The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-19
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

who says he has invented another system
/ by which IL is possible 10 learn a language
/ in three months. As the result of a chal-
lenEe. he has promised TO submit his sys-
/ TEN to a practical test. He has undertake
/ en- 10 learn twelve languages in three
years, namely; French. Italian, Spanish.
| Portuguese, Dutch. Danish Swedish. NOE-
wegian, Polish, Russian. Czech and Hun
garian- He started on the task on July Is.
and will, therefore. have finished his work
| on July IS. 1855. when he will undergo an
examination by committee appointed for
| the purpose
The snake-eating cobra at the Zoo has
| developed an enormous appetite and dis
| plays amazing digestive powers, says the
| Philadelphia Record Snakes are not Civ
en- 10 frequent eating. but this individual
/ has swallowed six garter snakes since ne
/ became member of the Zoo family. and
/ is already hungering for more. He has al
so shown an unusual quickness in she'd
/ ding his skin AS rule, the other snakes
/ md this troublesome process, taking
/ from ten to fifteen days. during which
/ period all are weak, and some of them are
| blind. The cobra has no such difficulty He
shed his winter coat in nine days and seem
/ ed none the worse during the transitory
/ period.
1t is a well-known fact that the wool of
/ the African negro, whether on the male or
/ female head. seldom grows to any eOnsid-
/ cradle length, even under the most faVOra-
| bic circumstances, says the St. Louis Re
public A striking exception to this rule,
| however, can be cited in the case of Aunt
/ Nancy Garrison. who has been the draw
] ing card at the numerous northern dime
| museums during the past six months
| Aunty Garrison, who resides at Holly
| Springs, Miss, when not travelling as
| freak. is an ebon-hued negress of goOdly
size, and with such an immense crop OF
/ wool that the anthropOlogists pronounce
| her the greatest human wonder now be-
| fore the American public. Mrs. Garrison
| Is about 81 years, and the immense braids
| of hair" which are the pride of her de-
| ciining days, and the wonder of all behold
| ers, are the wonder of a lifetime These
/ DT910g Ta fhrpa har IN
side and one at the crown of the head, the
| side plaits being each So feet in length,
and that at the crown full IA feet. The tes-
timony of experts is to the effect that the
| museum managers do not eXaggerate in
| the least when they say that Aunt Nancy
| Garrison has the longest hair" of any
| woman in the world. When not on exhibit
| ton, the owner of this wonderful growth
OF hair keeps 1t coiled up on the top and
| back or her head, In a knot almost as big
as bushel basket. 1t is of silver sable
color, and very soft and fine.
1t is rather a difficult thing to realize
| that il IS possible for the whole popula-
ton of the largest city to tell the time
OF the day without a single clock in the
place, says the Pittsburg Dispatch, but,
| nevertheless, "clock works are no longer
q necessity, and clock winding will soon
| be out of date. The "self-winding'' clock
! Is an ordinary clock, in which the winding
| is done by an electric motor at regular in
tervals, the contact controlling the mag
| net being connected with some moving
| part OF the clock. The great difficulty of
this contact, owing to the small amount
| of power available for making it. but by
| new devices absolute certainty of action
| can now be insured. But while IT is posi-
| bic for anyone to have mis- own automatic
| clock-winder a system, called the "synch-
| ronome, has been introduced, which still
further simplities the regulation and oper-
alton of time-keeping devices. This sys-
| TEN consists of one pendulum, kept in mo-
ton by means of two wheels and an cleo
tro-magnet, which derives its energy from
small dry cell. The object of the pendu-
lum is to transmit electrical impulses at
regular periods along a single wire to any
number of clock faces, whether in a house,
a PUBLIC building or church tower, the
| hands being "synchrOnzed" forward by
each of these impulses. 1t thus becomes
possible 10 dispense with both winding
and clock works. If desired a house or
building can be supplied with its own syn
chronizer which controls its own circuit
of dials.
"A Venice correspondent writes to the
New York Herald: The one great Vene>
tan festival that has come down the
centuries, maintaining its hold of the
people, is that of the Redentore. This is
the name of well-known church on
the island of the Giudecca on which is
the southwestern portion of Venice. IT
was erected in 1876 as a votive offering
upon the cessation of terrible plague that
swept away $1,000 people. Titan died
OF that plague, so that though his monu-
ment stands in the Frari church. no one
knows where he was buried. The repub-
lie decreed an annual festival to com
memorate the deliverance of Venice by
the Redeemer from it; hence the name
OF the church and its festival. 1t is OBJ
served on the third Sunday in July, begin
ming on the Saturday preceding it, To
enable all to reach the Giudecca Island
two bridges of boats are made, one across
the Grand canal, and one across the Giu-
decca canal, which is a quarter of a mile
broad. On Saturday night all the quays
on both sides of the Giudecca were turned
into fair. Booths for the sale of meats
and drinks, pictures, curiosities TOYS
JeWelry, handkerchiefs We're everywhere
erected; but the two things chiefly sold.
and which everybody was expected to
buy, were mulberries and fennel These
are only sold in Venice at this time and
everybody eats them. on the water the
boats, most of them bearing colored lights
and fitted up with green boughs. and
with seats and tables and stores for food
and drink on board, are sailing about in
which families spend the night This year
prizes were given for the best decorated
boats. and the first was taken by the
men of Signor Stucky's flour mills, whose
boat was a floating dining room lit by
electricity, and with table spread for
forty people.
IF the marsh wren does not rate high
as songster. he more than compensates
for this deficiency by his skill as an archi-
tect, for in the matter of house building
ne is an artist OF the first rank, says the
Washington Star. Look about among
the rushes and tall grass and you will
probably soon discover bunch of dry
grass as large as a cocoanut-or perhaps
| larger-suspended between half-a-iozen
stalks of heritage a few feet from the
ground. If this be carefully examined it
| will be seen to consist of an oval-shaped,
rather neatly woven ball, and apparently
| perfectly solid. But look more closely and
see if you can find hole anywhere that
may serve as an entrance to the interior.
You may be lucky enough to discover at
once, or you may search some time before
you hit upon it, and some people have
given up, and declared that there was no
entrance, but it is there all the same
Having found the door to this snug domi-
cile, run your finger in and feel the in
terror You will probably find the bottom
without any soft lining and damp almost
to wetness. You will naturally infer that
the nest is not yet finished and the birds
have not yet laid. Should you wish TO tear
this structure apart you will find that it
requires all the strength you have about
| you. A careful search will probably show
many other nests similar to this one and
| after a while one may be found with a
soft lining and containing eggs. These,
if the full clutch has been laid, will be
about six in number and if you take them
out for examination will be seen to be of a
brown mahogany color, forming one of
| farv 10 bo