The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

A return to the whipping post is to be
recorded among London events of inter-
est. Two persons sentenced to Old Bailey
| for highway robbery and violence were
| given twenty strokes of the cat in addi-
ton to their term of imprisonment the 9TH
er day. In this the Chicago authorities now
| struggling to get rid of the pest of foot
pads thugs and sand baggers infesting
their city might find a suggestion of value.
Three weeks ago the startling an
nouncement was made that the great Eff
fel tower, at Paris, which is nearly 1000
feet high, had begun to bend. The gov
eminent Immediately delegated Col Bas-
sot of the engineers to make a thorough
examination of the structure and he re-
ported that in consequence of the expan-
sion and contraction of the different pieces
OF the enormous metallic mass, the tower
is in state of perpetual movement
throughout the entire twenty-four hours
which leads French journal to suggest
that the tower is simply breathing! In
spite OF this perpetual motion, Col Bas-
sot expresses the opinion that the atruc-
ture is in no danger, and is as firm as
ever.
-Glycerine possesses in high degree
the property of extracting the fragrance
from flowers. Besides, it has proved to be
excellent for the skin as well as for the
hair, so that it puts even the finest olive
oil in the shade. If we take vessel of
best glycerine, putting into it lilacs faded
hyacinths, narcissus, lilies of the valley,
mignonettes, violets, roses, lime flowers,
jasmine flowers, ETC., and leave them in
| for three weeks, they will have given off
| their whole fragrance to the glycerine
when taken out. In this manner hair oil
| is obtained that cannot be surpassed by
any Partisan "parfumeur." Since glyce-
| rine can be mixed with water in any pro-
| portion lin contradistinction to the fat
| oils), a few drops may be poured into the
| water used for washing, in order to per-
| fume it delicately.
A good ruby is worth much more than
a diamond of the same dimensions. Said
New York jeweler recently: 1.-THE worth
| OF small rubies-stones that are of less
| than carat-is, if anything, rather less
| than that of diamonds of like descrp-
| ton; but the rare occurrence of large spec
| linens of that dark carmne tint which is
| looked upon as the sine qua non of a per-
| feet ruby causes these gems to increase
| in far greater proportion than in the
! case of diamonds. Rubies weighing more
| than four caratS are SO exceptional that
! when a perfect one of five carats is brought
\ to the market it will command ten times
| as high sum a diamond of the same
/ weight, while rubies of six carats, with
out crack or flaw, and of the
| proper color, would, in alI probable
! ity bring as high price as 5000 per ca
! rat, or fifteen times as much as a dia-
| mond of like size and faultlessness."
A new solid petroleum fuel has been
invented by George H. Fullerton, which
he has perfected after several years of
! experimenting. BY the use of certain
| chemicals and peculiar treatment of the
! pru1a uatr0Iaupo Mr FULLERTON n
solid mass, very black, which in some
| forms breaks almost with a fracture. 1t
| burns just as coal burns, does not fuse
or run, gives out not so much smoke as
| ordinary coal, costs at present price of
| oil less than S. a ton, and gives out be-
! tween two and three times the heat units
! that the same weight of the best coal will
! give. The material may be made into any
] form of brick, is much cleaner than coal
| in handling, has comparatively little of
| the petroleum odor; it can be stored in
| the sun without fusing or melting and in
| other ways is a marked advance in the
| preparation of fuel materials for use. A
| substance of this kind could be used for
] heating purposes where oil and gas are
used now.
Miss Elizabeth Mercer, who resides in
Brooke county w. Va, is suffering from
| a malady that is puzzling the physicians.
| In the neighborhood where she lives Miss
| Mercer is known as the indigo woman"
name given her from the peculiar discol-
| grafton of her skin. which has assumed a
| bright blue color, about the shade of indi-
! go. Nor is this all. The woman's flesh is
| scaling off in pieces as large as a penny
! and these scales, when applied to a white
| surface, leave a blue mark, as though
| made by a blue lead pencil. About once a
| month pieces of flesh chip off from her
| hands, arms and limbs, and the patient
| takes delight in marking with them on
| writing paper and distributing the pieces
! among her friends Miss Mercer is in fair
| ly good health and spirits, and but for her
! indigo skin would be taken for an entirely
healthy woman. A number of physicians
| have analysed the particles of flesh or
scales that drop from the womans hands
| and arms, and report that they are of a
| charcoal nature, but of the color of indigo.
| She refuses to leave home for treatment.
saying that she would as soon be blue as
white.
Next spring work will be begun upon
the great canal through Southwestern
! Russia that. when finished, will connect
! the Baltic with the Black sea- The polit-
| ical significance of this work is evident
! and it is of far greater importance than
| the industrial. This waterway will enable
| Russian vessels 10 go from St Petersburg
| to Constantinople without passing hostile
| forts or being in danger from the navies
| of other nations, and it will generally en-
| large the scope Of Russias maritime eff
| fectiveness. The work of building the ca
nal is stupendous one, but it is not as
| great as one would think on first consid-
| Grafton of the length of the canal, which
! is to be $50 miles. The river Duna, flow
| ing into the Baltic, and the river Dnieper
emptying in the Black sea, are not far
| apart al their sources, and only 125 miles
| of canal will have to be dug outright
| The rest of the distance will be through
| canalized rivers The canal is to be 217
| feet wide and 281a feet deep-so that the
| largest war vessels can pass through with
| ease. The banks will be strengthened in
! order that a speed of six knots can be
maintained, and the journey from one
end TO the other accomplished within
weeks time. The cost will be about
! $lOOOOO.O0O and it will require four years
| to finish the work. So far nothing has
! been done towards the work except the
elaborate surveys and estimates just com
| pleted.
Some remarkably fast railroad build