The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-07
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

A colored man named Henry Brown has
been elected mayor of Brownville, Neb.
Mr.. Baden-Powen of the Scots guards has
devised a method of signaling at night by
means OF paper fire balloons, which are made
to lift a string of beads of a quick burning
composition attached to a piece of quick
match so as to spell out words on a system
similar to the dot and DASH or Morse plan.
The balloon is inflated by hot air, and the
message string is attached. The portability
of the apparatus is an important feature.
In China there is a profession for ladies,
strange because openly and handsomely re-
munerated in the current coin of the realm
1t is carried on by elderly ladies, who go from
house to house Of rich people announcing
their coming by beating drum and offering
their services to amuse the lady of the house.
This offer accepted they sit down and tell the
latest scandal and the newest stories and on
dts. and are rewarded at the rate of half-a-
crown an hour, besides a handsome present
should some portion Of their gossip have
proved particularly acceptable.
At the aquarium in Berlin there is a big
gorilla whose habits are about as correct as
those of most of his distant relatives. He
gets up at O'Clock in the morning, takes a
bath, and uses soap without hesitation When
his toilet is completed he takes cup of milk,
after which he eats two loaveS of bread with
Frankfurt sausages and smoked Hamburg
beef. all of which he moistenS with a glass of
weiss beer. At l o'clock p. m. he takes
wing of a chicken. He uses his knife and
fork and his napkin; but when he thinks that
his keepers are not observing him he dis
cards the impediments of civilization and
plunges his muZZle into the bowl, as If to
give evidence of the melancholy fact that
even gorilla can be hog.
There is a case on record in Japan. says
Harpers Young People, where the winner at
the polls was not only sorry for his success.
but came through that success subsequently
in, "a hoo t.
the village of Ava and the person honored-
or dishonored-by the majority vote was Jap
by the name of Abb Tanihei. 1t seems that
the village Of Ava was haraSSed by mid
night rObber whom nobody could detect. The
head of the hamlet summoned the entire male
population under his charge and directed
every man to write the name of the person
whom he suspected and to deposit the paper
in a box. Fifteen ballots bore the name of
Abb Tanihei, the rest being blanks. The man
whom every body diStrusted was so much over
come with establishment that he made full
confession and went to prison. In q more
civilized country an incident Of this sort could
never happen, and it is to be hoped that il will
never be tried. If Abb Tanihei had really been
an honest man it would have made no differ
ence in his fate which would indeed have been
a dreadful thing.
A writer quoted by Leisure Hour gives an
interesting account of the curious habits of
the ichnoumOn fly of Ceylon, the natural en-
envy of the spider This insect is green in
marvelously thin waist. II makes its nest OF
wellwOrked clay. and then goes out on a hunt
ing exception. Its victims are invariably
spiders of various kinds. but all are subject TO
the same mode of treatment. A scientific
sting iniects some poison which efeCtuaHy
paralyZes the lucklcss spider, VINO IS then car
ried OF to the nest and there fastened with
dab Of moist clay. Another
and another Victim is brought to
this chamber of horrors. Then the president
mother ichneumOn fly proceeds to deposits
] hnra rrcrG "a If oh NErn oh
can just move its legs in a vague. aimlesG
/ manner but can offer no resistance i his
done, the fly returns TO her work mason.
I she prepares more clay ana builds up the en-
trance to this ghastlg cell. Then she com
/ mences a new cell. which she furnishes in
/ like manner. and closes: then she adds yet
/ another cell, and so proceeds until her store
of eggs are all provided for, and her task in
! life being accomplished she dies, leaving her
/ evil brood to hath at leisure In due time
J these hOrrid little magCotS come to life and
! lind themselves Graded in a laTder Of fresh
meat. Zach poor spider is still alive. and his
Z juices AFFORD nutrimenf for the ichneumOn-
grub. until It is ready 10 pass into its chry-
/ Sails stag" thence to emerge as winged fly,
/ fully prepared 70 carry out the traditions of
! its ancestors with regard to spiders and full
| fill the purpose for which they have been
| created according to ichneumOn belief.
One of the explanations the officers Of the
Santa Maria, Columbus flagship, have had
| most constantly to make to visitors is that
| the little vessel at present anchored in the
| North river is not the one Columbus sailed in
but a copy Of it, says the New York Post. In
detail OF construction and fitting the repro
ductiOn Is Faithfully exact. but it is only a re
| production for the original Santa Maria went
ashore on a sand bank OF the Coas. OF Hayti
or Espanoa as Columbus named the island
| on Christmas Eve. 1892. Columbus own ac-
| count Of the accident. as given T. Las Casas
Z shows that il was due 10 neglect Of duty on
the part Of the pilot, who, the sea being calm
/ and himself drOwsy, Entrusted the
| helm to an in experienced boy-a di-
rect violation Of Columbus order and
went to sleep Columbus and the rest of the
| crew were also sleeping. I he ship. caught
| by current that the boy was too green to
perceive struck so gently that only his shouts
! Of dismay az feeling the rudder touch reused
the sIeepers Columbus was the first on deck
| and did all that he could TO save his ship. but
| in vain. The Santa Maria was hard and fast
| aground. and began at once to careen. Co
| lumbus took refuge on board the Nina. which
lay to near by and at dawn sent the news Of
his misfortune ashore 10 the king Of that re-
gion. who had already shown him some hos
! pitality. This king. the amiable and friendly
| LsuacanaRari, wept when he heard of the dis
aster. and sent his people out in their long ca
noes to assist the sp1niards in saving
| her cargo, which they did so
| well that not as much as an
| lost Says Columbus. Moreover he enter
! tained them most generously with feasts and
presents Of gold. These amenities. especially
( the gold, ana the prospect Of there being
mines near by. decided Columbus 10 found
there and then a colony and out OF the wreck
Of the Santa Maria to build fort. This he
did. the natives helping him skillfully as be-
fore. and he called the port La Navida be-
cause il was on the morning of the nativity
that he was stranded. and thus led to settle
! on this shore which he regarded as a direct
| interpOsition Of providence in his behalf
But the santa Maria was doomed to COM
plete destruction, nevertheless. On return
ing on his second voyage Columbus found
that in an uprising Of the Indians the fort he
} had made had been burned to the ground