The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-16
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

with the first day Of February a Sunday.
The five Sunday Februarys Of this cen
fury have been those of 1924 1852 and 1880.
The next time this oddity will occur will
be in the year 1920.
Nearly all of the ancient nations called
lightning by names signifyint- CLOUD
FIRE" and the major portion of them en-
ployed some symbol to represent the fash
OF the 'forked fury darting from the
thunderclOuds. The early Chaldeans SYM
bOllzed il with d trident, and the Baby
lOnians, learned in mystic lore, employed
a human hand for the same purpose. The
bas reliefs of the towers of Nimrud and
Malthia, which are the work Of the later
and more refined Assyrian artists, show
the trident doubled, or transformed into
what is known as a "trihc fasCicle." This
triumph of the classic art secured for the
ancient MesOpotamian symbol the advan-
tage over all other representations of the
thunderbolt. The Greeks represented the
storm fire. with the feathers OF a bird of
prey. Later on, when they had begun to
incorporate the Asiatic form OF the symbol
with their own, they put it in the claws
Of an eagle and made it the scepter of
ZeuS. Gaul received the symbol from
Italy, but soon altered it to the familiar
IWo-headed hammer, so common on Gallo
Roman monuments. The same symbol is
seen on amulets found in Germany, S-an-
dinavia, England and France.
One of the oldest Methodist ministers
IN harness in the United States, is the =
stephen r. BeggS, of the Rock River Con-
ference, Illinois. He is SO years old, and
sound in mind, wind and limb. He was
born March g. 1901, and began his ministry
in Clark county, Missouri, in 1922. His
circuit led him out of Missouri and into
Indiana and Arkansas. He Travelled
circuit there for nine years on horseback.
when he was fortunate enough to have a
horse, but not infrequenty on foot As
the conference forbade circuit riders to
marry until they had completed their
course of study and been admitted to full
connection he applied himself assiduous-
~ to his books, was admitted to confer
ence and married, in 1881, Miss Elizabeth
Lambeth Heath. Immediately after this
Mr.. Beggs was transferred to Illinois and
became a circuit rider in the TaZewell
district He then began to hear of Fort
Dearborn and Lake Michigan, and had a
great desire to see the lake. He eventual
ly made trip to Chicago for the purpose,
and of course preached a sermon before
he left. His congregation consisted of
twenty-five persons, assembled in DR..
Harmons room in the fort. That was in
1881.
The plains of Troy, so famed and flour
ishing in the ancient days, are now barren
and desolate. The sculptor sees no stat
utes, the architect no remains, and the
painter anything but picturesque view.
1t is fit only for the cOllegian or the NOR
alist. The classic Scamander is but a
muddy stream, winding through an un-
cultivated plain, covered with stunted
oaks, underwood and rushes. At the oppO-
site extremity of the plain stands the tomb
OF Hector and Achilles that of the latter
near the Hellespont, where the Greek feet
was mOOred. Near is the grave of his
friend Patroclus. All their glories are now
high. The Scamander is between 200 and
250 feet broad, and very muddy, having
the appearance Of being much flooded.
Farther up the plain its course becomes
undiSttnguiShable among the marshes.
After passing a small river you arrive at
an ancient tumuius, not far from the
shore. What is most striking in this mon
ument is the existence of an arch, which
forms an entrance to the center 4 bOVe
are the remains of a square basement, on
Whlch the column OF the tomb may have
formerly stood. on your return you see
the tombs of Achilles and Patroclus and
some others.
An accident unique in its character so
far as is known to the naval authorities
occurred on Thursday in Cawsand bay,
a niue TO the westward of the entrance to
Plymouth Sound. says the London Times
The bay is used frequently for exercise
by the torpedo boats attached to her ma
Jestys ship Defiance the torpedo train
ing ship. torpedo boat was practicing
with H-fOot Whitehead torpedo. The
motive power of Whitehead tOrpedoes is
compressed air, contained in strong steel
chambers, and the direction of the tor
pedo after leaving the boat is governed
by an insulated electric wire. About noon
a torpedo was sent on its errand from the
steam tender ConfianCe, and obeyed its
steering gear until within a dozen yards
OF the shore, when il came to a sudden
stop Almost Immediately afterwards it
resumed It's course with redOubled speed,
and, the steering apparatus apparently
becoming deranged, the torpedo dashed
with great force upon the rocks about 3O6
yards from Cawsand village. 1t ran up
the outlying rocks and it seemed to make
spring into the air. AS it fell a tremen-
dous explosion resembling the firing of
the heaviest artillery, was heard. The
air chamber of the torpedo was shattered
into innumerable fragments. which were
hurled to a great height and TO long dis
tances, some large pieces being found 400
yards away. There were a good many
fishermen and others on the shore and sew
eral of them had very narrow escapes. as
also had the children of a local school just
dismissed. A piece of metal eighteen
inches long passed close to a man named
| William Mathew, and imbedded itself in
the ground. Everywhere within 200 or 200
yards fragments of the torpedo were scat
tered, one of them weighing fourteen
pounds. The torpedo was not loaded with
gun cotton, as it would be when in use in
war. The cost of Whitehead torpedo is
about $500
Most people will be surprised to learn
that the hearts of birds are far heavier.
proportions tely than the hearts of ami
mails. including man, but a little explana-
ton will show that this is quite natural,
says the Pittsburg Dispatch The more
the body works the greater the demand
upon the heart, upon which falls the duty
of driving the blood through the bodI.
| hence the heart develops and becomes
heavier. Everybody knows that birds are
among the most active and hard working
OF living creatures The swallow can
oNertake an express train, the falcon will
carry load weighing three pounds high
in the air without hindrance to its power
of flight or its speed I'm short thew have
tremendous capacity for work The
celebrated ornithologist, Marcy. states
that a seaSull Weighing III pounds is
capable of performing in one second work
equivalent to raising a weight of Q mounds
one yard high; man Weighing 1870 hounds
to b.. equal to thC=seagull, would have TO-
lift 1850 pounds one yard high in one 500
ond. fla man becomes an athlete or car
ries heavy loads his heart grows nro-
poruonately. NO wonder. thereto NAT
the hearts Of our active feathcred friends
are striEingly heavy. as compared wiz
the bulk of their bodies. The averaga
weight of the human heart i'm normal
circumstances is five one .thousandt ne ~ /
the total weight Of the BODY. ~ GarI
Parrot has lately weighed the hearts Of
various animals and birds; and has found
OK 49, sheep, COL; horse G31 (-rbc no. /
nestle animals thus come fairly close tn !
MANI The wild roebuck has an exceed
insiy heavy heart lis. Most birds are :,
long way ahead Of animals The rar-
ner pigeon comes out at 1225. the cow
mon sparrow, lG22; the hobby IAN av
tremely active species Of falcon1 1e az. |
and the song thrush, %. The heart of tbe |
last named is thus FIVE times bea,,iey |
total weiEht. WIN the /
Awarded