The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

AA41 otCA1 LACg dAU ~ Al8 ~ oOAFNs
An original certificate Of membership in
the Order Of the Cincinnati. issued to a signer
OF the Declaration OF Independence and signed
by George Washington. was recently sold at
Wilmington, Del, for S32. probably less than
tenth OF its selling value had bidding been
pressed. II was known, however, that the
purchaser was especially DESTROYS Of OBTAIN
ing it and so neighborly feeling prevented
! any attempt TO run 1t up 10 its value as a
curiO.
A New Yorker advertises for lost cat
| named "Snooperkatz t" which he admits was
! exceedingly dishonest. To a Sun interviewer
the disconsolate owner said Why, sir,
that cat would climb up the screen door Of
the elevator and p sh ths button; and al soon
as he saw the elevator coming up he would
run down the stairs and eat up the elevator
boy 5 lunch cat that would suoop around
for lunch in that way fully deserves the ex-
traordlnary name which the owner has con
terred upon 1t.
A Russian faith-curist moved from New
York to Baltimore recently, and took up his
| residence in a part of the city densely popu-
lated with the laUorlng classes. He soon had
a patient brought TO MIN, man suffering
with hydropho Ia whom he said he could
| cure. Before the day was very Old crowd Of
the sufferers neighCors collec ed around the
doctor house, expressing the determine
ton OF killing him unless he cured the man
and aid II Immediately. The police dispersed
the crowd several times, but it collected again
immediately ana toward evening maze an
attempt TO force an entrance to the house.
The police had TO arrest q number OF the
leaders before the mob could be made to re-
linqQish its purpose. The patient died, and
the doctor left the city In hurry.
writer in the West Chester N. W News
says Asparagus, deservedly favorite veg
| etable. was extensively cultivated by the an
cient Romans, but was not introduced into
| England before 1860. In some parts of Eu-
| rope the SEEDS aroused as substitute for
| conee. and splrltuous liquor is made from
| the ripe berries. Asparagus is both lithic
| and diureuc: and its roots were once extern
| sively used IN medicine. The young. tender
| sprouts or stems. from six to ten inches long,
| are the edible parts and those that are en-
| tlrely green are the most tender and delicate.
| The white asparagus Is. as rule, very tough,
| the tips alone being eatable. In some old
| recipe books directions are given for boiling
| asparagus one hour. but this is a great mis-
| take Twenty or thirty minutes Is long
enough to COOK il sufficiently"
Mr.. Fulton relates an experience he under
went on the rancho in Nevada of Russell &
! Bradley, says the St. Louis Globe Democrat.
| The firm had about 1000 head OF cattle, and
| as the supply OF hay was running low, that
! which was on hand was stock I'd and sur
| rounded by fence. and was doled out to the
cattle IN small wlSpS, just sufficient in guam
| tltY to blrely keep the animals alive. Mr..
! Fulton states that one night, after everybody
! on the rancho had retired, they were awak-
| ened by low rumbling noise, which
| sounded like the approach of some
| great atmospheric disturbance. Becoming
| louder, the men discovered it to be the lowing
| and GLOWING of the cattle, which were soon
| makelng hideous noise. Hastily dressing
| themselves, the men hurried forth to ascer-
| tain the cause of the trouble, but before they
! had reached the herd the vast bodysof ami
| mails had hurled themselves against the
| fence surrounding the stacks Of hay and were
| piled in compact. struggling mass which
| had literally leveled the hay from view.
| Nothing could be done with the cattle 1t the
| time, and the next morning an investigation
| disclosed that $50 head had been literally
| trampled to death in the mad rush OF the eX-
| cited herd for the tempting stacks of hay.
A lady, whose home is in the South OF
France writes to Goldthwaites Magazine OF
visit she made recently to an island on the
coast of Brittany. Those who have read the
story of King Arthur and his knights will re.
| member that they started out over the sea in
| pursuit of the dragon. In this. the MARKHAM
sea, is a little island which can te' reached
! from the mainland only when the water is
| smooth. The sole inhabitant. is a Breton
| shepherd, who lives in a little hut and spends
his time in caring for his sheep. The party
landed and were met by the kind-faced
| old man, who led them over the grassy
| slope where his flock was feeding, and
| showed them the way around hill. on the
| east side Of which they found the entrance ia
| tunnel This extended some distance and
| its floor, sides and roof were made OF i'm
| menSe fiat pieces of stone, covered with
| uleEOBlypnS ana uBuFbS LOOKING somewhat
| like wreathS and again like co1l6d SerpentS
| At the end of this tunnel was a hail. also
| iOored rooted and walled with the same
curious stones, and IN the center was an altar
! and stone upon which it is thought that
| human sacrifices have been offered. The
| strangest part OF all is that no stones OF
| rocks like those used in this tunnel
| can be found the island, and al
no place nearer than 100 miles inland. Who
| brought them: How did they come? There
is no record left-at least none has been
found-to tell who these people We're or any
thing about them. They must have lived
| many centuries ago, but have vanished en-
| tirely, yet their work is as perfect apparently
as when first built tits thought that they
may have been Druids, who came here when
they left Great Britain; Others again, think
, that they were worshippers Of the serpent GOO
called.Ho But it is conjecture. All We
| know is that the stones are there, strangely
| carved. skillfully put together, but Of their
builders there is no trace.
The armadillo, as eccentric in his habits az
in his appearance does the duty OF the
| domestic cat among the 6eld mice in South
America, which are terribly destructive. says
| Scrlbners Magazine. Voracious in his an
| petite, he is sedentary by inclination, but he
| finds his game with very little trouble Mice
| are always more or less abundant. though
| periodically and almost punctually. their
! numbers decline, but in certain years they
positively swarm. Then the dogs subsist or
] them. they fatten the poultry. and great
flights Of fowls of the air are perpetually OF
| the hover over their breeding grounds AS
for the armadillo, he goes to work me
thodically, quaGtering the plain like a
| well-bred eagle and smiling the earth
| with preternatural acUteness. When his
nose informs him that mouse is near he
| creeps up stealthily toward the sport: then
! slowly dragging himself up and making his
spring, he traps the mouse, or whole family
| OF mice, beneath his body, But he does not
| contine himself to mouse and insect diet
and in attacking the snake he uses HIS i'm.
| penetrable body armor as weapon Of of
| Tense. A friend of Mr.. Hudson witnessed one
! of these encounters. The armadillo rushed
upon a snake which vaiuly sought to ESCAPE
/ ana rocked himself to and fro on the
| body until the victim was cat up into sec
! tions under the sharp edges of the armadillo's
| bony covering. Should animal food fail HIM
| the armadillo falls back upon vegeta bles, sc
| that it need never take more than indispen
/ sable exercise and can always keep himself
| IN comfortable condition. Another inveterate
! enemy OF the snakes i S their congener. the
/ iguana. or great tree lizard, of which Mr.
! hudson tells a comical story, related to him
! by GUacho friend, who was riding carelessly
along letting one end of his lasSo trail be
! hind. He noticed large iguana lying an
! parentlTasleep in the sun and though he rode
by II very closely ii did not stir: but no sooner
| had he passed II than ii raised its head ano
! tXed its attention on the forty feet of lassC
| trailing slowly by suddenly 1t dashed after
| the rope and dealt it a succession OF violent
| blows with its tail When the whole of the
| lasso several yards Of which had beer
| pounded in vain had been dragged by. the
| ,o'gf,o