The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-30
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

latter would last longer; but il is believed
that II Will last about three times as long, and
VIII not need any repairs during the 1rst half
OF ITS lifetime. A wooden barge. after each
trip, may need repairs to any amount, and
always must be caulked. at a cost Of from $50
10 SO. The most important advantage claimed
for the steel barge is that it does away with
pumping, which is a constant and large ex-
pense to the coal trade.
curiosity in the shape of IAN orange with
In an orange" fell to the share of Morris A.
Thomas yesterday in a lot of fruit purchased
by MIN from James GOrdshell, No. 25l3 Penn
sylvania avenue, says the Baltimore Ameri-
can IL was such curiosity that Mr.. Thomas,
after opening the orange, returned il to Mr..
Gordshell, who later brought 1t to the Ameri-
can once. The orange outside gave no evil
dence of being other than an ordinary one.
but inside, when split in half, was another
ana perfect orange, except that it had no
Ilnd: and only about an zach and half IN di-
emeter IL also had sort OF stein, about as
large as clay pipe stem, running up through
the center Of what might be termed the par
snt OF the baby orange to the main stem.
i ne baby" orange was not In the center OF
the larger one, but very close to the outside
rlnd at the end farthest from the main stem.
According to the Medical Times, Of Phila-
delphia, Australia is a country without an
orphan asylum. Everywhere local commit
tees keep record of families with which a
destitute child may be placed. and the chill
Qren committee OF the destitute board Sc
lects a home suitable for each child that
comes under its care. On an average St.25
week is allowed for board and clothing, but in
no case are foster parents selected who are so
poor thai the adopted child will suffer
hardship. 1t must be sent to school regularly
until the age Of IA years when it is put to
work. The local committee watches over
each adopted child and sees that the condi-
tions are all fulfilled. The earnings OF boy
of that class from IA to IS are put in the pos
tai savings bank, and at the latter age he can
begin his career with little ready money.
AS result the state has raised a citizen at a
cost of $40 year and saved no end Of outlay
for courts, prisons, and reformatories.
The old Teutonic and Saxon races in Cen
trail and Northern Europe before the intro
duction and spread of Christianity. had
great generation for trees, says the Sunday
School Times. They would never willingly
damage them. Under large trees, especially
old oaks, the great councils were held and
Judgment given; and the graves of this peo-
pie were found in groves-they always being
buried under the roots Of a tree, This all was
the result OF a superstition that their gods
lived in those trees. In the linden tree
Berchta dwelt, a benign spirit who took
charge of the babies, and rocked their cradles
when the nurses fell asleep; in the oak, Do.
mar the thunder god in the willows, all
sorts of spirits; In the elder trees the
dwarfs Whenever the festivals of these gods
were celebrated, their trees were decorated
with lights wreaths and "questen" ttassels)
ana oherings were hung in the branches,
whlch, however, were plundered again when
the festival was over, the gods being sup
posed only to appropriate the best.
In the rooms of Prof f. D. Cope, at Phila-
delphia. the person fortunate enough to gain
admission, says the st. Louis Republic, may
see the creature which all naturalists are
unanimous IN prono1ncing the first repreSen-
tattve of the hoofed animal species. The
animal Is not alive, neither is it entire so far
as flesh and blood are concerned, but to the
paleontologtst, who cares only for the fossiled
bones, the specimen is perfect. 1t is not
larger than a yearling calf. and not nearly so
tall, and was found in the Wind River couu-
try in Wyoming. Prof Cope named 1t The
nacodus prlm@vus when it was first
discovered, giving it as his opinion that it
was akin to a specimen which was found
several years ago in France (the paleothe
RUM, and which gave Ouvter and the other
naturalists so much trouble to classify. At
the time Of the discovery of the French speci-
men the savants Of Europe decided that it
was the ancestor OF "hoofed critters" but the
Wind River fossil, which is easily distin-
guished as being type of the same, is be-
leved to be much more ancient. Cope's curl
osity was found in rocks belonging to the
eocene period and the time when it grazed on
the western prairies has been placed as far
back as 100000 years. Every bone Is perfect
and in place and the specimen could not be
purchased for $4,000
A ship regularly engaged in deep sea sound
ing usually has the sounding ma
chine mounted at the after end and
when about to sound is brought to a standstill
with the stern to the sea, says the Popular
science Monthly. Inc stray line with the
sounding rod and sinker attached is over the
guide pulley and carefully lowered to the
waters edge the register is set to zero. and
the deep sea thermometer is clamped to the
sounding line: seaman is stationed at the
friction line which controls the velocity with
which the wire is unreeled. another at the
brake, and third on the grating outside to
handle the Sinker and instruments and to
guide the wire as il passes overheard: ma
CHEST is at the hosting engine and the re-
corder takes position for reading the regis
ter. When the sinker is let go, the vessel
is maneuyered so as to keep the
wire vertical and the friction line is
adjusted so as to allow it to descend
from 20 to 100 fathoms per minute. The in
slant the sinker strikes bottom which Is I'M
miStakably indicated by the sudden release of
the wire from strain, the reel is stopped by
the friction line and brake; the recorder notes
the number of turns of the reel. In an hour
this messenger of mans ingenuity makes it's
excursion through miles of watery waste to
the abysmal regions OF perfect repose and
brings to the light Of day the soil with which
the rain of shells of minute infusorial organS
isms from the upper waters has been for ages
mantling the ocean s floor. Here and there a
giant peak rising from these sunless depths
lifts his head to see the sky, and the dredge
and tlawl tell us that all along his rugged
sides, and on the hills and plains below and
even in the inky blackness and the freezing
cold of the deepest valleys, there is life.
Everybody knows that almost all our exist
ing supersutions date hack for their origin TO
slightly or specifically christianized at later
periods so as to bring them into harmony
with the general body of public opinion, saws
a writer in the Cornhill Magazine
l think it probable. therefore, that when the
horseshoe superstition first arose people spe-
cially selected the horseshoe as the best
available bit of iron to repel the alta cks of
trolls or fairies, witches or warIocks and
other evil influences, because IL had itself |
certain inherent sanctity of its own derived
from its connet ton with a sacred animal |
And later / believe this very same sane |
tity might help the superstition to persist |
even after the religion of Christ had par |
tally ousted the religion of Wooden and Thor |
For we know that Christianity made very
slow progress indeed among the mass of the |
people in England for many years; thai |
heather practices continued to be performed |
in secret by a large number Of the popu
latlon. and that many usages essentially
heather hold their place to this day with our |
agricultural classes. Now, no GLASS would be |
more likely to retain such beliefs and prac. |
tees than the class that has to deal most |
with horses. and stables, a class who still |
firmly believe in all sorts Of heathenish luck.
les and unluckles. 1t seems probable there. |
fore, that in many cases the horseshoe was |
set up, not only TO frightensaway the evil eve |
ghosts ana trolls fairies and witches hui
also. to some extent to curry favor with the |
GOOD old gods by what was in many WAYS a !
denial OF allegiance to the new ones IL was
as much as to say to the little folk on the one
hand, Don't come near: ware iron ,vafra