The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The ground in the natural gas region
Of Indiana is said to be so permeated with
match in a well, sewer or any sort OF dig
ging in the district. Several serious explo-
siOns have resulted from the incautiOus
work of well cleaners.
Upon Upper Stone Lick Greek, near
Milford, O., surveyor. while engaged. in
laying of farm property, found prehis-
many acres and containing thousands OF
graves. The curator of the state museum
opened some Of them. and found pipes, CT
pher Ordinates, beads. pearls, spear heads
and other trinkets. The ind is being work
ed and is a rich one.
Scores of fine old English families are
said to be in a very bad way owing to the
agricultural depression, and in some in
stances to disastrous speculations on the
stock exchange or race course. Recently
son of the late Duke of ROXburghe has
been before the Bankruptcy court for the
fourth time, with assets upon this Occa-
sion of pounds sterling, which quite
beats the record for noble perjury. The
Earl of Ancaster is selling his Welsh es-
tates in small lots to suit farmer purchas
ers, and is obtaining an unexpectedly
good price for the land.
The tourist, who is now pretty familiar
with Norway, and has penetrated to Swe-
den, and even Finland. is to be tempted
to include Iceland in his annual invasons.
regular service of boats is to be estab-
lished between England and that remote
island, and the Althing or parliament of
Iceland contemplates public works in the
way of bridges and improved roads for the
reception and convenience of visitors.
There is much that is interesting and inn
pressive in the natural scenery of Iceland,
but in wealth of romantic and antiquarian
interest the island is quite unsurpassed
The Chicago News tells of a queer
case that will soon come up in the Min
nesOta courts. In that state the moose
is protected game. While out shooting
a man named Phair was attacked by
moose. Owing. he says, to the fact that
shooting moose was prohibited by law,
Phair did not attempt to use his gun.
The consequence was he was seriously
injured by the animal. Phair is now m
shutting damage proceedings against the
state on the ground that the animal is
a ward of the state, and that he was
thus handicapped from defending him
self.
DR. william T. Harris, L. s. COM
missioner of education, has just issued
SO. 1t shows that the whole number of
students in schools and colleges, public
and private, was l5,O8,63O, or 22.5 OF the
entire population. There was an in
crease in the average enrolment over
the year before, and a still higher in
crease in the standard of attendance.
954 women teachers. The number of
school houses was 236 426, valued at $685.
435. 039. 1t took $l6S 100000 to run the
schools that year, or $ll pupil, approx
imately.
Some time ago, says the New York
Tribune, James Foley of Wheatland,
near Rochester, purchased his drinking
water supply from Philip {. DICKINSON.
Shortly afterward while playing domt-
noes with his family one evening, a
granting sound was heard, causing the
that?' Suddenly it dawned upon Foley
that he had swallowed some live thing
while drinking the water. He at once
sought legal advice, but no lawyer has
yet been found who will take his case.
He claims that the animal inside him is
a frog. He says recently in church the
cd rah n
ach, singing and roaring and disturbing
the meeting, that he walked out of
church.
Proper names, says Scottish Nights,
undergo singular changes in course of
time and when influenced by foreign
tongues 1t has been asked which is the
proper way of spelling the surname Stew
ard. But this question, 1t would appear,
is not so easily answered, seeing we have
about thirty different ways on record in
English, Gaelic, Latin, French, Italian,
Spanish and Dutch, as follows: Steward,
Stewart, Stewart, Stuart, Stuard, Stu
arde, Steuard,, Steuart Steuert Stewort,
Steort, Steubhard, Steubhart, Steub-
hartt, Stiubhart. Steward, Stiurt, Sto-
ward, Sturgard. Stwyarde Styward,
Stuardus, Seneshallus, Estuard, Estu-
ardza, Stivard, Stivardi The well known
honest English name, is sometimes trans
formed into John Smyth, and Smythe,
and even Smijthe; but transformed into
other languages it seems to climb the lad
der of responsibility, thus:' In Latin it is
Johannes Smithus; the italians smooth
it off into Giovanni Smith. The Span
iards render it Juan Smithus; the Dutch
man adopts it as Hans Schmidt; the
French fiatter it into Jean Smeets, and
the Russian sneezes and barks Jouloff
Smittowski. When John Smith gets into
the tea trade at Canton, he becomes
Jahon Shimmit. If he chambers about Mt.
Heckla, the Icelanders say he is Jaime
Smithsen. If he trades among the Tus-
caroras, he becomes Tom GA Smitha.
In Poland he is known as Ivan Schmit-
tiweiski. Should he wander among the
Welsh mountains, they talk of Jihom
Schmidt. When he goes to Mexico he is
booked as Jouth FSmitr. If, of classic
turn, he fingers among Greek ruins, he
turns to Ion Smikton; and in Turkey,
he he is utterly disguised as Voc Seef.
The dull season just ended has been
extremely interesting from the fact that
a large number CT stamps have been ac-
vancing in value by leaps and bounds.
So many new collectors have come into
the field that the supply of scarce and
rare stamps has been much smaller than
the demand. This has been the case es-
pecially in unused United States stamps
to such a degree that dealers have re-
fused to sell, calculating that they would
make more money by holding off. The
department stamps have scored the
greatest advance. The executives sold a
few years ago for 81 or So per set, com
mand $25 to $50 to-day. The justice set
set, are difficult to find at $50 or $50.
Even the despised Interior worth for
merry 70 cents TO 81 per set, now bring
s. to S.. A fine set of state, formerly
owned by the writer, and sold for $40 in
1891, changed hands the other day at $3.50.
In a word collectors with money-bank-
ers, merchants, noblemen and even roy
alties-have greatly increased in numbers
during the past three years, whereas
there are no more unused United States
stamps to-day than formerly. Indeed,
there are fewer stamps on the market,
as there is a constant destruction of old
albums and collections, through fire, wa
ter and carelessness. Used stamps are
not appreciated to as great an extent as
unused, a the great demand has led to
the looking over of every lot of old let
ters within the reach and. knowledge OF
collectors. Consequently the common va
rieties of United States stamps and en-
velopes are somewhat of a drug in the
market, and are bought by dealers to-
day chiefly on the chance of finding one
or more of the scarcer kinds in the lot
Of cheap trash"
in East Thompson, Conn.,, is a curious
house, which differs from the ordinary in
being covered on the outside with white
paper instead of clapboards or shingleq
The building is, aside from it's peculiaTifv
of a type seen anywhere It stands on ~
road crossing the New England railroad
just beyond the depot, and on the left
side of the track, going away from Prov