The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-20
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

strip Of land, on which rails are laid,
running Into the water on either side.
The steamer, which is fOrty-four feet long
and carries seventy. passengers. is guided
TO the rails by piles like a ferry slip; II
has wheels on either side which mt the
rails and Is driven full speed up one side
Of the incline and down the other into the
water on the other side.
Perhaps the oldest thing in prison
methods in the always novel west IS the
treatment OF inmates Of the county jail
at Cathlamet, ore. Three times a day
every day in the week, they are taken out
OF jail and escorted to the dining room OF
one of the several restaurants and hotels
in town, and there they take their meals
in more comfort and ease than many of
people who have to work for the privilege
of eating. The keepers of the restaurants
and hotels refused to make bids for fur
nishing food to the jai. and this picnic for
the prisoners is the result.
Cows milk is almost at the bottom of
the list OF the food substances that con-
tain iron. As 1t is so important TO infant
life, Prof. Bunge has been led to ex-
pertinent on animals to see in what pro-
portion iron is present in the system at
different ages. He finds that the younger
animals contain much more iron than
adults; in guinea pig or rabbit one hour
OLD, Tor instance, there is more than four
times as much iron as in the same animal
two and half months old. He infers
from this that a long-continued exclusive
milk diet Is not good for babies, but should
be supplemented by wheat preparations.
}.
the Louisville Courier-Journal says: A
cattle dealer approached Sam Ferguson,
a colored man Of this county, and pro-
posed buying yoke of oxen which Fer
guson owned. One of the steers was thin
and the dealer made him an offer of .
cents pound for the best one, or would
take them both for cent a pound Fergu-
son accepted the latter proposition. When
the oxen were weighed the best one tipped
the beam at 1000 pounds, the other one at
eOO pounds, making 1850 pounds, which
at ] cent pound amounted to SIS. The
best OK at cents pound would have
amounted to So Thus Ferguson is out
81 and his thin OK in the transaction. Fer
guson is school teacher, and is astound-
ed at the mysteries of mathematics, and
Will begin anew a study of the subject.
Referring to "geIsoline.'' the new fab
ric or material prepared from the fiber
of the bark of the mulberry tree with
out of the Intervention of the silk worm,
a technical journl remarks upon tn e
singular fact of there being three alb
solutely distinct fibers procurable from
or peculiar to that tree. Thus, In addi-
ton to the ordinary silk, strong and
thick hber for certain purposes is obtain
ed by killing the silk worm and draw
ing the thread out of its inside; in the
preparation of the gelsoline the bark is
retted and the fiber treated after the man
ner of fax, and after publication with
soap and soda, is ready for the weaving
shed-some works in Italy, as appears,
already producing thousands of yards of
the woven fabric for upholstery purposes.
This new material is said to be ten times
as strong as middling Orleans cotton, and
is obtainable at one-tenth the price of
flax; being perfectly round, the fiber in
sures close fabric.
An Ottumwa Qa.) correspondent of
the Cincinnati Tribune writes: A swarm
of hornets to-day aug. 81 held up a pas
Senger train on the Chicago, Fort Madison
and Des Moines railroad, and gave the
trainmen and passengers a battle that
viii be remembered longer by far than if
had been against bandits. The train was
running slowly up a steep grade just
outside the city, where the hillside is
covered with trees. Suddenly Engineer
Cunningham noticed a black mass moving
through the air ahead of the train. Had
he known what was coming he would have
stopped his engine and backed to the next
station. The small cloud soon developed
into swarm of hornets. The hornets
noticed the slowly putting engine and
made for it. They attackedfitlle engineer
and fireman, who were forced to stop
the train. 1t was sultry day and all
the car windows were open. This gave
the hornets an opportunity to enter the
cars and poster the passengers. 1t was an
hour before the trainmen and passengers
succeeded in driving away the hornets. A
number of persons were severely stung
The train stopped at a farmhouse until
the injuries could be attended to- and then
proceeded to this city.
Animals when wild constantly die lin
ger1ng death from injury to the skin,
whether caused, as usually happens in
tropical countries, by wounds aggravated
by insects, or by cutaneous disease, says
the Spectator. Hence the pains which they
take in making their toilet, and in the
use and selection of Cosmetics" Among
birds, the salt water species often seek
fresh water to wash in; different land birds
| choose different earths in which to dust,
and also wash in water, and nearly
every tropical animal, including the tiger
battles either in water or in mud Perhaps
the best known mud bathers are the wild
boar, the water buffalo and the elephant.
The latter hes an immense advantage
over all other animals, in the use of its
trunk for dressing wounds. 1t Is at once
a syringe, poWdering puff and a hand.
Water, mud and dust are the main zap
plications" used, though 1t sometimes COW
ers subscribed back with grass or
leaves. Wounded elephants" writes Sir
| Samuel Baker, have a marvellous power
of recovery when in their wild state al
| though they have no gifts of surgical
knowledge, their simple system being con-
| fined to plaStering their wounds with mud
or blowing dust upon the surface, Dust
and mud comprise the entire pharma-
| copoeia of the elephant, and this is applied
| upon the most trivial as well as upon the
most serious occasions, have
| seen them, when in a tank, plaster up
bullet wound with mud taken from the
| bottom"
The German press is still discussing
the question whether the KieI ship canal
| of war, says the New York Post Six YES
| sells thus far have grounded in passing
| through. The Kaiser Wilhelm IL stuck
| fast for an hour, and some critics assert
| that unless the section of the canal is
| enlarged no vessel drawing more than
| fifteen feet will be able to pass through
| with complete safety. The only vessels
| of greater draught which have hitherto
| passed through, besides the Kaiser VIII
| helm, are the Kaiserin Augusta, second
| class cruiser, and Augusta Victoria a mer-
| chairman, each drawing about twenty
| three feet, and of these two the former
| grounded. AS yet it is impossible to saw
| whether the canal can be passed by yes.
| sells drawing over twenty-three feet More.
| over, large vessels steer badly in the ca
nal, owing to the low speed atswhich thew
are obliged to run, and they experience
| great difficulty in following the sinuosities
existing in the course of the canal espe-
cially east of Rendenburg. The banks have
| given way in some places, thus obstruet.
| ing the bottom of the canal, but this trou.
| Bile can easily be remedied by dredging
| and very soon the canal will have III
| normal depth throughout. On the other
| hand, 1t is pointed out that the curves
| of the cutting are by no means Excess
| sive, their radius in every instance he.
| ing more than !, 100 yards. The groundinp
( of vessels must be ascribed partly to Wan1
| of practice on the part of the canal pilots
| whose experience, at present, is necessar.
| lily limited.