The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-02
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

uutpy square miles Rnlcn 90 10 make the
total OF the earth's area Again, accord
ing 10 the estimates Of the authority for
the above, a cubic mile of air weighs about
10000 10000 pounds. This mass when cleo
trffed or nut in mofion nv other forces
develops cyclonic power equal TO 4,0OO,00o,-
10000 foot tons" Of energy. If YOU wish
10 know why the tornado (cyclOne) Is usu-
ally so destructive, figure on the fact that
the force Of such storms is generally equiv
alent TO more than 1000 600. 600 10000 horse
power! The total horse power of all the
engines now working in the world is only
100000, and of all those in America, both
locomotives and stationary engines, only
l50se00 Compare 10000 with 2,O00,O00,-
000,OO0,0O0 and see how insignificant it lOOksi
Is II any wonder says the St. Louis Re
public, that the cyclone, the rushing de-
mon OF the air. leaves ruin and destruc-
ton in its path?
The annals Of China record at least one
conflict which has ALWAYS In the popular
Chlnese mind. been identified as the tea
pot war, says the New York Herald. It
seems that for hundreds OF years the
northwest corner of the Chinese empire
has been inhabited by tribes of barbarians,
VINO, dwelling in a mountainous district,
are, in virtue of that circumstance, of a
bold and turbulent disposition. Owing
only a nominal ALLEGIANCE TO the emperor,
they oDey or not his commands, according
as these are agreeable or otherwise to their
wishes. About the year 1850 a Chinese dig
nitary was travelling through their cOun-
try and in his train was borne by one of
the menials a certain earthenware teapot
that the mandarin looked upon as one of
tne most valuable OF his possessions. Dur
ing the journey the servitOr who bore this
precious utensil became separated from
the rest of the train and fell into the
clutches of the mOuntaineers who smash
ed the teapot to pieces on a stone. The
whole affair. with proper additions was
reported to the emperor, who undertook
to avenge the injury done to the pot, and
so made war on the mountaineers, the
contest lasting for nearly 100 years, and
resulting in the loss of over 10000 lives.
"A Partisan firm of globe makers, NJ.
Heriot q Co, have just finished the most
gigantic globe ever constructed. 1t was
built on pans furnished by the four lead
ing French geographers, Willard Cotard,
IlsSandler and Seyrig, and is said to be
the most wonderful model of the earth
that the scientists have ever had the pleas
ure of inspecting. 1t is a huge sphere
forty-twC feet in diameter. and has paint
ed upon its surface all the details of the
earth's geographic The globe weighs
thirteen tons. but Is so nicely balanced
upon its axis that Ii is easily rotated by
a small wheel worked by one man. Its
entire surface area, which is raised and
depressed so as to show mountains, val
leyS, etc, is 525 feet This giant globe was
announced as being finished fourteen
months ago, but the finishing touches,
such as balancing, lining, etc, have occu-
pied the constant attention of twelve men
since that date. These twelve experts
have accurately and minutely carried out
every detail laid down by the great geog-
raphers whose names are given above,
and NJ. Her.Ot & Co. now feel justified in
announcing to the world that the great
task of building the largest globe in the
world has been carried to a successful
finish, The next largest model of the
earth is the 1S-foot globe used in the OBJ
servatory in Berlin and the largest one
IN America Is only eleven and one-half
feet in diameter
Snake dealers in South America have
a me contempt for their squirming and
Nenomous wares, though ii is sometimes
dlftcult to induce ship captains to carry
them as freights, says the New York Sun
The snake dealers handle the boa con-
strlctor with great deftness. This SER
pent bites, but his bite is not venomous,
so that the chief danger to the handler
is from the serpent's enormously powerful
muscles. The dealers have learned that
the boa, to be really dangerous, must
nave fulcrum in the shape of something
around which he may coil his tail The
boa Is, In fact, a lever in which the or
binary arrangement is power, weight, full
crum. knowing this, the dealers drop a
sort hat over his head. that he may nei-
ther see nor bite, and then snatch him so
suddenly from his resting place that he
mas no opportunity TO brace himself by
Selling fixed object with his tail. After
that the essential thing is to see that
he is not brought within distance of any
such object snake dealer on board a
brazilian steamer the other day was oc-
cupled in transferring his boas from one
box 10 another. He opened the box an in
Stant, dropped a hat over the head of
one of the creatures, snatched it from it's
fellows, and, rushing across the deck
dropped il into the other box The thing
until the snake owners back was turned
essayed to repeat the act. He neglected
to use the hat, and with a yell yanked a
great snake from the box with its fangs
fixed in his fingers. Not daring to let go
yet fearing to hold on, he began whrl-
ing the snake about his head meantime
dancing madly over the deck. The snake
man managed TO capture the reptile and
box II in security. Then somebody ex-
pressed concern for the rash deck hand,
TO which the snake owner answered:
What, him? He's all right. But think
of my snake! It's worth twenty of that
mug!'
"A blacksmith shop without a forge is
| the latest electrical apparatus II is nrob-
ably the only one IN this country, and it
| is operated by William Patterson at Nj
agara Falls. The great cataract supplies
the power The decomposition of water
| by the electric current is an old and well
known phenomenon, says the Electrical
Engineer, but the heating of the negative
electrode by the ignition of the liberated
hydrogen gas has only recently attracted
the attention of those Interested in elec-
trio heating, welding and forging. The
irst method OF heating a piece of metal
by the liuid forge was to connect a lead
plate TO the positive wire and a pair of
tongs to the negative. Then, by graspine,
with the tongues the metal to be heated
and 1mmerstng ii IN the vessel containing
the positive electrode and a. good conduc-
ting solution Of dilute sulphuric acid or
soda, the metal will begin to increase
in temperature and If the operation is
continued long enough, will melt. All
tHe time III IS increasing IN temperature 1t
is in view of the operator, and can be
withdrawn when the desired heat is
obtained. The above method of electric
heating by complete immersion requires
considerable current and this led George
d. Burton to perfect the method now
used of holding the metal to be heated in
contact with the surface of the liquid,
and as the hydrogen gas is given off 1t is
tgnited directly i'm contact with the metal
which absorbs the heat generated The
time required to heat iron varies It takes
from eight seconds for a. niece of iron
one-Quarter inch square cross section, TO.
one minute for piece one inch square:
the latter requires 26 amperes at go volts
which cost, it is claimed, is less than a
quarter of a cent for current The COST
of preparing a. horseshoe with a coal
forge, with coal at IS per ton, is SIS
cents; with the electric forge, and current
at Is cents per 1000 watt hours it is > 70
cents From the above the economy is
readily determined, and all that can be
said in favor of the electric motor over
the steam boiler and engine applies equal
ly well to the electric forge as against the
coal forge.