The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

beliefs.
In a Russian village there is not even such
an organization as we possess in this CO Intr
| in the small volunteer companies. In their
stead Is log stable with matched roof con
! tanning an Old-IashlOned hand pump and three
| casks mounted on wheels. These are kept
1Iled with water and each is drawn By a sin
gle horse The horses are the property of the
| commune and they are kept tethered outside
| the ca bin, ready for duty at moment no
tlce- place is also set apart in the hut for
the muzhlk who serves as watchman. an ONCE
that IS held. turn by turn, by the inhabitants
Of the township. The location selected for
| this cabin is as near as possible TO the resi-
dence OF the pristay, or the district captain Of
| police, and upon an alarm Of fire ne drives to
| the enc IN mis- teleFa at the head OF the pro-
| cession OF carts and peasants.
hey have singular kind Of dance con
Quoted on the greens of country villages in
Russia. The dancers stand apart, knot Of
! young men here, knot OF maldens there,
! each sex BY itself, and silent as n crowd OF
| mutes. A piper breaks into a tune youth
pulls of his cap and challenges his girl with a
| wave and a bow. II the girl is willing she
| waves her handkerchief in token Of assent.
! The youth advances Iakcs a corner OF the
| handkerchief in his hand and leads his lassie
: round and round. No word Is spoken and no
! laugh is heard. Stiff with cords and rich
| with braidS, the girl moves heavily by her
| self. going round AMI round ana never al
| lowing her partner to touch her hand. The
| pipe goes droning on lOrhOurs in the same sad
| key and measure, and 70 prize Of merit in
| LnlS ''ClrCllng, as the dance is cdllGQ, Is
! given by spectators the the lass1e who, In all
| that summer reVelry, has never spoken and
never smiled
Some Of the common ideas concerning as
! bestos appear to have resulted in mistakes OF
| q serious practical nature. Thus, the usual
| conception that 1t is in no wise affected by
| heat is true only to the extent that though
| infusible except at very high temperature it
! IS a fact that only very moderate degree of
| heat-heatlng to low redneSs in q platinum
/ cTuclDlG. lDStlQGe-lS
! destroy the hexibility of the fiber and render
1t so brittle that it may easily be crumpled
! between the thumb and finger. Another mis-
take is that relating TO its high nonconduc-
! tivlty or power Of resisting the action OF heat
| the assumption being that because asbestos
| is tnfuSlble il must, of necessity be 4 good
| nOnconductor. The contrary assertion to this
IS made and proved on good authority, namely.
| that by placing vessel of water on a sheet of
asbestos cardboard and applying heat from
below, or, more simple proof still, by placing
| piece Of wood on a sheet of asbestos mill
! board on hot stove. If, however, asbestos
| is leased out and worked into fluffy mass
there is thus obtained a nouconducting mate
rial, but it is the air inclosed by the fibers
| that Is the real nOnco1duct tor the asbestos
serving simply to entangle the air.
A queer story IS said to be circulating about
Madrid says the New Orleans Picayune.
When Queen Maria Christina S husband lay
dead she took ring set with diamonds and
pearls from his finger and vowed to wear it
through Dfe. The ring was originally pre-
| sent from King Alfonso to his first wife,
| Mercedes, and was said to exert a fatal in
nuence on the pOSsesSOr. Mercedes died be-
fore she had had it long, and bequeathed it
| TO her grandmother, the eX-Queen Christina.
| She survived the acceptance OF the fatal gift
| but a few months when il was given to ihe
Infanta Marie de- Pillar, daughter of the
! duka Of MOntpensier. This young and beaui-
| full princess enjoyed its possession only two
! weeks. She died suddenly after an i'll
ness of a few hours in her 18th year
! Then the Infanta Christina, Maria's
| sister, wore the ring for short
| space OF time, with the usual consequences
/ Her body lies in the pantheon of the escu-
rial at the foot Of marble group that is the
! delight and admiratiOnOf all visitors. BY the
! time Of Christina death the evil qualities
OF the ring had been proclaimed by everybody
! who knew its history, and King Alfonso, in a
| spirit OF bravery, resolved to henceforth wear
| it himself. He had it just three months on
| his finger when he died. And now the queen
regent Overawed by many Ominous events,
has discarded the fateful ornament; il ar
! rived the other day from San Sebastian, and
| the saint patroness of Madrid, the virgin OF
| Almudena or the cathedral exhibiting her
| statue, has come in for 1t.
