The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-05
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Many scientists have doubted the ex-
istence in fact Of globular lightning, at
tributing the statements Of its existence
10 some kind Of optical illusion Prof.
Rigi Of Bologna, however. announces that
he has produced 70 artifcially and that
not only has he succeeded in making its
motion slow enough TO be followed BIZ the
eye. but has been able in certain cases,
TO obtain luminous masses which actually
remained stationary for sufficient time 70
be photographed.
A report Of the Tuskegee (Ala.) In
stitute for colored boys and girls. just is
sued. says: There are SO boys and 375
girls in the school at an average Of lSl3
years, none under Il. boy in the cot
ton-field earns ~ cents a day. He grad
yates from the school and earns at his
trade or as a school teacher, $50 day,
a gain Of $40 day, or for a year, say
oOJ working days, So50- A girl IN the cot
ton-field earns % cents a day. When she
graduates from the school she can earn
at sewing 81 a day, gain OF Is cents
day over the cOtton-held, or for one year
OF 800 working days, 1875. gain for the
80 boys ara girls in one year of S20S.l25,
or in twenty years more than 100000
An eating house made of paper has
been erected in the port of Hamburg.
Its walls are composed Of a double layer
Of paper stretched on frames and impreg
mated with a fire and waterproof solution.
A thin wooden partition AFFORDS further
protection against The inclemency Of the
weather. The roofs and walls are fas-
tened together by means of bolts and
hinges, so that the entire structure may
. De rapidly taken to pieces and put up
again. The dining room Itself measures
80 by metres, and is capable of accom-
mediation 80 persons. There are % win
dows and four skylights, and the heating
IS erected by a couple Of isolated stoves.
side erection contains the managers
0f1nEE Kitchen Ia nd lima
rooms. The total cost of the construc-
ton is said to have amounted to 1900
marks.
In the beautiful sonoma foothills of
the California coast range, at the base
Of Mount St. Helena, says the Collector,
is a fossil forest of conifers. These fos-
si trees are in two tiers in a parallelO-
gram of mile in extent from east TO
west, and about quarter of mile from
north to south, the roots being inVaria-
bly, toward the north. They lie at an
angle OF from to 80 degrees. the butts
being on the lower ground. More than
twenty years ago a SWede was the first
to discover this remarkable collection Of
petrifactions. and, seeing it's value, got
his sheepskin for the claim" as the pio-
neer guide worded it. Since then a small
fee has been charged for admittance. AL
though petrifactions ocEur in various
places on this coast, there is nowhere
found anything to compare with these
| in Sonoma.
-Burghead, in Morayshire, is unique in
| one respect. says the Glasgow Herald. It
has ''the burning Of the Clavie" This
! years ceremony is gone through every
/ New Years eve, old style. 1t is sup
/ posed to be a relic OF fire worship. There
| is now only one other community il is
| said, In Britain where the practice is
carried on. The Clavie consists of half
| an Archangel tar barrel fixed on the top
/ of q FIR prop about four feet long The
| second half of the tar barrel is broken
up, put inside and mixed with tar A
stone must he used to knock in the nail
| which connects the pole and the barrel
| The broken bits in the barrel are then
| lighted by means of a burning peat, no
| such thing as a luctfer match being al
| lowed For over fifty years the Clavie
| has been made by the same man, and one
/ particular townsman has provided the
! live peat for forty years. In the dark
| winter night the blazing thing is borne
! up one street and down another at high
| speed, then carried to the "Doorie Hil'
| in the middle of the village. Here the
/ and the Clavie burns out. The women
! rush in and, picking bits of the now dy-
! ing Clavie to keep the witches away"
disappear in the darkness.
Dancing. with which word civilized
people are wont to associate pleasure and
peaceful enjoyment has had warlike
| significance with various tribes of peo-
| pie throughout all ages of the world, and
| is sui in vogue among the blanket tribes
| Of red men in America, says the Cincin-
| natl Inquirer. The famous Pyrrhic dance
| represented the overtaking of an enemy
| and doing battle with him. To-day,
among the Zulus, grand dances are mere
| ly the accompaniment to the colloqual war
| and hunting songs in which the women
| put questions which are answered by
the men. There are mimic fights, which
| go by the name of war dances, almost
| universal among tribes to which war is
| one of the great interests of life The
| bravery dance of the Dahomeyans, and
| the Hoolee of the Bhil tribe in the Wind
hya hills of India are the most ant illus-
! trations. Nearly all savage tribes have
a regular war dance so that it is scarcely
| possible to select one as having a more
| Warlike significance than the rest All
| the performers appear in lighting cos
| tune, handle their weapons, and 90
| through the movement of challenge. con
| hict, pursuit or defeat There is one very
| picturesque dance of the Natal Kaffirs
| which probably refers to the departure
of the warriors for battle. The women
! appeal plaintively to the men, who SLOWLY
! withdraw, stamping on the ground. and
darting their short spears or assegais to-
ward the sky.
India is the home of the coccus lacca,
the insects that produce the resinous
substance known as shellac The females
| puncture the twigs of several different
kinds of trees among them the bo the
bihar and the butea, and iche twigs be
come incrusted with hard, nearly trans
| parent, reddish, resinous substance that
serves the double purpose of protecting
the eggs and finally furnishing food fol
the young insects. The incrusted twigs
are broken from the trees before the
young insects escape, and are thoroughly
dried in the sun. These dried twigs are
called "stick-lac," and from them shel.
lac and dye analogous to cochinea
are prepared. 'Seed-lac'' is the resinous
concretion separated from the twigs
coarsely pounded, and triturated with
water in a mortar, by which nearly All
of the coloring matter is removed. NJ
prepare shellac the seed-lac is put into
oblong cotton cloth bags and warmed
over charcoal fire. When the resin he.
gins to melt the bags are twisted. and
the pure, clear resin is allowed to flow
over haywood planks or the smooth stems
of the banyan tree, and cools in the thir
plates or shells which constitute sheI.
lac. Pure shellac is very valuable. N &c
much harder than colophony, and is cas-.
lily soluble in alcohol. The best modern
sealing wax is made of shellac; it is useG
IN the preparation of varnishes and foI
japanning. 1t is also largely used in tbt
manufacture Of hats and. in India. 1T is