The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-09
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

In Europe. Great Britain and Ireland
take premier position with l7.000 engines,
Germany has 1900. France 900. Austria
Hungary, the second largest continental
country, has 5000.
A letter sent 10 a native prince in In
dia is a very elaborate affair. The paper
is specially made for the purpose and IS
sprinkled with gold leaf Only the last
few lines ofthe some what lengthy docu-
ment contain the purport of the letter,
while the remainder is made up of the
usual roundabout and complimentary
phrases. Il is folded in Pc
culiar way, with the flaps outward
and placed in a muslin bag, and this lat
ter into one Of crimson and gold TIM,
with slip-knot of gold thread, attached
to which is pOnderOus seal The ad-
dress, written on a slip of parchment, is
attached TO the outside bag. These de-
tails are very important for polite letter
writing in India. and if any OF them were
omitted it would insult the person al
dressed.
The Earl Marshal of England, which
office is hereditary in the family of the
Duke of Norfolk, has the most costly UNI
form of all the English staff officers. He
is also the head of the College of Arms,
or Herald's College, and is one of the
greatest officers of the crown. His UNI
form Is one of the most gorgeous ana
costly description, and the rod of office
which he carries on all state occasions
was directed by Richard II to be a rod or
solid gold, tipped a I each end with BLACK
upper end. and the arms of the Earl
Marshal at the other. The court dress OF
prime minister costs $3.50, while that
of other cabinet ministers costs $500 The
uniform of the royal heralds, incudine
their trumpets and embroidered tabards
pennon and tassels, are 1850 each. The
cost from $500 to $3.50. In the army the
complete outfit for an officer of the royal
Horse Artillery, including horse and fur
niture, amounts to ST. 100. The uniform of
aln9-nG-Ramn faan r,nf ha
made for less than $500. A newly appointed
puiSne judges outfit costs about 81 $40
while that of the lord chief justice is
more elaborate and expensive. The lord
chief justice, when he appears al court,
has rich gown and train of black satin
damask, trimmed with silk lace and tufts
ana worn over court dress. The lord
chancellor, the speaker of the House of
Commons, the chancellor of the exchequer,
the master of the rolls the lords justice
OF appeal and the president of the pro-
bate, divorce and admiralty division wear
on state occasions a magnificent robe and
train of black satin damask, heavily en-
Droldered with gold thread, the cost or
which is $3.50
in his very interesting book entitled
Mars, Mr.. Percival Lowell presents some
plausible figures as to the possible size
of men and animals on Mars, and also the
possible amount of work which their cir
cumstances Will permit them to accom-
plish. The result of the calct1lation &c
urally expect. 1t is curious and appar-
emily unreasonable to suppose that on a
smaller planet than ours, the animals may
very readily be on a large scale than
ours, bur such is the fact, for weight is
really the limiting circumstance of
growth, and the weight is less on the
smaller planet. on the surface of Mars
gravity is only about one-third of what
it is with US, and a substance of given
weight here would lose two-thrds of this
could 1t be transported to the surface of
Mars. Now, apply this principle to a
possible 1nhabitant of Mars" writes Mr..
Lowell, and suppose him to be con-
man being in every dimension If no
were on earth he would weigh q times
as much, but on the surface of Mars he
would weigh but nine times as much The
cross section of his muscles would be
nine times as great. Therefore, the ra-
ITO OF his supporting power to the weight
| ne must sustain would be the same as
ours: Now consider the work he might
| be able to do. His muscles, having length
| breadth and thickness, would all be q
| times as effective as ours. He would be
complish q times as much. But he would
| further work upon what required, owing
TO the e. decreased gravity, but one-third Of
| the effort to overcome. His effective
| force, therefore, would be 81 times as
| great as man S. AS gravity on the sur
| face of Mars is really a little more than
one-third that at the surface of the earth
| the true ratio is net 81, but about so, that
is Martin would be, physically, fifty
i lOlu lHOTe tIlclellI imam a man.
For the last half century, says the San
Francisco Call, the American residents of
| Tucson Ariz., have been trying to solve
| mystery in the shape of what appears to
| be hole through mountain peak in plain
| sight from the town. In the clear rarified
! air 1t looks to be only a short distance
away when in reality it is at least forty
| miles. The earliest residents noticed the
| phenomenon, and the only difficulty that
lay IN the way Of finding out just what it
was was the fact that 1t was inaccessible,
| and when they came anywhere near the
| spot the hole disappeared from sight In
| fact, 1t can only be seen from within few
miles of Tucson and this has led many
| people to believe that it is not a hole at
| all. BY the aid of a good marine telescope
| the mountain can be brought to within a
| few miles, but not near enough to tell the
| exact nature OF the rock formation. An
| astronomical telescope cannot be focused
| on 1t, as the mountain is too near A first
| peep through the glass would lead one TO
| believe that there was no mystery about
| II. The hole appears as plain as possible
| but several days study of the spot will de-
| velop the fact that the hole" does net al
| ways look the same. Many days when the
| sky is dark behind the mountain the hole
! viii appear a brilliant white, like a snow
| drift, and on days when the sky is blue it
| will often look so dark as to be almost in
| visible. These facts have led many to think
| that II is an immense piece of mica lying
| with its polished surface toward the sky
| ana rejecting the cloud formations of an
| other part Of the horizon instead of be-
ing the light seen through a hole Viewed
| with the naked eye the hole simply APP
| pears as a white spot, but the telescope
| reveals pine trees and other details. al
| though very indistinctly. The range of
| mountains in which the strange peak car
| be seen is known as the Catalinas and
| numerous parties have made the attempt
| to climb it, but all have failed on account
| of the steeD and rugged precipices in the
| vicinity. This peak is a high one and can
be seen from any point in the Journey to-
| ward it, but when ten miles out of Tue
| son tho hole can no longer be seen even
| with the aid of a glass. This can be ex-
planned on the mica theory, as a surface
| of that material would not reflect a ray
| of light toward a persons eye after he got
| out OF it's angle Of projection. One man in
| Tucson claims to have climbed the peak
and looked through the hole into a valley
on the other. side. For some reason he al
| ways refused to take party up there, and
| as he could never tell what he saw in the
valley nor even direct others how to get
| there his story is not believed And so the
| mystery OF the mountain remains unsolV-
| ed, and in the opinion of old prospectors
] ALWAYS Will until SOTnehOdX n dxr-