The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-25
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

OOTutnuS ' dHubEDllJs II Is Sdluf nus bAfDh
81 100000 dollars to religious work in the past
two years
In the December bulletin of the bureau Of
American republics, appears an interesting
article by C. F. q. Caracristi on the extensive
nitrate deposits in Colombia. The deposits
resemble those of Chilli. and extend over an
area OF about 80 squaresmiles in beds from one
TO ten feet thick. The stratum carrying the
inter is a slaty gypsum containing shells,
salt, magnesia and iron oxide. 1t is from to
- feet below the surface, and rests on
stratum OF sandstone. The supply Is esti-
mated at 100000 o tons, the material assay
ing from to 1875 per cent nitrate. 1t is
thought that the nitre could be shipped to
New York at about 500 a ton.
A citizen of South Bend, Wash. has a
humpback whale on his hands which is prov
ing worse incumbrance than the traditional
elephant not alone to himself, but to the
whole community The whale became stran-
ded at the mouth Of the river and the enter
prising citizen bought1t from the fisherman
| who captured il and made some money by
placing it on exhibition. But the whale died,
ana after while il became very dead and the
owner can { dispose OF 1t. He tried, as last
| resort, To burn IL and spent his profits on
wood and kerosine, but the whale won t burn.
Inc town Is pervaded by an extremely an
cient, hshllke smell, and the citizens are ur-
gent in their demands that the owner of the
whale shall remove his property in some ex-
peditlous way.
The title OF prince in Russia is so common
that it has little Significance says the New
York Herald. The bearers OF the distinc-
ton, says foreign journal, are more numer-
Gus than the wearers OF the Legion of
Honor in a French cafe, or colonies in the
southern states Of America" The truth Of
this statement is illustrated in a report in the
| last edition Of the military gazette, '.Ruskf
| Invalid 1t records the death of thirteen
on1cers of the militia, of whom nine were
princes. In the Caucasus, says the journal
referred to above, every owner of a large
nook OF sheep calls himself prince All of
| these sheep princes are addressed as high
ness the same as the SONS of the oldest
prlncely families. When one Of these sheep
owners goes to foreign countries. he places
the title prince on his card, and plays a GER
tam part in uninitiated circles. The same
thing is true OF the many representatives in
Russia of the Tartar 'princey' families.
Many ancient Russian families, such as the
| Naryschkin, Wsjewoloshski. ETC.. entitled to
the prefix prince before their names, decline
to use it for fear Of being COMPOUNDED with
! these apparent princes. Representatives of
these families are content with the use of
the coatof-arms"
The INTERPOLATION of button on uniform
is just as much a matter of regulation as the
cut Of coat says the Washington Star. The
general wears two rows of buttons on the
| breast of his frock coat twelve in each row,
placed by fours. The distance between the
rows is 5l5 inches at the top and 3ls at the
bottom. The lieutenant general is entitled
to only ten buttons in each row, arranged
in upper and lover groups of three and a
|
nine buttons in each row placed by
threes. The brigadler general eight in groups
OF twos. The colonel, lieutenant colonel, and
major have nine buttons in each row
arrrnged at equal distances; the cap
tain and lieutenant seven buttons in
each GROW at equal distances. There
are all different designs, Of course, not only
for the buttons of the army the navy and the
marine corps, but for the different branches
OF the service. There are the infantry, artil-
lery, and cavalry buttons, the engineers but
ton, the ordance corps button, the button OF
the marine corps and the navy button. The
navy button, by the way, is made in England,
| because no American manufacturer has been
able TO make bronze which the sea air will
not tarnish. All of these buttons the army
| ana navy tailor must keep on hand and sew
on according to regulation.
AS Rome became a residence for all strange
gods, it also became both the religious CAPT
tai of the world and It's religious center, says
the Nineteenth Century. 1t became and was
called, the Holy City and the Eternal
City" and so, when Christianity ultimately
| triumphed, 1t still retained those titles and
became natural y, as we'll as for other rea-
sons, regarded as the religious capital of the
Christian world. Only two religions were ex-
| cluded from the otherwise almost universal
liberation of OVERWHELMINGLY, Judaism and
Christianity. Fathers of the church have
complained OF this yet somewhat unreason-
ably; for the concord which existed between
the various pagan forms resulted from their
willingness to make reciprocal concessions.
This neither Jews nor Christians would, nor
could consent TO; ana tney mad naturally to
take the consequences. Yet peace was
offered to them on the same condl-
lions as to others. The pagans
were ready to recognize in Jehovah their own
Jupiter or Bacchus. and not a few were will
ing to keep the Sabbath aud observe Jewish
fasts and feasts. There were also some Jews,
like Herod, who would not have regretted
such mutual understandings; but the mass of
the nation repealed them with horror and
thereby incurred bloody prosecutions wherein
thousands loSs their lives and furious hatred
| AGAINST them which only ceased vvh
they associated themselves with the pagans
to persecute Christianity. The Christians, as
every one knows, were also offered what were
deemed favorable terms, and little difficulty
would have been felt in the acceptance OF
Christ as one god more, and (as readers will
rememberl His image had its place in the
private chapel OF the Emperor Alexander
Severus, beside thore of Orpheus and Apol-
lonius. But no consistent Christian could
tolerate idolatry, even to the extent of scat
tering few grains of incense on the affairs
either of the Goddess of Rome or of the
Genius OF the Emperor. Such spirit of ex-
clusiveness was a new thing to the pagans
and naturally appeared disloyal to the Ro-
mans and opposed 10 the very essence of
ciVlcism.
why do Indians paint their faces?" have
asked that question Of hundreds of red men
and have received but one answer, says
Globe Democrat writer. OF all the tribes
that have visited but one has a legend ac-
counting for the hdeous decorations that are
to be seen on the faces of Indians under all
ceremonial circumstances. l was sitting at a
campfire in a village of Jicarilla Apaches one
night listening to the stories and legends
that were being told, when propounded the
old question again, hardly expecting even the
usual expression of ignorance that hides so
many of the thoughts of the Indians. To nv
surprise, however, l received the answer that
l least expected. An old fellow who had sat
all evening listening to the stories, without
changing his attitude. grunted and straight
ened up as he heard the question. Proceed
ing with all due solemnitY he told the follow
ing legend: Long ago, when men were weak
and animals were big and strong, chief of
the red men who lived in these mountains
went out TO get deer for his people were
hungry. After walking all day he saw deer
and shot at it.. but the arrow was turned aside
and wounded a mountain lion, which was
also after the deer. When the lion felt the
sting of the arrow, he jumped and bounded
after the man. who ran for his lite. He was
almost exhausted, and when he felt his
strength giving away, he fell to the ground,
calling on the big bear, who, you know is the
grandfather Of men, to save him. The big
bear heard the call, and saw that to save the
man he had to act quickly so he scratched
his foot and sprinkled his blood over the man.
Now. you know no animal will eat of the hear
nor taste OF his blood. so when the lion
reached the man he smelled the blood and
turned away, but as he did so his foot scraped
the face Of the man, leaving the marks of the
claws on the bloody face. When the man
found that he was uninjured, he was so thank.
fnIf hat ha 1aff he e.