The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-07
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.
Memphis nan has patent farau elcc-
tricai vegetation cxterminator which is de-
signed 20 kan fhe rank vegetation which grows
along railroad beds and highways in tropical
countries. The apparatus. including DYNAMO
ana engine or batteries, IS placed on car
ana furnishes a current which Is sent through
an the adjacent vegetation hy means Of q
brush whcn the car Is moved along the track
The same principle Is applicable, of course
70 the weeds and grasses OF cultivated field
The foot" f., named from the length OF that
member in a full-grown man. Some say that
IL was so-called from the length Of the foot Of
a certain English king. but II Is believed to
have been q standard Of measurement among
the ancient Egyptians. The cubit is from the
Latin cubltus, an elbow, and is the distance
from the elbow 10 the end Of the middle fin
ger. Fathom is from the Aryan fat. 10 ex-
tend, ana denotes the distance from tip to tip
OF the fingers when the arms OF an average
sized man are fully extended.
The Mojaves believe that all who die and
are not cremated are turned into owls. and
when they hear the dismal screeoh Of one OF
inc above named creatures of the night they
tel you that II is the spirit of some dead
Mo1ave who has returned to advise his people
to submit the ordeal of fire. When one of
the tribe dies his relatives and immediate
friends do not cat salt or wash themselves Tor
four days. Their heaven is White Mountain
they know nothing of hell or any place of
punishment except "Biemia " the place where
unlnclnerated warriors are transformed into
owls.
The history Of the word toilet is an inter
esting one, says the New York Evening Post.
Coming from the French as a dimtnutive
form of "toile.'' meaning linen it became
"toyIet, the cloth that diapers wrap about
their bales of goods. 1t was next applied to
articles made from linen, especially to a cloth
thrown over the shoulders by BARRIERS cutting
the hair 1t then came to mean cloth laid
over the dressing table, and a definition of
the word made in 1913 says Toilet a kind
OF table cloth or carpet made OF fine linen
satin, velvet or tissue; spread upon a table in
bed-chamber. where persons of quality dress
themselves; dressing cloth" So the word
lourneyed on. meaning successfully "a bag
for night clothes, articles used in dressing
mirrors, boxes, combs, etc, the process of
dressing, and finally applied to the dress
itself, as in the expression of a toilet of
green, blue or pink"
A remarkable occurrence took place lately
says Berlin correspondent of the Pail Mall
Bupget, in the geological gardens at Breslau
In the cage of the large snakes a South
American boa constructor commended for
RABBIT with large python from West Africa
IL ana not succeed, however, the python being
the stronger OF the two, and it withdrew.
About two hours later the keeper found the
same snakes lighting for another rabbit. AS
the keeper supposed that the boa which was
the weaker of the two, would again give
up Ato piOJ' u0 lClJ blGul 10 themselves
andsu went home. The next morning
he was horrOr-strickeu TO find that
the unfortunate boa had not let 90 its
hold and had been swallowed by the python
as pendant to the rabbit. The boa was
nearly seven feet long and correspondence
thick. The python had already swallowed
one rabbit before the one which proved fatal
to the boa. Its circumference throughout its
length was from twenty-three to twenty-eight
inches, and its skin was expanded to
double its usual size. The superstition that
me snake might perhaps, not be able to
digest the boa proved false. Digestion only
proceeded somewhat more slowly than usual
The corner stone of the Washington monu-
ment in Washington, D. c., was laid by
President Polk on July 4, 1913, says the New
YORK weekly. The car stone was set in posi-
ton on Dec o, 1884. The foundations are
I2613 feet square and SO feet 8 inches deep.
The base OF the monuments So feet IA inches
square, and the walls Is feet "A inch thick
Al the 5OOtoot mark where the pyramidal
top begins the shaft is "a feet 81 inches
square and the walls are IS inches thick, The
monument is made Of blocks of marble two
feet thick, and il is said there are 1900 of
them. The hight above the ground is sos
ieet. The pyramidal top terminates
nine inches high and weighs 100
ounces The mean pressure of the monument
Is tons per square foOt,an the total weight
foundation and all is nearly 81 900 tons The
door at the base, facing the capital is 8 feet
wide and 10 feet high and enters a room 25
feet square, An immense iron frame work
supports the machinery Of the elevator, which
is hoisted with steel wire ropes inches thick
AT one side begin the stairs, OF which there
are 30 flights, containing lS steps each Five
hundred and twenty feet from the base there
are windows, is by "a inches. on each face
The area at the base Of the pyramid TOP is
l 1874 feet space enough for Groom house
each room to be l2 by 10 feet.
OF diminutiye steeds the Shetland ponv IS
the most popular and most reliable one for
children, says the Pittsburg Chronicle rele-
graph. Ihere are several varieties that re-
semble the ShetlandS. Amonr these are the
Welsh mountain ponies, the English ExmooT
with very beautiful species that come from
the West indies. With the exception of the
Shetlands most Of these are HkelV 10 fall into
bad habits, learning to kick bite and RIM
away. All resemble the Shetland pony and
are usually so denOminatCd The real Sbet-
land Is thoroughly reliable. They are docile,
easily managed and intelligent and will
allow their owners to ride by the primitive
method of cinging to their name without
thouRhto OF Kicking The age of the Shetland
reaches 81 years sometimes It
carries about IN its day several generations of
children. The EXmOor pony is perhnns tho
hardest. In the hIlly country of which thov
are natives they thrive on the coarse scantV
mountain herhage acquiring a power of en-
durance that Will enable them to travel thirfv
TO forty miles day, carrying weight of 275
pounds. The value OF a pony differs in ac-
cordance with its quality. hev are ouite az
expensive as horses. the average specfrnen
costing from $3.50 to S175. pair of white
ponies recently sold for 81 900 The most
sought after however, are the spotted ponies
The carts cost from $50 to $3.50
1t is a remarkable as well as a most inter
esting fact, says the St. Louis Republic. that
the very first use to which the discovery Of
printing was applied was in the pro
duction of the Bible The worI,
was accomplished at Mcntz some
time between the year l440 and 1445 by Gutten
Lcrg. The inventor Of the art. and one Faust
a goldsmith, who furnished the funds neccs
Sary to carry on the work. If this first AT
tempt at printing had been but a single naro
there would be less occasion to marvel at {fs
production. but when 1t is known that the
work was sent outin two 'olio volumes on naner
OF great strength, tineness of texture ana
real beauty, in ink that stll holds its Iretar
and register that the best modern iob
printer would find difficulties in excelling fbe
true character and marvellous nature IF The
undertaking becomes apparent. The work
contained l, $50 pages, and. as il was the rst
ehortS at new art, must have involved an
immense amount Of mental and mechanicai
labor. OF these relics Of Guttenber0 and
Faust eighteen copies are known to sim he
in existence. Four of these are printed On
vellum. OF the vellum copies two are in Enc
land, one being in the "Greenville collection
OF biblical eurios," the other In the british
museum. The third is safely honsed
in a gold, glass and mahogany case in The
royal library at Berlin: the other in the
rooms OF the royal institute at Paris. OF the