The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


The most curious use 20 which paper
Is 10 be put is that suggested by the re-
cent patenting Of a biotting paper towel.
Il is a new style % bath towel. consisting
OF a fun suit of heavy blOtting paper.
person upon stepping out II his morning
luns mas only 10 array nimseu IN one OF
these suits, and in a second he viii be as
dry as bone
The Benedict Arnold mansion in Fair
mount Park. Philadelphia. is to be res
tored TO its original condition by the
Paramount park art association II was
built in l15l by John Mcpherson, and with
me large estate surrounding u was sold
10 Benedict Arnold for $4,000 The proper
~ was forfeited in 1776 on account of Ar
nod treason and sold 70 Col Richard
Hamilton in 1871. II became the property
Of the city of Philadelphia in 1868, and since
1913 has been used as restaurant and
dwelling. So few alterations have been
ma III II tlldl u STANDS To-Day pIdctlcai-y
as u was when built II Is REGARDED as one
Of the finest specimens of Colonial archi-
lecture in the country.
Electric eyeglasses are an odd inven-
ton recently allowed at the patent Of
fee. The idea is that Of c. z. Qumby.
Into a mans hat is TO be fitted a small
but strong. electric plant or battery, the
wires of which are TO pass about the cir
conference Of the top of the head. thus
browning the individual with charges Of
domestic lightning. Then two miniature
lncandeScent electric lamps, having a re-
Hector on one side and an Orifce on the
Otner, and mounted on spectacle frames,
are placed on the nose so that each lamp
Will fall in front of either eye. The cleo
tricity then mauifests itself in bright
glares of light from the lamps on the line
OF vision of the party wearing Quimby's
apparatus Thus equipped, the inventor
claims man may see far ahead, and ira
verse the darkest road or grotto without
trOnuble
California. which has so much of great
ness 10 boast of. has just added another
wonder to its collection, says the Wine
ana Spirit Gazette. Hitherto the famous
Great Tun of Heidelberg has held the
medal as the biggest wine receptacle in
existence. But now the St. George vine
yard at Fresno, Cal, has it. The Great
Iun holds $1,000 American gallons. while
the St. George Tun holds no less than
1900 gallons, or almost twice as much
as the tun which has for $50 years been
figuring in history. 1t took two carloads
of steel to hoop the gigantic cask and
there IS enough lumber in t to construct
an elegant mansion. The lumber is all
redwood, obtained from the forests of
Humboldt county. 1t towers to a hight
of no less than thirty feet, and it is TWEEN
ty-slN feet wide. 1t can contain thirty
carloads of vine.
A matrimonial bunko game is being
worked with great success among China
men in various parts of Idaho The bun
d
man. Both the women are said to be
of attractive appearance, one being a
blonde and the other a brunette. The
man is about 80 years old feet tall
and passes himself as an old soldier BY
some one of half a dozen clever schemes
a Chinaman IS induced to marry one of
the women. The wedding takes place all
right, but the bride promptly deserts her
husband, taking whatever valuables in
the way of bridal gifts she has received
and such of her husbands portable
ing to reports, they have done an extern
sive and profitable business during the
past few months.
The Washington Star announces that
the two species of large water bugs that
have come to be called electric light bugs
have put in an appearance around the
electric arc lights "a most curious thing
about these bugs" II SAYS. sis that before
the Introduction of electric tights they
were considered to be comparatively rare.
They were seldom seen, as they were not
attracted by ordinary light. When the arc
light appeared, however, the bugs became
enormously noticeable. Upon their APP
pearance in such prOdigious numbers en-
tomologists We're of the opinion that after
two or three years both species would
grow scarcer, but the numbers do not seem
to be decreasing in the slightest While
neither the BelostOma nor the Benacus Is
distinctly poisonous, both have strong
beaks, capable of nflicting severe wounds,
and IL viii be wise to handle them with
water beetle VIII also be seen among the
water bugs around electric lamps in the
proportion of about ! to 100"
The opinion of mathematicians is cited
in favor of a calculating machine which
has been brought forward by NJ. Leon
Bollee, a French inventor, which exceeds
anything in the way of cOmDtomcters, add
ers, and registering apparatus which has
yet been shown. According to the Phil
adelphia Record, this mechanism does all
The ngurlng automatically. whether it be
a question of addition, satisfaction, null
upiicattOn, division, equation, extraction
of roots reduction, or differentiation, the
result being arrived at with marvellous
rapidity and with invariable accuracy. In
its exhibition before the French Institute
examples were given by various mathema-
ticians present, and in figuring out the re-
suits not a single error was detected The
difficulty of explaining the working of
such machine is obvious, but its wonder
ful efficiency was verified by the follow
ing multiplication, the correct answer to
which was arrived at in less than three
seconds: 6222, 1888 Az by S,SSS III, 224-this be-
written out, fifty-five Quinullions, three
hundred and four quadrillions, seven hun
dred and ninety-one trilliOns, seven hun
bred and twenty-three billions, eighty-six
millions, nine hundred and seventy-five
thousand, four hundred and fifty-six
There would seem to be something in
d.ssoluby connected with a tax where
wedding presents are concerned, remarks
a writer in ST. Paul's. In truth, the Gus
! tom of giving grew out Of the obligation
to give. II was the practice at what
were called pay weddings % and these
| were still in vogue in out-of- the-way
places not so very long ago, of sending
round the hat" at the marriage feast, in
| order that money might be collected for
| help toward the bridal festivities and
to give the newly made man and wife a
| fair aud prosperous start in life. From
! that old custom descended the modern
| one of presents. People who were near
and dear to the wedding pair did not
wait to be asked They FASTENED to pro
| vide some remembrance of the happy
/ event, which they sent or carried to the
| bride or groom. They delighted in so do
ing. There was no set obligation-no ex-
| pectation. But their hearts dictated gen
/ erosity, and they gave according to their
/ means handsomely, SO that in their gifts
! might be shown reflex of the OCCASION
| prominence. In Wales it used to be the
custom, and without doubt still is, for
! the bride and groom in prospective to
send round circulars announcing the COM
ing event to their friends. These. of
! course, have their prototypes in the in
] VIII mt cd fr7e