| Few people, even among professed poll
| ticians, have much idea Of the wealth OF the
world, or of the manner in which that wealth
| Is growing, says writer in the Edinburgh
| Review. Still fewer have any notion of the
| pctenual1ty OF wealth to increase. M Jannet
! quotes the elaborate calculation Of an ingeni-
| Gus author to show that 100 francs, accumu-
| lating at 5 per cent. compound interest for
! seven centuries, would be sufficient to buy
| the whole surface of the globe. both land and
water, at the rate Of 000, 900 francs $500 000)
| the hectare. The actual growth Of riches has
! not hitherto assumed such lnconvenient pro
| portions. NJ Jannet cites various authorities
! to show that the wealth Of the United King
! dom exceeds $4,000. 900 600; that of France
| S4OOOJOOO.OOO; that of all Europe 500 900 COO
600; that Of the United States $40. 600, 900 900.
l. we place the wealth of the rest Of the world at
| Sl3O,OOO 100000 We shall arrive At an aggre-
gate of Q400C000O00O0 We should have, we
| may add, to multiply this vast sum 10000
| times before we reached the total to which
! according to NJ. Jannet'S ingenious authority
| l0J francs, accommodating at per cent com
I pound interest for 200 years, would grow.
The figures we have given are so vast that
3 they convey no apPreciable idea to the ordi-
nary reader. 1t may assist the apprehension
II 1t be added that France, on an average
I possess es more than 81 900, the United King
dom more than 81 $50 for each member of the
population. Just 200 years ago. Sir w. Petty
/ estimated the entire wealth of England at
only Sl,25OOJ00O0. Two centuries, therefore
have increased it forty fold. But the chief
| additions to It have been made in the last
| nifty years, and we believe that we are not far
| wrong in saying that the sum which is annu-
| ally added to the capital Of the United King
| dom amounts to 81 100000 600 or, in other
| words, is nearly equal to its entire wealth at
the time of the revolution Of 1858.
few years ago the person who might give
utterance to the idea that any but human be-
incs possessed reasoning powers would have
been considered guilty of rank heresy saws
| the Philadelphia Ledger. But with advanced
| enlightenment there are thousands who have
been driven to the belief that the Creator has
! not bestowed the divine light upon man
| alone, but upon animals as well, even insects
coming in for a share Of that force which is a
| grade higher than instinct. Close obSe
are continually making public examples
| which show that that class of animal life
which has been designated as the lower Or
derS" when compared with human kind ac-
complish results the working out of which
can scarcely be ascribed to instinct alone
This reasoning faculty is especially noticeable
among dogs while many other animals evince
power of thought of ability to reason
really remarkable. In a communication to
the Academy OF Natural Sciences some
time ago, Prof. Mehan related
an incident that came under his
own observation which, while NOT
| conclusive evidence of reasoning power in
| insects, yet is strongly indicative of It, Dur
ing light spring shower the professor toox
| shelter under a large linden tree in full bloom
| While there he noticed an unusual number Of
bees buSlly at work among the flowers of the
linden, Will tree of another species close
at hand also IN bloom, had no bees about IL
The reason was quickly apparent to him, The
deserted tree was light foliage and the rain
| poured through freely, while the linden had
| heavy foliage, and in such abundance that tba
| rain was shed almost as perfectly as from an
! umbrella. The bees were evidently aware of
| TINS, Tor they came and went directly to and
| from the linden. ignoring the other tree en-.
tlrelN. lie uIneJ. and ngJy