The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-25
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

lyle's house at Chelsea since it was OPEN
ed to the public in July, 1896.
The Massachusetts, legislature has re-
fused to entertain the bill to prohibit the
exhibitions of pictorial reproductions of
prize fights.
"A new method of testing the hardness
of steel balls has been devised in Germany
The balls are dropped from a fixed hight
on a glass plate set at an angle; if prop
erly tempered they rebound into one re-
ceptacle and if they are to soft they drop
into another.
To so great an extent have the Japan
csc adopted European methods and models
that an enterprising Buddhist has adapt
ed the bicycle to serve the needs of the
praying wheel as used by the followers of
his creed, says the St. James Gazette In
stead of attaching the written prayer to
the customary wheel, which is generally
turned by convenient stream of running
water, the new vogue is to fix the prayer
to the hub of the bicycle wheel, so that the
faster the rider can pedal the better he can
pray. Although there appears to be
spice of sacrilege in the practice, it is ap-
parently catching on, for rumor has it
that American firms are already prepar-
ing machines with Buddhist collects en-
bossed on the tires, so that the bicycle will
become an instrument of pleasure and
prayer book combined.
-Porcupine quilts are a necessary of life
to anglers, for they make excellent floats
for bottom-fshing, says Answers. Also
scores of penholders are made from the
black and white spikes, and many kinds
OF ornamental screens and fans are peced
and knitted of these quilts. Something like
two million porcupine quilts reach Britain
every year, and they chiefly come from In
dia, also a few from Spain. The animal
has to be hunted and killed before the
quilts can be obtained, and many hundreds
of porcupines are slain for this purpose
every year. The quilts are carefully ex-
tracted and dried, packed in crates and
shipped away to Europe, where they are
used for all manner of things in the way
of tackle and ornamentation. A porcupine
is always worth killing, for every spike
pig carries 10 shillings' worth of quilts
on his fretful back.
1T is an accepted fact that cats are
thieves, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer
There is one out in Pennsylvania. however,
that is the feline thief par excellence. She
steals anything that comes in her way.
Not long ago hew owner while at dinner
table heard a strange humping on the
stairs. When he investigated the noise
he discovered it to be caused by the cat,
who was coming downs tairs holding the
chain of a gold watch in her mouth and
letting the watch drag from stair to stair
1t does not seem to be a desire to appro-
pirate things to eat which aetuates this
queer cat, but simply the wish to steal
something. She is an eccentric creature
withal, and chooses queer resting places
for her kittens. She had three and one
day they disappeared. No one learned
where they were until the following Sun
day, when the cats owner, on preparing
to go to church, found the little animals
snugly ensconced in the crown of his new
silk hat.
From Plymouth there has just set sail
the most powerful naval squadron that has
ever crossed the Atlantic under any
South American flag, says the London
Standard. Its destination is Valparaiso
and it constitutes the recent addition to the
fleet of the Chilean republic. The squad
ron is composed of ten vessels, namely, the
armed cruiser Esmeralda of 1900 tons, the
Ministro Zentono of 1900 tons and the AL
mirante Simpson of 1000 tons; the trans
port Andamos of 5000 tons, four torpedo
destroyers, capable of making thirty knots
and hour and a couple of large torpedo
boats for ocean use, with a speed of TWEEN
ty-seven knots The Esmeralda is declar-
ed by naval experts in England to be one
of the most powerful ironclads afioat. Be
sides these ships Chile has still building
in England an ironclad of nearly 10000
tons, which is to bear the name of O'Hig-
gins, a schoolship, and six torpedo boats.
With the fleet that Chile has afoat and
the vessels DOW in course of construction
Chile bids fair to become in time a power
full rival Of the United States for the ma
val supremacy of the western hemisphere.
The house in Roda, Saxe-Altenburg,
where DR.. Johann Faust. the famous ma
gician and soothsayer of legendary fame,
was born toward the last quarter of the
fifteenth century, was knocked down to a
native for $25 the other day, and is now
being dismantled, says the Chicago Chron-
icle Five years ago, when the World S
fair commission dispatched small army
of curiosity hunters to all parts of the
globe to seek attractions, the good people
of Roda asked a cool 100000 for the little
pile of brick, wood, iron, mortar and dust
that was to be taken down and regretted
in this city. But the price was consid-
cred too stiff, and the negotiations fell
through. In order that the house might
not fall down, the municipal fathers of
the little town ordered it's immediate de-
molition. This historic structure stood until
quite recently on a rocky eminence near
Jenaisches Thor Getty gate). 1t was frame
building, very rickety, and had been ex-
tensively repaired. There is a legend that
ii dated back to the year 1450 or AGO. as do
many other buildings of Roda. That Faust
saw the light in one of its dingy rooms,
with floors of trampled earth and tiny win
dows in leaden frames. is attested by sew
eral authentic statements in the town
chornicle, and also in the Faust Buch,"
printed in 1887, from which all later wri-
ters on the Faust legend quote and which
is their chief authority.
-Four million pounds of gum chicle, the
product of the Mexican sapota tree, en-
tered the United States during 1895, says
the Confectioners' Journal. This entire
product, valued at nearly $1,5oO,OOO be-
came the basis of chewing gum. A walk
through a leading chewing gum factory
is interesting. Here over 600 100000 pieces
of gum are annually produced and ship
ped to every portion of the world. Three
hundred employees are engaged in the
manufacture of the gum, the first step
of which is the importation of theSraw
chicle, which is gathered by the poems
In Mexico and exported in bales contain
ing about $50 pounds each The gum is
40 ha kaln oh st,fn