The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-17
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

white corn, and pictures a mill and
miller mounting stairs with sack OF
grain on his back The mill is represented
as standing on a terrace. and near Il IS
a horse and cart, while group OF several
peasants are shown in the road near by.
The picture is beautifully distinct. every
fidelity yet by careful measurement IL IS
shown that the whole painting does not
cover a surface of half an inch square.
The natural soap mines at owens
Lake, California, are accounted Tor by a
scientist, who advances this theory; The
water in the lake contains, he says,
strong solution Of both bOrax and soda
In the water curious specimen Of grub
breed by millions. These grubs go through
their various transformations, and I'm
ally. emerge as short-winged. heavy
bodied flies, very fat and oily. They live
but Few days. dying and falling into
the lake in such numbers as to be fire.
quently washed ashore in layers more
than a foot thick. The oily substance OF
the dead flies blends with the alkali of
the bOrax and soda, and the result is
layer OF pure soap. corresponding in thick
ness TO the drift strata Of the dead flies,
a foot deep Of flies making a layer Of soap
nearly an inch thick. These strata, re-
peated year after year, have formed the
celebrated soap banks of Owens Lake
where for number of years past a large
body OF men have been regularly at work.
When man completes with nature in
engineering problems he is left far in the
rear, says the Engineer. This is partic-
ularly the case in the appliance Of power
Tor speed. The wild duck is about the last
bird We should expect speed from; it has
enormous surface, is very heavy forward
and has comparatively long neck and
heavy head. and. withal, it has very
small wings, but a wild duck is one OF the
SWlItest birds IN flight, surpassed only by
the wild goose, which is even more handl-
capped. The whale is a lUbberly craft, so
to call it-mOdeled on the lines of a Dutch
galiot; its propcllers are exactly the re-
verse of what we should suppose the cor
rect position. lying horizontally on the
water when at rest instead of being YER
teal in it, as a vessels prOpellers are.
Moreover, the ful1es of the whales screw
are very small, indeed. and are also the
reverse of what man makes; they have
the largest surface a the tip and are
largest at the hub or junction with the
body. but with this apparatus a whale
goes through the water ike fast steam
boat and can tow heavy whaleboat full
of men at most surprising velocity for
a long time.
The Car Nicholas, a Paris CORE
spondent writes, had successfully in
youth two French tutors. They both
lived in the palace and confined themselves
to the French branch of the cZarowitz's
education. They were professors of the
French University. and the one who served
last, NJ. Lanson. filed the chair of French
literature at Toulouse before he went to
Russia. He is now writing his impress
siOns of the court Of Russia. They are
TO come out first in review, and then in
small volume. NJ. LansOn speaks Of the
late emperor as strong cold and yet
nedQSlrOng, ana subject 10 violent ltS OF
anger that frightened all those near him.
His son entirely takes after the empress
dOwager. He is thoughtful, nervous, i'm
questionable and not strong-willed The
German teachers did not reside. in the
palace. Nicholas was taught other Ian
guages with as much care as French,
which he knows thoroughly. and knew
well before he had professor. If he pre-
ferred one French author from another Ii
was Victor Hugo or Lamartine. 1t was
his teachers business to explain to him
the peculiar characteristics of great writ
ers, whom they studied after they had
read selections from them. He found that
his pupil assimulated rapidly, and he GER
tanly was attentive. NJ. Lanson will not
say that the young prince had marked
preference for French literature. though
he showed strong desire to learn all he
could about France. But he certainly
had higher Opoinion of French painters
and sculptors than those Of any other for
eign school.
-Lectur.ng is one of the pursuits by
which a good many hundreds of smart
men and women make a living in our
times. says the New York Sun. A sue
cessful lecturer tens us of the changes
which have taken place in his business
since he entered upon it. He says there
is a pretty steady demand nowadays for
lecturers who are willing to appear before
societies and clubs, or before groups of
people formed for the purpose of securing
instruction upon special themes. Some OF
these groups hire lecturer for round
sum, under a contract to give so many
given time generally in the afternoon.
The group will secure a meeting place in
a hotel, or viii gather in the house OF
one of its members, or viii hire han.
The subjects most in favor are scientific
and literary and historical, and foreign
travel Our informant has for several
years made a nice income by lecturing
for such bodies, which, in number or
cases he himself has organized; and he
knows of nearly score of men and wo-
men who are in the business here The lee
ture should not be over an hour and
quarter in length, should be followed by
inquiries from the subscribers, should pc
illustrated if possible and should be
lively, learned, Ineligible and novel.
Nothing in the nature of irony, spongi-
ness or amphibology or BAN, is desira-
BILE. 1t is an interesting industry, and
may be serviceable in meeting, to some
extent that unprecedented demand for
knowledge of every kind which has grown
up in the community, among both women
and men. Reading of the right kind is an
other useful method of obtaining sound
knowledge.
The naval bureau of construction
and repairs has completed the preparation
of plans and specifications or the navy
first submarine boat. 1t is expected that
in eighteen months the boat VIII be ready
for service. AS finally determined upon,
the craft is a novelty in design, which,
if successful in practical operation, will
prove an important addition to the navy.
1t will be capable of going on the sur
face at high speed, OF sinking quickly TO a
reasonable depth and of travelling under
the water. 1t will be of steel throughout.
Its shape will be similar to a huge cigar
hattened at the lower side. The general
dimensions will be: Length. so feet diam
eter II feet; and a total displacement of
l3S tons There will be two kinds of mo-
tive power, one for surface propulsion,
the other for the underwater navigation.
The boat is destined to dive to a depth of
twenty feet in ten seconds. When the YES
sci is running at full speed on the surface,
with the srnokestack and air shaft pro-
ject.ng upward, and it is desired to dive,
Kingston valves placed on the bottom of
the hull are to be opened and the air al
lowed to escape through valves placed at
the upper ends of water spaces provided.
The blower is stopped, the furnaces and
ash pits doors closed alright, and the
smokestack hauled down and covered.
BY the time the boat is below the water
the electrical power is in operation, and
no further attention is given to the boil
ers until surface propulsion is again
thought necessary. For underwater cruis-
ing light is to be supplied by incandes-
cent lamps. The air carried in the super
structure will be sufficient for several
hours but if it should be necessary to re-
main long under water a quantity of
air, stored on board in manganese bronze
cylinders can be drawn upon.
Awarded