The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


palace every day TO read the sacred texts
before his imperial majesty. the sultan.
"A Lewiston OIe.) lady owns large
brown coon cat which has just been sold
Tor the seventh time for S. Within a
week after each sale the eat comes back
70 the house of the first owner and makes
her appearance at meal time.
"A letter from Queen Marguerite Of
Nalois. authoress of the celebrated
HeptamerOn. brought SO at a recent sale
y, Lyndon h1i while an original fable in auto
OF Dr. JOhnson's was sold for $50.
The deepest water yet known has been
found by the British ship Penguin in the
South Pacific ocean. between the Tonga
group OF Stands and New Zealand. Sound
ing revealed a depth of 5.022 SIN and SIS
IatnoIns- Hitherto the greatest depth re-
eoraed was 100 fathOms, toward the
northeast OF Japan, taken by an American
government vessel twenty-one years ago.
-Toole's theater in King William street,
Strand, London. is to be torn down. The
owners do not see their way to mourning
the expense of the alterations demanded
Dy the county council. 1t was never COM
Portable theater There was only one en-
trance TO and exit from the stalls and only
one entrance to and exit from the dress
circle The auditorium was very small.
There is a singular feature in the early
mason work of Westminster Abbey, as
when removing or repairing any of the
more ancient stonewOrk of the abbey il is
always found that the large stones are set
or leveled with oyster shells. The shells
are very nat and thick, measuring four
and half inches in diameter, and retain
the small shell incrustatiOns on the out
SIDE AS the story of the abbey's founda-
ton points TO its association with fisher
men, the oyster shells were probably used
for special religious reasons.
White paper has been prepared by US
ing borax, asbestos, ETC., which will not
burn. There has so far been no ink pre-
pared which when subjected to fire is not
either destroyed or rendered illegible. Lu-
GERS OF Gorlitz, however, publishes, says
the American Druggist, a formula as fol-
lows, which he claims will furnish an ink
the legibility of which will not be affected
by ire: Mix 40 parts of finely powdered
graphite, Y parts Of gum copal, 3.5 parts
of ferrous sulphate, 35 parts of tincture OF
gals and IA parts of indigo sulphate, ada
TO sufficient quantity of water, boil and
then cool, when the ink is ready for use.
How fast does electricity travel? The
question is frequently asked in every day
conversations but is seldom answered to
the satisfaction of the querist. Wheat
stone says that the speed of electricity
from point to point along a proper con-
uuelof is practically instantaneous Va
rious attempts have been made to ascer-
tain the exact number of miles which the
current will travel in a given length of
time. According to the most reliable es-
Inmates which such eXperimenters have
made, its speed is not less than 1l4,000 miles
per second The writer adds: such
speed is incOnceivably great; the mind
cannot contemplate it without stagger-
ing"
The japanese lily, bearing beautiful
scarlet blossom. is much cultivated in
Japan not alone for its flower, but for
its delicious root, which is eaten by the
japanese. The dish is well known there
under the name of Jamma Juri. The root
which has been introduced into Europe,
Will stand great cold without damage, and
has very nigh nutritive value, consider
ably greater than our beets or tuTnips.
Inc dish Is prepared the same as aspara-
gus or caulltioWer, and tastes similar to
these vegetables. The cultivation of the
plant IS easy, and 3-year-old Japanese
Ely will have from ten to twenty bulbs,
which may either be eaten or used for
planting during the next spring.
The use of wood fiber or pulp in the
shape of moulding, says the Upholsterer,
is now made peculiarly available for
some of the artistic processes in furniture
decoration. For this purpose the re-
quired patterns are designed, and hollow
moulds made after them-that is, the
wood fiber, while in a soft gelatinous
condition, is forced into these mOulds
and the moisture then slowly driven out
by compressed air, while the meshes of
a fine netting hold the pulp in place.
Thus the articles can be readily turned
out sin single pieces and are completed
without further manipulation except to
trim and finish off the surface. So pecu-
liarly adapted is this method to the art
in question that delicate scrolls, flowers
and all conventional patterns carved out
of wood for furniture and cabinets are
thus satisfactorily and rapidly produced.
With a little glue these ornamental pieces
are fixed securely in the desired posi-
ton. and almost perfectly resemble the
finest SneCimpnS of carved woodwork
Venezuela is a little republic, but she
has one thing that is the biggest of it's
kind on earth 1t is bug-the largest in
sect in all the world. The creature is
known as the elephant beetle" and when
full grown it weighs nearly half a pound.
To be struck in the face by such a bug
flying at full speed, would make man
feel as if mule had kicked him, says
the New York Journal. The beetle, like
others of its kind, both small and large,
is clad in complete suit of proof armor.
This armor is made of a material far
more indestructible than steel-nameiy,
chitine. Chitine cannot be destroyed ex-
cept by certain mineral acids in other
avail against it. Thus the shells of bee
ties that died 100000 years ago have
been preserved perfectly in the rocks, so
that we know to-day just what these In
sects of antiquity looked like. In Eu-
rope giant beetles have a considera bic
market value, commanding prices in pro-
are regular auctions of insects, and a sin
gle butterfly has been known TO bring
as much as $500. A specimen of the rare
and very large Goliath beetle is worth $50.
This is the largest beetle of the old worlc
and it first became known through mis-
sionaries in the Congo basin. Though no
other insect in existence compares in
bulk with the beetle from Venezuela, there
are other bugs that exceed it in dimen-
sions. For example, there is the Atlas
silk moth, which has a wing spread OF
nearly a foot. 1t spins a cocoon, the silk
of which is better and stronger than thar
of the ordinary silk worm; but unfortu-
nately it cannot be reeled. The depart
ment of agriculture tried for years to dis
cover way of reeling it, but without
success. Moths of this species often alight
on ships in the Indian ocean. There is Z;
butterfly of the Malay peninsula and Ma
layan archipelago which has a spread of
ten inches. In India and tropical Africa
are found giant forms of those remarka-
BILE insects known as walking sticks. -
They look like twigs of trees. Some OF
them measure eighteen inches in length.
They are related to grasshoppers and
katydids. In tropical America occur GER
tain huge species of bugs that are close
ly related to the familiar electric-light
bugs of this country. Like the later, which
has been popularity known only since the
introduction of the electric light, they fiy
at night living during fhp dav Of A.