The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-14
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

"a
book or ledger, IN which was 10 be enter
ed the name, age. date Of enlistment,
wounds, medals, etc, q each solder " TN
each ledger went a pruted form. showing
how the blanks were 10 be hlied out and
the fictitious name used on these forms
was Tommy Atkins. The little books came
10 be called Tommy Atkins and II was not
long before the name was transferred 10
the soldiers themselves
wild deer in California are in danger
OF extinction because Of the ruthless
slaughter By the pot-hunters. The state
law provides that Il shall be unlawful 10
kill deer between OSt0oer Il and July l..
and the Board Of Supervisors in some
counties have exercised their power 10
further shorten the open season. But
the limited apprOpria lions do not admit
OF employing a sufficient number of depu-
ties TO enforce The law in the interior
counties Of Martin, SOnoma. and MsndO-
cino, where the slaughter is unabated-
Deer are getting scarcer every season,
the san Francisco call says. "aud IL viii
not be many years hence when they viii
disappear like the elk and antelope, all
because of the continual shooting and
the little interest that is being manifest
ed by sportsmen in their protection" An
effort IS being made to induce the true
sDOrtsmen 10 subscribe a sufficient amount
TO maintain game wardens in the woods.
THE Solenhofen slate Of Bavaria"
writes Prof. II. g. Seeley in his recent
little volume, THE Story of the Earth
in Past Ages makes known numerous
insects and other forms OF terrestrial life
Of this period, including the oldest known
bird. A bird is known by its feathers
though there is no reason why the cover
ing TO the skin should not be as variable
in this group Of animals as among rep
tiles or mammals. 1t is, therefore, re-
markable that the oldest known bird, the
ArchaeOpteryX. has feathers as well de-
NeInnnl = I'm avf 81 fncr faf i've
or the class and similarly arranged. The
animal is an elegant, slender bird, which
is chiefly remarkable for showing teeth in
the jaws. About twelve. short and conf
cal, occur on each side of the upper jaw.
The bird was larger than the robin in its
body and had a tail of which there was
bony core some six inches in length. The
wings were quite as well developed as the
legs. and there are some evidences that
the former could be applied to the ground
as are the forelegs of quadrupeds, al
though the feathers show the wings TO
have been constructed on the same pIan
as the birds of to-day. The SolenhOfen
stone, in which so many of the remains of
fishes. reptiles and insects are found is
the same as that used for photographic
purposes, being of exceeding close tex
ture and of remarkab BILE smoothness when
prepared for its work"
The name Of Maremma is given to a
large extent of insalubrious land which
borders the Mediterranean; whether in
salubrious because uncultivated. or I'M
cultivated because insalubrfous is a prob
lem which has not yet been solved, SAYS
Good Words. Though both modern
science and quickened national enterprise
have Of late years been applied to its solu-
tlon, the results accomplished have been
unconvlncing. The Tuscan part of the
Maremma stretches inland nearly to
Siena; beginning at the north few miles
from Leghorn, it extends to the ancient
IFOnIIer fr1r
when the same immense tract of sparse
ly cultivated and malarial territory con-
tinues under The name of the Roman
Maremma and Campagna to the gates of
Rome. There is no hard-and-fast border
line between the healthy. and the I'M
healthy land but the transformation is a
gradual one, the villages become rarer
the cultivated land diminishes, stretches
of wood and bog are more frequent until
we no longer see any houses by the road
side but only here and there in the dis
lance some small gray hamlet perched
on the top Of a rocky hill, like roosting
falcon musing on the chase" On the hill
side near such Gases some field a few
olive trees and then again begins the
woodland, large forest trees, then groves
OF beeches and oaks looped continually
FOR hrewood, the forest full of dangers
ana alarms, with its ponds and boys and
iabyrlnths, a niding place for anything
from ghost to a brigand-in short the
typical forest of the Maremma Toward
the Mediterranean coast the hills become
less abrupt and along the shore and IN
| the broader valleys which diverge from
IT'S stretch immense eXtents of undulat-
ing grass lands, seemingly uncultivated
but which really are sown piece by piece
IN regular rotation every ten years.
"A salt storm occurred in the vicinity
and eastward of the great Salt Lake val
ley on the first Of last January 1t was
| then suggested that a violent wind had
ragged on the lake, churning Its surface
10 foam, and then whipping off the
| White caps and sending them as spray a
| long distance. That storm has become
| historical, and was followed by another
| later. Scientific men became interested,
and various causes were assigned. One Of
| the causes named says the Chicago Rec
| ord, was that the salt had evaporated from
| the 5000 square miles surface of the lake.
Ihe volume of water from the Wahsatch
mountains is approximately 5000 cubic
feet second, generally being the heavi-
! est during May. All that is not required
| during the summer for irrigation flows in
! to the great Salt Lake, from whence it is
| taken up by evaporation. The solids.
| however, remain and are not eVapora ted
! An English scientific journal has lately
| advanced the theory that what appeared
| to be salt was fine white dust I'm the re-
| gion about the lake, which had been car
| rled into the upper regions by the wind
| was brought to the earth again by the
CONDENSATION of the vapor. The white
! substance which fell had the apDeara nee
| of salt under the microscope, had the TASTE
| OF salt, and formed an incrustation on the
| snow, leaving yellowish cast after sew
! eral days. The heat of the sun finally
melted the snow beneath, leaving the in
| crustation for some time. 1t is true there
| are bad lands in that vicinity, covered
| with an alkal deposit. All along the west
! OF the lake, and extending 100 miles fur
! Their south, covering an area of nearly 5000
| square miles, is such a desert. This aka
| line dust is well nigh intolerable to man
| and beast in windy weather. irritating
| the eyes and lips beyond expression. <
| Few days before the salt storms other
storms had come in from the Pacific.
| crossed the Sierras, and swept to and be-
| yond the Rocky mountains, leaving Titan
/ under foot of snow. Hence the dust
| theory, or that the salt came from an all
kallne deposit on the land, is untenabIe.
/ 1t is not infrequent that spray is car
| RED some distance inland by fierce winds.
Salt Lake City and Ogden are sometimes
| reached by ii, and when conditions are
| right strong salt marsh odor. vile SMELL
ing and penetrating all the houses, may
| continue for day at a time There is.
| however, no record of a salt storm ever
| before having been so far-reaching