The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Dakotas are not little alarmed over the
results Of the late high winds from the
north II is feared thai they have brought
the seeds OF the awful Russian thistle
with them. These winds have been very
high. and have prevailed clear 10 the Gulf
Of Mexico. AS a result, II is pre- able that
the whole OF the western Mississippi Val
ley has been sown with the pernici0us
weed"
An experiment was recently made in
Vienna in order to test the relative re-
sistance, under pressure. of the hardest
steel and the hardest stone. Small cubes
OF cOrundum and OF the finest steel we're
subjected TO the test. The corundum broke
under the weight Of six tons, but the
steel resisted up TO forty-tWO tons. The
steel split up with noise like the report
OF a gun, breaking into powder, ana
sending sparks in every direction which
bored their way into the machine like
shot
Hollow brick, it is said. are coming in
TO more general use-in eastern cities. and
quite a number Of large buildings have
been built with them. They crush at $1,000
pounds, or about the pressude which the
best solid brick Will stand. They are
made by by y. with walls one inch
thick. Il is claimed that they cost one
third less than the regular form, making
walls proof against nre, moisture and
frost. being warm in winter and cool in
suHtAAtI- uEg require a peCulldE clay III
their manufacture. one that will not shrink
when dried or burned. The brick are set
on end. thus making a wall hollow from
top to bottom.
The sea tug Thomas ]. Smith of Phil
adelphia was rendered almost helpless Cor
a time the other day by getting into a
tremendous school of bluefsh. She could
not steer, and when her propeller was
worked ahead or astern, the blood of the
nv tie eh 1aa, 4
up, coloring the water all about the tug s
hull. The middle of the school was held
together by the outer edges pushing to-
ward the center. AS the tug got into the
stopped, and it was impossible to handle
her. Hundreds were ground up by the
propellers. Suddenly. as daylight dawn
ed, they dispersed. and their fiuttering in
the water was visible for miles.
1t sometimes happens that slate-roOf-
ers in Aberdeen, Scotland, desire to knock
off work for a while to visit neighbor-
ing saloon. says the New York Tribune
owing to the cessation of their tapping
with their mallets, however, their absence
would soon be noted. So, to provide
against that they are ii the habit of hir-
ing some lounger to go on the roof while
they are away and keep up a constant
tapping with mallet When he taps for
only one or two the thing is child's play
but when he has to represent a whole
troop it is then that he earns his money in
the sweat of his face. Then must be
bound from spot to spot. reduplicate,
triplicate, sextuplicate his single person
ality, and swell and hasten his blows I'M
til he produces a perfect illusion for the
ear. One of the local papers say it is a
FUNNY sight to see him from an upper
window.
"A correspondent in the north of Ire
land, says Parsons Weekly. sends the
following account of an interesting Incl
dent that came under his observation: Be-
ing on walking tour through Inishow en-
and passing along the edge of Tough
SWilley, the romantic Lake OF Shad-
oWs' ne noticed an immense gathering
or rocks on the sandy shore. In company
with several others the tourist was at
tracted by the novel spectacle, and began
to wonder at the cause of IL. An Old
man, who was working in field near the
place, offered an explanation. He SAID
that the birds were picking up sand to
ballast themselves in a storm, and that
when they did so 1t was a sure sign OF ap-
preaching bad weather. He added that on
shooting rocks after a. gathering of the
sort he had found that they were loaded
with sand. As a matter of fact, the gem
tleman concludes, a violent gale set in
early next morning.
Sake is the national beverage Of Japan.
and until recent years was the only fer
mented liquor known in that empire, saws
Chambers Journal. II is obtained by the
distlllation of the best kinds of rice. In
appearance Ii resembles very pale sherry.
though in taste it is somewhat acid. The
best sake is white, but there are many
varieties, and the poorer people in japan
nave to content themselves with a tur-
bid sort A glass of sake is drunk at
every function and ceremony of daily life
even all offerings to the gods at religious
festivals, whether great or small, include
a cup of sake. At the annual dinner last
aF a = are,.
which everything was served a la Japan
csc, a glass of the national beverage was
handed round to each guest after the re.
past with an intimation that a second
could be had If desired. 1t is reported
however, that there was by no means a
run on the second glass, sake seeming to
be far less popular with Englishmen than
with japanese.
The fable of the so-called "Buddba
Tree of Northern Thibet which was first
mentioned by the French missionary Hue
in 1912. and which has since been fire.
quently described in works of travel on
Central and Eastern Asia, has recently
been thoroughly studied by Lieut. Kreit-
ner, says the Philadelphia Record. The
Buddhist monks claim that upon the leaves
and bark of this tree Buddhist PRAYERS
and formulas may be read Several Euro
pean travellers attempted to buy leaves
but 1t took great deal of Imagination TO
see anything which could be construed as
letter or sign upon the dried surface
OF these leaves. 1t is possible that the de-
signs made upon fresh leaves are obtained
by stamping the leaves with red hot iron
and such mark may remain visible for
some time. As the leaves dry the curious
marks upon their surface disappear grad
ually until finally they can hardly be de-
tected. The monks sell a great number of
these leaves to the faithful believers of
the Buddhist creed, and the manufactures
and selling of the leaves is probably upon
a level with that other pious fraud perpe
trated by them for centuries. the selling
of pearl shells, upon the inside of which,
the image of Buddha in a sitting postura
is visible. These images are brought ahont
by opening the pearl shells and INSERTING
between the inner surface of the shell and
the mantel of the pearl oyster a small
image of Buddha stamped in lead The
pearl oyster cannot get rid of the foreign
body inside, and In time covers 1t with a
layer of pearly substance. which Of
course, shows the exact figure of the lead
en- image raised above the level of fba
shell. Sometimes five or six little leadan
bodies are introduced in a shell, ali of
which later on appear in relief upon the
inner surface. The shells are re+rirrad -