The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-27
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Two wheels are used in trolley de-
signed by a Missouri man, the idea be-
ing that both wheels are not apt to jump
from the wire at the same time; also that
the trolley can pass a cut-out or cross
wire without the necessity of cutting off
the current from the car as one wheel is
always in contact with the wire. The
trolley pole is connected halfway between
the two wheels by a rocking swivel. An
other trolley has a single wheel and tits
sideways, for the same purpose as the first
one.
Complaint is made that in the Cape
Cod cranberry boys the native pickers
have been supplanted by Italians, Firms
and Swedes, and that thus another Ameri-
can industry has passed into the hands
of foreigners. In regard to another and
more celebrated New England industry,
that of whaling, visitors to the cape of
recent years have not failed to notice that
Portuguese immigrants and West Indian
negroes form the bulk of the crews. The
New York World says Provincetown has
large and thrifty Portuguese colony in
habiting almost the very spot where the
Pilgrim mothers did their first days wash
ing in the new land.
The Oldest specimen of the snake fam
lily known to the American naturalists not
taking into consideration the two-headed
snake and other monstrosities of that ilk,
is the horned rattlesnake, which, up to a
few years ago, was thought to be one Of
the rarest as well as one of the most poi
sonous of serpents. Prior to the time when
DR.. c. Hart Merriam made the famous
Death Valley exploring expedition, in 1892
SO, but few specimens of it, and those
mostly from the western desert regions,
had been collected. The Death Valley ex-
"a 9
alive with them. They have horns on top
of their heads and are the smallest rattlers
known.
The strangest system of selecting
wife known to civilized countries exists
in Russia. 1t is called a game, but it is a
very serious one and always takes place at
Christmas time says the New York Jour
nal. Some one of prominence in a village
| announces that the annual merrymaking
will be held at his house. On the APP
pointed day the young men and women
hasten in huge excitement to the meet
ing place. There are songs and games and
| dances, but they are simply a prelude to
the more important business of the day.
When the time comes the hostess leads
all the girls into one room, where they
seat themselves on the benches. Laugh
ing and chattering, they are each prompt
ly muffied in winding sheets by the hos..
CSos Inc uSdQ anu ndlE anu arc
completely covered. and when this is
done the girls resemble mummies. The
young men draw lots and one by one they
enter the room where the muff1ed girls
sit. Helpless so far as sight or touch
goes, the puzzled lover tries to find his
favorite. Finally he chooses one, and then
he may unveil her. 1t is the law of GUS
tom that the man shall marry the girl
he has picked out, and Il either backs out
heavy forfeit must be paid. 1t is said
this matrimonial lottery is productive of
many happy marriages.
The schooner Evening Star, command
ed by Capt. Josiah Short, which arrived
at this port from Biscayne Bay, on the
coast of Florida, few days ago,
had among her miscellaneous cargo
a box containing half-a-dozen glass
snakes consigned to the zoo, says
the Philadelphia Record. These snakes
are comparatively rare. They get their
name from the brittle character of their
anatomy, it being no unusual thing for
their bodies to break in two when sub
| jected to a sudden blow or other violence.
! Those intrusted to Capt. Shorts care for
| transportation to this city were placed on
deck near the head of the companion way,
and all went well with them during the
| voyage When the Evening Star arrived
| at the BreakWater, however, one of the
stumbled over the box, and it, with its
valuable contents, was knocked down into
| the cabin. OF the six snakes in the box,
| all but one were broken by the fall, each
| losing from three to six inches of their
tails. Capt. Short, much put out by the
accident, took the pieces to the zoo as
soon as possible, and was relieved to learn
! that the snakes were not fatally injured by
| the mishap They are receiving careful
| attention from the snake man, and it is
| thought that all will recover.
| H. Clay Emmett, young cowboy from
Bolton, Tex, reports a singular find made
by him during cattle-hunting roundup
| in the Panhandle country recently, says
the Denver Field and Farm. The find
was nothing more nor less than a petri-
| fled pony, standing erect and complete in
| all its parts. Emmett says that he and
! his partner, B. c. Woodville, were rid
| ing across the prairie late one afternoon,
| when their tired ponies neighed and whin-
| ned as if they were aware of the presence
| of another animal. Looking around, they
discovered what they thought was a
| broncho tethered to a mesquite whic h
| crowned the summit of a little knoll to
| the northward. They rode up to the spot
| and found that the horse was fastened by
a chain, but stood so rigidly and seemed
altogether so mysterious that their own
/ nOISGo ItdiCQ anu PluAiSGu do IL III Lib 1T.
Finally they dismounted and found that
the pony was petrified, not hair or a
| hoof amiss Emmett says that some
| ranchmen years ago must have chained
| the poor horse there, leaving 1t to starve
upon the plains AS the ribs of the ami
| NAL were plainly visible in the petrifac-
| ton, and it seemed to have been other
| wise much emaciated, this is most prob
ably the case. Emmett will arrange to
have the strange find exhibited in some
museum. 1t frequently happens that
horses fall into the habit of going to sleep
while standing, and it must have been
under these circumstances that the Pan
| handle bronco departed this life to join
the great majority.
AT royal weddings there are always
chief cakes and limited number Of lesser
cakes, says an article quoted in Current
| Literature. At the queens wedding there
were two of the former, one made by
Messrs Gunter and the other by John
| c. Mauditt, yeoman confectioner to the
queens household and this 1attar moe 4.