The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-12
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Ae AA-aIOn = the king OF streams
says the Hartford Times. From first TO
last il receives over twelve hundred trib-
utaries, OF which more than one hundred
are large-siZed rivers and rise so far
apart and have their floods and Gibbs al
such different seasons that the Amazon is
al about the same hight the year round
Al some points on its lower course one
bank Is Invisible from the other The be-
nolder seems to be looking on a great yell
low sea Of fresh water. Its mouth in
cludlng that Of the Para, is one hundred
ana elgnty miles IN width. and ii is naVi-
gable for large-sized ocean steamers for
one thousand miles from the sea; and so
vast Is the flood that the ocean is tinged
yellow Tor four hundred miles from the
coast Of Brazil
"A foreign paper, according to Temple
Bar. is responsible for the statement that
the late Lord Randolph Churchill had a
cnolce private collection of teeth Of noted
criminals, TO which he was constantly add
ing up 10 a short time before his death
me competition for the Deeming relics
AT the AnupOdes is too recent and too re-
EOltlng 10 be enlarged upon, but il may
De mentioned that the axe and knife with
which this unm itigated villain murdered
MS victim fetched ( pounds. Is shillings.
ana the spade with which ne dug her
grave Drought guinea; his clothing was
eagerly competed for. even down 10 half
dozen pairs of patched socks Indeed
the collectors OF criminal" curios are ex-
treinely numerous all over the world. and
these mementoes range from Tyburn halt
ers 10 pipes which murders have smoked,
ana pots which famous thieves have toss
ed in honor of past and future triumphs
II has remained for a Nebraska collector
10 gather locks of hair shaved from the
heads OF noted criminals when they enter
the penitentlary. and these he labels and
indexes with great care. Superstition
sometimes accounts for the fancy prices
offered for such CHASTITY relics French
as aNa afF taH
luck. A piece of hangman's rope is con-
sldered potent spell against evil in some
parts OF France; as criminals are there
guillotined such ropes are difficult to get
and so fetch high prices: they are some
times mounted in gold and worn in lock-
cts.
Stories of a watermelon bug reach us
from interior New Jersey, giving hint of
the destruction of the crop in those re-
gions, as well as the introduction of a
new parasite which may posses the stay
ing power of the potato beetle and es-
tablish itself in permanence, as that rO-
bust and capable insect has done, says
the New York Tribune. The new arrival
which resembles the ordinary lady-bug
deposits its eggs in great numbers on
tho under side of the leaves, causing the
vines to wither and die before the melons
nave grown large enough to be worth
stealing. Heretofore the lady-bug itself
has been rather an esteemed insect with
no injurious associations, so far as known
presenting an attractive study in form
and color, and being entirely harmless
IN its habits. In fact, some branches of
the family have been found actively use-
full. 1t was an imported Australian lady
bug which the Californians loosed upon
the scale insect, the wasting enemy of
their grapevines, with the happy result
OF destroying them and restoring to the
vineyards their old abundance In fact
II has generally an ornamental tradition
which ought not to be sullied by anything
wearing its form, like the new watermelon
parasite, which IS probably an impOstor
and not a lady-bug at all The entomolo-
gists will presently tell US all about it.
Meanwhile, a suspension of public opin-
ion may well be invoked till the actual
character of the newcomer has been made
known.
-Deep-water vessels on long voyages, to
China, South Africa, and so on, usually
carry along more or less poultry. TO be
killed now and then to supply the cabin
table when the canned stuff begins to get
tresome, says the New York Sun. The
chickens stand long voyage very well
so long as the water doesn't get at them
They are kept in coops on deck, and
sometimes they are let loose on deck to
be cooped up again at night, or, perhaps,
permitted to roost upon some convenient
object in the open air. Sometimes their
wings are clipped to keep them from fy-
ing overheard and sometimes not. 1t NAV
be that the last of the chickens are not
Killed until the return voyage. 1t might
easily be possible to get chickens at the
distant port, but they would not be SO
good as those supplied in New York. The
pest live poultry for shipping is nearby
stock, from Connecticut, Pennsylvania.
Long island and New jersey. Sometimes
when the captain is carrying his family
on voyage he takes along chickens for
the sake of the fresh eggs that they will
supply Hens will lay very well on ship
board if they are properly cared for not
crowded in their coops and their coons
are kept clean. Sometimes when hen
gets to be a good layer on shipboard If is
Kept Tor its eggs and brought home again.
mus 1t might happen that a cbiclan
brought up in a Long Island farmvard
might make long voyage at sea Ia Az
rlca, perhaps, and come back as near 10
US nome as the port of New York. and
then start out again on another VOYAGE
but sooner or later the Travelled chicken
would come to the block.
The pectoraI fins of a fish are the +v,o
fins, one on each side, just back of the
head, says the New York Sun these
ms aid the fish to some extent In sv-ino
ming Ihey are small oars which the fish
IedtherS very beautifully and are of
value emery IN enabling the fish to pre-
serve its equilibrium. It is with these
ms that the fish maintains its horizontal
position in the water when not sVimnniney
without them the fish would stand on its
mead. Sometimes fish loses one or botb
of its pectora fins by disease or b,, a.
cident. A fish without pectoraI fins is in
a bad way While most fishes keen a
horizontal position in the water. when
swimming, there are fishes that do not.
one OF these is the filehsh which when
motlonless, suspends itself in the water
mead downward, at an angle of As degrees
or even nearer the perpendicular
nlehsh, kept in an aquarium. which had
lost both pectoral fins, inclined over hack.
ward past the perpendicular when mo
tlonless, to about the same angle that II
would have kept in the other direction
II It's pectoral fins had been intact 81
that when not in motion it seemed to he
lying at an angle on its back In the
same aquarium there was a striDed has,
Weighing about pound and half. one
OF whose pectoral fins was attacked at
the tip by fungus, which graduaIIv en-
eroached upon it. Finally the diseased
portion of the fin was cut off with a noir
Of sharp shears, the cut being made uI jtiIi
IN the sound part of the fin. At first the
nsh was like man in a boat nnl1ine
one long oar and one short one; if coI1Idr't
hold course, but it soon accustomed
ITSELF TO its new condition and therea ftar
1t got along very comfortably. 0-