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

OF the natlonal colorS at military posts at
sunset. No longer is the flag unceremo-
niously pulled down Immediately after
the firing of the sunset gun. Its de-
scent is now marked with a dignity and
decorum becoming the country's ensign.
Under the new rule the usual retreat call
is sounded and then the gun is fired. The
band Immediately commences to play THE
Star Spangled Banner" which is continued
while the flag is being slowly lowered to
the ground, while all hats are dotted, and
under no condition must the flag touch
the ground until the last chord of the
national anthem has been sounded.
There are some almost priceless fur
cloaks in existence most of them belong
ing to members of the Russian nobility
Mrs. John Mackay has a sable cloak, val
ued at $4,000 which consists of 10000 small
skins. The most costly wrap of this kind
Is fur cloak sent to the Empress Dag
mar on her coronation. 1t cost 100000 and
weighs only sixteen ounces. This was a
present from the city of Irkutsk, in ST.
IBERIA. The Duchess of Saxe-Coburg in
herited magnificent cloak from her
mother, the late Empress of Russia. Jul
die the French actress, has a sable cloak
valued at $1,000 Other fortunate women
In this respect are the Countess Potoka,
the Countess Greffulha and the Duchess
of Leuchtenberg, all of Russia, the land of
furs.
Queen Victoria has rather an interest
ing aviary. In the Windsor forest there
are number of wild turkeys from Cana
da, which it is hoped to breed and ac-
climatic. Near the head keepers home
two great eagles are kept in captivity.
Those birds were traced by their depre-
dations in the forest and trapped, one
of them quite thirty years since. Although
Oft In, na of
food and lodging, they still refuse to
recognize their keepers. In a small cor
ridor leading from the queens room at
the aviary to the garden, in a preserved
group is grand peacock. formerly the
property of Lord Beaconsfield, and re-
moved, with its mate, from Hughenden
to the aviary shortly after his death.
The muscles, in common with all the
other organs of the body have their stages
of development and DECLINE; our physical
strength increases up to a, certain age
and then decreases. Tests of the strength
of several thousands of people have been
made by means of a dynamometer
strength measurer) and the following
says the Springfield Union, are given as
the average figures for the white race. The
lifting power of a youth of II years is
2SO pounds; in his 10Th year this increases
to 800 pounds and in the 30th and 31st years
it reaches its hight-356 pounds. AT the
end of the thirty-first year the strength
begins to decline, very slowly at first. BY
the fortieth year it has decreased eight
pounds, and this diminution continues at
a slightly increasing rate until the fiftieth
year is reached, when the figure is $50
pounds. After this period the strength
fails more and more rapidly until the
weakness of old age is reached. 1t is not
possible to give statistics of the decline
of strength after the fiftieth year, as it
varies to large extent in different indi-
viduals
Science has played another trick on
old Sol for the benefit of humanity. The
prism has been so constructed. says the
Chicago Times Herald, as to catch a ray
of sunshine and by its mystic powers
transform it into a flood of silvery light.
The discovery holds the promise of ban
ishing dark rooms and Easements into
the realm of memory, where they will fig
ure as the marks of an uncivilized age
The Times Herald adds: 1.-The Prismatc
Glass Company is giving an exhibition of
it's remarkable product in darkened
store-room at 10 Lake street Two small
openings in the front permit a pale, sick
ly light to struggle into the dim inte-
rior When the openings are closed with
the prismatic gas the big room is instant
ly 1lled with a light as bright as though
scores of incandescent lamps were burn
ing. An even more wonderful transfer
nation is made in the appearance of the
basement. The glass is smooth on its
outer surface, but has seni-prisms on its
inner surface. A cross section would look
like the teeth of a saw. The glass polar
ICES the suns rays and diffuses a white
light 1t also destroys the glare of the
sun. One of Chicagos new skyscrapers
is to be fitted up with the prismatic
glass"
The banana is the chief sustenance of
more people than is bread says the Chi
cago Record. Its tender shoots are
cooked as greens, its stalk yields a valua-
Bile fiber, which Is woven into textile fab
rcs, twisted into ropes and made into
paper. 1t was the abundant banana
which made possible Stanley's march
through Africa. The banana is the most
productive of all fruits of earth and it
has been estimated that the area which
will produce thirty-three pounds OF wheat
Will yield 400 pounds of bananas. and
the land which If planted with wheat will
support one man year will sustain TWEEN
ty-fve men if planted in bananas. The
banana originated in the Malay peninsula
and has spread from there over all the
earth. 1t is one of the oldest of cultivat-
ed fruits and its sculptured image is found
in Egyptian ruins 1t proceeded Columbus
to the new world and it's is supposed that
it was this fruit instead of the apple that
tempted Eve. The banana has been titled
so long by man that ii is practically. seed
less and is reproduced by shoots. The
banana was first imported to America
about thirty-five years ago and from a few
thousands punches a year the business has
grown to 100000 punches. The fruit we
get comes mostly from Central America
and the West Indies. The punches of ba
nanas grow from the tops of the trees and
hang downward with the bananas curving
upward instead of down as we see them in
the fruit stores. From the end of the
bunch hangs stem foot long on which
Is a great heart-shaped maroon blossom
At the end of the season the bunch Is
ready to be picked and the tree is ont
down, as all its energies have gone to-
ward making one beautiful bunch. The
shoots around the tree are inspected and
all but two or three are cut down. These
two or three grow up, produce their
punches and are in turn destroyed. Ar
ter ten years the ground is so fun of
roots that it has to be ploWed IN and re-