The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-19
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

! in West Virginia Mrs. Susan Smith,
/ daughter of a Sheriff, has been regularly
sworn in as his deputy, to assist in all
his official duties.
Gen. Felix Agnus, >the proprietor OF the
Baltimore American, has been obliged
again to deny the story that when he
came to this country he began his career
| as barber in this city Il came to this
! country" he says, under engagement as
chaser and sculptor to the great firm
of Tiffany & Co. of New York, from which
! establishment 1 went direct TO the ranks
as private soldier, though not speaking
a word of the English language"
The power of man over the lower ami
mails is sometimes exceedingly marked
and hard to account for says the Lowell
Star. There is in Lowell boy, differing
in no respect from his companions who
has this power in marked degree Every
stray dog or cat in the neighborhood
| knows him and loves to be in his COM
| pany. A vicious horse which the stable
men can handle with difficulty, will stand
| like lamb while he harnesses and I'M
| harnesses him; and in the woods the wild
| birds apparently regard him as a friend
and ally. The most remarkable exhibi-
| ton of his power, which has long been
! known and commented on by his friends,
was given the other day. A large and
! vicious rat was captured in the stable in
one of those traps which permit of easy
| ingress and no egress. The men who were
| looking at the animal were afraid to go
near the trap, the animal showed such
terror, but the boy, when he beheld the
| imprisoned creature, fearlessly put out
his finger and stroked its head, the rat
manifesting as much pleasure as would
a cat or dog. Several days have passed
| since then, and the stablemen are still
| afraid Of their cantllro h11t q has grown
so tame and familiar with the boy as to
allow him to take him out and put him
in the trap, will come at his whistle, and
manifests every appearance of joy at
his presence. There seems to be no ques-
ton that the boy could train that rat to
perform almost any feat within the power
| of such an animal.
According to Prof. Allen, says the Med
ical Times, we should drink from one
third to two-hfths as many ounces of
water as we weigh in pounds. Therefore
for man weighing 1858 pounds. there would
be required from Sc to 81 ounces daily, or
from one and one-half to four pints. This
the Journal of Hygiene regards as very
| indefinite answer. The amount of water
required depends on the season of the
year, the amount of work done and the
kind of food eaten. In not weather we
require more than in cold, because of the
is in part made up by the lesser amount
passed away through the kidneys. If a
man labors very hard he requires more
than if his labor is light. A man work
ing in foundery, where the temperature
| is high and the perspiration profuse, not
| infrequently drinks three of four gallons
daily. If the food is stimulating and salty
more water is required than if it is bland
| Vegetarians and those who use much fruit
/ require less water than those who eat salt
fish and pork, and often get along on none
except what is in their food. In most
cases our instincts tell us how much water
| TO drink far better than any hard or fixed
rule. For ages they have been acquiring
a knowledge of how much to drink, and
| transmitting that knowledge to descend
ants, and if we follow them we shall not
go far out of the way. 1t is of more use
to us to know that pure water is essential,
and that impure water is one of the most
dangerous of drinks, than to know how
much of it is required daily. If one lives
in region where the water is bad, it
should be boiled and put away in bottles
well corked in an ice chest, and in addi-
ton, one should eat ali the fruit one can,
If fruit agrees. Fruits contain not only
pure water, but salts which are needed to
carry on healthflly the functions of life.
Quite a cry of alarm is being raised
says Paris letter. Paris and the Paris
ians are menaced with destruction by rats.
which are honey-combing the city, and
will soon start on an organized raid, with
a view to devourng it's inhabitants. The
municipal council is invoked to avert the
impending catastrophe, and it is suggest
ed that a substantial reward might be Of
fered to anyone who could invent some
practical process whereby these horrid
creatures might be improved off the face
or, rather, the depths of the earth ere
worse befall Setting manifest exaggera-
ton aside, it must be admitted that never
has this nuisance assumed more formida-
bic proportions than at the present date.
Never before have the rats, within the
bounds of the Notifications, increased and
multiplied to such a disagreeable extent.
They TEEN everywhere, and the recent
floods and rains have rendered them par
ticularly active. They emerge in their
thousands from the drains, and in out-of-
the-way districts scour the streets in
gangs, affording fine sport to the police
men on duty there at night, who pursue
them with their sword bayonets, commit
ting veritable massacres. 1t is however,
in the neighborhood of the central mar
kets and the Palias Royal that they most
do congregate, as well as in the slaughter
houses Vendors at the Halles do not
| know where to stow their goods for
greater security. and at the abattoirs
havoc is played by the rats with the car
cases which come ready to their teeth.
The demolition of old houses. large sta
bles and the like for building purposes.
has deprived myriads of their former
means of subsistence and has turned them
loose on society. That something must be
done TO keep this nuisance within certain
limits at least is a necessity which seems
to be generally recognized, but nobody ap-
pears to be, as yet, ready with plan of
campaign
The Smithsonian Institution during
the past week has mounted the rarest bird
specimen in this country. The new acqui-
sition is an extinct parrot from Philip ISL
and, little spot of land between Austria
liza and New Zealand. says the St. Louis
Globe-Democrat. Nestor as he is called
from his gray head. has been extinct for
fully half a century. The Smithsonian
specimen which is the only one known in
this country, was buried for many years
in garnet down in Southern New Mex
leo. During the worst of the hard times,
when there seemed a possibility of Bryan 5
election, Nestor's owner a Mr.. Hopes,
of Organ City, bethought him to realize
on his worldly possessions while he could