The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-26
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

! which has been prepared al Zuric The sl-
| nerhcial area OF the model is no less than
/ - square yards, ana IL includes a corner
| OF the Lake of Lucerne and a portion OF
| the panorama visible from the summit Of
| the peak Inside the model there is an in
| genlOus clOckWOrk cOntrivance, by means
/ OF which all the trains on all the noun
/ tain railways are simultaneously set in
/ motion. Steamers. moreover, crowded with
| passengers, navigate the lake. and minute
/ mechanical fish are 10 be seen swimming
/ about in its waters.
An English astronomer named NIinchin
| has invented an instrument which accur-
/ ately measures the quantity of light given
out ny star stars are designated as be-
/ ing OF the first. down TO the twentieth mag
| niluue, according TO the degree OF light
| emitted This has heretofore been judged
by the eye, which precluded anything like
eXactitude; BY the new invention the
| rough designation is presented by num-
| bers, which gives the exact ratio of one
| star to another in the light-giving powers.
ne SsdI Al zArctllrus, LOT eXaInpie, Is estlin-
| ated by the new process TO give seventy
| i've and three-quarter times the light of
Regulus The instrument will be of great
use not only in astronomy, but in meteor
ology also. The amount of light which
| reaches the earth from stars varies ac-
| cording TO the state of the atmosphere;
/ and the inventor claims that forecasts of
weather can be obtained in this way which
| viii be far more accurate than those OBJ
! tanned at present.
Bedford Chapel, where Rev Stafford
Brook used to preach in London. is to be
/ torn down. The chapel is near a part
/ of London called the "Rookery." which
| seems to have been a place of ill-omen for
/ hundreds of years. Fifty years ago ii is
| described as "a congeries of filthy, mar
/ row lanes, unpaved and undrained, lined
by lofty houses; doorleSS, for the doors
| had all been chopped into firewood, and
| windOwless,- for every pane of glass has
| disappeared and had been replaced by
| rags and newspaper. The place literally
| swarmed with children, who played in
| the streets with dead kittens and rats,
| and were more or less in a state of mud
| ity. Street rows and fights were quite the
| order Of the day-and night, too for that
| matter-and drunkenness and crime SEEM
| ed to be the normal state of existence.
| When this state of things originated il is
| impossible to say. but in all probability
| Il dated back from early times, as leper
hospital stood here as far back as the days
| of Henry ], whose good wife Matilda
| founded it and endowed II with sufficient
| funds for the support of twenty-eight af-
| ficted persons"
Several attempts have been made by
the United States to purchase Cuba. The
first was by John Quincy Adams. When
| he was Secretary of State under President
| Monroe he instructed Hugh Nelson of Nir-
| gilman, our minister to Spain, under date
| of April Is, 1923, to sound the Spanish gov
eminent on the question and ascertain
| what terms and price would be accepted.
| Mr.. Nelson seems to have taken his time
| about it, for more than two years later,
| Oll lIe lzln Oh july, 1870, ne reported that
| the Spanish authorities declined to con-
| Slder such proposition. In 1913 President
| POLK instructed Romulus NJ. Saunders
| then American minister at Madrid TO Of
| Ter SlOOOOO,OO for the island. The propo-
| sition was rejected in a most peremtory
manner. In 1854, during the administra-
| ton of President Pierce, the representa-
| tive Of the United States attending the
| Ostend conference. Messrs. Soule, Buch-
nan and Mason, suggested to the repre-
sentatiVes Of Spain the sale of the island
| IF rnn az
was mentioned, nor was the offer serious
~ considered, says the Chicago Record.
| During the sessions of the Senate in 1855
| and 1853, Mr. Slidell of Louisiana proposed
70 place S3OOO0.O00 in the hands of the
President for the acquisition of Cuba, but
after some debate the resolution was with.
drawn by the author.
DR.. Livingstone Noted the odd resem.
blance of the lions roar to that OF the
ostrich. Mr.. Millais says that though the
roar OF the latter is not so loud it has
exactly the same tone as that of the lion
t But IN, me ostrich always roars his best
the lion very seldom. This is partly be.
cause good" road needs a great physic.
al EFFORT, says writer in the Spectator
Inc Whole interior and muscles of mouth
throat stomach and abdomen are. for the
moment converted into an organ of ter.
rihc sound, and the sound does make the
earth tremble-or appear to do so Rut
the attitude is not that usually drawn
! Unless he roars lying down, when he puts
his head up, like a dog barking the lior
| tIllllS HIS liTSI moan III any position flpT
draws in his neck and lowers his head
with extended jaws. right down to his fore
paws as If about to be violently sick
while at the same time the back is archeC
and the whole animal bears an appearance
of concentrated strain. This is Can't
Millais phonetic rendering of the sound
taken when listening to three lions roar
| ing their best: "Moan-roar-r-o-a-r-
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES grunt-grunt-
grunt dying away" Why lions roar
when 1t ought TO pay better to keep silent
is not yet explained. Gen. Hamilton wa.
convinced that tigers hunting in company
roar to confuse and brighten the deer
| Possibly the lion roars, when prowlins
| around camp in the hope of CAUSING
some of the draught animals to breal
loose; at other times it appears to be Z
form of conversation with others at
distance.
BY night and by day relays of detec
tives are maintaining a. ceaseless surveil
lance over the dingy stables of a. New
i York animal importer, says the Philadel
phia Press. Let suspicious looking char
acter approach the building and he is i'm
mediately apprehended and made to Civ,
an account of himself. This is why Their,
| are in existence at this time ONLY tw,
genuine white elephants One of the whit
elephants alive to-day. is in the palace O
the king of Siam; the other is in tn,
stables of the New York animal importe
and emmissaries of the Siamese ruler ar
said to be making desperate efforts t
get control of it. They claim that it wal
| stolen from their master and they declar
that rather than suffer the exhibition o
a sacred animal containing the soul o
one of their departed kings they will fine
means of destroying the elephant Now
it appears that j. B. Gaylor of New Yorl
has paid fortune for Kedah this one o
the only two white elephants alive ant
furthermore that Manager Braidenbury
of the Ninth and Arch museum of thi
city has given his check for 81 900 for III
privilege of being the first to exhibit tn
: royal captive. Neither of these gentle
men propose to have their plans interfer
ed with by Buddhist cranksy Hence tn
Pinkerton detectives. Kedah is not quit
years old and is IS inches in hight. HI
; is a perfect specimen of that most import
, ant geological phenomenon the elephan
: albino The color is very light gray, AM
; the skin is peculiarly soft and delicate
, AT the end of the trunk and about tn
ears it runs to light pink tint and tn
hoofs are beautiful cream white Ke
dab is expected to attain a hight of sevel
: to eight feet He will be brought over il
; a special car later in the week In tn
meantime the detectives will be kept OIL
) guard to prevent the king of Slams agent
from carrying out their threat