The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

have a very much keener sense Of hear
ing than man. Noises which we with the
greatest attention could not hear, are
sufficient 10 startle these Intelligent ami
mails. The Eleveur, a French agricultural
paper, aftirms that long before the great
earthquake Of the Rivera last year horses
gave signs Of restlessness, which contin-
ued for several days. While the people
did not hear any subterranean noises un-
til few seconds before the first shock.
horses had for more than seventy-two
hours before manifested restlessness and
nervousness peculiar to these animals
when hearing a noise which they do not
understand.
A curious scene might have been wit
messed in London at a big fire which took
place on some wharves on the side of the
Thames river recently. The buildings
were old and burned like finder AS the
nre spread, hremen and bystanders were
escaping from the burning structure.
Hemmed in on all sides. either by build
ings or bystanders. the rats were compelled
to rush 10 the river side, where they had
to jump in and swim out into the stream.
Some of the firemen said there were thou
sands or these animals who followed their
leaders into the river. and people who
stood on Waterloo bridge watching the
ire, saw the dense black mass of animals
swimming through the water, upon which
a reflection of the fire appeared.
"A new departure for the use of steel in
the modern building is its application
{
steel, stamped with ornamental design
appropriate to the room, are substituted
for the plaster. The lasting qualities are
OF course much greater and the spread of
IRE also prevented A plaster ceiling,
however well constructed, is subject at
all times to injury and sometimes to the
danger of falling through the action of
water, which, by gathering between the
upper surface of the plaS ter and the con-
Meeting beams, breaks the clinch of the
hair in the lime and will Sometimes over
run an entire ceiling without any know
ledge by occupants of the apartment.
| This is one of the dangers of plaster cell
ings never taken into account, danger be-
ing suspected only where the ceiling is
cracked Long experience shows that
| cracked ceilings seldom fail, the break
in the plaster allowing a vent for the ac-
cumulated moisture, whereas, a ceiling
| perfectly intact is in greater danger of
| falling.
The total Indian population at this
time, according to estimates made by the
officials of the Indian bureau. is 24S. 259. ex-
| elusive of the Indians of Alaska, says
| annexation of Texas and Mexico, the esti-
| mated population of the country was 400,-
| O90 In 1855 the number was said to be
| 3J0OOO, and the same estimate is made for
| ISL. The most rapid decline in numbers
| has been in the last quarter of a CEN
/ tury. The fact that the Cherokees and
| Chippewas, both comparatively powerful
| tribes, have actually increased in numbers
| makes the decrease in other tribes all
/ y
| of 1885 the number on the reservation had
| been decreased to 1873, All or about one
! third of the total number. Less than 3d.
| 600 of these are self-supporting, the fed
| eral government issuing supplies to most
| of them. If the rate of decrease which
| has been maintained for the last quarter
| of century or so be continued, there
! VIII not be a single full-blooded Indian
! IN the country. except possibly, in dime
| museums, by the end of the twentieth
| century.
-Argon and helium, the two newly dis
| covered elements, have until now been
! derived only by the heating to a high tenn
/ perature of very rare minerals. 1t was
! not known until very recently that min
| eral water of several springs in the
! Pyrenees contains both of these elements
| together or singly, although in small
| quantities only. Prof. Bouchard states
| that he has obtained both argon and
! heium from the mineral springs of eau
| terets. He could only obtain these ele-
| ments, however, from water drawn from
/ the spring before it reached the outer at
! mosphere-that is, by drawing water
! through a tube from some distance under
| ground. He has proved the presence of
! these clements in several experiments
| by different methods; the chemical reac-
ton by using magnesium wire heated to
! red heat, and spectroscOpic examination
| both showed the new elements. Bouch-
| ard states in detail his experience while
! investigating this spring; he considers it
/ very curious that one spring, named Rail-
! ere, shows both the lines of argon and
! helium in the spectroscope; another
! spring, Du Bots, shows heium alone and
! the water of a spring very near the last
| mentioned (Griffon) shows besides the he
! lium spectroscopic lines of a substance
/ heretofore absolutely unknown. Bouch-
! ard thinks that the argon and helium con-
/ tanned in these mineral springs came orr
| ginally from the atmosphere, and since
/ they appear thus isolated it must be pos
| sible to combine these elements with
/ others in spite of their great chemical en-
ergy. Prof. Bouchard does not however
believe that the argon or helium contain
| ed in these springs have anything to do
| with their excellent hygienic qualities.
-Sepulchral mounds are to be met with
everywhere throughout Central America
! from Kentucky to Georgia, from Missouri
| to New Jersey, says Donahoe's Magazine
| The soil has been in many cases redug
| and this adds to the difficulties of making
study OF them. They have been utilized
| at different eDochs by the Indians, and
| even by the whites, as bural-places 1t
| is possible, however, to distinguish these
| later interments, as in these cases the hui
man remains are never to be found more
| than two feet below the surface while
the bodies of those who are sleeping their
| last sleep on the natural soil incontestably
! belong to the race that built the mounds
| The Indians have no traditions bearing
| on these mounds and do not attribute
| them to their ancestors. Just as in E,u-
| rope, the most diverse Itinerary rites are
TO be found among the Mound builders
! Sometimes the body was laid horizontally,
sometimes bent double; at times a num-
| Der of bodies were piled pell-mell in a COM
mon grave. Frequently the mound COW
cred a solitary skeleton, while in the neigh
| boring tumuli the dead lay in large num-
| bers In Kansas a pile of stones forming
| a veritable cairn was heaped over the
| body. In other regions, notably in Wis
\ conSin, the corDSeS were wrapped in a
| coarse fabric or in strips of bark. Squier
! describes a seDulchre where the soil has
| been carefully levelled and where the body
1 lay on bed of dark All around were to be
! seen stone implements and weapons and
| ornaments. Another lay of bark was laid
/ on top, and over that the earth was piled
up until the body was covered by an act
ual hillock. The same thing is mentioned
| of Ohio. A steep hill rises near Piketon
! covered all over with cupolas similar to
! those observed in such large numbers in
| European countries. A mound stands at
either end. Excavations here have shown
| the soil to be covered with a. thick bed
! made of pieces of bark. In this human