The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

| strument which are not gen.
orally known, and which are of a
/ good deal of interest says the Boston
] Transcript. One of the most peculiar of
/ these is the question of the length of tube
4 which the mercury in the bulb of an ordi-
| nary thermometer would fill If 1t were all
/ stretched out in a single column the size
| of that in the tube. Most people, when
1 asked how long this would be, would prob
4 ably say from five to fifteen feet, while
/ as a matter of fact, this column of mer-
/ curry would in an extremely delicate in
strument be miles in hight. The reason
of this is that the column of mercury,
| while il appears quite large, is really of
/ almost nfinitesimal size. II the tube of a
! thermometer is broken one is at first at
a loss to see where the mercury goes in,
/ but a close examination will disclose a
| fine line, much thinner than a hair, run
! ming across the end of the tube, and this
! is one end Of a little slit in which the mer-
curry rises. AS it has its fiat side toward
! the eye, it appears TO b quite large, and
the convexity of the outside of the tube.
| through which it is seen. magnifes it and
! gives it that rounded appearance which is
4 so deceptive. The reason why the slit is
made SO small is to give the greatest ratio
of result for the expansion of the mercury
in the bulb.
in San Francisco the old street cars,
retired from active service since electric
| ity has come into use, have been turned
into summer homes, small Conservatives,
| children's play houses and fruit stands,
says the New York Independent. But one
man of an original turn of mind did better
! than this. He bought four of these cars
at SIS apiece, and loaded them on a pontoon
| at the water front The pontoon is a fiat
| boat, or lighter, and has been used in dis
| charging cargoes from vessels. Its deck
| dimensions are Sc by 81 over all. On this
| pontoon he firmly fastened the cars, mi
nus their running gear, so that they became
| part of the boat. They are so placed
and partitioned that they make two large
and airy rooms, IS by "a, with small room
| for bath, Closet and kitchen. In each
| of the large rooms four double hunks are
| placed, and in the bathroom a cot is kept
| for the use of the servant. Each of the
| sleeping apartments is nicely curtained
| off by a canopy descending from the cell
! ing. The rooms are thoroughly furnished,
| are roomy, and as the centilators have not
| been removed, there is always a good sup
| ply Of fresh air. The windows are sup
piled with bright curtains, and the arch
| ed roofs and end hoods have not been re-
moved Around the outer edge of the pom
| toon there is a stout railing of hempen
| netting, and there are davits for small
gasoline excursion launch, and also three
| sets of them for a corresponding number
| of rowboats. The view from either side
| or end of the pontoon, or ark, as it is call
| ed, is very fine, and the structure is as
good in its way as an observation car on
| land. This curious house boat cost $500.
and is rented for the season, being towed
to some picturesque cove across the bay.
Most of the people who sit down to
their dinner table are accustomed to re-
gard a large part Of the chinaware, silver.
ware and table linen before them as of
foreign make but it seldom occurs to them
| that many of the vegetables placed on
their tables are also of foreign extraction,
| says the Washington Star. 1t does not
| often happen that the vegetables them
selves were brought from without the
| country, but in g. majority of cases the
| seed from which they are raised were
| imported from France, Germany, England
or Denmark. Nearly all the asparagus
| seed sold by seedmen in this country come
from France. Beet seed generally are
from France and Germany Half the
| cabbage seed come from France and the
other half from Germany. All the best
caulifoWer seed come from Denmark
Half of the celery seed on the market
are from France. France and Germany
| furnish about all of the carrot, tress en-
dide kales, parsnips, parsley. radish. rhu-
| barb satisfy, spinach and turnip seed. The
| United States is able to furnish the mar
ket with seed for beans about half the
cabbage seed the chief of varieties of eau
! lifiower, some celery, all the sweet corn,
| cucumber, egg plant, leek, lettuce, musk
| melon, watermelon, onion, pumpkin,
| SQUASH tomato, tobacco and seed for field
| crops. Nearly all the flower seed sold in
| this country is imported. The importa-
ton of vegetable and flower seed is chief
ly for the reason that they can be brough;
into the country cheaper than they can
| be raised here though in some cases it
is claimed that the foreign seed give bet
ter results than those raised here. It is
likely in the future that more of the seed
used in the country will be raised at home,
as the pending tariff bill contemplates a
duty of 40 per cent. ad valorem on all
| garden seeds imported. Previously the
duty has been but 10 per cent. Last year
100000 bushels of peas came into this
country from Canada, the duty being but
20 cents bushel. The tariff bill pending
doubles this duty. A good many agri-
cultursts think that the placing of a duty
on beet and radish seed, the former be-
ing so extensively cultivated for sugar,
will work an injury rather than a benefit
to them, as IL Is claimed that such seed
cannot be produced in the United States
with good results.
An invention which promises to be OF
very great military value has been per-
fected by A. u. Alcock of the Australian
s. W, says the New York Sun. 1t is an
ingenious contrivance, worked by electric
currents. for finding the position of YES
sells in the vicinity of fort. The resources
of the world in this respect up to the pres
ent have been limited to two or three APP
planes. One, known as the Watkin po-
sition finder, works only within certain
lines. There is another system known as
Fiske, but this, besides being limited In
range of operation, is cumbersome and
SLOW In application. The new invention
as far as its application has been Illus
trated a small scale model. is controlled
so easily and swiftly. and Is worked with
such eXactness. that it's adoption would
render the position Of any vessel in hos
tile waters one Of exceptional danger. A
number OF military men. on Invitation OF
the inventor, were treated 10 a practical
illustration of it's working recently IN sgd
ney, one man, Ia a perfectly secure posi-
ton on shore, can sit or stand at the tele-
scope. and by simply turning and elcva T.
ing or depressing the same, In accordance
with the motions OF the vessel. can cause
to he indicated on discs. placed one to
~, la.