, apparently,
the hardest part of the work has still to be
accomplished, says the New York Evening
Post. The lake lies near the southern part
OF lshpeming, covering 160 acres, and was 70
feet deep in the middle. II was for a long
time, the source of that city's water supply
until the growth of the town about its shores
contaminated the water. Under the bed of
the lake lie the largest fron-ore deposits ever
discovered. me ore was discovered some
ten years ago, when a diamond drill was set
on the frozen surface of the lake one winter
and hole drilled 900 feet down below the bed
of the pig iron. Large ore bodies were cut by
the drill, and the three mining companies
owning the ground under the lake began de-
YiSlng means to secure this valuable ore.
The greater part of the lake was owned
by the Cleveland Iron Mining Company and
the Lake Angelina and Lake Superior Iron
Companies. The first and second named
companies did more or less work under the
surface on the lake, but the ever present
danger Of a rush of water from above rem
dered 1t imperative that the water be taken
out. Work was begun last spring before the
snow left the ground, when rotary pump
with capacity of 10000 gallons per minute
was anchored in a barge in the center of the
lake, and began pumping water into a big
hume elevated twenty feet above the surface
OF the water. The pump has been going day
and night, allowing for occasional break
downs, and the water has only recently been
drained out. Now however, remains seri-
Gus question to be settled. There is a bed of
n aaf hoo
of the former lake. The mud is kept moist
by underground springs, from which the
water bubbles up. Big tubular stand pipes
pierced with myraidS of small holes hardly
larger than needles point, are being forged
into the mud, and into these the water filters
and Is pumped out. The surface of the bed
of the lake is more treacherous than quick
sand, for any heavy object thrown on it is
quickly engulfed. Several narrow escapes
from drowning have taken place. 1t viii
take sixteen months longer to get rid of the
mud,
Onlookers in the card rooms OF clubs, gam
ing resorts and similar institutions have
sometimes asked what became of the soiled
playing cards after they were cast aside in
such places says the New ork Herald The
number of new packs of cards called for in
fashionable club or q prosperous gambling
house in the course Of month is enormous
pack may be used through an entire even
ing, but IL frequently happens where high
stakes are being played for that half a dozen
new PACKS Will be called for in single game in
the course Of a night AS none but cards Of
excellent quality are used, and as a player
for stakes has a right to demand fresh
pack whenever his caprice or superstition
prompts him, the keeper of a gambling house
finds the cost of providing them considera-
bic Item of his running expenses. What is
done with the soiled cards: You may think
the servants get them. But they don't There
is traffic in them which in the course of a
year in a. city like New York or Chicago
amounts to quite a handsome figure. The
cards that have been used are carefully
saved and sold to a regular buyer.
who contracts to take all that the proprie-
tors may have to offer during the year or sea
son. AS rule these cards are but little soil
ed, many Of them having been used for per
haps less than dozen deals. The buyer who
conducts a regular business, replaces missing
cards from great stacks of odd cards kept for
that purpose, puts them into the original
wrappers which have been saved for him and
then resellS them. His customers are mostly
second and third rate social clubs or non
gambling clubs in smaller cities and retail
erS who can be persuaded by low prices to
purchase IN large quantities. Nine packs out
Of ten cards will pass anywhere as strictly
new ones, so carefully are they cleaned and
restored and for all practical purposes they
are just as good as If they were strictly fresh
know swell club in a busy city in the in
terror which is noted for its unlimited supply
of first-class playing cards. Outsiders marvel
at its extravaganza in providing what seems
to be a brand new pack for every game of
whist, pedro, euchre or poker that starts in
its card rooms. As matter Of fact the cards
all come from the second hand dealer here in
New York and cost about 6 or cents n nacIs