The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-26
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

lAN intensity .N At'lINIAffa NNaIA-AA 81 $3.50
I Illustrated az Causbrook castle, Isle oi
! wight where thcre Is a we'll 30 feet deep and
twelve feet in diameter, walled aud lined
I with smooth masonry. Although THIS ls an
/ unusual depth Tor well even IN the Hriilsh
/ isles, vet when pm r. dropped INTO IL lhe
sound OF striking the surface ~ the water ~
/ feet below can he distinctly heard. In
I cast iron water pipe OF Paris. which forms a
/ continuous tube with only two slight crooks,
/ and those near its middle. the lowest whisper
/ at one end may be distinctly heard at the
other, although the pipe is 3 100 feet 10 length
When some experiments In this line were
/ being conducted a pistol fired at one end OF
! the tube actually blew out "A lighted candle
/ held at the other end and violently elected
/ the shayingS, feathers, paper, etc. which had
| been placed in the end Of the pipe by the eX-
! perimenters.
Chambers Journal contains a highly inter
esting article on diamonds and their origin,
! The writer begins by quoting paragraph
| from South African paper reporting that IN
| the yellow ground of the Premier mine,
! some three feet below the limestone forma-
| zion, blast brought down, among the dis
| placed diamondiferous soil. a fossiliZed Os-
| trich egg. This is certainly very curious
| discovery, says the Pittsburg Dispatch, but
| IL does not stand alone for ostrich eggs more
| or less perfect have been found both at De
! Beers and COlesberg KOpje in fossilized
| condition. Large pieces OF charred FOSSIL
| wood have also been found from time to
| time, one of which is described as portion OF
| a fossil tree, four feet in length, and nearly
/ hNG It6b III circumference. MS Wdo lOullu
| at DutOitspan mine, at depth of eight feet.
| At Kimberly there was dug up part Of a stem
| Of tree with branch attached at depth OF
| $50 feet from the surface; and still more
| singular find was an ants nest quite perfect
| and undiSturbed.
| According to the report of the Directors Of
| the Mint, the ubiquitous American cent is be-
! coming an important factor in our currency,
| SAYS the Philadelphia Record. Since the
| establishment of the mint, and up to the
| Termination of the fcPnl ended lime 20
| 1892. the face value Of the cents and half cents
coined and remelted has been as follows: OF
| the old copper cents, Sl,lS6 5S10; Of copper
| half-cents S39 926.l1 Of copper-nickle cents,
| 81 ,243 1922; and of the bronze cent OF the
| present day. SO .57S ,6S876 The ubiquity Of the
| cent. however dates back only to the time Of
| the centennial exp sitOn when the western
erS who visited this city first became ac-
| quainted with its real usefulness. Prior to
! that time the mint had not received any
| orders for this coin from anywhere west OF
| the Mississippi river, the scent nickle having
! been the smallest coin known IN that be-
| nighted region. AS a civilizing influence in
| this respect the centennial exposition is en-
| titled to share the honors with the pennyin-
| the-slot machine with the advent of which
| the western demand for one-cent coin has in
| creased enormously.
Botanists long ago voted the banyan tree
| of India a place In the catalogue of wonderful
| vegetable production says the Saint Louis Re-
pnblic. In its infancy IL resembles other trees
| in having a single stem or trunk and dense
| head of foliage AS the tree Increases IN size,
! however, the branches spread out horizon
| tally to such wOnderouS extent that they
| would be unable to support themselves had not
nature come to the rescue with a remarkable
| provision: To supply the necessary support
| the branches OF the parent stem throw out
| here and there small hbrous shoots, which
| Immediately begin growing downward to-
wards the earth, In surprisingly short time
they reach the ground and take root, and
gradually increase in size until they some
times rival the original trunk itself. This
new trunk, with its numerous fibrous roots,
renews the whole life of the tree, other new
limbs and shoots are rapidly thrown out un-
til finally what was originally single tree
trunk becomes considerable forest, each
limb and shoot OF which are curiously con
nected. Dr.. RoXburgh, the great East Indian
traveller, says that he has seen forests a thou
sand yards In diameter which had all grown
from one parent stem
Some years ago, when the British troops
we're fighting against the forces Of the Mahdi
In the Soudan, opportunity was afforded to
many Of the correspondents accompanying
the expedition to study the habits of the
camel, says Harper's Young People Most of
the transportation OF the soldiers baggage
was done by these ships of the desert" as
they are called, and at night some of the
newspaper men spent portion of their lets
ure trying to learn something new about these
strange creatures. One Of them, who was an
inveterate smoker, discovered that the camel
is great lover OF tobacco. Let any one
smoke a pipe or cigar IN the camel compound,
SAID he, and the camel win follow the smoker
about, place his nose close to the burning to-
bacco, inhale the fumes with q prolonged
sntn, swallow the smoke, then throwing his
head up, with mouth agape and eyes upturned,
showing the bloOdshOt whites, will grunt
sigh OF ecstacy that would make the fortune
OF a low comedian in love scene. So If any
OF you have pet camel who seems to be
longing for something, and refuses TO be com
forted until he gets it, you might give him d
cigar. He is usually so intelligent that it
would probably take very few lessons to teach
him how to smoke in most expert fashion.
A Canadian physician has been giving us
his experience of the pleasures of being
frozen to death, says Lux in the Newcastle
(England) Chronicle. His tongue and then
his arms became stiff sharp chills ran down
his back, and finally it seemed as though his
whole body had CONCEALED causing an almost
entire cessation Of the heart action After
this preliminary pain all the remaining sen
SatlonS were pleasant, the chilS giving place
to genial warmth, and subsequently to an ex-
hilarating warmth, and finally he fell into
dCllclOuS SUM Der, which was that of uncOn-
seriousness, and came near being the sleep of
death. l am not able to say what the sensa-
| tions Of dying in such manner may be, but
having once been taken from the water appa-
rently drowned and only restored to vitality
| after long time and at much trouble, I know
| what dying by drowning is. In my case there
| was a short preliminary pang caused by the
| hopelessncSs of my position, followed by the
| whole of my past life being instantaneously
| flashed through the mind; then came a dane
ms VI 4lBuIS Ill Llt eyes anu tl0BllIR DetlS
in the ears, pleasant visions of Elysium, and
afterward absolute Inconsistencies. Sick
ness. disease and injuries to the frame, which
often precede and lead to death, are inquest
iOnably painful, but the act of dying is unac-
companied by pain and in most cases is a
realization Of Madam Necker's desire to
Float on throu Oh slumber to a dream,
And through dream to death"
There is a general opinion in the minds of
most Australians that all the snakes of the
country are venomous, says the New York
Times. Such, however, is by no means the
case. nor are all of the species that are pos
| sessed of poisoned fangs very dangerous TO
man. AS have above intimated, none Of the
Australian snakes belongs to the most venom
Gus kinds. Most of them also secrete only
small amount of poison. so that although It'll
no joke to be bitten by them, q healthy person
needha little fear OF a fatal result il proper
means OF treatment are available Many of
the deaths that do occur from snake bite in
Australia are undoubtedly caused by mixture
OF fright and improper or useless remedies
The non-venOmOus snakes are (curiously
enough. when the greater heat in the climate of
Northern Australia is cOnstdered) found more
numerOusly in the north than in the south of
the continent In the country surrounding
Melbourne, and in fact, throughout South
ern Victoria nearly all snakes are Venomous
while all are so, without exception In Tas-
mania, 1t may be remarked, in passing that
New-Zealand which differs so strikinglv
from Australia IN many respects, has no