The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-11
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

View uses are being constantly 1cll--
FOR wood pulp. says the Paper alhL OnS
OF the latest devices IS the manufacture
OF carriage shafts. Wood pulp lin CON
Junction with ironl being the cniei mater
lal, with a covering OF leather Patents
for the invention have been taken our N
France. England and Belgium. ana II j.
claimed that the shafts are very strong
and unbreallable, a point regar4tn e III
pOrtaut. 50 far as safety OF passengers y
concerned These shafts are alreall IN
use in Paris and they are appreciated ~
cab owners. not only for their strength
but for their comparative cheapness-
The French snail-eating habit is said 70
be growing apace IN America us u4u-
mate popular adoption should ~ no means
occasion surprise. SAYS the Philadelphia
| Record. Snail-eating is no more queer
than turtle-eating- The Development OF
cookery is the miracle OF ciyllizduon- ana
yet the American custom OF picked pigs
feet might offend the African eplcure-
who dimes upon elephants. feet baked IN a
hole in the ground RattiesIlakes, oleCA-
snakes and lizards were all pronounced
edible BY the late Frank Buckland, the
I naturalist. and are no more repulslNe' N d
wav than the misshapen frog. In New
Zealand a great delicacy Is the OOiled
grasshopper, afterWard crisped IN an oven
and served headless- Inc naNgL y saia
TO resemble that OF shrimp here IS
suggestion for the Kansas farmer. ny
not the pate de grassnopper as FiNaI
edible 10 the hors d'Oeuvre de snahE
within the Arctic Circle are the great
bird colonies. says the Denver Times.
The largest and most remarkable IS that
of SVaerhOlt klubbcn. Every inch OF TINS
wonderful cliff. which rises about one
/ thousand feet from the waters edge, and
is Of considerably greater breadth, may
be said 10 be used by The birds me dls-
charge of a small cannon IN the imne-
diate neighbOThO01 Will darken the air
with millions Of birds. but even then a
field glass viii reveal the lnnumerapie
lodges white With other undlsturoel Inll-
lions. These consist almost entirely OF
the small fun tRussia trldactyiaJ, ana
I they are a source Of considerable income
Z 10 fnfaNr
I the little fishing station close by. ABOUT
the middle OF May every year, by means
I of a long ladder placed against the 100
\ Of the cliff. he proceeds 70 collsct ne
/ eggs of these there are az most three 70
T each nest and the number taken averages
| from 5000 TO 1000 annually or the pro
are not used for this purpose al Svaerholt
/ as they are in the Farce Isles, so mat
/ the highest Of the above hgures repre-
sent only a very small perez mage OF the
! yearly production of the colony as lar
I the greater portion OF the ciin face, where
/ the nests are packed as closely as they
/ can be, remains absolutely untouched.
/ A panphlet has been issued in Eng
/ land In which an attempt is made TO show
/ that British sports-hunting' racing, nsh,
! ing, yachting. etc.-are a great nalohal
/ blessing. and it cannot be said that the
! effort IS a failure. says the New York Adj
{ vertiser. In hunting there is an invested
capital Of S55.000o0, and the sport calls
/ for an annual outlay OF $3Vgo.Vl In 1881
I nearly $50. 900 was expended in racing.
/ In shooting S20O00O0O is invested, and the
annual expenditure is S5,0O00c0. The dis
I ciples of the rod and reel spend annually
/ in whipping the complaining brooks that
| keep the meadows green the sum Of 80
/ OO00O0. on top Of all this IS the sum OF
| SOS O01. coo invested in yachting, not 10 men
| ten the millions which its votaries eX-
| pend every year. A vast army of laborers
| is required in the production of material,
/ manufacture, care of property, etc, and
I in this way the millions spent by rich
| sportsmen goes direct to the people. on
| the topic Of racing the writer says that
! ANY serious Interference would mean not
! only the dimnutiOn of a good Is per cent
| of the value of blood stock, but the throw
| ing Of many thousands OF men out OF
the source from which, every year, meal
! culable sums Of money are distributed
and that, as rule. among the poorest
| members Of the community"
The oldest known fire engine for
pumping water is probably the one men
| toned in the Spirtalia of Hero, about 100
! b. g.. says the Philadelphia Inquirer
! This engine Il is said, was contrived with
! two single acting pumps with single
| beam piVOted between the Two for work
ing the plungers. The streams Of water
united in a single discharge pipe and
passed up a trough having an air cham
Der and out of a nozzle which might be
turned in any direction as desired. FIRE
engines appear also TO have been used eX-
tcnsively by the early Romans who furth-
/ ermOre organized Regular nre brlgades.
In the early part of the sixteenth century
a fire engine known as a water syringe
was introduced which, in measure, re-
sembled the modern forms of fire engines
This was mounted on wheels and the wa
ter was poured by levers This form Of
engine was very generally used in Ger
many. In England about the same time
large. brass syringes were used. These
held several quarts of water and were
operated by three men, two of them hold
ing the syringe at each side viii one
hand and directing the nozzle with the
other, while the third operated the plum
ger. 1t was necessary, after having dis
charged the water from the syringe, to
refill it from well or cistern near the
fire or from buckets. The syringeS were
later fitted to portable tanks of water.
The first successful fire engine was proba-
I bly, the Newsham engine, and this was
the pioneer of manually operated fire en-
gines. The pumps in these engines were
built on many different designs, but in
most cases they were operated by levers.
Fire engines similar in form to the New
sham engine were in use up to the year
1850.
English sparrows apparently have
taken lesson from their human fellow
citizens and are making notable improve
ment in their domestic architecture, says
tho New York Mail and Express. Hither-
too these trucuent little immigrants have
been satisfied with "a small bunch of dried
grass perched in a tree crotch, just enough
to accommodate the mother bird and her
growing brood. This simple affair has al
| ways been open at the top and the callow
! yOunglings have been protected from sun
and rain by the towering parents. But now
gressive, and their nests this season mark
a distinct advance. They seem to have
lost their fear of prowling cats and the
destructive small boy. Many nests are
now built in the crotchets of trees near
the main trunks, where the cat would
have no difficulty in approaching. Cats,
however. have learned to respect the
doughty little fighters whose war chirp
can assemble an army large enough to
rout half a dozen cats. 1t is only the
just fedged youngster whose still weak
| wings are oVerwearied that Tabbv or
! Tom will attack. 1t is in the form of the
! nest, however. that the urban sparrow
shows his superior civilization. This year
a bunch of hay as large as a child's muff
is the chief material. This is guyed and
fastened to limb and trunk in u fashion
that is strong enough to resist a cyclone
Instead of the open top Mr. and Mrs.
Sparrow now hollow igood-sized apart
nent out of the middle of the muff, with
a round door just large enough for one 10
pass. This door always faces southwark.
and In few cases porch like the lean-to
of prairie shock is built out, seerninelv
as a further protection against the az