The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-17
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


the Pharaohs. The head Of the gavel is
carved from piece OF oak which formed
a part OF old Fort Dearbon. The handle
Is also Of oak. but from a tree which was
growing on the present site OF Chicago
700 years ago. This tree was one of
primeval forest, covered by the debris OF
centuries and hidden until few months
ago, when excavations at Sheffield ave-
nue. brought the great trunk 10 light.
Thus the oaks Of two periods centuries
apart have been levied upon for the gavel
PrOf- Jpham, OF the Minnesota HistOrl-
cal Society. vOuches for the age Of the
tree from which the handle was made.
1t is well known. says the Hartford
Times. that the farther we dig into the
earth the hotter ii gets. and therefore
neat is being continually conducted out
wards from the Interior of the earth to
It's surface. where il gets reflected into
space. Now. this radiant heat is known
10 be vibration Of the ether exactly sim
llar TO the vibration we call light. and
called IN scientific nomenclature infra-red
Eght. Hence in this respect we can con-
slider the earth to be elf-luminous. Again
every one admits that the sarth attracts
every material object. according TO the
law OF gravitatiOn; and the greatest
thinkers, among others Lord Kelvin hold
that this attraction is due to the continual
emission by the earth of longitudinal vi
bratons into the ether. Although these
rays, like the Roentgen rays are visi-
pie 10 human eyes, yet Il seems reasona-
Die 10 assume that the inhabitants of
some stars may have retinas so sensitive
that they can see both the radiant heat
and the gravitational rays.
An Indiana firm has put upon the mar
ket a device for shaving which entirely
does away with the time-honored razor
| The new invention is a chemical powder
Of curious properties which when applied
moist to the face, becomes a perfect lath-
err Then instead of the keen-edged raz-
| n a0rr eF=-4F g..
knife can be passed over the face, remov-
ing entirely all traces Of beard and mus
| tache. Although 1t is claimed that the
chemical is in no way Injurious to the
| SKIN or system, what its makers particu-
/ larry claim for il Is its value in shaving
the faces Of the dead The services of
| barber are unnecessary, as any one can
apply the moistened powder to the face
/ and after allowing 1t to remain a few mo-
/ ments any sort of knife or edged steel
VIII suffice to remove all trace Of hair on
the face. When used on the face of the
| living the powder leaves the face smooth
| and entirely free from the disagreed BILE
| sensation so often experienced after close
| SHAVING with an ordinary razor.
The invention of envelopes is within
the memory of middle-aged persons, and
was the result of a Brighton. England.
stationer's endeavor to make his store
| look attractive, says Geyers Stationer
| lie took fancy for ornamenting his
r.
/ graduated from the largest TO the small
| est size in use. To bring his pyramid to
a point he cut cardboard into very minute
| squares. Ladies took these cards to be
/ small-sized notepaper, and voted il per
fectly lovely" So great was the demand
| that the stationer found II desira BILE to
/ cut paper the size so much admired But
| there was one difficulty. The little notes
/ were so small that when folded there was
/ no space for address, so after some
| thought the idea of an envelope pierced
| the stationer's brain. He had them cut
| by metal plate, and soon, so great was
| the demand, he commissioned a dozen
/ houses to manufacture them for him.
! From such small beginnings came this
important branch of the stationery bust
ness.
There is abundant evidence that the
shores around'Hudson's Bay are rising.
and this quite rapidly. says the Pittsburg
Dispatch Lines of driftwood are to be
seen in many places that are far above
| the level of the highest point of tide
| water. These drifts occur in some locali-
| ties nearly fifty feet above the present
| water level, and from this point down to
| what is now the high-t.de mark There
| are also gravel terraces that are very
! wei defined, and other indications that
| point unmlstakably to a very great change
| in the topography of the country since
| It's history was known to man. 1t is said
! that in 1910 the navigator Henry Hud-
| son spent the winter on the east Goa st
| OF the bay, south latitude SO degrees.
IheTe IS now no BAY which would be
! available for this purpose. 1t is a subject
| OIL common remark among the natives
| and the men of the Hudson's BAY Com
pany that the water has become lower
by very many feet since their acouaint-
| ance with that region. Men who have
| visited the bay after many years of an
| sence declare that portions of the coast
ana lnlets that were formerly accessible
| at all times can now be reached onlv
when the tide is at its highest point.
The ingenuity of the whale was not
equal 10 that of his captor, says the New
| York Tribune, even in the DAYS of the
oIldI iron harpoon thrown by hand, and
| allowing Leviathan long run for his
| bone and blubber, with the chance of
capsizlng the boat of his pursuers and
getting away from them altogether. While
| II was only hunted with this primitive
| instrument it was diminished almost IN
| the point of eXtirpation, and would have
disappeared altogether like the Siberia N
elephant and the mastodon, If the discov-
| cry OF coal oil had not come in to abate
| at the same time its commercial value
| and the energy of its pursuit An i'm
! prove1nent on the old method of capture
! was found years ago in impellins tba
| harpoon with gunpowder. and loading If
| with an explosive cartridge containing
| Strychnine, which destroyed the life Of
| the fish at once, taking most of the snap
| anu excitement out of the pursuit b1it
| being otherwise of great advantage To If
1t is now proposed TO substitute for This
| indicated barb an electrical one to diff
| luse a current or 10000 volts in the ami
mails body which is expected to wind nm
| its career at once. There is no reason WIN
| 1t should not do so. Such shock womb
oenumb the old primeval dragon under
| ground, and would make short work Of
! any whale to which 1t was administered
| With such ingenious appliances constant
| ~ brought against it, it is difficult to see
| how this majest!cal fish is to survive mr.
less some International convention for his
| protection is entered into. That has nor
| answered very well in the case of mo
| seals, and may not in the case of tbe
! whales; but it is all that can be done IF
! they are hunted with electricity they viii
| disappear like the American buffalo. clos
| ing up tradition as old as the Book of
Job, perhaps going back to the time Wbe o1
the waters and the dry lands were part
| ed asunder.