The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-25
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

I Italian government declares that hy the aid
/ of his invention. he can float her majesty
] ship Victoria al a cost % less th2n G4o9-4.
/ SAYS the ~. James Gazette. He SAYS that
| with the Balla Nautica he can make arrange
ments for raising weights far exceeding that
] OF the sunkeu lrunclau- The preparations
/ and placing OF grs puels and chains round the
| Victoria would take a month, and would bee
performed by the crew OF the submarine ship.
/ which has already descended TO and been
maucuyered successfully At depths beyond
that in which the Victoria lies The bring
/ ing OF the ship to the surface would take two
/ days.
Major J. W. Powell, director Of the United
States geological survey, thus describes in
the san Francisco Chronicle the origin of
Lake Tahoe. In geographical times not long
ago, as speaks the scientist. but very long ago.
as speaks the chronicler OF human fOllies.
there was deep valley on the eastern slope
OF the Sierra Nevadas at the headwaters OF
the 'rruCkce river. About this valley lowered
granite mountains. But earthquakes came.
rents were opened in the rocks and from the
assures poured mOnstrOuS streams Of lava.
One of those assures crossed the lower end of
the valley and through it poured foods of
molten rocks. Stream after stream issued 10
cool in solid sheets and blocks, until a wall
was built across the valley 900 or 5000 feet
In height. and above ii was deep basin 500 or
$40 square miles in area. The storms that
fell on the granite and volcanic mountains
rolled in rivers TO fill the basin, and Lake
Tahoe was created.
Cey1on is the home of the largest species of
spider that has yet been made the subject of
chronological investigation This web-spin-
ming monster lives in the most mountainous
districts Of that rugged island. and places his
trap-not gosSamer snare of airy lightness
but a huge net OF yellow silk from , to 10
feet in diameter, across the Chasms and tiS-
sures in the rocks The supporting guys of
this gigantic net which in all cases is almost
strong enough for hammock, are from to
20 feet in length (as conditions and cir
cumstanceS may requirc). made of
series of twisted webs, the whole being
of the diameter of a lead pencil. AS might
be imagined this gigantic silken trap
is not set for mosquitoes, flies and peStiferOuS
gnats, but for birds. gaudy moths and ele-
gantly painted butterflies, some of the latter
having spread OF wing equal to that OF
robin blue Jay. Some extra fine Skele-
tons of small birds, lizards, snakes, etc, have
been found in these webs, with every vestlge
of flesh picked from them. The owner and
maker of these queer silk traps is a spider
with body averaging four and q half inches
in width and six inches in length and with
legs to ~ inches from body to terminal claw.
Some are spotted, others red with grceniSh
gold abdomen and legs
OF all the wonderful creations of nature
few will excite greater amazement, if given
microscopic examination and careful atten-
ton, than the common little insect known as
the 'vine-fretter Catch one of these little
mites, at the moment OF its birth, this is in
the spring or early summer, when they are
SeCts are and put IL where il has no chance
of contact with others Of its species. Within
a surprisingly short period it will give birth
to others of it's kind. Instantly isolate the
new arrivals and. after they have acquired
certain growth. il will be noted that they.
too, are reproducing their kind just as their
progenitor had done; all OF which proves that
these beings of extraordinary fecundity are
real andrORynous creatures without distinc-
tive sex. During the spring and early sum
mer, as limited above. all vinefretters are
~furfN HtagH how hTsTw Hnaaw
young alive. Toward the beginning of autumn,
strange as it may seem. all is changed among
the new, as well as the older generations,
each laying eggs which are not Matched until
the return of warm weather the following
spring. There may be other insects equally
as paradOXical In their manner of reprOduc-
tiOn as the vine fretter. but we curious man
of the ST. Louis Republic has not as yet dis
covered them.
just what becomes of the shoes which
should adorn the missing foot of one-legged
man is matter Of some interest and should
furnish food for thought to minds of as pecula-
tive tendency, says the Boston Transcript.
While the number of men who actually have
but one leg is not large, there are many who
from one cause or another wear but one shoe,
or from some discrepancy in their feet have
to have one shoe OF an especial pattern.
There are also the men with artificial legs,
who although they wear a pair Of shoes.
tread much more lightly on the artificial leg
about three times as long as the other There
are some shoe stores which. buying
their goods directly from the manufacturers,
are willing to sell One-legged man a single
shoe sending the other back to the factory TO
be mated but almost the universal custom is
to sell only whole pairs. The question then
arises. What becomes of the large number
of new shoes which are bought in this way
and which are entirely useless to their own
crs?" The solution of the problem seems to
he at present yelled in obscurity, and to be
known only to the one eguP1 shoe
himself. None of the local shoe dealers who
were questioned could give any information
on the subject which was in any way tinged
with probability, nor could they tell where
such information could be had,
1t has always been a matter of speculation
and wonder to some people as to how ma
rine cable once broken in midocean is ever
got together again. Tho explanation, says
the New Orleans Times Democrat is this:
First it must re known that the cable practi-
cally rests everywhere on the bottom Of the
sea. OF course there are places where sud
den deep places coming between shallow ones
will cause the cable to make a span as over
a ravne or gully. In other places the ocean
is so deep that the cable finds its specific
gravity somewhere in midwater, so to speak.
In that case IL rests quite as firmly as If it
were on solid ground. When break occurs
the first step. OF course, is to accurately To-
cate its position. conductor such as n ca
BILE offers certain amount of obstruction or
current Apparatus has been devised for the
measuring of this resistance" The unit of
resistance is called an ohm The resistance
OF the average cable is. roughly speaking,
three OhufS per nautical mile. Resistance
practically ceases at the point where the
conductors make considerable contact with
the water. Therefore, if when measuring to
locate a break it he found that the meaSur-
ing apparatus indicates a resistance of 800
Ohms the position of the fault viii be known
to he 800 miles from shore. With this infor-
nation the captain of the repairing shin is
able to determine by his charts of the course
of the cable, the latitude and longitude of
the spot where the break occurred. and can
proceed with certainty to effect the repair
When the approximate neighborhOOd Of the
track is reached a grapnel is dropped over
board anu the vessel SteamS slowly in a
course a right angles to the run of the cable
On the deck of the ship there is a machine
called a dynOmeter which, as its name i'm.
plies is used to measure resistance The
rope securing the grapnel passes under this
II the d"nometer records q steady increase
of strain it indicates that the grapnel has
caught the cable. If, on the other hand the
from tons to nothing again, il is known that
the grapnel is only engaging rocks or other
projections of an uneven bottom. II is fire.
Quently necessary to drag over such ground
several times before the cable can be secured
Having secured one end of parted cable
the vessel moors ii to buoy and proceeds to
search for the other end. When both ends
are brought together on deck the electrician
holds communication with the shore on both
sides to make sure that there are no other
defective places and that the cable is perfect