The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-31
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


of track, respectively. At the end of last
/ october there were 953 electric roads and
| 13,765 miles of track in the United States
and 80 roads and 498 miles of track in Can
! ada; figures which represent an increase
! of l3.4 per cent. and 10 L per cent respec-
lively, in the total mileage Of track. The
| mileage of cable lines in the United States
| has declined 10 per cent. from 500 to $40
| miles; while the mileage of horse lines has
| decreased from 1879 to 947, or as much as
Y per cent There are now 1868 motor
cars on electric railways in the United
| States.
"A Copenhagen chemist writes to the
| Engineering and Mining Journal descylb-
| ing a new invention for the production of
| ozone on small scale. T his works on
| the well-known principle that phosphorus
properly immersed in diluted sulphuric
| acid with the addition of a little perman-
ganate Of potash develops the gas in ques-
| ton. The phosphorus is kept in the
| liquid in such a way that its upper sur
lace barely energies out of the fluid. Grad
| ually, as the phosphorus is consumed it
| rises automatically in the liquid owing to
| CONFERENCE.-The forcing ID upward against
| a glass plate which is fixed at the proper
! distance from the liquid. Provision is
| made against interference from evapora>
ton, etc.
In the consular reports for December
an interesting account is given of expert
ments made in Berlin to test various meth
DDS of preserving eggs. All were treated
! on July and opened at the end of the fol-
lowing February. Salt water, salcylic
| acid, rubbing with salt, covering with
| bran. ETC., did not prevent the eggs from
| spoiling But eggs vanished with vase
| line were all good at the end of February,
| and so were those preserved in lime water
| and those preserved in a solution of water
| glass. The lime water sometimes gives
| the eggs a bad taste, the solution of
ter glass causes the egg shells to break
easily on immersion in boiling water and
putting the vaseline on eggs takes too
much time.
According to a queer story that comes
from Persia, says the New York Times.
the late shah was assassinated not, as
| has been supposed, for political reasons,
| but In revenge for bit of plain thievery,
combined with official oppression of the
| kind so common in oriental countries. The
| murderer, Mahomed Ria, was theologi-
| cal student, who had been obliged, on ac-
| count of the confiscation of his property,
! to become a trader. He sold some of his
goods to a son of the shah, Kamran Mira,
and in due course presented his bill For
this act he was thrown into prison, where
| he remained for seven years, and his wife
in the meantime was transferred to the
| princes harem. After his release Ria
fled to Constantinople, and at an oppor-
tune moment he returned to Teheran dis
guised and shot the shah, crying as he
did so: 1.-THE tree that bears bad fruit
must be cut down..
In these days of flying machines of
aluminium. and gold made from dross, It
will not be out of place to recall the fol-
lowing little story of the fifteenth cen
| fury, says the Pittsburg Dispatch There
| the 0f ~
! of Scotland a shrewd italian, who
| claimed the gift of making so many won
| derful things that James made him abbot
| of Yungiand. The abbot made the king
believe that he could make gold out of
! grosser metals. 1t is not recorded that
he succeeded in making good his asser-
ton, but the king was satisfied. The
Italian then said he would make flying
machine which would take him to France
In briefer time than could the swiftest
snip. He made himself wings of feathers
and attempted to fly from the walls of
| Sterling castle, but fell ANONYMOUSLY
into the moat and broke his leg His ex-
cuse for the failure was that some of the
feathers of his wings were those of the
chicken, a bird intended for the dunghill,
not for soaring.
What is said to be the smallest electric
motor in the world Is worn as scarf pin
by its designer Texan jeweler and
facturer 1t weighs, complete, one penny
weight and three grains. When fixed in
the scarf 1T looks like a gold charm, the
front and the commutator segment being
made of that metal The field magnets
are made of two thicknesses of No. %
sheet iron, scraped down and polished.
These are held together with gold screws
and wound with exceedingly fine silk COW
cred wire. The "four-pole'' armature is
wound with No. So wire, The tiny brushes
are of copper, hammered very thin. The
motor is started by gold switch on
black rubber base, with a pin adjustment
which is worn on the lapel of the vest.
The current for the operation of this novel
machine is furnished by a small chloride
of silver battery, which is carried in the
vest pocket. The motor runs at a very
high speed, and its humming can be dis
tinctly heard by anyone standing near the
wearer.
The new British battleship Caesar has
been fitted with new system of patent
loud-talking naval telephones, the inven-
ton of Alfred Graham. The instruments
have been tested by the commander-in-
chief, Admiral Sir Michael Culme-Sey-
mour Rear Admiral Rice admiral super
intendent of the Portsmouth dock yard
and several naval officers. The new sys-
tenn has been adopted for connecting the
coming tower with all the classmates on
the starboard side, while for the post case
mates the ordinary voice tubes are used.
In using the new telephone for speaking
to any given number of places it is only
necessary to displace one shutter. Articu-
lation is perfect, and messages may be
heard at the distance of 10 feet from the
| receiving instrument. 1t is claimed that
Mr.. Grahams invention will not be affect
ed by the noises occasioned by machinery
or gunfire, whereas ordinary telephones
are so injured by heavy gunfire as to be-
come useless The two systems of com.
munication are to undergo a severe test
when the ship is commissioned for the
channel squadron.
-omens have close kinship to ghosts,
: therefore is it appropos to recall the sin
gular fact that, after the murders and
various kinds of killings which have
taken place in the tower of London no
ghost has ever been known to haunt the
historic edihce in all its time Human
fancy, so eager TO people a place of
tragic celebrity with phantoms and all
-rapt- Of mai a...