The morning news., 1894-10-17
ITEMS oF INTEREST.

?
/ OF many birds at the approach of winter
. because down is the best nou-cOnductor
. and black the warmest color
Dampness has made the Corinthian cap
/ itals of the Church of the Madeleine in
/ Paris crumble, and recently pieces of
stone have fallen. endangering the pass
ers-by. The capitals are to be removed and
! new ones put in their place.
/ Elsie zen. the birthplace of Martin I.u-
ther, IS sinking into the moor upon
/ which it is built. Measures have been
/ without avail, and the inhabitants are
town.
1t has been proposed that stations he
erected in convenient localities in cities
and large towns where physicians NAV 90
to be thoroughly disinfected Immediately
after they have visited a case of infect
ther visits.
ella county. Arizona, has located with
IN us borders natural bridge which is
| natural curiOsities in the United States
II spans Pine creek at a hight of about 200
ieet from the water surface The bridge
is OF limestone formation, and the inside
OF the great arch, which has a span of
Af2 1eet, IS smoothly worn by the water
which in Olden times filled Pine creek so
age under the arch. The bridge is almost
exactly 400 feet wide at the top and near
~ lWO feet IN length across the canon the
7IUJ-Ioof IheasurementS mentioned above
being for the undersde of the arch. At
the apex OF the arch the formation is only
about teet in thickness. and through
TINS there is a hole big enough to admit the
body OF man, and through which one
may I0oh down into the crystal depth be
low: In the immediate vicinity of the
bridge are numerous caverns of small
size, some of which have never been eX-
pIored. Leading geologists are of the
OPINION that the whole of Pine creek was
once an immense cavern, and that the
DIluse uescTlped above is all that now re-
mains OF what was formerly the roof.
government, has lately drawn much at
tention, says the Chicago Tribune. 1t is
GGaleed Ge ,Gordite,' and is an invention of
product to the smokeless powders of other
nations The name "cordite" originates
IN the process of manufacture. during
Wnlcn the gun cotton, after being COM
blned with sort of explosive gelatine. is
pressed through plate with fine open
lngs, thus receiving the shape of fine
threads, The object of this process is
that by proper selection of the thickness
OF the threads, il offers great latitude in
the control of the swiftness of the eX-
pIoslon, which is, in other powders, at
tained by the finer or coarser grain Of the
particles. One can, therefore, according
to requirements, manufacture a quickly
combusuble explosive for mining purposes
or slowly burning driving power for pro-
Jectlles. Cordite can be plated into cords
which naturally increases its availability
for practical use. The judicial side of the
cordite manufacture offers special interest
as the well known firm of Alfred Nobel
a lawsuit against the English government
for infringement of its patent rights But
although the modern manufacture of eX-
plosiVes rests mainly on Mr.. Nobel's ef-
forts, the firm lost it's suit, because the
fundamental patents had expired.
Probably few travellers. even those who
daily have occasion to use the railways
nave any adequate idea of the cost of run
ming trains says the Providence Journal
The cost may differ. and doubtless does
differ greatly with the varying conditions
recently n1hlighad Of
of the extensive western systems are in
structiVe. The Chicago, Milwaukee and
st. Paul railway, operating 6.147 miles Of
ROAD, has made public an analysis of eX-
penSes per revenue train mile run for the
past two years, the total miles run being
3L13O,4lS in 1893, and 26. .692 40 in 1894 The
items include repairs of locomotives and
cars. station service, train service loco
motive service, train and station supplies
1uel, oil and waste and miscellaneous eX-
penses. The total operating expenses
We're 96.46 cents per revenue train mile in
1893, and 9267 cents in 1894. The revenue
from passengers per train mile run was
only 9l.5l cents in 1893 and 9032 cents in
1894. or less than cost But there was a
profit on freight service, the revenue per
mile run being 1.5701 il 1898 and 81 5S3f in
1894, and out of this margin, between re-
ceipts and expenditures per mile has to
come the return for the enormous invest
ment in road. rolling stock, structures aud
other property. Stated in a general way
it costs about dollar mile actual opera
tive expenses. to run a train, without al
lowing any return on cost of road or
equipment.
Very few readers ever dream that there
IS any single piece of reading matter in
the world which lives. bTeathes and circu-
lateS on its own individual account, says
London Answers. But any one who will
take the trouble to walk into a certain shop
! in PicCadilly not far from the Egyptian
hall, Will be rewarded by seeing a species
of snake, known as the lemon boa, with
the whole of the third chapter of Genesis
tattooed on its body. The reptile is only
| lent for exhibition, but the gentleman who
| purchased it states that on board the
South American sailing vessel, the scene
of this remarkable tattoOing, it is j com
mon diversion among the sailors to cap
| ture live snakes, extract their fangs and
cover the body with any number of in
scr1ptionS, legends and devices, and then
dispose of the reptiles at the first port
Few of the purchasers, however, care to
have charge of live SnakeS-be they ever
so harmless-sO it is customary to either
stuff these latter with fine straw and
putty. or else immerse them in alcohol al
though this process commonly has the eff
feet of taking all the brilliancy out of the
! pigments employed. In the case of long
"nd extremely fine inscriptions alcohol
however shows up and preserves them to
great advantage. A sailor spent six months
in tattooing one of the Sketches by
Boz, containing 4,520 words, upon the
skin of a rattlesnake. which he after
ward sold to a gentleman for eight
guineas.
The horned sea serpent, otherwise the
Pearl Island monster excited more curl
osity among scientific men than any other
marine snake of modern years, says the
st. Louis Republic. 1t was seen late in
1888 by Capt. Seymour and others of the
officers and crew of the New England
boat, Hope on, while they were lying off
the Pearl Islands, 40 or so miles from Pa
mama, watching for whales. Capt Sew
mour describes the creature as being 40 or
50 feet in length, with a very large and
fine horse-like head, having two twisted.
unicorn shaped horns protruding from
near the ears. Besides being provided
with name. ears and horns. this Pearl ISL
a 10 f,,t, 10,
much resembling large, hattened, double
jointed fippers. His skin was of a dan
bronze hue, profusely speckled with large
black spots, and tail which all hands
agree in saying was forked or split for al
least 10 feet back from the point 1t was
seen on two different days, and il whales
had not been sighted at about the same
time an effort would have been made ia
capture it. The accounts of Cant Sew
mour and those of his men agree In eyeTv
essential particular even to the approx
innate size of the huge creatures great
ldless eyes. 1t is important to note in this
connection that the officers and men Of
the Pacific mail steamers which ply the