The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

| -Cyclometers are in use in cabs in Der.
| lin, Leipsic and Dresden. They recon-
| the exact amount of miles Travelled and
the legal fare of the occupants.
| Some one declares that in fifty years
time there will not be a single tree in
| America. Each year it takes 10000 acres
| OF timber to supply sleepers for the rail
ways
There are no undertakers in Japan
| When a person dies it is the custom fol
| the nearest relatives to put him into g
| coffin and bury him; and the mourning
does not begin until after his burial.
| The fishermen of Iceland now regu-
larly carry oil in their boats to- smooth
| the waves, which enables them to con.
| tlnue at work. in wea Their that before
they would not have dared to face.
1t is said that some of the Venetians
those who have never been to the main
land-have never seen a horse in all their
lives. A Snowman once brought one 10 a
fair and called it a monster, and the fac
tory hands paid shilling each to see the
marvel.
1t has been calculated that a gold coin
passes from one person to another 1000.
100000 times before the stamp, or impress
SION, upon it becomes .obliterated by fric-
ton, While silver coin changes between
5,25JGOOO times before it becomes entire
ly etfaced
The price of game in France is alleged
to depend principally upon the state OF
the moon. When the moon is dark and
poachers cannot see to set their snares
az night and game is scarce. When the
moon Is fun there is plenty of light. and
the poachers get lots of game.
An electric railway on the rock bed of
the sea from Brighton to rockingham, a
distance of three miles, has been opened.
Inc line is entirely covered by sea at high
water; with spring tide by as much as
Is feet of water A yacht-lfke car cana
BILE of holding lis passengers, is propelled
by electric power collected on the ''trol-
ley system from an overhead wire. The
car is supported by four tubular steel
Iegs, each leg resting on small four
wheeled truck running on parallel rails
bearing the car at hight of "A feet above
the line. The cost has been about $4,000
mile.
New Jersey will try to protect her po-
tatoes and make them grow with trade
mark, says an exchange. An organiza-
ton called the Sweet Potato Growers Pro
tective Association has been form
ed 10 prevent the shipment of
outside or foreign" sweet potatoes from
Vineland. AS the Vineland tubers com
mand the highest prices in the New York
and philadelphia markets sweet pota-
toes from different parts of South Jer-
sey have been shipped to Vineland and
reshipped from there branded as Vineland
sweets. A trademark has been adopted
by the association, accompanied by a
printed note, stating who packed the bar
rel of potatoes and advising the buyer
70 notify the association if the shipment
IS not as represented. The charge will be
investigated and the member guilty will
be expelled from the organizat ton
"A Santa Barbara (Cal) special in the
Chicago Record reads: Soon after 4 o'clock
the other morning a brilliant meteoric
dlsplay was witnessed here In the midst
OF 1t all there came a flash of dazzling
light, accompanied by kissing sound,
and those who happened to be looking
in the direction of the channel saw a
pyramid of red and blue blaze apparently
as large as a mountain descending into
the sea, causing the water to squirt up like
a geyser higher than the tallest steeple
II. Spoper was driving on the boulevard
near the beach when the meteor fell
Both of his horses dropped in their tracks.
bpoper says he thought for time he
had been fatally injured. He was unable
to move or speak for several minutes
An aged Spaniard near by was unable to
control his muscles for half an hour A
strong sulphuroUs odor was noticed all
along the boulevard and in the lower part
phenomenon, which was followed by a
noise similar to thunder. .-
"A soap company in England was re-
Gently sued for the purchase price,
amounting to upward of a thousand dol
lars, OF 100000 pincushiOnS which were
intended to be used in part for the pur-
pose OIL 9uV6TllSlnS the c0mpanyS soap,
Each ptncushion consisted of a layer of
felt, inclosed between two aluminium
discs. On one disc was a portrait of
Queen Victoria, on the other the SOAP ad-
vertisement. The defense was that the
discs did not properly adhere to the felt,
but the glue melted in the heat of the
pocket and the ,pincushions fell to pieces.
On the other hand, the plaintiff proved
that the defendants were aware of this
ditticulty at the outset and that he used
the best glue which the market afforded
Ia haf
whom the case was tried without q jury,
gave a Judgment for the plaintiff, sayiA g
that the articles were plainly designed
solely as medium of advertisement, and
that no one could have entertained the
wild idea that they would be used as pin
cushions.
"A curious sect in Russia is that known
as the Runners" because its members
run away like sick animal to some lone
ly spot to die when disease overtakes
them, says the New York Tribune An
other is known as the "Runner-Smoth-
erers. When any member of this ex-
traordinary sect is seized with mortal
or supposedly mortal illness, instead of
being allowed to run off to die he is put
is the "smotherer." The ceremony is. for
safety's sake, generally performed not in
the victims house, but in the common
praying-room,' a secret room conVen-
iently situated to escape the prying ewes
of authority, and provided with numerous
exits IN case of surprise. While psalms
are sung and the censor swung, the old
woman who usually holds the honorable
office of ''smotherer'' performs her task
with small cushion held over the sick
persons nose and mouth. the body be-
ing afterward secretly buried in some re-
mote spot whittier it Is conveyed under a
load of some innocent matter, such as
hay.
Trials are at present being made in
Paris of what will undoubtedly prove to
be the fastest engine in the world. 1t is
an electric engine and has been built by
the Compagnie de rOuest The first trial
took place the other day between the sta
tons of the Champ de Mars and Aeheres.
The engine La Fusee, which was built
by the same company some time ago, and
which made such astounding trial runs
between Paris and Rouen, covered the
ground at the rate of 40 kilometers an
hour-about seVenty-four- miles Certain
technical difficulties, however, could not
be overcome, and La Fusee was never
put INTO regular service 1t appears that
these difficulties have been got over i'm
the new engine which will at least equal
II not exceed, the speed of La Fusee
Its length is 10 yards and its weight 122
tons. Like a man-of-war, it is furnished
in front with sort of rammer which
cuts the air. Two dynamos and a motor