The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-12
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

number was LOO; in the second, 1000; in
1881 II was 500 the total for the eight
years being 5000. The working classes
supply the largest proportion. A per cent. ;
the peasants the smallest, 7 per cent
"A New Haven grocer has had great
trouble with his apples. He bought a
large stock early in the fall and put them
down cellar. Recently he has been sell
ing a large number OF apples, but barrel
alter barrel and busnel after bushel have
Deen returned to him. They all had
nasty taste, and what il was appeared
mystery The grocer finally ascertained
tnat there mad been an escape Of Ilumf-
mating gas in the cellar near where the
apples were stored, and the OdOr had per
mated the fruit
An exchange calls attention to the
fact that a man weighing 80 pounds can
travel rapidly on safety bicycle only
one-seVenth as heavy as himself, while
the Vesubule train must carry at least
twenty times the weight of its passengers,
says the Chicago Tribune. For equal
rates OF speed, and to carry the same
weight OF passenger, the train is fully a
hundred times heavier than the bicycle.
since the latter is eminently a practical
machine, 1t follows that if the train be
not now pronounced unnecessarily heavy.
II probably will be so esteemed in a few
years hence, with the result of earnest
scientific effort to reduce it. 1t may be
Impossible now to say how the reduction
Is 10 De erected, but science may be trust
ed TO md the way.
The first Japanese to be born in Ber-
lin is the infant son of Secretary of the
japanese Legation DR.. Tsunesiro Miyao-
ka, who, with his wife, came to the Ger
man capital last year direct from Wash
ing ton, where the happy father had also
been attached to the Japanese legation.
Both parents are very happy that their
son should have been born just in Berlin.
japanese are very supertitiOus people,
no matter how civilized they may be, and
believe in lucky or unluCky omens the
name of the place in which the Japanese
IS born is considered, so to speak, the
horoscope of his future life. Now, the
word Berlin IS composed in Japanese
OF two syllables, of which der" means
of robust, blooming life. Germany in
Japanese is named "DOku-itsu;" "dol1o'
STANDS ,aa oS,d Ior alone, and itsu' means
child came into this world in place where
alone II could find a magnificent country
NO wonder that this horoscope pleases
both father and mother of the baby Jap.
In that country once known as the
Great American Desert embracing a
portion of Texas and Arizona, there are
no doors, said citizen of Dallas to a
reporter for the Chicago News There
luscious grapes and many other fruits
grow, especially near the timber
country, but there is no perfume: wild
| flowers have no smell, and carcasses of
dead animals, which in dry seasons are
very plentiful, emit no odor. 1t was al
which no plant could grow or breathing
thing could live. but a large part of it
IS now successfully cultivated, and but
| FOR the rarity of the atmosphere, causing
the popularity l have named, and the
mirages, which are even more perfect than
in the Desert of Sahara, no one would look
| Hpon IL as n barren country now. An
| other singular feature common to the
! desert land is that objects at great
| distance appear greatly magnifed. A few
| scraggy mesquite bushes will look like
| noble he
| ground will seem like telegraph poles'
"A somewhat startling step toward
equalizing the sexes is reported as having
! been made in London, says the Pittsburg
! Dispatch. large number of young wo-
men, taken in many cases from the fami-
! lies of what in England is regarded as
| polite society, have taken to gardening as
/ a profession the course at the hOrti-
| cultural college includes the study OF
| flowers, plants and fruits, besides practice
| in the manual work of gardening. The
| director of the Kew Gardens, the finest
| OF royal horticultural parks, saw the adj
vantage of securing expert help from
| such source, but at the same time rec
| ognized the impOssibility of shocking the
| public by the introduction of gardeners
| in skirts within the grounds After care
| authorities of the college, the director
| finally engaged two young ladies as work
| ing gardeners on the condition that they
| should wear trousers when at work.
| Since these We're engaged the director has
| been overwhelmed with applications from
| girls. The innovation, instead of deter
| ring them from the work. seems to he
| highly in favor 1t is looked upon as no
| sacrifice to womanly dignity, but a SEN
| sible method of getting around a con-
| Ventional difficulty which has hitherto
| kept women out of many fields in which
| they can work as effectively as men. It
| is said that the noVitiates are giving every
| satisfaction. They are ready to tackle all
| kinds of rough work like men. No dis
tinction is made. The. director could not
| engage them as regular gardeners, al
| though they had previous training, but
| as boys. This involved wearing trousers,
| a condition with which they cheerfully
| complied. Nearly forty girls have passed
| through the college mentioned, some of
| whom have taken appointments as for
| lists, some are market gardeners, and
| some are head gardeners at large es-
| Establishments.
"A case of insanity of a curious sort
| is just now exciting considerable inter-
est among the medical fraternity of Lon
| don, says an exchange. a negro was
| found the other day in a gentleman s
| house at Willesden and could give no ac-
count of himself because of severe fits
| of laughter which convulsed his frame.
| He was taken to the nearest workhouse
| and ever since then he has done nothing
but laugh. He has not uttered a word
in the interval, and what Is his name or
where he came from is unknown. He
laughs continuously from morning until
night and at meal times swallows food
like lightning in order, apparently, that
he may continue his fit of mirth with as
little interruption as possible. When he
goes to sleep his sides shake with laugh
ter, and in the morning the moment he
opens his eyes his capaciOus mouth opens
too, with loud guffaw. At first it was
thought he had adopted this means to es-
cape from being tried on the charge of
attempted burglary, but physicians who
have examined him unite in pronounce
ing him insane and saying that his cure
is doubtful. The chances are il seems
that he will literally laugh himself to
death. This form of insanity, though rare
is not unknown to the medical science,
though the mania is generally of a tram
STORY nature. There are several cases
on record of grave personages, who had
rarely been seen to smile, suddenly break
ing into a habit of uncomfortable and
contagious laughter, DR.. Clouston tells
of solid, prudent business man who
one day startled his family by a fit of
laughter which lasted so long and was
so hilarious that every one in the room
had to join in. From time to time after.
that he would be seized in the church
in the train or in the streets, and when.
ever he started all who heard him wouIcl
have to follow. Very soon decisions ana
the most outrageous conduct superyened
and then-the asylum.