The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-06
ITEMS or INTEREST.

a long term went straight to the rail-
road station TO take a train for his home.
and, in attempting 10 board IT, Iell uhoer
I the wheels and was Killed
"A curious freak Of nature has been
found by Gen. Venukoff. at StOupk' IN
the Russian province Ekaterinoslav. says
| La Nature. 1t is a crystal OF rock salt,
! clear and transparent as glass. which con-
I tains an interior cavity, wherein a small
quantity OF water IS plainly visible me
cube is an almost perfect geometrlcal
/ cube each side of which is a trifie shorter
| than two inches. The center cavity is ir
| regular but was probably round, the
quantity of water having slowly eaten
| its way down. Gen. Nenukoh has pre-
scented this curious crystal block of salt
to the faculty Of sciences Of the French
Academy.
The truth of the old adage that one
hour of sleep before midnight is worth
! two hours after midnight is questioned by
DR.. L. P. Colby, who states that he made
some study of the subject while IN ma
val service during the civil war. The
ships company on Shipboard-ofticers and
men alike. stand four-hour watches day
| and night. with the Interpolation Of
dog-watch of two hours to change the
| time of each set of men on successive
days. These men are therefore obliged
to get their required sleep very irregular
ly, but in more than two years observa-
| ton DR.. Colby could never discover that
| the watch officers and men were not as
| fully refreshed by their sleep as were
the officers of the ship who were required
/ to stand no watch at all
The Chinese New Year begins on Jan.
| %. The year contains SS5 days. divided
into 10 months-the extra month being an
additional May. The present Chinese year
began on Feb. IL and continued only
twelve months. Every third year con-
tains thirteen months Calendars of the
/ received a(fhinafOWnH
/ New York, few days ago from head
\ quarters at San Francisco, where the reck-
| oning was made by the Chinese Company
| officials. The calendar is a sheet about
/ two feet square, divided into months,
| something in the order of the American
/ almanac, only that the Chinese, of course,
read from the right to the left The days
/ of the month are marked by two figures
| the letter denoting the Chinese day and
! the white the American day. of course.
! this Interpretation is only for the bene-
! fit of the Chinese residents in this coun-
| try The margin and the lower end of
| the calendar contain advertisements of
| business firms, which indicates that the
! Chinese have imbibed the spirit of Amer
| lean progress.
Prof. J. B. Schall1enbach, formerly
the organist Of the Polytechnic Insti-
tute of London, has recently invented and
constructed an electrical orchestra which
is very effective. An organ with two key
boards and number of stops is connected
by electric wires with a large number of
| musical instruments, which are distrib-
uted over the space usually given up to
| the orchestra, and kept in place by va
| rious stands While a chair is located
next to each instrument, the only man
| in the entire orchestra is Prof. Schalken-
| bach himself, who takes seat at his
| organ, from where he conducts, so to
| speak, his mysterious musicians. AL
| though it is advertised that the entire
| arrangement is mechanical and that
| electricity is the agent doing all the work
in this orchestra, a sensation of timidity
and even awe is felt by many visitors.
The electric orchestra is now exhibited
| in a Vienna concert hall, and surprises
! even professional musicians through the
| brought out of Prof. Schalkenbach, who,
| besides possessing great musical talent,
is an excellent electrician.
Much is expected by NJ. Paul d'Humy,
French naval engineer. as results from
his experiments in the conversion of pc
troleum and other oils into a solid mass
suitable for use as fuel on ocean vessels,
says Invention. BY mixing the oil with
an ingredient not stated and submitting
the mixture to heavy pressure, he has
succeeded in obtaining a hard homogen-
eous substance, that can be made in cakes
of any size and shape, that cannot evap-
crate or cause explosion, that is unaffect-
ed by heat and cold. that is smokeless
and odorless, and that burns with intense
heat and only on the surface. Very little
draught is required and the combustion
leaves not more than or per cent. of
ashes. The cost per ton is stated to be
not more than S. to $40. while it is affirm
ed that ton of this material will equal
thirty tons of coal. If all these advan-
tages can be realized in actual everyday
experience, the inventor has good reason
for his prediction that the new fuel will
entirely change the present system OF pro-
polling war ships and other steam YES
sells, as well as greatly influence many in
dustrieS.
"A curious historical relic was sold by
auction recently in London says the Bos-
ton Herald 1t is the large tankard of
solid silver presented by King Charles
IL to Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey for his
valuable services during the plague and
the fire of London for which he received
the honor of Knighthood in 1866. The tank
ard, which is of plain silver, has hinged
cover, and weighs nearly thirty-siX ounces.
Its front is engraved with the royal arms
and the crest of the recipient, together
with inscriptions in Latin, and engravingS
of scenes connected with the fire, which
are still in excellent preservation. The
engraving of the pest house men carrying
corpses to the dismal plague pit, and that
of the crowded blocks of houses, sur
mounted by flames, are very quaint and
curious. Sir Edmund, who was born in
1921, at Sellinge, in Kent, was a timber
merchant, possessing wharves at Dowgate
City and at Charing Cross He pros
pered, became justice of the peace for
Westminster and member of parliament
for Winchilsea. In history, as no reader
of Macaulay and Green will need to be
told, his name is most famous in connec-
ton with his mysterious murder, which
was popularity attributed to the zeal with
which he had devoted himself to unrav-
cling the alleged ,Popish plot. His body
was found in ditch near Primrose Hill,
face downward, and penetrated by his
own sword, under circumstances which
precluded the idea of suicide or robbery.
The excitement caused by the fact that
when the funeral procession left the city
with great pomp and pageant for the bur
ial ground of st. Martin s-in-the- Fields,
1T was preceded by seventy clergy and
followed by upward of 1000 persons of dis
tinction.
lecture on vaccination against cholera
was delivered yesterday by Mr. w. M
Haffkine, in the examination hall of the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, says
the London Standard. 1t was based chief
ly on the results of his experience in In.
dia, extending from April, 1898. till july
last. The lecturer observed that in All
J those instances where cholera had made
large number of victims-that is to saw,
| where it had sufficiently spread as IL