The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-02
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

DE.UEN
made excellent ice.
The recently discovered sulphur de-
posts IN the southern CocOpah range OF
mountains, on the eastern side of Lower
California are said TO consist Of mountains
Of almost pure sulphur The sulphur can
be shOveled into sacks and put on the mar
kek in its natural state.
The largest battleship in the world
VIII soon be launched at Blackwell, Eng
land 1t has been built for the Japanese
government. and will be called the Full.
instead OF Fusi Nama. as originally in
tended II is 400 feet long. q feet broad
and A feet deep. and is protected by Har-
Veyized armOr plates
France is to have a new coinage. The
new gold pieces viii show on the face
head OF the republic in profile turned to
in the background the roofs of a French
village on one side and a minaret on the
other. The. diverse will represent the
French cock Growing.
Over 100000 tickets have been sold
on the New York and Brooklyn bridge
during the year 1895. In round numbers,
lS0,eJ persons use the railroad on the
bridge daily. over 1900 vehicles cross
the traffic of the great structure amount
to about $500 every day.
In the British Museum are bricks taken
from the buildings in Nineveh and Baby
lon' which show no signs of decay or dis
lntegration, although the ancients did not
bake or burn them, but dried them in the
sun. The baths of Caracalla and of Titus
IN Rome and Ihermae of Diocletia have
endured the ravages of time far better
than the stone of the Coliseum.
Little Grand Duchess Olga of Russia
was taken from the Alexander palace to
be christened at Zarskoe SelO in a state
carriage built in 1903 for Catherine 1. 1t
Is heavily gilt. decorated with the empress
monogram, and lined with red velvet. The
harness is studded with diamonds. The
coach was used at the coronation of Alex
ander ii in 1855, and at that of Alexander
III in 1883.
The most peculiar and remarkable ami
mA in the world is the Ornithorynchus
paradoxus. the famed egg-laying mammal
of Australia. 1t is shaped like beaver
is Web-footed like a swan. has a bill like
a duck and tail like that of a fox 1t is
the only known fur-cOVered creature that
lays eggs. A corresponding oddly among
feathered biDeds would DE a bird that
brought forth its youngvalive.
The faculty of Columbia College an
nounce that two prizes the first of not
less than $1,000 and the second of not less
than $780, to be known as the Loubat prizes
are to be awarded in 1898, and every fifth
year after that, to the authors of the best
works on the history, geography, arch
aeology, ethnology, philology or numismat-
les of North America The competition
for these prizes will be open to all persons,
whether citizens of the United States or
not.
"A Flint. Mich, correspondent to the
Chicago Tribune: Passengers on the
Flint River division of the Flint and Pere
Marquette railroad. who came to the city
to-day, report observing a strange phe-
HoIhenoh IN large level helds not Tar from
the city: Hundreds of snow balls, have
been rolled together, it is thought by the
action of the wind. The fields are covered
with them, and nature accomplished in
one night what ii would take a large force
of boys several days to do.
The novel spectacle of a steamer being
stocked with bank notes was recently wit
messed at a Mediterranean port. Forty
sacks n hn -afafI vail ii
per were tossed into the furnace of the
VeSsels boiler. under the longing eyes of
the stokers, who stood restively by with
an evidently burning desire TO possess
themselves of at least a handful of that
which they somewhat indignantly styled
rum fuel" The notes were Cancelled
documents of the Bank of Algiers, whose
manager superintendent the operation of
their absolute combustion.
DIR. H. X. Carroll, in the Independ-
ent, says that the aggregate of colored
church members in the United States is
in round numbers, 2,674,000, distributed as
follows Baptists, 1,4O3,559; Methodists
1,l9O.63S; Presbyterians 10000; Disciples
of Christ, 1858, and Protestant Episcopal
and Reformed Episcopal together, some
what less than 5000. According to the
census figures, there has been an increase
of 10000 colored church members during
the last thirty years, which DR.. Carroll
thinks is unparalleled in the history of
the Christian church; The value Of ne
number of edifices is 3D. 40.
An English traveller in Japan finds the
guide books with their conversation
phrases rather misleading. One writes
as follows: 'At Chuzenji for example
in the tea-house l had occasion to COM
plain that the beefsteak set before me
was cold Now the book has two words
for cold-samui and tsumetal, of my
memory is right-but of this l was not
then aware. Cold for me was samu
list. Therefore, Mes, an said 1, indi-
eating the steak, 'taxin samui.' 'HehP
said the girl, and Herewith pitter-pat-
tered away, to the kitchen as | Supposed
In five minutes she reappeared, strug-
Cling under a CARLOAD of cotton quilts
which she placed on the fioor-but no
new beefsteak was forthcoming. 'Samui
| repeated, and the giggling idiot pointed
to her quilts with perfect serenity. Then
L called the manager, who had some En-
glish, and it eventually transpired that
only weather is samui-beefsteaks are
tsumetal when they get cold; and the
nesan was remedying my objections
against the weather. This sort of thing
requires to be put right at once; it is
absurd that travellers should be subjected
10 petty annoyanceS of the kind simply
because the japanese want to have two
words for the same thing.
in person, says Chambers Journal the
Begun Somru was SMALL with a graceful
softly rounded figure a complexion of
dazzling fairness, large black eyes full of
and hand and arm of such perfect SYM
metry that native poets sang of them as
natchleSS wonders OF beauty. Her dress
was always in exquisite taste and of the
costliest material. She spoke Persian and
Hindustini f1uently. Her manners were
charming and her conversation spirited.
sensible and engaging. But, as a set-off
to this long array of personal attractions,
her character was detestable She was
cruel, ViDdictive and treaeherous If one
Of her servants displeased or disobeyed
her, she would order his nose and ears
to be cut off in her presence, and watch
the mutilation with gusto, while she plac-
idly smoked her hookah. When one of her
dancing girls offended her by attracting
the attention of favorite officer she in
a fit of furious jealousy, ordered the nm
fortunate girl to be buried alive. There
was small vault under the pavement of
the saloon in which the naucht dances
were held, and in that vault the begun
saw her victim bricked up. When the
horrible work was done she Commanded
the rest of the nautch girls to come ont
and dance over the grave in which their
still living sister was entombed Accord
ing to one account-denied by some of
those who have investigated the story
the begun. that she might extract fhe
last drops of fiendisn pleasure of the cIIn
of revenge, had her couch placed exactly
over the vault.