The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-02
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


of an apparatus to guard against the
somewhat remote contingency of being
buried alive. laid his results at the feet
of the car, but the car has referred him
to Paris. An ingenious little mechanism
is placed in the throat of the supposed
corpse, and any effort to breathe moves a
little knob, which comes in contact with
the end of a wire. thus completing an cleo
trio circuit and ringing a bell in the
lodge of the cemetery keeper, and indi-
eating on board the number of the
grave. The official will, of course, proceed
to exhume the automatic signaller. NJ.
Karnia's complete grave equipment win
consist of a small incandescent light and
tube for pumping in air.
1t is probably unknown to many that
away down in the southwest there still
roams a herd of genuine camels The
year before last one was killed on the
Southern Pacific railroad, Surveying par
ties occasionally report seeing the cam
els, but only at long range, as the ami
mails are so wild they will not permit near
approach. There are also some running
wild in Sonora, in Mexico. The Indians
of the district say the animals have lived
there for years. They are all descend
ants of the camels brought into this coun-
try for the government early in the SOS
for use in the desert lands of California
and Arizona. When the civil war came on
and some of the western posts were prac-
tically abandoned the camels wandered
away and gradually became wild.
1t is probably to King William III
that we owe the introduction of wall pa
pers into this country, says an English
paper. Paper hangings of a sort, it is
true were in use in England, and in some
parts of the continent, long before the
time of William of Orange; but they usu-
ally consisted merely of maps of the
world as it was known then, with fantas-
tic borders of Indians, negroes, and ele-
plants and other natives of far off re-
Sions. The art of paper hanging in imi-
tation of the old velvet flock was new
when William came to England, and it
was on the walls of the drawing room al
Kensicgton palace that these new hang
ings were first seen in this country. They
took the fancy of the fashionable folk of
the day, and, their cheapness being an adj
ditional recommendation. they speedily
came into general use.
The sale of a bride is said to have
taken place in the town hall of a small
town in Brabant, Holland. The munich
pal officer acting as mayor was called
upon to marry a rich young man TO the
daughter of a workman. The father of
the bride was present at the ceremony,
and when asked by the official whether he
consented that his daughter should marry
the bridegroom, the workman answered,
II don't care about it; but the young
man has bought my daughter from me
for the sum of 100 forms (about $50,
will not give my consent until he has
paid me-" The scene was a very pitiable
| one. After much haggling 60 forms ($22)
was paid to the father, the official acting
as witness to this extraordinary contract.
The ceremony was then proceeded with,
| and the young man was at length able
to take home his purchase.
The largest lobster ever seen or heard
of was received and put on exhibition at
the New York aquarium the other day. He
was caught by some fishermen in the ocean
| off Sandy Hook and brought to the Fulton
market where he was weighed and then
sold to the aquarium for $40. His weight
was thirty pounds. The largest lobster
| of which their is any previous record
weighed twenty-five pounds. The acqui-
sition measures nearly four feet and a half
| in length from the tip of his formidable
| claws to the end of his tail If he could
stand erect he could clasp an ordinary
man about the waist His claws are strong
and big enough to crush the brist bones of
| a strong man. His age is estimated to be
| between 38 and 40 years. He has changed
| his shell an indefinite number of times.
| There are on him none of the barnacles
/ variably disfigure the apparel of the adult
| His shell is smooth, clean and without
| sears or flaws.
A two-horse load of tin clippings was
| being transferred to the rear basement of
a prominent hotel, says the Philadelphia
Record. 1t had come from can factory
and the narrow, curling strips had become
| so twisted and intertwined as to form a
| congomerate mass that was moved with
| the greatest difficulty by two sturdy fell
| lows with stable forks. a bystander, who
! was curious enough to inquire what use a
| swell hotel had for such truck, was an
swered by an attache of the house: 1--WE
use it for the rats; / mean the big gray
| fellows with whiskers. The hotel rat is
| bigger bOlder and wiser than any other
| rat. He laughs at traps, he fattens on
| poison, and the killing or chasing of dogs
cats and ferrets is his pet diversion. Even
| when energetic measures have rid us of
| the pests they are with us again in aug
mented force within a day or two They
| will tunnel through almost anything and
| for incredible distances. 1t is their boring
| ability that has given us most trouble
| hitherto. No matter how we close up their
| passageways the routes were promptly re-
| opened. Filling the holes with broken
| glass was considered a good scheme until
| we found that, with marvellous patience.
they removed the glass piece by piece. But
we think we've got EN- now. With this
tangled up tin we construct a sort of
abattis; covering all surfaces where the
beasts are likely TO enter our cellars. They
can't get through it. They can't chew it /;
| and they can't carry it away as they do
| broken bottles, for when Mr.. Rat takes
! hold of a single strip of the tin he finds
il an inseparable part of a network weigh
ing many pounds"
-Chulalongkorn l., the King Of Siam. is
to visit Queen Victoria this summer, and
all England is worrying about how he will
behave himself, says the New York Times.
| Oriental monarchs are troublesome guests.
ana nowhere IS this fact better appreciated
than in London, where the officials remem-
Der many trying experiences with royal
barbarlans whom it would not do to offend
and who manifested a remarkable ingen-
| uity in being offensive. The very name of
has Siamese majesty is calculated to ex-
| cite apprehension, for 1t is one which Mr..
Austin will find it difficult TO work into an
ode Of welcome, while the music-hall bards
are sure to find in II a far too available