The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-09
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Dealers in bicycles are authority for
the statement that the business aspect
of the bicycle trade has materially
/ changed during the past year Instead
] of the main business consisting in deal
/ ing with mems wheels. quite the con-
| trary is true. Dealers are now doing their
| utmost 10 attract the eye OF the women,
| and il is announced that before long
I there viii be three wheels sold for women
I where one Will be sold Tor men,
A foreign journal describes a wonder
ful mechanical contrivance. a watch made
in Switzerland. that calls out the hours
I In voice Ike that OF a human being. This
mechanical curiosity is the invention OF
one taslmlr l-lVan, VINO based lis prln-
| ciples upon his knowledge OF the work
! ings or the photograph. The case, in
/ stead or containing a striking apparatus,
/ as some of the late costly watches do
| is provided with a photographic plate,
/ which mas received the impression of a
| human voice before being inserted in the
| watch
| M Faure has reported the discovery,
due to the development of the electric
arts. Of a new nitrated fertilizer adapted
Tor agriculture on large scale and re-
markaDly cheap, says the Scientific Amer
| lean. 1t is cyanite of calcium, which up
| to the present time existed only in small
| quantities in laboratories. and which has
| suddenly become very important substI-
| tute for the nitrate of soda that is i'm
ported at great expense from foreign
| countries. 1t is even richer than the soda
| IN assimilable nitrate. Being an Oxidiza-
Die substance, II does not require great
| amount of heat for its production, which
| IS accomplished by placing a mixture of
| limestone and coal in the electric furnace
ana SubJecting 1t to a direct preliminary
| heating at 1,5OO degrees c., and afterward
to experimenting at 900 degrees c., in
the presence OF pure nitrogen in large ex-
| cess, and finally to an oxidation by the
| air the oxygen of which is retained, by
| the product, while the nitrogen carries the
| heat due to oxidation to the electric cham
| Der.
| The crowded and inartistic arrange
ment of the stars on the blue field of the
flag has led to suggestions other than the
| one brought to the attention of congress,
| Tor new grouping. Two Cincinnati pa
tr1ots advance ideas. In one a circle of
thirteen stars in the center of the field
distinguishes the thirteen original states,
| the smaller stars of the remaining states
being arranged outside of the inner circle
in symmetrical groups. The effect is
good, but the arrangement does not pro-
vide for additions That defect does not
exist in the other suggestion. In this there
is o. center group of thirteen stars, ar
ranged in the form of a pointed star
About this is circle of twenty-three stars
| representing the states which were ad-
mitted to the union up to the close of the
civil war. If this design were adopted
these two symbolical features need never
be changed. Another outside circle of nine
stars would represent the states admitted
since the civil war. To this outer circle
additions might be made without causing
any noticeable change in the appearance
of the design.
The first experiment in pate de foie
gras" was due to the inspiration of a cook
in the service of Marshal de Contades
| governor of Alsace-the same general who
lost the battle of Rossbach against Fred
| eric II of Prussia. This cook, whose
name was Clauss, first conceived the high
| destiny of goose liver in the pastry bust
Ness. His ''pates" met with great sue
/ md In NaaNn lee
| Strasburg, Clauss FASTENED to marry the
widow of a cake baker and hung out his
sign as a lubricant de pates." But very
soon he found competitor in the pastry
| line by the name of Doyen, who had the
happy thought of adding Perigord truffies
, to his liver tarts. 1t was a stroke of genius
which has never been improved upon
since. After that this particular industry
assumed immense proportions and made
the fortune of several noted families in
| that line. Strasburg exports annually
more than 100000 "pates'' in tureens alone.
l The canning begins late in October and
ends about the first of April. 1t is claimed
that the most delicate livers come from
? geese that have never laid an egg.
-Steeyard, a weighing machine provin-
cially pronounced stilyard as a grindstone
5 is called a grinstone says Hardware. But
why steelyard? In its construction no steel
is used, nor has the steelyard any hold on
g linear measure; but in London, some CEN
turtles ago. in DOrgate yard, near by the
: docks, yard or storage place was set
t over to England by the Hanse North Ger
I mani steel makers. To weigh such heavy
metal a machine was devised, and it took
the name of the place where it was used
and has kept 1t, though the steel yard on
r Cosins Lane has long since disappeared.
$ The word is found in none other than the
English language, though the steelyard is
UNIVERSAL Scales: The bowls or pans of a
r balance Latin, bilanX-bi, two, lanx, pan
} two pans suspended from a balancing
1 beam. Scales, or balances, are of great an
l tiquity, and are first found ON the inner
walls of religious temples in Egypt as be-
ing used for weighing human souls to as
certain whether they shall be admitted
? into heaven or sentenced for a term in pur-
l gatory. They were also used to a great
l extent for commercial weighing. The his
tory of scales is full of interest. But there
! are no scales. Scales mean a shell, OF
! a fish, oyster or nut, and time was when
I these scales were suspended from the bal
i ance beam-not now Metal bowls or pans
5 are used instead. The name abides but the
, scale itself has disappeared from the
] weighing machine.
The custom of issuing calendars and
t almanacs in this country has assumed
y stupendous magnitude, says the Chicago
Times-Herald. A careful estimate places
the total sum expended for this purpose
E by insurance companies, banking institu-
. | tons and other large business interests
I at S250,O00. The average cost of each cal
a | endar and almanac is difficult to state
: as no two are alike. The cost of produc-
! ! ing is said to reach from l cent to 81
cents apiece, many of the calendars issued
by the great insurance companies being
steel engraved and of beautiful designs
Some houses send out calendars twice q
year, some every month, each months be-
S ing of a different design. The custom
@ | seems to be almost exclusively American
e and dates back twenty-five or thirty years
s In Europe it is almost unknown, England
being the only country where it is useC
G to any extent. 1.-The sale of almanacs il
| book form does not amount to ANYTHING
t | in this country" said the manager of one
e | of the large book stores. In Europe every.
o body purchases almanacs, and the book
: stores at Christmas and New Years have
t for sale some very deliberately bound anc
!, | arranged almanacs. In many countries
in Europe the publishing of almanacs anC
calendars is still a government monopoly
= and a source of great revenue every one
S | desiring to sell almanacs having to pax
e a royalty or commission to the govern
r ment or the company enjoying the mo-
nopoly. In England it was abolished as
t late as 1884, the Stationers' Company hav
ing had the right by letters patent from
. ] lanes ! hut this nannnrnl!. hrnI.or