The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-27
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

build fine opera house adjoining it.
From 100 TO 1850 the death rate in London
was so high that the population stagnated,
writes Charles Cameron. In the former year
| the Inhabitants numbered 665 200, and in the
latter year 6o3 800. During this period the
deaths were in the ratio of about one per
| thirty persons living. By 1901 the population
mad crept up to 1900, and the deaths had
fallen to one in forty-one persons living. This
great improvement in the state Of public
health IN London was not, except to a tri-
ling extent, the result Of sanitary legislation.
People were becoming more enlight-
ened or many matters affecting their
health, partly owing to a more general
| knowledge Of chemistry, physiology, and
other sciences relating to man and his sur
roundiugs. When those entrusted with the
| conduct OF public affairs became aware how
| much the health Of the people was affected by
pad water. by foul emanations and even cess
pools, ana by too great density Of popula-
tlon they began to secure supplies OF pure
| water, to construct proper house drains aud
! street sewers. TO remove systematically filth
! from houses. and to widen streets. The pro-
mulgation Of the natural laws of health pre-
ceueu the enactment OF laws OF health by the
state. Jenner's discovery of prophyiaxis in
| smallpox had for its corollary the vaccina
lion laws. The chemical analysis Of water
was the basis of acts of parliament relating to
water and rivers.
AN elephant is an arrant coward said an
animal trainer to the Globe-Democrat. II
am acquainted with the actual brute, but
never met the elephant that the writer's tell
about. that never forgets or forpives an in
| jury but will protect those who treat it kind
/ ~. had charge Of an elephant once that
/ mad vicious disposition, but he would do
! anything wanted him to. / used to prod him
win sharp steel and otherwise impress upon
him that was master and intended to remain
| so. An under-zeeper went on the kindness
theory and treated the big animal as we'll as
| II 1t was member Of his own family. After
we had been together about a wear 1 was
| awakened one night in a little Nebraska town
| by human shrieks IN the elephants quarters
hushlng to the place, I found the under
| keeper being crushed to death. AS soon as
1 the coWardly pachyderm saw me he trem bled
| IN every muscle, dropped the man and tried
70 run; but 1gave him lesson with my steel
proc that he never forgot Then picked up
| tnes man, whom l supposed. of course. was
| dead, and found tnat he had received only a
Droken arm and broken rib as result of his
kindness to the elephant He got we'll in a
| Few weeks, went to the elephant and pune
tured him with steel prod until the fellow
oellowed for mercy After that we were all
together four years, but the elephant never
again attempted to injure either OF u.s.
The city of Chufu-hsien, the Mecca OF the
believers in Confucanism, is in the province
OF Shangtung, one Of the most populous dis
| trlcts OF the Orient, says the St. Louis Re
| public. Here Confucius was born. and here
! his sacred bones lie buried The tomb which
is located in one Of the largest cemeteries in
the province, about three miles out from the
! city at oYe mentioned, is one Of the most i'm
posing In the whole empire The grave itself
IS surmounted by an earth mound about u
| feet In hight, the whole surrounded by a
| cluster OF gnarled oaks and stately cypress
trees: Before the mound is a tablet s feet
! Droad and 20 feet high, upon which
is inscribed the name and deeds
OF the great founder of Confucianism.
a religion adhered to by over 40OOOOOOO
| human beings. The burden of this
inscription, according to reliable translation,
| is Perfect One" Absolutely Pure" Per
feet Sage" First Teacher. Great Philoso-
pher, etc. The avenue which leads up to
| the philosophers tomb is even more interest
! ing than the actual place of burial itself. On
| each side OF this avenue are rows Of figures of
| huge animals cut in stone-lions, tigers, ele-
! plants and horses, besides numerous mythi-
| cal creatures, such as animals half dog and
| half frog, beasts with four legs and twice as
many wings, besides multitude Of unnama-
| BILE monsters that never lived on the earth in
| the water or in the air. Taken altogether, the
| burial place OF Confucius Is one of the chief
| spots OF interest In the Orient.
Far from dreading their sale, says a writer.
| in the Popular Science Monthly, the girls of
Circassia look forward to 1t as the great op-
portunlty OF their lives; They go to seek 1t
| as q conscious jewel might start in search, of
| costly setting. They show no more reluc-
| tance than Esther manifested when Mordecai
| delivered her over as one of the fair young
| virgins, gathered from far and near to adorn
| the palace of Ahasuerus. Indeed the history
| of Esther reveals the motives which proba-
! bly, animate each Of the many madens Of Cir
| ncal story Each believes that it is she who
| may find grace and favor in the royal crown
and thus control at will the rise or fall of the
| royal sCepter. But even If not chosen
| by royalty, those who purchase the
| beautiful damsels Of Circassia are the
| wealthy and titled; and not the slightest
so ial degradation Is attached to their posi-
ton, even when taken to harems wherein a
| Turkish wife may be installed as head OF the
| household. The common dependence OF all
| inmates of a harem upon the favor of a lord
m hn
| slave to the position of a lady fosters spirit
OF equality-of pure practical democracy, that
| would be uncomfortable under any other cir
cumstanceS, ana IN our southern slave relation
| tonominal mistress was totally undreamed of.
| AS Turk sh lady explained TO an astonished
| English visitor: "A slave may become lady
| any day, and IN treating her as one before
hand we take OF very much of the awkward
ness which would else ensue." When we
consider that all the children Of slaves are ac-
| knowledge as the legitimate children Of their
| father, we must confess. in justice to the
| Turk that theirs is a condition il which the
| evils of slavery to the slave are reduced to a
| minimum.
In some parts of the world notably in the
Malay Archipelago, vast quantities Of vegeta-
| BILE matter are always floating about on the
! sea saws the Washington Star On the Mo-
| lucca Islands the trees seem to dispute with
| the waves OF the ocean for the possession of
the soil. Not only are their roots and often
| portions OF their trunks immersed in water
| but their branching crowns incline in the
! same direction and are bathed by the tides,
| Thus the numerous currents Of the Molueca
| sea are charged with seaweeds, intermixed
| with flowers, fruits, cocoanuts. nuts and other
| palms and even whole trees The amount of
| drlftwood thrown upon all shores is enor-
| nous. Eskimo along the Arctic coast of
Alaska depend upon it wholly for wood sup
| ply. Natives OF the coral islands OF the Pa
| cihc get all their stones for tools from the
| roots of drifted trees, in which the stones
| were found Embedded. The carrying Of seeds
| by ocean currents is one of nature S most in
| teresting methods of distributing plants
| through the world. Darwin, who devoted
much attention to investigating the matter
proved that many kinds of seeds win bear i'm,
mersion in water for 100 days or even more
and still retain their vitality, so that when
| thrown ashore they are ready to sprout Not
| a few species, which will sink when green
float II they have CHANGED to dry before fall
| ing into the stream which carries them to the
| ocean. For the very purpose OF accomplish
| ing this distribution by water, nature has
| made the husks OF many seeds pra I'll
cally waterproof. Among the famil-
| lar objects picked up on the ocean
/ beach are the so-called sea-beans
! 1t is popularity supposed that the
plants which bear these beans grow in the
water. The beans are found In enormous
quantities on the Florida shore and in di-
| mlnishing numbers northward along the
Atlantic coast. They are the seeds OF various
| pod bearing vines-climbing plants plentiful
| along the shores Of the Caribbean sea- Each
! pod resembling an exaggerated peapod, CON
| tains number OF seeds. The latter, falling
/ when ripe into the water are carriad NV tbo