The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

41E019 OE INTEREST,".
Few persons are aware of the enormous
part which the pawnshop plays in he life Of
the English people. says the Contemporary
Review. In no country in the world is more
paWnlng done. 1t is estimated that the
pledges amount to ten per head of the popula-
tlon year. which would give 4O0.O00,00C annu-
ally. The average value of the pledges is
about As. which would mean that the loans
amount to 10000, coca year. This estimate is
not by any means aggravated. Al an inquiry
held by sele' committee Of the House of
commons for the benefit OF the pawnbr )kers
IN 1870, 1t was statsd by the chief witness who
got up the evidence for the trade shat in LiV-
that city In year. On this same basis we
might estimate that the number of pledges in
London every year now will be about 1904 Co
OJ) AT the same inquiry the secretary of the
Glasgow Pawnbrokers' Association stated
that there were 6960OO0 pledges annually in
that city. and that the money lent amounted
to 81 1872, 900.
Folding fans, which came from China. were
first introduced at the French court in the
seventeenth century, whence they found their
way into spain, becoming in that country so
popular that every class of society adopted
them In preference to any other kind. SAYS
the Westminster Gazette. The folding fan
is used IN spain not only in TIE drawing
room and the theater but also in the street
and in church; nay, the usage is such all over
the country that the markee women, selling
IutlI NeBetdDI ana peasants SlUtnS DeIOre
their doors. are seldom without fan IN their
hands during the summer months indeed
1anS OFTEN SuperSede the use of the paraSOl.
Such being the demand the manufacturing
OF this article offered naturally a profitable
result. and several fan factories have been
established at valencia. About 500 people
are employed IN the fan trade In that town
alone. Prices vary from cd. to about G..
though much higher prices are occasionally
obtained for fans of artistic design or valu-
able material The wages paid are very low
from Is to Is. Cd. per day. Even the paint
ers, who often produce very pretty pictures
on silk receive but scant recompenSe.
The French mode of conducting auctions is
rather curious, says the New York CONNER
cial Advertiser. In sales OF Importance, such
as land, houses etc, the affair is placed in
the hands of a notary. who for the time
being, becomes an auctionee- The property,
whatever be its nature, is nrst examined by
competent Jud yes, who fix upon it a sDrtpa
considerably less than its value, bat alWsfyS
sufficient to prevent anv ruinous lqss.1ea pre-
concerted plan or com nation of#bidders.
The property is then offered with the fixed
valuation stated The auct.oneer IS provided
with number of small wax tapers, each
capable Of burning about five minutes. AS
soon as bid is made one Of these tapers is
placed in full view of all interested parties
and lighted. If, before it expires another
bid is offered, it is Immediately extinguished
and fresh taper placed in its stead and so
on until one fuckers and dies out of itself
when the last bid becomes irrevocable. This
simple plan prevents all contention among
rival l1derS and affords a reasonable time
for rehectlOn before making a hiIher offer
than the one preceding. BY this means too
the auctloneer is prevented from exer Using
undue influence upon the bidders, or hastily
accepting the bid OF a favorite.
Who invented the baton of the musical con
ductor? According to one OF the French
papers this wand of command was devised by
Lulli, the famous chapel master of Louis
AlN, and who 1t is sometimes asserted was
the composer of our God Save the Queen +"
saws Mr. A. Sala, in the Leeds Mercury
Prior to Lulli S day the orchestra had their
time marked for them by the composer clap
ping his hands together or stamping his feet
alternately. Lullis baton was at least six
feet in length, and with the butt end he struck
the floor: but one day ne brought the instru-
ment down heavily on his own foot instead of
the ground Mozart, it is also stated. intro
| duced the short baton at present used by the
conductor. The baton of the composer Of
Don Giovanni was of ivory; that of
Meyerbeer of solid silver and that OF
Fetls OF ebony enriched with diamonds Old
readers of the Echoes" may remem Der that
l have always persistently refused to believe
that the f1ourishiug of the conductors baton
has anything whatever to do with the action
| of the orchestra for the simple reason that 1
| have sat in the second row of the stalls in
most of the opera houses in the world and [
| have noticed that the instrumentaliStS keen
| their eyes on the music Lefore them and
! never look at the conductor. AVlOlinist once
/ had the amusing impudence to write to me to
| say that he and his congensrs were gifted
| with second sight, and that they could stimuli
! taneous,y read their score and follow the
! gestlculating OF the conductor.
The Society for Psychical Research. at the
moment when the supply Of ghosts and the
soclety's funds were falling short has had the
! felicity OF finding new field OF inquiry and
! the money with which to explore il, says a
! cable in the New York sun. They have to
! thank the marquis of Butte for both favors.
] The mlrul a solid solemn D1ill{opai ra
! peer. and devout Catholic, who has always
! taken laguid interest in spooks. Reading
recently newspaper paragraph desert ing a
| case in the sherlns court at Oman, in which
| the defendant was said to possess the evil
| eve. he wrote to the secretary of the society
! Offering $500 toward the cost Of an inquiry
! into that malignant optic IN particular, and
! the question OF second sight and other
Scottish SuperstitiOns in general The So
| ciety greed1ly snapped at the offer. and forth
with organized an expedition, which is now
wandering about Scotland on lookout for
| evil eyes, seers witches, and such like. Re-
/ liable information as to the progress made
! has not yet come to hand, probably because q
| selhsh reporter, who wants 10 score a beat
with the complete story. is attached TO the
| expedition; but II is rumored that the Oban
! defendant with the Evil Eye was tracked to
! his lair and gave the investigators a remark
ably warm reception, from the effects of
/ which they are still suffering 4 is said also
! that the marquis has been rebuked by his
! spiritual advisers for displaying unseernlv
! and premature curiosity in ghostly things
but that is probably libel upon his lordship
! and his chaplains.
! The conflicting, though scaut, reports con-
! corning the war-like proceedings in Japan and
! the Corea may be attributed to the fact that
! cable communication with Japan is inter.
! rupted; whether this Interruption is caused
| by the official closing OF the telegraph of.
! fees or by the still more summary method OF
! cutting the cables, we cannot say, saws the
! Electrical Review. 1t is certain, however
! that neither Chinese nor japanese would have
| the slightest difficulty in destroying these
! cables as the cables from shanghai TO Maya
| saN run in water less than fifty fathoms deep
| for 200 miles from Shanghai; and the Maya.
! sakl-N ladivostock cables. for nearly the same
! distance, lie IN waterunder l0) fathoms deem
! AS we have frequently pointed out Il
| is impossible to count on these
| cables in the eastern seas for i'm
| munlty from interruption The cable recently
! laid between singapore and Hong Kong
! touching at Labuan. lies for about 6OJ or 100
miles IN water not exceeding forty fathoms
! in depth. Communication with Australasia
! is altogether dependent on cables which in
! the Java sea and the straits Of Malacca run
! Tor about 900 miles IN water nowhere deeuer
! than forty fathoms, and averaging about
] twenty-five tathOms. and which are therefore
! completely at the mercy Of any craft which
happens to have an anchor TO drag across
! these lines We do not enlarge on the ease
with which the caules to India could be cut
either in the gulf of auez or at the entrance
10 the Red sea, where il we except hand
lines, the shallow water undCr forty faith
omsl leaves our Communication with India