The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

All OF the anFllE used by Dldcksmltns IN
/ this country are made by one firm in
l Brooklyn, y Y. All kinds Of substitutes
! have been invented and put on the mar
ket. but after using them the blacksmith
generally goes back 10 the wrought iron
anvil. which is handmade There are
plenty Of cast iron and steel anvils for
sale. but they find but little favor with
blacksmltns. who prefer an anvil that
sings. Ordinarily IN anvil viii last from
ten 10 twenty years, that Is II IL is handled
carefully, though there are many anvils
that are now used by sons which were
used by the fathers during their entire
lifetime.
A new game has been originated by
the little girls of Brooklyn, which throws
all the other sports Of its kind into the
shade, says the New York correspondence
OF the Elttsburg Dispatch. II Is called
PLAYING Statue" and is all the rage. A
number Of lassies get together. and, tax
ing their stand on the sidewalk. proceed
10 pose in tragic or comic attitudes, &C
cording 10 the programme called out 10
| them by the little stage manager. This
important official occupies a position on
a neighbOrly doorstep. The Delsarte craze
! is probably responsible for this new juve-
nile game, and the damsels who have
| been acquiring poses at great expenditure
| OF ducats and muscle will have TO look
| 10 their laurels, as their small rivals imi-
/ tate them to perfection. Some big girls
| little sister IS, no doubt, responsible for
/ this charming sidewalk novelty.
One of the saddest features of Etelka
! Gerster's present situation. says the New
! York Sun, is the fact that despite her
/ repeated failures she still believes that
| her voice is as good now il ever was,
ana attributes her troubles 10 the ma
/ chinations Of a clique Of artists and man
/ ayers who. she thinks, are opposed to her
personally and interfere when she ap-
pears to prevent her success. She will
not admit that her voice is not as good
\ as il was in the days when she sang
/ with so great success here and in Europe.
! Gerster's pathetic breakdown here in
| concert at the Metropolitan opera house
/ some ten years ago has always been re-
| garded as one of the saddest incidents in
| local musical history, and il was followed
! by so remarkable statement from Nine.
/ Patti that the public sympathy with Ger
| ster was doubled. Patti was interviewed
| on the subject of her rivals breakdown
| and PROMPTLY informed the questioner
/ that Gerster had so bad a temper that
| her voice gave way under the strain.
/ Quite the reverse was known to be true,
| and Nine PATHS lack of charity under
| the circumstances had the effect of win
! ming friends for the unfortunate prima
| donna.
A representative Of an American twist
drill company in China and Japan de-
scribes the manner in which their tools
| were brought before a large concern in
| one of the leading cities of China, says
| the Railway Review. 1t seems that he
/ ndu nlTeQ an interpreter ana mad one OF
his twist drills with him ready to show,
| when, after waiting some time the in
| terpreter failed to put In an appearance.
So the agent decided to go alone. After
| reaching his destination. an immense ar
| senal, he sent up his business card to
| the manager. Failing to get a cordial re-
| Spouse from that, he next sent up a twist
! drill That ELECTED curiosity from the
firm, and he was straightWay invited up
| to explain his curious tool. After making
various signs that he wanted a piece of
| steel he was brought some iron. That
| he tossed aside and, hunting around,
! found piece Of the harder metal for
! himself Then the agent proceeded to
| bore hole after hole in it with his twist
| drill, to the amazement and delight of
| the workmen, whose primitive way of
! pounding holes in iron is most unsatis-
| factory. 1t is needless to add that the
agent got big order before he left that
| city. aa..----1
One of the most extraordinary sea
weeds, says the Fishing Gazette, is the
Nereocystis, the stem of which OCCASION
! ally attsins a length of 800 feet, though ex-
| tremely slender, even at the top, where it
! is surmounted by huge floating bladder
feet or feet in length that affords a
favorite resting place to the sea otter This
| plant is found on the northeast coast of
| America and the opposite shores of Asia.
| The hltform stem, which is about as thick
| as pack thread suddenly swells above
| when two or three feet long, into a glo-
| bose bladder, from the top of which
| springs a tuft of terminate leaves, mostly
rising on hVe petioles. As the plant grows
| older the stem increases enormously in
| length. but only slightly in thickness. The
| globose bladder swells into a turnip-shap-
ed or retort-like cylinder 6 feet long and
1eet inches or more in diameter in the
| widest part, the lower extremity gradually
passing into the stem. The leaves which
| at first were marked with a few faint
| nerves, split in the direction of the latter
| cover wide space by their entangled mass
| and attain length of thirty feet or more
| When the plant grows IN any quantity ii
| forms large floating islands, and the sur
! race OF the sea becomes impossible to
boats. The stem, when dry, is employed by
| the Aleutians for fishing lines, some Of
! which have a length of forty or more ia
| thoms. The large bladders are used by the
same people syphons for pumping wa
ter out of their boats.
Sir Edward Bunbury's magnificent col
lection of Greek coins was sold for over
$4,000 In an eight days sale lately in
| London. Among the highest prices were
| $990 for Syracuse demarateion of 45O
before Christ, with the head of Nike,
crowned with olive, cOmmemora ting the
| great victory at the Himera, the rarest
| OF Greek coins 5000 for a dekadrachm of
| kimon, with the head of Persephone: S6O5
| eagle with a hare in its claws A tetra
| drachm with a head of Arethusa brought
SiO3; gold slater of Taretum with the
mead OF Demeter $3.50; a totradrachm of
Thurii with head of Athena, having her
helmet adorned with the figure of Skylia.
| 500; one of Agrigetum, with two eagles
| standing over supine hare, $3.50.
| The ventilated shoe is a recently nat
| ented invention, says the New York Jour-
nal. The shoes does not appear at all
| different from ordinary footwear. It is
| only on close examination that a set of
| tiny pipes is discovered inserted between
| the inner and outer soles of the shoe. Re-
| tween the inner and outer sole is what
might be called false sole. 1t is thin
| perforated by a number of small holes
! Directly under the instep where what is
| known as the shank of the shoe begins
! are two tiny pipes, which find an outlet
! at the point where the heel Joins the
! leather. The air, passing through the
! pipes, circulates through the soft felt
| between the soles of the shoe and
| through the perforations in the inner sole
This keeps the shoe cool and allows the