The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


screens. Geraniums have the same effect
-Superstitions die hard in India Quite a
panic has been caused in several up-cOun-
try districts by the belief that the English
were stealing women and infants to use
their bodies as foundations for new rail-
way bridges. 50 great was the alarm in
one village that the magistrate sent round
a crier 10 publicly deny the story
Two churches in London that have
been open every day in the week, so that
people might so to rest and pray have
found, 10 their cost, that many went IN
TO prey in another sense. Ornaments
were stolen, and as the authorities could
not afford TO provide a regular attend
ant, they found Il necessary to close the
churches.
"A locomotive on the Pensacola and At
lantic division Of the Louisville and Nash
vile railroad is Familiarity known TO the
employees of the road as The Dog" This
engine, in a head-end collision at Milligan,
killed Peter Cooley, a fireman, and, collid-
ing with its own train at Hollis, IL turned
over and killed Alexander Johnson, fire.
man. 1t also struck and killed an un-
known negro at Oakfleld and another at
Olive. 1t pulled the train that killed Con-
ductOr Ashby White, near MOlino and II
ran over and killed Ed Smith on the Chat
tahoochee trestle. II cut of Lewis Dow
dys leg at Caryville, crushed Conductor
Eggarts finger and cut OF Jim Leases
finger, OF Ponce de Leon.
There is an ancient legend that says
a woman's living heart was once i'm
prisoned in a milk-white stone, and the
throb of its passion and its pain shone
through the half-Opaque surface and
made it dart and fash and fiutter with
flame color, and rose and violet and gold
en- tints. Sometimes it beat high with
hope. and the surface was radiant with
light; frequently sorrow oppressed it, and
its rays were fainter and less glowing.
There seems no more beautiful or more
fitting association for the .ovely opal to
have. 1t almost has life in its center,
and, no matter how small the stone, If it
be of pure origin, the colOrs are as per-
feet and as varying as in larger speci-
mems.
"A willy Slcilian priest has just got the
better of an innocent brigand, says the
New York Sun Canonico Antonio Cam
pagno, who is a rich landowner at Puzzi,
was taking walk IN the main street of
the town one Sunday evening when five
men seized him, took him to a village in
the mountains, and demanded 5000 as
ransom. They kept the canon in a hay
loft and treated him well, providing him
with bed and plenty of food and wine.
He agreed to write n letter to his family,
asking them to pay the money to his cap
tors. When he had written it he went out
to hand IL to the man guarding him. Look
ing down he saw only one man, and that
one asleep with gun by his side. He
picked up the gun, shot the bandit through
the head, and succeeded in escaping. The
owner of the hay loft was arrested, but
the bandits had not waited for the police.
A statistician has learned that the an
nual aggregate circulation of the papers of
the world is calculated to be u 0OO.0 900 900
copies, says the Buffalo Commercial. To
grasp any idea of this magnitude we may
state that il would cover no fewer than
az rrf hot =
printed on 7Sl,250 tons of paper, and, fur
Their, that If the number Q2, 100000 0O0 rep
resented, instead of copies, seconds, it
would take over 1888 years for them to
elapse. In lieu of this arrangement we
might press and pile them vertically up
ward to gradually reach our highest noun
tains. Topping all these, and even the
highest Alps, the pile would reach the
magnificent altitude of 400, or in round
numbers 500 miles. Calculating that the
average man spends five minutes reading
his paper In the day, (this is a very low
estimate), we find that the people of the
world altogether continually occupy time
equivalent to 100000 years reading the pa
pers.
1t is said that Nine. Tallien preserved
her skin from all imperfections by a bath
of strawberries, says the Galignani's la
dies column writer. Twenty pounds of
fresh fruit were crushed into her tub,
Tor whatever the receptacle was called
to-day have not arrived at this measure
of extravaganza. They content them
selves with applying the interior of the
fruit as a sort of plaster upon their face
and hands, and the results are said to
be beyond their widest expectations. A
cold cream is made with Strawberries for
the perfumers are not ignorant of the
qualities of this fruit as a beautifer of
the complexion, and those who have not
yet tried the strawberry cure for sunburn
will not fail to do so now. Within the
last few weeks the demand for straw
berries has been greater than 1t has been
for many years, and in the Champs-Eiy-
sees quarter e fruit sellers have been
doing an extraordinary trade in this
fruit
If we notice carefully the beaks of all
the birds we see, says the Popular Science
Monthly, it will help us, by indicating
their habits OF feeding, to locate them
IN their families, and thus lead US to
their correct names. All the sparroWs
have short, stout beaks, well suited to
cracking open seeds and grains, which is
their usual food. The thrushes have a
curved bill, convenient for holding worms
and digging in the soil; they find most
of their food on the ground, poking among
the dead leaves and rubbish for grubs
beetles and larvae. Our robins which
are true thruShes, do valuable spring
work in the garden and lawn pulling
worm from the soil. Have you ever
watched a robin at work? How he tugs
anu pullS WHeu the worm Is long, and
does not come easily. There is an energy
and certain business air about him
when at work which is very interesting
The food of the thrushes is chiefly animal
though they like a few Strawberries and
cherries for desert, which We ought to
be very willing to allow them as a slight
return for all the worms mad insects
they destroy for us. The warblers are
almost exclusively insect-eating birds
few of them hunt on the ground for their
food, but, as a family, their place is high
IN the tree tops. searching among the
foliage for the tiny insects. plant lice
and spiders that make their homes there
They are small birds having slender
beaks. The tiny humming birds. with
their long, needle-shaped bills. are well
equipped for securing honey from the
very heart Of the trumpet flowers and
honeysuckles They find numerous small
insects within the flower as well as honey
Concerning the rich fruit of the lotus
which grew luxuriantly in the Nile, many
charming legends have been told. savA
Public Opinion. 1t was believed thai il
was so delightful that those who ate Of
it would never leave the spot where il
grew, but for ii would abandon home ana
friends IL,