The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-19
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

judge in Mays Landing, y. J., the
other day to be naturalized as American
To the question. who is the President Of
the United States2" a Russian answered
The Car Of Russia" and Atlantic City
was his answer 10 the question. What is
the capital of the United States2'' An
Italian who has been in this country for
more than ten years declared that George
Washington was the President of the Uni
ted States, and that he made macarOni.
Crows in large numbers have appeared
along the New York and Pennsylvania
border. says the Philadelphia Press. This
IS unusually early for those birds TO be
in this latitude. They have assembled in
one immense colony, and the weatherwise
say their presence Is indicative Of an early
spring Whether that is true or not. there
can he no doubt that this great colony of
crows IS made up Of lot of extremely
hungry members; and, according TO the
reports, they are most annoyingly bold
and persistent in their attempts TO get
something to eat. They flock in farm
yards, and steal the food intended for pigs,
cows, sheep and chickens. They also steal
chickens and have made away with many
pigeons, of which every farmer in that
region keeps flock.
For the class of pictures produced by
the ROntgen process several names have
been suggested, says the New York Trib-
une. There is an objection to calling them
photographs, no matter what adjective
is employed before the noun, for a pho
tograph is an impression made by light.
ana the Y rays are not light. They are
invisible "CathOdOgraph will not do. be-
cause the cathode rays are only indirectly
concerned in the operation. Radio
graph is better, perhaps, but the term
is too comprehensive. The pictorial prod
uct of any other kind of radiance would
be entitled equally with a Rontgen-ray
image to such an appellation. The first
part of "skotograph" is derived from the
Greek word for darkness, and the term
affords direct antithesis photograph"
ffaN4y md
precisely the same thing, but the former
is combination of English and Greek
and the latter is all Greek. "Shadowprint"
would be constructed on better etymolog
ical principles than "shadowgraph." To
satisfy the popular craving for a word
containing the graph however, possi-
bly, it may be wiser to adopt "skiagraph."
1t is properly derived is euphonious, and
it is shorter than any other name yet
proposed.
Some Improvements in the treat
ment of silk are announced, says the De-
troit Tribune. Ordinarily silk is weight
so py deposltlng tannate OF TIN on the
fiber; the material receives a bath of tan
mic acid and then another of perchloride
OF TIN, a repetition of this being made un-
til an increase of the weight amounts to
from 10 to 20 per cent, beyond which it is
not considered safe to go in the case of
silk intended to be dyed light shades or
TO be bleached. Recently a German in
ventor has brought forward a process in
which silica is the weighing agent. In
carrying out this method three steps are
described. First, the silk raw or in any
stage of manufacture, and either before
or after dyeing, is worked for an hour in
a bath of perchloride of tin; then after
warm solution of water glass or
soluble silicate of soda for about
an hour. followed by wash
ed through a solution of phosphate of soda
The operation may be repeated again and
again, with no harmful effect on the fiber
m ba hea a e..
operations the silk may be increased in
weight some 100 to 200 per cent. The silk
is now soaped, and, if already dyed, is
cleared in an emulsion of olive oil and acid
AT a recent meeting of the Appala-
chan Mountain Club, says the Pittsburg
Dispatch, Prof. George f. Barton ex-
planned the peculiarities of the lava flows
of the Hawaiian Islands. In the eruptions.
break usually occurs high up in the side
of the mountain, and out of this there
comes flow of lava. The lava slowly
moving down the mountain side is quite
cylindrical in form, and as it progresses
II divides INTO branches, which again di-
VIDE. indeed, the lava flow may be COM
pared to great tree with it's trunk and
branches the top of the tree lying down.
WARDS. AS the lava flows on, the outside
OF 1t becomes cooled and more or less
solid, while the interior of melted lava
keeps on its downward course its size
naturally being continually diminished.
AFTER while all the lava runs out of the
solid portions and these remain as great
tubes of lava, some of them many feet in
diameter. These tubes may be followed
Tor considerable distances, and but for the
fact that they become crushed in on ton
and on the sides, they could be explored
Tor miles. As the lava runs away, pen
dant forms, similar in shape to stalactites
are left decorating the top and sides of
the tubes. These tubes are among the
most striking and interesting of all the
volcanic formations.
We read of crimes and cruelties per-
petrated in days long, long gone by. and,
with a plying sigh for the wretched
sufferers, We thank heaven that the bless
ed light of civilization Eliminates the
nineteenth century, says the Pittsburg
DlSpateh. We do not realize that a gov
eminent so-called Christian even 10 This
day, can wantonly cause such heart-rend-
ing sufferings as Russia metes out to Po-
land. TO be exempt from corporal chas-
Iitsenlent Is one OF the privileges of Rus
sian nobleman yet this does not prevent
the torture being applied to Polish politi-
SaI prisoners even when they are of noble
blood. The subject, albeit a sad one is
not without a certain interest particular
ly when we recall the memory of brave
men ana Drawer women who have yielded
up a weary life whilst Undergoing this
the most cruel of tortures-the knouf
The knout is a strip of hide, a thing which
IS STEPPED in some preparation, and
nllngs. BY this process it becomes both
heayy and excessively hard; but before if
hardens care is taken to double down the
way groove runs the length of the
thong. The upper part winds round the
hand of the eXecutioner; to the other end
small iron hook is fastened. Failing
upon the bare back of the sufferer. the
knout comes down on its concave side. of
which the edges cut like a knife. The
thong thus lies in the flesh The execu-
toner does not lift it up, but draws if
towards him horizontally, so that the
hook tears off long strips If the execu7
TONER has not been bribed, the Victim
loses consciousness after the third stroke,
and sometimes does under the fifth The
scaffold is an inclined plane, to which
the man is tied with his back uncovered
The head and feet are firmly fastened
and the hands, which are knotted togeth,,
er, go round below the plank, any move
ment of the body becoming imDossible
After receiving the prescribed number Of
strokes, the poor wretch is united and
on his knees, undergoes the cruel punish,
ment OF being marked. The letters s'voI,''
meaning thief or malefactor-are print
ed in sharp-pointed letters on a sfamn
which the executoner drives into tbe
forehead and into both cheeks. and wbiie
the blood runs, black mixture of which
gunpowder is an ingredient, is rubbed info
the wounds; they heal, but the bllIiSb
scar remains for life 'ii