The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-01
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

rats never gnaw hemlock. He keeps all his
grain in hemlock chests.
Thirteen thousand gallons of whisky
are said to be on the way TO, the Klondike.
That will certainly be good locality in
which 10 take the gold cure.
Kansas and Missouri are rejoicing in
big apple crops, while everywhere else in
the union the fruit seems to be scarce,
small, and of rather poor quality. New
York buyers are reported to be swarming
in the two states, buying up all the apples
in sight.
A judge down in Kentucky deserves
to go to the head of the class, says the
Philadelphia Record He charged a jury
the other day as follows: IF you believe
what the counsel for the plaintiff has
told you. you will give your verdict for the
defendant. But if you are like me, and
don't believe what either of them said, l
don't Know what you will do"
The famous Sphinx near the Pyramids
OF Gizeh was thoroughly Investigated by
Prof. Erman. who at a recent meeting of
the Berlin academy delivered lecture
about its probable age. Careful researches
show that it could not have been built pre-
vious to the so-called Middle Kingdom"
or about 1000 B. c. Between her front paws
there was originally the image of a deity,
all traces of which have at the present
time disappeared. For the building of the
colossal work more than twenty years
must have been necessary, even if 1900
men had been employed all the time.
As is well known. a frequent source of
"unaccountable" fires turns out to be, in
realty, the spontaneous ignition of vari-
m ia G or cd vii
oils and fats, says the New York Sun.
The following is considered a reliable list
of common materials of the class which,
when containing oily matters will, I'M
der favorable conditions oftentimes ignite
naturally: Waste, tow, rags, sawdust,
shavings, cotton and wooden cloth, roofing
felt, and in fact, ali porus combustible
bodies containing any oily or resiuous sub
stance having IN affinity for oxygen. All
vegetable and animal oils have more or
less affinity for oxygen, while those pro-
duced from the distillation of petroleum
and shale oils which oxidize in the air
most rapidly are the vegetable oils such
as linseed, hempseed, poppy oil, etc. Briefly
by far the most frequent sources of fires
from spontaneous combustion are those
which result from heat induced by the alb
sorbtiOn of atmospheric oxygen.
Additional information concerning the
method devised by A. f. Murphy of Es-
sex. England. for blowpipe work and in
atmospheric burners, and communicated
by him to Nature. An ordinary Bunsen
burner of special dimensions is employed,
with a very small jet for the gas-this for
the labora tory-and the burner tube is
covered with a cap TO exclude dust when
the burner is not in use. The acetylene
is generated under about seven or eight
will CT
pressure a perfectly clean flame of good
size can be obtained, the flame burning
steadily and noselessly, with consump-
ton of about one cubic foot of the gas per
hour. The flames are found to be possess
ed Of great heating power, one volume of
acetylene being for practical purposes
nearly twice as effective as one volume of
ordinary gas. This, it is declared, means
an immense saving of time in all heating
operations, and in many cases the use of
a blowpipe can be dispensed with. the
burner alone being quite hot enough for
small fusions and simple glass making
operations.
One mound in particular, a groined
columnar structure, was eighteen feet
nigh, says the San Francisco Call. This
was not far from Port Darwin. The dis
coverer believes that originally the mound
was conical in shape. The sides were
smooth 1t has evidently been in use for
many years and the columnar effect no
ticeable, he believes, is due to the fact
that the ants necessarily travelling the
pathways up and down the mound pro-
duced the grooves that are seen, and re-
suited in giving the effect of a columnar
formation. The entrance to the mound,
examination showed, had varied in loca-
ton, for there was distinct evidence that
apertures of this sort had been walled up
in al iv1cf fpt vi 1~ Of n
mound referred to showed as much as
anything the remarkable instinct of the
ants. 1t was divided up very much after
the fashion of the tall buildings which
are now becoming so common, with an
immense court within the structure itself
that is, there were hundreds of tiny cells
built in from galleries, which were ter
raced one above the other. The galleries
were connected by paths of stairways,
each of these being constructed with
architectural eXactness. The cells were
almost uniform in size and reminded
one. the explorer said, of the cell of a
monk. The earth in each instance was
as hard and smooth as marble, and bore
evidence of long continued usage. A por-
ton of the ground floor or basement of
the mound had been divided up into store
rooms, and here it was evident the ants
had packed away the provender which
they had secured from various points
about. While natural1StS and students OF
the intelligence of insects and animals
have long been inclined to believe that the
ant exceeded in at least keenness of in
stinct all other creatures of its kind, il
has never been conclusively shown until
demonstrated by the just-made announce
ment of Mr.. Saville-Kent.
The aristocratic French palmist, who
created terror in the Italian court awhile
ago by seeing omens of revolution and
disaster lined out on the hands of Italy S
royalty and nobility, has just visited
London, and tells very different story
of what she discovered there, says the
New York Times. Good luck and good
fortune, she says, are written all over
English hands. Those of the men, it APP
pears, are firm, strong, little red, with
square fingers, that indicate punctuality,
practical common sense, energy and activ-
ity. There is also written on them hon.
esty, and no one who is acquainted with
the English business man can fail to
have respect for his word. AS for the
English woman, the palmist says that
they have long thumbs, always indicative
of strong will, a quality which forms a