The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-12
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Catania by the 8Iarchese Gravina, is own
er. The island is a basalt rock rising 500
feet above the sea, and will be ustd as a
biological station, the university estab-
Hshlng extensive laboratories on it
In the past year it is estimated that
100000 sets of pneumatic tires were made
in this country, says the American Field.
The tire business has grown to- enor-
nous proportions and rubber tires are
steadily growing in demand among car
riage manufacturers. A year or two ago
rubber-tired carriages were rarely sen,
and now they are commonplace. Sand
on Fifth avenue corner in New York and
it will be seen that three out of five car
riages have rubber tires. The demand br
rubber by the bicycle and carriage trade
If it continues to increase, as il prObabI
WILL is going to be a great factor in thu
market for crude rubber. on an average
three pounds of crude rubber are required
for each set of tires, which means for the
tire trade alone consumption of 4, 500, 900
pounds of rubber. The annual importa-
ton of Para rubber TO this country aver
ages about 10000 tons, and the tire makers
estimate that they now use one-third of
all the Para rubber coming to this coun-
try.
In every country in the world rainbow
folklore declares that some object of value
may be found where the ends of the beau
tiful arch touch the EARTH says the st.
Louis Republic. In Swabia the ends are
said to rest on bowls of gold; in Hungary
that cups of silver will be found at the
spot where they come in contact with the
earth. In Switzerland it is said that
shoe cast over the rainbow will come to
the ground on the other side filled to over
flowing with gold. In Bosnia it is said
that if iron or other base metal happen
70 ha of
the ground it will be instantly trans
formed 10 pure gold. In many parts Of
Germany, Poland, Russia, Belgium and
Holland 1t is said to be a golden key that
may be found at "the end of the bow" In
Portugal and Spain they speak of the "sil-
yer hen" having her nest where the bow
rests, and in Norway it comes to the
ground at spot where a golden bowl and
a silver spoon are hidden. In many of the
chief European countries it is said that
water touched by the rainbow will cure
fits and insanity.
-Apropos of the recent tercentenary of
the potato in Ireland and the glorifica-
ton of Raleigh, says the New York Press,
it is interesting to note that there lately
has been erected a memorial on the site
of old Fort Raleigh, in Roanoke Island,
to commemorate the first English settle
ment in America. 1t bears the following
inscription: ION this site, in August, 1888,
the colonists sent from England by Sir
Walter Raleigh built the fort called New
Fort, in Virginia" 1t was there, two
years later, that Virginia Dare the first
child Of English parents born in America,
was baptized. Sir Walter Raleighs old
house at Youghai, Ireland, with the gar
den where he is said to have planted the
first potato in Irish soil, now belongs to
Sir Henry Blake, the governor of ia
maica, who recently purchased it from Sir
John Pope Hennessy. The old house is
being restored to some of it's old beauty
Some oak carving which has been found
painted and even papered over, is again to
see the light Sir Henry is also trying to
make a collection of relics associated with
Sir Walter Raleigh.
The most gigantic harp ever con-
structed, so far as the record goes was
that made by Veritan, the provost of
Burki, near Basel, Switzerland, in 1857,
says the st. Louis Republic. That was a
long while ago, but the fame of Mons.
Veritan's gigantic harp was such that it
IS still occasionally mentioned by writer's
on the rare and wonderful just as the sea
serpent. bloody rain. live mastodons, ETC.,
are Mons, Veritan'S colossal musical in
strument was 800 feet in length and, on
that account, was constructed in an open
lot, instead of a harp factory. 1t was
construction, e
of fifteen wires strung tightly between
two poles. The wires were Of different
sizes, the largest being one-sxth of an
inch in diameter and the smallest one
twelfth of an inch. They were stretched
north and south, and inclined in such a
manner as to form an angle of from 20 to
80 degrees with the horizon. This queer
instrument was not intended as an ex-
aggerated toy, but was constructed for
the express purpose of foretelling changes
in the weather which were calculated
by Prof Veritan according to the diff
ferent tones the instrument made when
the wind was blowing through it.
By the by, says a writer in Forest and
! Stream, some of your readers may like to
know how the Indians manage to keep
their clothing dry in heavy shower A
! good many years ago, when Southwestern
Michigan was a newer country than at
| present, friend of Antler's went out there
| to look for a home. He met up" with
| four or five more men on the same BUSH
ness and together they tramped across a
! large prairie. A heavy shower came I'D
and they pulled foot" for the timber
but when they reached it We're thoroughly
drenched. They halted, built a large fire
| and stood around it to dry their steaming
! clothes, when they saw approaching A
small party of Indians, whom they had
| passed at speed on the prairie. 1t was a
conspicuous fact, and one not to be for
gotten, that every Indian was at that time
attired simply in his native modesty
| (Which with an Indian is generally an I'M
| known quantity, and further, that each
sat upon a tightly rolled bundle of cloth
ing thus protecting it in a great meas
ure from the pouring rain. When they
| passed the whites the shower had pass
/ ed, and they were once more duly attired
in dry clothing. The whites, after some
| hours passed in attempting to dry their
duls, moved on, saying among themselves
| that after all there was something to be
| learned from an Indian.
The moon is really and truly great
| planet of mountains, its whole visible sur
face being dotted with elevations Of Gu
rious shapes and of extraordinary hight
/ says the st. Louis Republic. We say Its
whole visible surface" and hasten to ex-
plain that we make this statement simply
/ because the eye of man has never seen
but one side of the surface of the moon
| What we see convinces us that the little
| planet is extremely mountainous, for on
81 &C..