Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1894-02-22
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

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rate declined so greatly in recentyears
,s in Ireland.
I'm England tho blind form .Os per
cent. of the population, in Scotland .O7
per cent. and in Ireland II per cent
or, in England and Wales one person
in every 1896 is blind, in Scotland one
in every 1,439 and in Ireland one in
ISL.
According to an advertisement con-
tanned in the Danish government Ga
zette, published in Copenhagen, two
big volcanoes are for sale. They are
situated in Iceland and are the princi-
pal attractions of the island. The
owner asks for them tho sum Of $500
apiece.
The Saracens burned the AleXan-
drian library and the great library of
Matthew Corvinas, king of Hungary,
which contained 100000 volumes.
When Granada was taken Cardinal
Ximenes retorted in kind by destroy
ing all the Korans and Moorish books
to be found in the city.
"A French mill hand has before GO
ing to work piece of bread and two
cents worth of brandy; at breakfast,
bread crumbled into bowl of coffee;
for dinner, piece of bread and cheese
or an apple, or a gill of red wine; for
supper, piece of bread and sausage,
or oftener, herring and cup of cof-
fee.
The highest pressure used to drive
water wheel is claimed by valley
near Grenoble, France, where a tur-
bine ten feet in diameter has been
operated since 1875 with head of one
thousand six hundred and thirty-eight
feet. A flow of about seventy-five gal
Ions of water per water second gives a
force of one thousand and five hun
dred horsepower.
The street money-change is an in
teresting character in Spanish cities.
He stations himself at principal
street corner early every morning, and
exchanges bag of coppers for silver.
BY ten o'clock his bag is exhausted
and he goes home. All the servants
on their way to market get their
money changed by him, as they are
not skilled in counting and afraid OF
false coins He gives them full count,
his coppers being obtained from the
bakers, who get rid of their coins at a
discount.
Whatever is most degraded and
most superstitious in the religious sys-
TENS of China owes its origin to
Taoism. If an ignorant girl wishes to
have her horoscope cast, or shop
keeper desires to fix upon fortunate
day on which to marry his daughter
or to bury his wife, application is in.
variably made to a Taoist priest,
who, combining the professions of for
tune teller and spiritual guide, unhesi
tatingly returns oracular answers
which more or less satisfy the de
mands of the inquirer.
One of the most interesting relies
of old London is st. Johns gate
Clerkenwell. 1t is the only remaining
portion of the important priory of st
John, which dates from the fourteenth
century. The old gateway has {
literary interest attached to it, for il
the room above the archway Dr. John
son worked for Cave, the printer, for &
weekly stipend; and the Gentleman's
Magazine, which to this day bears {
picture of the archway on its cover
was first printed there The archway
had latterly become much defaced and
weather-worn, but it has recently beer
restored as memorial to the duke o
Clarence, who was the first sub-priol
of the Order of st. John.
"A shoemaker, Kavol Kowates, who
in 1923, lived at Pesth, the capital o
Hungary, smoked the first meerscaun
pipe. Besides being shoemaker, how
ever, he was one of natures handi
craftsmen, being gifted with an intui
tive genius for carving in wood ant
other material. This brought him il
contact with Count Andrassy, witt
whom he became great favorite. Tn
count, on his return from mission t
Turkey, brought with him piece o
whitish clay, which hadobeen present
ed to him as curiosity on account o
its extraordinarily light specific gravi
ty 1t struck the shoemaker that, be
ing porous, it must be well adapted 70
pipes, as it would absorb the nicotine
The experiment was tried and Kavc
cut pipe Tor the count and one fo
himself. The first meerschaum pipe
made and smoked by Kavol Kowates
has been preserved in the museum a
peSth