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

-tIeOrge washington is buried at Mount
| Vernon, Va; John Adams at quincy,
| Mass Thomas Jefferson al Monticello.
\ a.; James Madison at Montpelier, Va
| James Monroe at Richmond. Va; John
Jackson az Nashville. Tenn; Martin Van
Buren, at KinderhOok. y. Y: William
Henry Harrison at North Bend, o; John
4yler az richmond, Va, James K Pork
| al Nashville, Tenn; Zachary Taylor at
Louisville, KY. Willard Fillmore AT Buff
falo, y. Y; Franklin Pierce at Concord,
y h; James buchanan near Lancaster,
! Pa; Abraham Lincoln at Springfield, Ill;
Andrew Johnson at GreenVille, Tenn;
| Y; Rutherford u. Hayes at Columbus, .;
James A. Garfield at Cleveland O.; Ches-
ter A Arthur at Albany n Y.
The curiosity of tropical Africa IS the
wonderful flying frog. first described by
BishOh Of the Equatorial African EXpedi-
ton, which returned to Europe in the fall
OF 1894. This oddly of the reptile family
Is about the size Of common bullfrog and
resembles other members of the order
OF bactrachians in everything but its feet,
each of which is webbed and enormously
enlarged, so much so as to form splendid
substitutes Tor true wings. The creature
has five toes on each of the other two,
which make four separate membranes on
each of its hind feet and three on each
fore foot, or Il in all. In his description Of
II BishOm says: Each leg terminates in
sort of fan and with these the little rep
tile paddles the air like locust, or like
partially nedged bird testing its pinions
for the first time" Although somewhat
awkward in its flight, the winged frog can
dart through the air at a speed Of about
ten yard per second, and can keep itself
going forward at that rate for from 10 TO
10 seconds. The average distance covered
by these spurts of grasshopperlike flight
Is from 20 10 10 yards; but BlShOu men
tons instances where the flying frog
cleared sandy stretches 200 yards in width.
We believes says the St Louis Republic,
that We are speaking the truth when we
say that there is not more than one per
each m
who has anything like a correct idea OF
what an icycle IS miles in diameter and
10000 in length would look like. 1t is also
true that there Is no necessity for one
being provided with mind that would
enable him TO form a correct conception
of such a gigantic cylinder of ice, for
there is no probability that anyone viii
ever live TO see an icicle even half so large,
yet II Is interesting TO know that Sir John
Herschel, the great astronomer. used such
an Illustration in one OF his articles on the
intensity of the suns heat. After giving
the diameter of the great blazing orb, and
a calculation on the amount of heat ra-
dated by each square foot of its immense
surface, he closed by saying that If il
were possible for an icycle A. miles in di-
ameter and 100000 miles long to plunge
INTO the suns great burning sea of gas il
would be melted away and utterly con-
sumed, even to its vapor, in less than one
second of timei Such an icicle would con-
tain more cubic yards of ice than has
formed on the rivers and lakes Of the
United Staes during the past hundred
missouri county, and its length would be
almost sufficient to reach to the moon.
On late trip of one of the steamers
| plying between Portland and San Fran
cisco, says the Scientific American, the
question came up among the passengers
as to whether the gulls which appeared
around the ship each morning were the
same birds as had been with the ship on
the day previous. To test the matter a
, line and fish hook We're procured, and
with bait of salt pork the fishing for a
sea gun was commenced. The first cast
OF the line was successful, a big gray bird
sWooping down on the bait. He was
hauled aboard and found to be unnjur-
| Cd, the hook having caught in one of the
readily loosened After detachng the
nook strip of red flannel was brought
and carefully tied around the CULTS left
| leg by one Of the seamen of the steamer
| the bird being then turned loose. Circling
for moment in the air, the gull started
| toward the distant blue streak which de-
noted the coast liue, and it was generally
allowed that each day brought a new
| contingent of gulls to follow the steamer
ana pick up the waste scraps from the ia
| pie; but on coming on deck after break
| tast the next morning there was the fan
| mel bedecked gun TO be seen, the most
| clarnOrous of all the birds To test the
| gulIs reasoning power, If II had any,
| the same line and bait was drifted astern
! the gull caught the day before being one
| OF the first 10 strike for ii.
Ten giant kites, all on one string, win
miles by the weather bureau authorities
| at Washington. This, Of course would
| be many times higher than any other kite
| has hitherto Travelled, the famous Eddy
| kites having flown only 1000 feet accord
| ing to latest reports This will be done
! IN connection with systematic studies of
| the upper atmosphere. which region has
| HeTetoIoie heen explored by scientists
| only with the aid of captive balloons car
| rylng thermometers, barOmeters, etc.
| But balloons are found to be most i'm
| practicable for such purposes since the
| wind blowing against them keeps up an
! almost constant vibration while its force
| against their envelopes causes great leak
| age of gas, and hence makes a flight of
| many hours impossible. The kite expert
| ments to begin this summer will be CON
| Quoted by Prof Adie, the same meteorol-
| ogist VINO is making extensive photo
| graphic studies of lightning flashes The
| investigation OF the upper atmosphere
| will be made first with a view of ascer
| tanning the differences of temperature for
| various ATTITUDES in free air. Other ex-
! periments, by aid of the kites, will follow
these, all OF which are expected to ena-
| bic the bureaus meteorologists to make
| a great prohle map of the atmosphere,
| which task has never yet been accom-
| plished. Temperature and barometric
| curves, electric currents, etc, will be To-
| Gated for various parts of the country
! and for different seasons of the year
such data will be as necessary to the en-
! gineers of flying machines, when practi-
| cally perfected, as charts are to sailors
| Ballooning can be then carried on with
| much less risk than at present, since it
will be easy matter to determine what
| currents of air are likely TO be met at
various nights, just as it is now small
task to find the gulf stream or the trade
| winds. A still greater service will be
rendered by this information to scien-
| lists, who now believe that man will be
able 10 soar like birds as soon as the up
| per air currents are definitely understood
! Kites will be flown to different nights in
| hot waves during electric, wind, or hail
| storms, in cold waves during snow or hail
storms, and in fact during every possible
| phase of weather. 1t is now the purpose
| of the eXperimenters to construct this
summer a giant kite, which will revolu-
tionize the whole science of kite flying
| This will be no less than a combination
kite balloon. The length and width are
not yet determined, but in form II will he
a large, fiat box, about a foot in thick
ness, the light frame being covered with
| gold beaters' skin. 1t will he inflated
| with hydrogen gas, which would give to
a kite of the dimensions of the present
design and a foot thick a lifting force of
three pounds. This would be sufficient
to take the kite up. Notwithstanding the
general buoyancy offered by the wind