The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-24
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


Dunkard meeting whether II was lawful
for the brethren to patrOnize or establish
high schools, and the answer was in the
negative. on the ground that the Bible
tells Christians TO mind not high things,
but to condescend to men Of low estate.
The Persians are the only people in the
world who still adhere TO the old custom
Of bottling tears. In that country it con-
stitutes an important part in the funeral
ceremonies performed over the dead EaCn
OF the mOurners is presented with a
sponge with which to mop the face and
eyes, and after the burial these are taken
ny priest pho squeezes the tears inc
hotties MOurner's tears are believed =
b the most efficacious remedy than can
be supplied in several forms of Persian
diseases. The custom of bottling tears
IS mentioned in the Bible.
The curious quinquennial celebration
under the will Of John Knill. who was
bencher of Gray's Inn, and private secre-
tary to the Earl of Buckingham when
Lord Lieutenant Of Ireland, took place at
St. Ives on Saturday before hundreds Of
spectators, says the Westminster Gazette.
A procession was formed. consisting Of
the mayor, the vicar, the collector Of Gus
toms. with ten virgins under 10 years of
age. and attended by a fiddler and the SER
BGdllLS ID l-llldCEs anu AAlt1 maj tllG4 rum
the town hall to a mausoleum outside the
town which was erected by will. Here
the girls danced for a quarter of an hour
and concluded by singing the Tooth Psalm.
They then marched back to the town hail.
where the girls were presented with ten
shillings each. and awards we're made for
the best knitter of fishing nets. the best
female packer Of fish and for the couple
having reared the largest family without
parochial assistance In the evening the
mayor. vicar and collector and two friends
each dined, which was allotted by the be-
quest. This was the twentieth quinquen-
NAL celebration.
One of the latest and most ingenious
mechanical musical instruments invented
is an automatic banjo, which does every
thing that human fingers can do to pro-
duce tuneful melody. says the New York
Journal A full-szed baHo is incased in
glass, and stands upright In full view. 1t
is equipped with four metallic strings and
forty frets or stops, which are placed
closely together over the strings. At the
bridge are four prOngs or picks, which
project from either side. The instrument
is operated by dropping a nickel in the
slot, starting an electric motor in the
base of the machine, which propels
series of bellows, thus forcing the air
through a cylinder over which passes
roll of perforated sheet music. There are
a number of pneumatic tubes which lead
to each pick or fret. As the perforated
notes come in contact with these tubes
the air is exhausted and each pick and
fret acts accordingly. The most difficult
music can be played with the same effect.
both in time and harmony, as performed
by professional banjoists. Any stringed
instrument that is played with the fingers
can be adjusted to this automaton.
"A. L. Sandal, NJ. B.. municipal commits
sioner. Calcutta, late medical officer to
the local government. Bengal, declares,
according to the Medical Age that the en-
pirical practitioner in India has wonderful
success in combating the raVages of chol-
era. Case after case, given up by the fac
ulty as hopeless, is successfully treated
by him. l managed to elicit the fact that
the powerful agent employed (subcutane-
ously) was a tincture of which the poison
of the cobra formed the sole base Later
l discovered a woman in possession of a
small supply of the tincture, and her sue
cess in treating cholera cases was, on a
smaller scale, as striking as his l could
not help reviewing the astonishing fact
that many eminent men of this city re-
peatedly found in their practice that cases
Of cholera given up by them as hopeless
We're cured-provided a certain charlatan
was called in and permitted to inoculate
his mysterious counterpoison, yet no one
thought himself called upon to investigate
the subject. I am prepared to avouch on
the honor of a medical man my thorough
conviction of the repeatedly successful
treatment of hopeless cases of cholera by
the incubation of the sufferer with cobra
venom.
The ineffable gorgeous King Of Persia
gave to Themistocles five cities: Lampsa-
Gus for his wine, Magnesia for his bread,
Myonte for his fish, Percope for his rugs
and Palaescepsis for his clothes, says a
writer in the Boston Journal. Now, if, as
some claim, the government should be an
indulgent father to it's spoiled children,
and towns were TO be given for the ask
ing, what five would you select? Norfolk,
Va, for its oysters and the sora that lies
so sweetly on toast. Albany, n. Y, for it's
mutton. There is no better mutton than
that grown at the foot of the Helderbergs
Baltimore for terrapin. Here are the names
of three cities. And what two shall be ad-
ded unto them? Boston for it's beans? Alas,
the glory is departed. The true faba Gibson
iensis is no longer found in Boston The
secret of its manufacture is among the lost
arts. The thing that is sold in restaurants
and is found on the breakfast table of the
first families of Beacon and Brimmer
streets may go in the catalogue for beans
but if the lamented ellison were alive he
would shake hands with Pythagoras and
commend his prudence. Then there is
Springfield, Mass, with its waffies And
yet intrepid travellers tell us that the waf-
fie, too, is no longer a glory worth toll
fatigue and danger.
What is believed to be the most ancient
Hebrew manuscript in existence is now
said to be in the possession of Rev. W. S.
Watson Of West New York, n. j., saws the
Baltimore SUM- The manuscript consists
of AIS pages and comprises the entire
Pentateuch. OF these 100 pages are of
parchment and the others were added by
Jacob the high priest at Nablus, Syria.
few years ago. The date of the manu-
script is 656 A. D., and Mr. Watson SAYS
1t is contained in a very simple cryptro-
gram, which furnishes convincing proof
of the antiquity of the manuscript The
cryptogram occurs in the first fifteen pages
of Deuteronomy, on which the writing.
although it reads straight across is di-
Vided into two columns. The significa Mt
letters or words which form the cryptic
gram stand out separated from the body
of the text, although forming part of it.
as the lines are read across. There are
only four or five topographic charac-