The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-22
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

on Doard the English war ships has Deen
noticed. The mariners. when in the dis
worn side arms. These became magnetlZed,
and when the marine as sentry passed the
compass. that also became charged. The
consequence has been TO forbid the wearing
OF side arms near the dynamo.
A peculiar incident happened while the
Sixth regiment were engaged in rife practice
at the New Jersey state camp at Sea Grit.
Lieut.. R.zR. A1bertson was trying TO qualify
on the 3C0yard range. On his fifth shot three
black birds few across the range. he lieu
tenants rife cracked and one of the birds
fell. At the same moment the signal target
indicated that the lieutenant had scored four
points, only one point from the center. An
examination OF the dead bird showed that
passed through its breast.
There is little or nothing known with GER
tainty in regar ] to the invention or discovery
of glass. Some of the Oldest specimens are
Egyptian, and the age Of certain glass
vessels made by that people, which are now
kept In the British museum is believed to be
az Ieast 4,l9l years, dating lack $500 b, y.
transparent glass was nrSt used about 75J
B, C.; the credit of this latter discovery being
given to the Phoenici1ns. The old story OF
lts accidental disco sely is familiar; Mer-
chants who were resting their cooking pots
on blocks of sub car Donate of soda found
glass produced by the union, under heat, OF
the alkali and the sand of the desert,
The switchman looms up in the Chicago
strike as the most mlschievoLs and danger
Gus factor that the railroads have to contend
with in such crisis. AS the Chicago Herald
says: One efficient switchman can do more
mischief TO the square inch. in any yard,
than mob of a hundred disorganiZed men,
so far as stopping trafnc is concerned" he
swltchmanS duties are not lie armed IN day,
or month or year, for that matter His
labor must be classed as skilled lator In
Chicago there are several schools for the in
ION fnF oh - IT, mt
for employment on a railroad cannot pass
the examinations OF these schools his chances
OF being engaged are very slight Some Of
the men highest in RAILROAD councils today
began as swltchmen. One of them. for in
stance, Is Marvin Hughitt, president of the
Northwestern. A man OF ordinary intelll-
gence never learns to be good switchman,
said one Of the fraternity, he's got TO have a
head made for it,
The specie locker on an ocean steamer is a
carefully constructed vault, and is located in
the stern Immediately over the screw, says
hardware. 1t has the shape Of half oval
following the contour of the side of the YES
sci, and it generally about six feet in its ex
IRENE Il n top to bottom Some vaults are
fifteen or twenty feet in length, fore and aft.
Inc interior Is reached by a door or hatch
way from the top, simply large enough to
give convenient access This door is of steel,
and has a om0ination 10 * which is known
only to the purser. Ovec this hatch is also
fastened three a S of steel ~ in hes thick
which swing It one END on hinges, and are
loc6ed and also bolted at the other. The
locker, it will De seen. is in the most suitable
10 alton in the ship, away from the crew ana
cannot Re tempered with. as on thye sides Of
it is the sea. The purSer receives the gold
carefully exam n IS the seals. then checks OIL
the weights and assumes the responsibility
for it. Gold IS shipped in bags holding S., 900
or in kegs of $4,000. When in bars the size
varies, Silver generally weighs l25 pounds
to the ingot.
One of the favorite arguments of the skep-
tic is that the b blical story of Jonah and
the whale cannot g true, simply tecause the
books on natural history say that such ami
mails have very small Threats. Appleton S
American CyclOpedia says: The food OF
whales consists only of the smallest OF the
marine mollusca, a herring being the largest
fish they can swallow Chambers Ency
clOpedla. in the article Whale saws: The
gullet of whales is very narrow; 1t is said
not to be more than an inch an half in
diameter even in large whale, SO that
only very small animals can pass through
It. In McM1llanS book on the curioSi-
ties of the OCEAN. The Sea and Its
Denizens' chapter III, page Co. l find the
following: e That the story of
Jonah and the whale cannot be refutei sim
ply because such animals have, as a rule,
very small gul.ets or throats. may be in
ferred from the fact that there are certain
species OF the sperm whale now living that
can swallow an object two feet in diameter.
y l myself was present at Lamarck
when buoy as large as l2-gallon water
cask. and greater in diameter than the chest
and shoulders of a 200 pound man was taken
from the belly Of a whale which was not more
than two-thlrds grown"
Near Leeds they say that when a snake
crcs 5es the path rain is near; and in West
Sussex to .klll the first snake you see in the
wear gives you power over your enemies for
twelVemonth, or its skin hung up in the house
brings good luck to the tenant. says All the
Year Around. In Shropshire the dragonhy
Is the supposed harblnger OF the adder, and is
consequently called the Ethers Mid or
Needle, and the Ether's Mon IMAM in Vario S
parts OF the county. In the Isle OF
Wight they give the insect the
name snakestanger for a like reason.
sickly-looking person with a ravenous
appetite is said to have a nanny wiper IN
his or her stomach, and the only way to lure
1t forth, say the Sussex people. is to fill sau-
Ger with milk and lie near it with the mouth
open. felgrinR sleep, I he nanny-wiper will
shortly creep forth to drink the liquor and
may then lie killed. IN the north country il
is believed that if native of lie and draw a
ring arc nd toad or adder. the CT eature can.
not get out, and viii die there but in the
west country one should make the sien of the
cross without the ring, and repeat the first
two verses OF the sixty eighth Psalm Mr..
hunt states that he once saw snake not vet
dead within circle, and was told by gard.
ener that the creature had been so charmed
1T is astonishing to what a multitude of
uses cottonseed oil is now put, and how
enormously the demand for it has grown and
IHaI makes IL surprising Llat the merits of
the oil were not discovered sooner" said C. j
Johnson OF Atlanta. to the St. Louis Globe
Democrat. II or centuries this important
part of the cotton crop tthe seed), except
what was used for planting. was either thrown
away as waste, used for enrlching the soil or
fed to cattle Only of late years was the
mercantile value OF the oil discovered. 1t de-
veloPed very rapidly. In two or three years
mills for crushing the seed and rendering The
oil sprang up all over the south, and the new
lndu Ssry increased, until now l believe the
cottonseed oil trust is second onlyo TO
the Standard Oil trlst in capital and mag.
nitude of its operations: At first the
product was mostly used for cooking
purposes in place of lard, but it's sphere,was
very soon enlarged. Its value as a lubricat.
ing oil was soon dis ogered, and II would be
hard TO tell In how many ways 1t is used now
Ihere is large market for the seed after the
oil Is extracted too. 1t is sold in the shape
OF cottoDseed oil cake and meal for cattle
food. 1he oil has become an article Of great
commercial Importance, and it is shipped TO
Europe In large quantities. A movement is
The first vessel has recently be launched
built for the purpose. 1t has ca 3acity of
10000 gallons Of oil besides other cargo II
is built Of steel. 1t is ain ost superhuous to
add that 1t is IN the service Of the American
Cottonseed Oil Company"
The government has been picking up horses
for the cavalry and artillery service very
cheap In washington and Oregon this sum.
mer. says the New York Post The AVERAGE
price paid was 675 Tor each animal which is
uneommonly low when the style oIsanimai re.
CURED for the army is considered. A govern