The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-22
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

office in London, the ever-nysterious Thi-
bet is more firmly closed than ever to Eu-
ropeans-ths, too, in spite of the recent
convention Of England with China, which
latter is the suzerain power of Thibet, says
the New York Tribune. In accordance
with the terms of the treaty, an English
customs Office and mart has been estab-
lshed by the Anglo-Indian government
at the entrance to the narrow strip of
Thibetan territory between Sikkim and
Bhootan. But a few yards to the north of
the English line the Thibetans have built
an impenetrable barricade which no Eu-
ropean or Indian has been allowed to pass
Nor is there any appearance of the borax
the wool and the gold which are the sta
pie products Of Thibet In fact, Thibet re-
mains quite as ifnpenetrable to Europeans
as Japan was until forty years ago.
in the vicinity of Philadelphia. says
Mehan's Monthly, they have fashion Of
lifting large trees where the grade has
been raised that does not seem to be in
practice elsewhere. Two ropes are at
tached to the top of the tree, so that
each can be drawn in different directions.
A trench is dug around the base Of the
tree, the circle being as wide as may seem
judicious. When dug to the depth desired
the earth is forked away from the ball
on one side and a block set under the
roots as a sort of fulcrum. The rope on
that side is drawn over the block, and the
result is the lifting up of the mass OF
roots on the opposite side. A little earth
is then placed under these elevated roots,
and the opposite rope drawn to that side.
This lifts the roots over the block and
more earth is placed there. The tree, by
the aid of the opposite ropes, is then drawn
backward and forward, more earth being
placed at each turn. In a very short
time the tree may be elevated as many
feet as may be desired, standing on tie
summit of a firm mound of earth. Trees
% to so feet high, with trunks p to 70
inches in thickness, have been lifted in
this way with very little check to future
growth
Some people may wonder what be-
comes of all the peachstones. knowing,
of course. that there must Be great guam
titles of them, from the millions of bush
els of peaches grown from year to year,
and sold in the markets, says the Balu-
more American. In a talk upon the sub
ject with Mr.. A. F. Jones of the Canned
Goods Exchange, he said that peach
stones were formerly bought by several
nursery firms here, who, in turn, dried
and assorted them, and sold large guam
titles in the south. The state of Geor
gia took a great many; so, also, the west,
especially the state of Michigan, and in
fact, wherever it was thought peach orch
aTuS COulQ De set out 10 advantage. In6n
the wholesale druggists took them but
in limited quantities, for their prussic
acid ingredients. They were also stored
by the packers and sold at about $3.50 per
carload of, say, twenty-five bushels, and
those not sold in the manner mentioned
were used for fuel in the winter, after
they We're well dried. But this year
there seems to be no demand for them,
and packers who have room to do so are
drying them for fuel. Mr.. Jones added
that he knew of one firm which now had
nearly one thousand bushels piled up to
dry.
One of the most unique contests that
ever took place in France or anywhere
else occurred in the town of Nogent-on-
the-Marne, near Paris, not very long ago,
says the London Mail. There are a great
many cooperage shops in this place, and
the employees organized a series of in
ternational cask-rolling races" Coopers
and other men and women engaged in the
manufacture or handling of casks were
eligible as competitors. The race course
was along a fine, level bit of road, bordering
the river Marine, the same place, by the
way, where took place almost year ago
the series of 'wooden-legged races"
which were so amusing that they made
the town famous all over France. The
| cask-rolling contests consisted in rolling
the casks on edge, precisely in the same
way that the competitors were accustomed
to roll them in the course of their daily
work. Any one who has ever tried u roll
a barrel in this way for even a few yards
will appreciate the difficulty of the task
and the skill required in a long race. Each
competitor had to wear the black apron
| of his craft. In the first race the casks
were managed with both hands, in the
| second by one hand alone, and in the third
two casks Were employed, one with each
| hand. There were a large number of en-
tries for the first race, where both hands
could be used, but in the second and third,
| where more skill was required, the number
| of competitors was few. The contestants
| showed, however, wonderful dexterity, and
| the finishes were so close that the specta-
| tors who lined both sides of the course
| completely lost their heads in their enthu-
| siasm.
in 1872, says the Philadelphia Times,
| congress passed an act authorizing the
postmaster general to issue postal cards,
| and the first in the United States We're on
| sale in May, 1873. Postal cards are manu-
| featured by private firms or corporations.
| The government invites bids and awards
the contract for their manufacture at sta
| ted intervals The postal card "sheets"
| are about 80 by % inches in size and are
! exactly fitted to the plates from which the
| cards are printed, each plate covering for
" cardS-IOur IN width ana ten IN length.
| The printing is done by experienced work.
men, and as the sheets pass into the
| presses the number of cards is accurately
| recorded by registers. To prevent any
I tampering the registers are securely lock-
| ed every night. After the sheets are
| printed they are put aside until thorough
| ly dry They are then passed through a
| machine called the Sitter" which cuts
| them into strips of ten cards eaclr, and
neatly trims the edge of the outside strip
These strips are then passed transversely
| through another machine known as the
cross cutter" which cuts the strips into
| single cards, and they drop into a rotary
hopper containing ten compartments The
| moment each compartment has received
| twenty-five cards the hopper revolves and
| throws all out upon a table EMPLOYEES
| usually girls, then take the cards, and
bind the perfect ones in packs Of twenty
| five each. Other girls take the packs, and
| after carefully recounting them, put them
| in cardboard boxes containing twenty
packs each, and they are ready for ship
ment. More than 800. 100000 postal cards