The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-31
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

- Inc TOTALS ABOVE given, however, II
elude only about 100 yachts owned in America,
and exclude nearly 200 vessels which have
not been measured according to the British
rules. II these should be added together the
United states would figure as very respect
able second among the yacht owning nations
and would take their place far ahead Of any
other country excepting that OF Great Britain.
ne increase in the number and tonnage of
the steam yachts of the world as shown by
the Register is remarkable. In 1854 the yes
sells OF this class mum bered only thirty three,
with total register Of 1914 tons. During
the past thirty years these figures have grown
until the record for 1894 includes $40 steam
yachts, with a total register Of 81, 75T tons.
The Soma cypress OF Lombardy is, I be-
lieve, the Oldest tree OF which there is any
authentic record, says writer in Notes and
Queries 1t is known to have been in exist
ence IN ~, Is. c. There are. however, many
trees for which a vastly greater antiquity is
claimed. The Senegal baobabs-some of
them-are said to be 5000 years old. The DO
tree OF Anuradhapura, in Ceylon, is perhaps
the Oldest specimen of another very long
lived species; it is held sacred upon the
ground that 1t sprang from a branch Of the
identical tree under which Buddha reglined
for seven years while undergoing his apothe-
o5is. ! he oak is well known to he a long
liver. and there are specimens still standing
in Palestine Of which the tradition goes that
they grew out of Cain 5 staff The hawthorn,
again, sometimes lives to be very old; there is
said to be one inside CawdoF castle of an i'm
memorial age" The cedars of Lebanon may
diSO UC llGAblOubOl. anu lHGEt dTe. ACCOUNTING
to Dean Stanley, stIll eight Of the olives of
Gethsemane standing. whose gnarled trunks
and scanty foliage will always be regarded as
the most Affecting of the sacred memorials in,
or about Jerusalem"
The charcoal business has been on the de-
cline for thirty years, says the New York
Sun Its first great start downward came
with the introduction of kindling wood. a
business that has grown to large proportions
klndling wood has, in this city, almost en-
mis- M oh = Dql in r1sf1i
nary domestic uses Nowadays charcoal is
hardly used anywhere except in hotels and
by plumbers tin roOfers and cOppersmiths.
Hotels use 1t for broillng: a firstClaSs French
cook in hotel won't cook unless you give
him charcoal fire to broil with. 1t is used
for this purpose in some private houses, but
not in many. Most of the sOft-woOd charcoal
that is used here comes from New Jersey and
Delaware. all by rail. Thtrty-ive years ago
there were thirty schoonerS engaged in bring
ing charc oal To this market; now there
is not one. Most OF the hard wood charcoal
used here comes from chemical factories in
Delaware county. this state, where the wood
has been treated for wood alcohol and acetate
Of lime. Seven-eighths OF the hotels in New
York use this coal, but perhaps, little less
is sold every year, for even in trSt-class no
tells gas is to some extent taking its place.
Charcoal has other uses, however. Placed In
retorts or kilns, 1t is subjected 10 fire in such
way as to get the gas out of it and make it
as near carbon as possible. 1t is then ground
Ill different grades Of hneneSs and sold to dis
blll6TS lOE use III T6CbllNllR nlRl wines. NITan-
ulated charcoal is sold to ice manufacturers
for use in tltering water. The use of ice ma
chimes is increasing in the north as well as
the south, and New York graduated char
coal is shipped to all parts Of the country
That trade is increasing.
The best scientists OF the land favor the
opinion thnt Nebraska, Kansas and part of
Indian territory are situated over an i'm
mense underground lake. or sea. says me St
Louis Republic. 1t is weh-known fact that
H,,1u H.,
land have suddenly disappeared leaving only
fathomless lakelets to mark the spot where
they were once situated. Proof that there is
something peculiar with the founda ion of
the section Of the country mentioned may be
found in the celebrated tide wells of Polk
Butler and ColtaX counties in Nebraska
Polk county is best provided with these curl
Gus wells, having between dozen and twenty
which roar and ebb and flow with an unseen
tide The roaring of these remarkable curl
oslties they cannot be called natural
wonders. because they are the work Of
man, at least SO far as excavation is
concerned). is caused by the inhalation
and eXhalation of immense quantl-
ties of air. There are hours, regular and uni
form, in which the air will rush out with
loud, Kissing sound and again an equal space
of time in which II seems that all the air OF
the Platte valley Will be sucked into the
cavernOuS depths Of these wonderful wells
The period of this ebb and flow does no. seem
to depend upon either the seasons or the
state OF the weather, but is thought to have
some mysterious connection with the high
and low tide periods of the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans. A meteorOlogist of national
reputation, who sought to fathom the mys
terry Of the platte river tide wells and
who issued a little pamphlet with the
title Roaring Wells of Nebraska"
gave it as his opinion that the roar
ing phenomenon was in some way connected
with the prevailing direction of the wind. be
ing strongest IN the time of west or south
west breezes. The farmers 10 the three coun-
ties mentioned as being best provided with
tide rel. la ed, alr-eXpelling wells believe
that the water supply is connected with
body large enough to have a regular ebb and
flow Of tide. All the wells in the counties of
Po.k and Butler which are tide-regulated are
about the same depth, those of Cohax being
deeper, but all extending to a porous stratum
having the same general characteristics.
The power of continuing motionless, with
the lifted head projecting forward for an in
definite time is one of the most wonderful Of
the serpents muscular feats says the Fort
nightly Review and 1t is of the highest i'm
portance both to the animal both when fas-
cinating its victim and when mimicklng some
inanlmate object. as, for instance. the stem
and bud OF an aquatic plant; here it is only
referred to on account of the effect IL pro-
duces on the human mind, nthanting as the
serpents Strapg snesS. In this attitude with
the round, unwlnking eyes fixed on the be
holders face the effect may be very curious
and uncanny. Ernest Granville, a South
African writer, thus describes his own ex-
pertenCe. " hen a boy he frequently went out
into the buSh IN quest OF game, and on one of
these solitary excursions he sat down
to rest in the shade OF willow
on the bank of shallow stream:
sitting there, with cheek resting
on his hand. he fell into a foyish reyerie
After some time he became aware in veg re
way that on the white sandy bottom Of the
stream there was stretched long black line
which had not been there at first. He CON
tinued for some time regarding il without
recognizing what it was but ii at once with
an inward shock, became fully conscious
that he was looking at large snake. Pres
emily, witho I apparent motion. so softly and
silently was 1t done, the snake reared its head
still with the gleamings ey es fixed on me in
question of what was. 1t flashed upon me
then that II would be a good opportunity to
test the power OF the human eve on q sla.Fe
and set myself to the task oflooking it down
1t was foolish effort. } he bronze head and
Sinewy neck, about which the water flowed
without ripple, were as ii carved in stone
and the cruel, unwinking eyes with the light
coming and going in them. appeared to glow
the brighter The longer 1 looked. Gradually
there came over me a sensation of sickenfng
fear which If had yielded 10 it, would have
lett me pOWerleSs to move, but with a lry |
Ieaped up, and, SciZing q fallen willow
branch. attacked the reptile with a species of
fury Probably the idea of the Icanti origi.
mated in a similar experience of some
native" The Icanti it must be explained is
a powerful and malignant being that takes
the form Of great serpent and lies at night
in some deep, dark pool. and should a man
incautioUsly approach and look down into
the water he would be held there by the