The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-28
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

the sea is said to lose a million tons OF
water a day by evaporation.
The aborigines of Australia tie the
hands of the corpse and pull out the
finger nails-this for fear that the dead
Will scratch their way out of the grave
and become vampires.
"A swarm of bees the other day took
possession of a big grocery store in Lo-
gansport Ind, and, after driving out the
clerks and customers, ate twenty pounds
OF money that was exposed for sale.
An astronomer says that the sky is
winter over the cultivated than over the
uncuitivated portions of the earth's sur
face, because a good deal of coarse dust
is present in the atmosphere in the former
instance, with the result that a larger
proportion of white light is diffused.
Among the latest inventions is an APP
paratus for making, lighting and heating
gas, the object being to provide means
FOR converting oil, such as the hydrocar-
bon oils, into gas that may be stored or
used direct from the producing plant where
ordinary gas is not available or is too
costly.
Some highly interesting experiment in
the development of plants by the electric
light have been concluded by the Cor
nell department of horticulture at Mo-
bile Ala. BY using electric light during
the daytime, Professor Bailey produced
lilies fully two weeks before the plants
grown under the natural conditions flow
cred.
The monument to Mozart which was
recently unveiled in Vienna, is said to be
one of the most beautiful pieces of plastic
art of the age. The great composer 3
represented in the bloom of youth and in
moment of inspiration. The face is up
lifted, the right hand rests on a music
stand, and the right hand is raised as if
beating time.
In use on the electric street railway
of Biddeford, Me-, is peculiar track test
er, based upon an adaptation of the tele-
phone. man sits in car and talks con-
tinuously into a mouthpiece which is con-
nected electrically with a receiver held by
a man in the power-house. A break in the
conversation shows where the track con-
nections are faulty.
The champagne district in France has
a peculiar conformation of soil-loam and
stones mixed. There is no similar soil
suitable for vine culture in any other coun-
try or in any other part of France, and
as a consequence, this small area in the
northeast of the French republic has re-
tanned its celebrity for centuries. There
is no diminution of production.
One of the latest adaptations of the
motor vehicles is a tricycle.. 1t is a COM
| pact little machine. and has two steering
wheels in front and one driving wheel in
| the rear The vaporizer and coiling tanks
conspicuous in motor carriages, are alb
| sent, and the vapor of mineral oil at Z
| specific gravity is known as the down
ward vertical" The average speed is II
miles an hour. but 20 can be done by a
light rider on smooth road.
An American mining engineer living in
johannesburg says: THE colored men in
this country are far superior to their
black brethren in Africa as laborers
would be willing to assert that one negro
workman in this country would be worth
four of the lazy Kafirs that perform the
drudgery in the mining operations of
South Africa. They are about the most
| indolent rascals on earth, and have to
be driven all the while"
"A Bangor CMe) man was sitting in
a local drug store recently, when he
caught faint Whit of smoke that smelled
as though it came from burning woolen
He got up and looked around, but
could find no blaze. AS soon as he was
seated the odOr was again percep-
tible. He repeated this operation several
times, and at last he discovered that he
had been sitting on a spot where the
sun was brought to a focus by the wa
ter bottles in the pharmacists window
The rays focused in different places on
his back as he changed position, and
burned little holes each time
The names in the telephone book do
not begin to represent the number of peo-
pie in the city using the telephone, says
the New York Times. The reasons for
this omission are obvious. Much valua-
BILE time is lost in a large firm where
| several telephones are open to any one
who may happen to call up the firm on
any irrelevant business. There is at least
one steamship company in this city which
follows the practice of keeping it's tele-
phone number private. Other business
firms have the number of one telephone
made public. while others are only known
to regular business connections. There
are many private house telephones which
never appear in the telephone book.
A Chicago burglar said to Sheriff Pease
the other day: I've cracked more Than
seventy safes in my time. But I've never
used anything except powder, dynamite
and nitro-glycerine. If live to finish this
bit at Joliet I'll do a lite work afterwarl
that will astonish the boys. I can cut
through almost any safe in Chicago in
side of two hours with electricity and
without making enough noise to waken n
cat. got that pointer from the electrician
display at the worlds fair, and I've been
working at it ever since. 1t is entirely
feasible. III prove it to you by-and by.'.
"A German newspaper asserts that
about thirty thousand of the inhabitants
of Berlin hear considerably better with
their left ear than with their right. This
has been observed in continually increas.
ing measure for fifteen years When the
cause was sought for, it appeared tha.
those who are thus affected are frequent
users of the telephone. The listening mart
OF the instrument is generally in the left
hand and put to the left ear. while the
right hand is often used In taking notes
etc In the cases observed the subjects
heard the slightest sound through the te,-
ephone with their left ears, but could nm.
derstand little or nothing If the instru.
ment were put to their right ears. II IL
therefore concluded that the telephone has
an appreciably stimulating effect on tn.
auditory nerves, and the recommendatio,,
Is made that the instrument be used an
ternately at the right and left ear.