The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-16
ITEMS OF INTsRESr.

IT is REPORTED that the oysters are all dying
in the West bay, some ten miles from Calves
ton, and the oystermen say that the cause OF
their mortality is the creosote that is being ap-
| piled to the piles used in building the new
wagon bridge which is to connect Galveston
| island with the II ainand. They assert that the
oreosote poisons the water and kills the oysters,
and that unless remedy Is soon discovered the
| oyster beds OF the west bay will speedily be- a
thing of the past.
SOME Of the most capable men who spend
| spring and summer on the Alaskan Islands look
| ing after various commercial interests earn
very large salaries. and live what some folks
might call double lives. They are able during
| the winter in San Francisco, New York or Eu-
| rope, to bs lavish in expenditure and enjoy all
the privileges of life. and the fact that there is
| little to be done on the islands but attend
strictly to business enables a man to recuper-
ate from the wearing joys of civilization, and
thus to prolong his dual existence
SORT of mythology has grown up about the
American Indian in regions whence he vanished
100 years ago says the Chicago Herald. The
| popular names of many plants include the ad
| lectlye Indian. Few persons in America say
Indian corn now, but Indian cakes is term still
| strongly lntrenched south of Mason and Dixon's
line, and there is even plant known to children
as Indian tobacco. The brilliant Gamma is called
Indian shot because its seeds are black, bullet
like pellets Indian traditions are preserved
| with sort otreverence in the south. Twenty
five years ago local travellers on a certain road
! in Worcester county Maryland commonly
stopped at point In the remote country
reached under bush at the roadside drew
forth stone mortar and pestle used by Indians
lO0 years before, showed the relics to any
stranger in the company and carefully put
them back. A whole neEhborhood knew the
whereabouts OF these instruments, but they
seemed as safe as in musuem.
JAPANESE PATIENCE is proverblaI. A remark-
able example of what it will accomplish when
combined with manual and artistic skill is to be
exhibi ed at the Chicago fair. 1t is q hand
carved iron eagle, the work of a Japanese artist,
Shn1ro ltao, OF the province Of KY, anu it took
him just five years to make it. IL is two feet in
hight and measures from tip to tip of the ex-
tended wings five feet, the weight being 1888
| pounds The head is 50 constructed that it will
swerve from side to side like that of a live bird
The bird has more than 8. 600 feathers, made
| separately by hand, the lines OF each numbsr
| several hundred, and many of them of such re.
markable hneness that in order to preserve their
uniformity OF appearance fresh tool bad to be
employed after cutting three or four of them.
This will give some idea of the patience and care
required for the successful accomplishment OF
| the work. Sblnjro Itao captured two eagles
| One be killed aud stuffed aud the other he kept
| alive. He used both as models, that while
| engaged on the work he might study the bird
| both in reposa and IN action.
BETWEEN the palace yard OF Westminster and
| the top of the clock tower which marks the
hours for parliament there are 42O steps, saws
| the Pail Mall Gazette The clock from which
Big Ben strikes the hour is the largest in the
| world Looking at the dial from the northern
footway OF Great George street. or from the
! emban LneDt, it looks as IL its diameter might
! be equal TO the space that q man or medium
| size could cover with Outstretched arms. This
estimate hardly does the dial Justice, for its di-
| am-ter is % feet. From the ground the min
utes on the dial look like ordinary minutes and
4 as il they were close together. AS u matter of
| fact they are a foot apart. The numerals are
| feet long. The minute hand, with the counter
| baance-the heavy end that projects beyond
| the center Of the dial-iS Is feet In length This
| hand is so massive that during a snow storm
| sometimes the clock is retarded by the weight
| Of the flakes that alight upon It. Twenty men
| could stand under Big Ben in a rain storm and
escape wetting il the rain fell in an exact per.
| pendicular and stayed where it fell. The new
| light at the top of the parliament tower ia az
steps higher than Big Ben. The old light was
| "a steps higher still The new light is 1000
candle-power. When the light is being fixed
| two men stand in the lantern, and they have
| plenty OF room. The parliament light is now a
conspicuous object in London
LoNpoN's latest thrill is derived from the feat
of man who dives down ninety-f1ve feet from
the roof of the Westminster aquarium into a
narrow and comparatively shallow tank Of
| water, set in the floor of the building. SAWS a
| writer in the New York Sun. The exploit calls
Tor an astounding combination of nerve aud
| skill, and Is far more noteworthy than any OF
the ridge-jumping acts which have been so
| tiresomely frequent of late years. The diver
| is Thomas Burns, who has acquired consider
| able notoriety as diver from Bird yes and as an
expert swimmer, and not little fame from his
| having saved no fewer than thirty-two lives
| during his career. He is O sturdiiy buiiu man
| some % years of age He has Frequently dived
from brid yes over 100 feet high into rivers bu.
| his dive at the aquarium is a very different ar
| fair He stands on a tiny platform suspended
! among the iron girders of TIE roof nlnety-five
feet above the floor and sees below him. instead
| OF a broad, deep river, q mass of fhrine he
! widering lights, sea of upturned faces and in
| the wooden floor of the stage what seems from
| that hight to be a mere SLOT the tank which ha
| must surely land In. The tank is IS fe [ long
| 8 feet wide and feet deep. The diver actuaIlv
| dives. takes a header, and does not drop feet
| foremost, after the manner of the bridge iumn
ers. The marvellous precision required to land
| in the tank is easily appreciable, as is also the
mark. Burns is hoisted up TO his aerial perca by
! means of rope and pulley. The spectators
can barely discern him through that distance of
I perpendicular space. They see him peer over
| the platform edge, then they see his tees pro
| ject over, he crouches down, and then he piides
| of the platform head foremost and comes
| punging down with stlfiy outstretched
| MIN in regular header" fashion. But
when little more than halfway down
! his feet fall over his back toward is head. be
| turns almost completely over. and before the
| murmur and excitement and horror that is the
! usual accompaniment to the dive has voiced
| itself be strikes the water with his shoulders
| and back with prodigious thud He skins
| just under the surface of the water seeming
| barely to enter it, and comes uo face unVa ri
| He scarcely breathes hard after the Tremendous
! exploit, and goes OFF Immediately TO give an ex.
| hibition OF fancy swimtnin in another part of
] this building. The wonderful skill, the superb
| pluck and the unmistakable element of danger