The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-07
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

against the prcpoSferOGs stories publish he'd Ia
! the east about big fortunes left by unknown
millionaircs in the Golden state TO
uucNpcrtant bcncHciaries in this section Of
the country. They say that men with even
half % million dollars cannot remain in OBJ
! security there nowadays. while very rich men
/ are necessarily as well known IN san Fran
cisco as the city hall
The latest invention of a lahor-saving
machine IS that OF an apparatus for picking
cranhcrries. A harvester Of cranberries who
uses his hands to pick the crauberrie, can
make only from $3.50 to 20 a day; but by N
ploying the cranberry picking machine he
can make from 81 to IS a day. UnluckAy
however. the owners OF the cranberry marshes
suspect the machine harms the cranberry
bushes, and many Of them will not permit ii
to be used
Some experiments in military ballooning
have just been made in France. Five bal
looms were released from the Esplanade des
Invalides IN Paris; the aronauts IN charge
| having been previously instructed to pass
over a radius Of twenty miles of country sup
posed to re held by an enemy. and then TO
| descend as closely as possible to Comss la
| vile. One of the balloons descended within
mile of the desired place. and two others at
| a point somewhat more distant from it.
Admiral Tryon's dispatch box, which was
! found floating after the Victoria had found
cred. Vas specially made to contain the code
OF signals. says London Truth. OF course, it
was desired to keep this code secret, so, in
order TO provide against the risks Of accidents,
the box was lined with lead and perforated
with many holes 20 insure it's a. once sinking
to the bottom Of the sea if it happened to
come into the water. 1t would be interesting
to Learn who were the designers Of this box
which neing specially constructed to sink,
hoated safely and is now at the admiralty.
most practical proof Of the fallibtlity Of our
experts.
DR.. John S. Billings Of the surgeon gener-
!
recent magazine as to the comparative NOR
tahty OF whites and negroes in Washington
and Baltimore, from the health statistics OF
which cities he draws his estimates. While
the birth rate is higher among the colored
people, he says, the infantile death rate
among them is enormously greater, and the
negro population in both cities would rapidly
decrease but for immigration. He asserts
that the sanitary condition OF the homes of
the negroes is a great deal worse than
it was ten years ago, and that
wide reforms are needed.
The candidates for bail1f in the town Of
Alnwick, North England, just before the cleo
ton ride in procession to horsepond near
the town, dismount and struggle through the
mud and water as best they can. They are
accompanied by a brass band and all the
population Of the town and netghbOrhood.
The custom dates from the time Of King John,
who visited the town in 1910 The roads were
very bad and some Of his baggage wagons had
to be left in the miTe. On his arrival he in
quired who was responsible for the condition
OF the roads, ald learning that the balInS
were to blame, ordered them to be seized and
dragged through the nearest pond.
A Canadian teacher Of Indians in the far
| northwest, in the Dominion government ser
vice, realizing that it is not good for man to
be alone, journeycd down to such civilization
as he could find in Winnipeg, not long ago, in
anxious quest for q wife, and with but six
days available for the search. First he com
municated with the police, but they protested
they could not aid him. Next he sought the
/ preachers, with equal i'll success. Then he
had recourse to the press. A friendly notice
/ in morning newspaper allured six wOuld-be
brides forward the same day. He was not
| quite satisfied with the appearance of any of
! them, but thought one would do, f." and set
about making preparations for the nuptials.
Almost when too late a seventh young woman
| appeared. Then it was case of love al first
sight on both sides. The half-accepted young
woman was quietly ignored; he married the
! last conner, and the next morning he set forth
with his bride for his home in the northern
| wilds.
Black pearls used to be held as of small
value, comparatively speaking. They were
first made fashionable by the Empress Eu-
genie, wife of Napoleon III who possessed a
/ famous necklace of them which fetched go
/ 900 at auction after the overthrow of the i'm
perial dynasty. This did not include the sin
gle great pearl forming the snap, which was
! purchased by the Marquis of Bath for IS 900.
! Mexico, Tahiti and Fiji supply the markets of
the world with black pearls The most ex-
! traordlnary pearl in the world according to
! the New York Advertiser, is known as the
southern Cross 1t is probably the most
remarkable thing of its kind that nature has
ever produced. So far as is known it occupies
an absolutely unique position in the history
of pearls. 1t consists of a group of nine
pearls naturally grown together in so
regular manner as to form an al
G npOSe the shaft, which measures
an inch and half in length, while the two
arms of the cross are formed by one pearl on
each side. All the pearls are of fine luster.
| This astonishing freak was discovered by a
man named Clark while pearl fishing in
| western Australia He regarded it as a mir
lie, and, entertaining a supersttous dread
OF II, ne buried IL. In 1874 1t was Dig up again
and since then it has changed hands many
| times Its value is set at $50 900. How it
came about that these pearls were grouped
| together in such manner no one has as vet
been able TO explain satisfactorily. 1t has
been suggested that a fragment of serrated
seaWeed may nave got into the shell of the
oyster and that the succession of teeth along
! the margin Of the front may have caused the
deposition OF nacrc at regular intervals. so as
TO form string of pearls in a straight line
| The cross was found in the she'll of the mol
luSR, just a, III was taken from its native ele-
ment, without any possibility of its having
been subjected to human manipulation
The Alaska Steamship Company is almost
as accommodating as regards fishing as the
railroad trains down south, which stop to let
the passengers pick flowers says writer in
the Omaha Bee. But one of the six1Dper's
bulletins announcing fishing excursion was
regarded by every body as a sample of Cabt
Carroll good-naJured humOr. II read some
thing like this: We will 90 on shore AT
o co p. m, for two hours and all passen-
gers wishing to catch salmon can do so All
that you will require as fishing gear will be
sharp finger nails, buttonhooks and hair
pins At 2 o'clock we we're led to a little
stream that rushed fOaminz through the
pines and ccdars to see a sight that would
make old Izaak Walton turn in his grave
There were salmon by the thousands In places
for twenty feet the fish were so thick Won couId
not see the bottom of the shallow stream and
where the water rushed over a small fall Won
tou see line of black tails from shore to
shore. This may sound very much like a
sunday fish story, but can bring witnesses
who Will swear to it with photographs taken
on the spot as indisputable evidence The
passengers gathered enough salmon to last
the ship for some time. Several succeeded in
catching them with their hands Others went
at it Indian fashion and speared them with a
barb-pointed spear. A net drawn at the
mouth of the stream by the salmon cannerv
a day or so before pulled in 20 ON
pounds Of salmon. ten tons Of fish There
is peculiar kind Of fish found in Alaskan
waters, which is quite plentiful called
the candle-hsh. 1t is about the size of a
smelt which 1t resembles in appearance, The
candle-ish Is caught by the Indians on bright
moonlight nights with kind of rake some
six or seven feet long the teeth being made
of bone or sharp pointed nails. While the
canoe Is padded by one Indian close to n