The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-07
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

| The German war department has ordered
/ that aluminium dishes be substituted IN
| several regiments for the heavier dishes in
use. An experiment with aluminium helmets
Will be made.
| Excavations in Oiseau lie Petit. Department
Of the Sarthe, France. have revealeda Gallo
Roman city which appears to have been de-
/ stroyed by an earthquake The city probably
| contained about 5000 inhabitants, but its
/ name is not known in French history. The
ruins included great temple. part OF which
Is stlll standing; also a theater and monu-
/ ments. number Of medals have been
| found. which include one OF the time Of the
Emperor Constantine.
The only marble bridge in the world, be-
lieve," said Henry E. Caulkins to the corridor
man OF the St. Louis Globe Democrat 'is on
| the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad, in
| Whitfield county. Georgia. At the time it
/ was built southern marble, which now ranks
| the market for building and furniture work,
was supposed to be OF no value as 1t was
| thought too hard. The railroad ran through
| mountain country. with hills of solid marble.
/ IL was the only stone to be had, and all the
| piers were constructed of it. For some time
| broken marble was also used as ballast along
| the line OF the railroad but it has been re
! placed with little less valuable material
| now The bridge has tive piers and is great
curiosity to those who know its history"
One Of the most amusing tricks perpetrated
| by vain man dressed in little brief authority
| is JnaJ SAID TO be recently performed by MS
| high and mightiness, Director General DAVIS,
| late sole autocrat of the late. worlds fair
| says the New Orleans Picayune. He had a
| bronze medal struck, as other royal potenta-
| ties are won't to do, in commemoration Of i'm
| portant events, with his portrait on the one
| side and a suitable inscripti6n on the other,
| ana has presented 1t with elaborate military
| ceremonialS to the mem bers of the Chicago
| Hussars. who acted as his guard of honor at
| most OF the ceremonies connected with the
FAIR. No doubt the amateur soldiers and
sturdy American citizens are highly de
| lighted with the condescending mark Of his
| royal hlghneSS satisfaction with their per-
| formances, and the medals will be proudly
| worn and carefully preserved and religiously
| handed down to latest generations as precious
| mementoes of the appreciation of so great
! and good man
| The National Museum s collection OF oils is
very remarkable, and forms the subject of an
interesting description in the Pharmaceutical
| Era. There Is oil from the nose of the pilot
whale, which Will not freeze at zero tahren-
helt, and the oil from the forelegs of the alli-
| gator which Will freeze where ice melts. The
latter is a particularly fine leather dressing.
| OIL from fat that lies beneath the turtles
| upper she'll is recommended for rheumatism,
while the oil tried out from the entrails of the
| eel is said to be good for deafness The
natives of Ecuador take an oil from the fat OF
| a bird called the ''guaChero,' which they con-
slider equal to oil for table use. In Central
| America the people obtain golden oil that
| Is uneQualed for waterprooing purposes,
| from an insect that is about the size of rose
| bud, which yields about two-thirds of its own
| weight in this peculiar grease. The insect
feeds on the sap of reSinous plant, to which
1t clings by its long beak, giving it the APP
| pearance OF being driven full of queer look
| ing tacks. When the bugs are thickest they
are scraped of and boiled.
| Our foreign consuls quite frequently send
home curious and interesting accounts Of the
| things which come under their observation
while In line Of duty. These articles, says
| the 81. Louis Republic, valuable from several
| points OF view, are never seen by one in each
| ZEN thonsand OF our population, because the
| documents in which they appear being
ciasse4 With other government publica-
| lions" are seldom consulted. In this way
| much that is interesting and valuable to the
| scientist and general reader is overlooked
FOR an instance the descriptions Of the Gu
rlous vegetation OF China, especially the
"tallow tree" This tree is the stiliingia
seblfera of the botanist, the root Of which
| produces oil, the bark the famous rice
paper" and the berries tallow The greasy
| berries are OF light scarlet. and resemble
| those OF the conee of commerce, both in size
| and color. In preparing the tallow the beans
| or berries are steamed and then pounded in
| order to separate the mesocarp from the
| kernels. This pulp is then pla ed in a BAN.
boo sieve. and the mealy portions separated
from the hulls, the tallowy substance having
the oil expressed from it in large primitive
| wooden presses, while the chaff or hulls is
| converted into fuel. The oil thus obtained is
| used Tor oil stoves, lighting purposes, etc
| Inc WnOle Tree, from root to leaf is Sur-
charged with oleaginous matter and broken
| limbs and abrastons in the bark have been
| known to exude pure oil for daysin success
| sion.
The New Orleans Picayune prints a. table
OF the land barons of Louisiana and their
holdings OF unimproved timber and swamp
| tracts. from which it appears that alien svn
| dates, companies, and individuals own more
| than 2,20OGO0 acres. One syndicate claims
400 700 acres, several possess 100, 300 and more
ana hololngs OF from 200 to 80 900 acres are
| not uncommon Most of this land is owned
| in the Western states but to capitalists of
| New York and Philadelphia several hundred
thousand acres belong The Picayune ex-
| owne all Of the lands in 10 lisana other
| tnan those which AT the time of the cession
| by France were held by private per
| sons or corporations. Subsequently what
were known as swamp lands that is to saw
| lands that were subject TO tidal overflow
| from the sea or were annually flooded by the
mississippi, became the property of the
| state, with the provision that it should sell
| them for the purpose of raising a fund 10
| build levees. A considerable territory CON
| sisting of prairie and forest land was re-
| tanned by the United States to be sold as
| homesteads. Such disposition was made OF
| this land, but it is now largely in the possess
sion of syndlcates. The Plcayune'S table in
| cludes the swamp, homestead and sea-marsh
| lands. The last named, lions share of
| which has been acquired by the Watkins syn-
dictate, must be drained and diked like The
/ IlOlldllu COdSU, anu SpIu6 progress this
work has already been made
Ava is to Hawaii what whisky is to Ire
land beer to Germany and wine to France
the common tlpple of the country, and it has
the distinct advantage over the drinks of
| other countries that is very quickly. cheanlv
| and easily made. The drink is made from a
| tuberous root that grows wild all over the
| mountains. and resembles a small potato
| An American thus describes the process ~
manufacture. There are several kinds OF
ava, but the favorite variety, used by the
kahunas (priests), is the awahiwa The
| spices brings high price, especially when
| the victims of the kahunas' arts applv for
such. The tubres OF the ava are first dug ana
| thoroughly dried in the sun. When il is drv
! although some natives use it freshly duS
| from the ground) 1t is ready for use A gron1
| Of natives, when preparing to drink ava
| gather around large container, generally Of
| wood and chew small pieces of the root
| When thoroughly masticated it is ELECTED
! with the saliva into the container The0nan-
| tity thus prepared depends upon the MN
| Der of those who intend to imbibe Smallbovs
| and girls are preferable as lava chewers
! Dut when these are not at hand then the old
| folks give hapd, or rather a law some
natives pound stheir ava in stone rnortars
with, pestles, t%the good old natives" pre-.