The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-05
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

springs, ana the surrounding mountains,
it is claimed are full of coal Samples
brought to Seattle proved on analysis 10
be Of as high a grade as any ever taken
out of the Pennsylvania wells.
The breeding of cells Is a mystery. No
body ever saw any of their eggs. The an
clients used to have a notion that cells were
developed from horse-hairs. Another theo-
ry was that they were the progeny of a
kind of beetle. 1t is now know that they
must spawn IN the ocean. Eels put into
land-locked ponds do not breed they must
go to the sea in order TO propagate their
species.
One Of the latest products of science in
Germany are sanitary Bibles for use in
the court and in notaries' offices, says an
exchange They are so constructed that
the covers can be washed and disinfected
1t being the rule that the Bible must be
clean when brought into use. Who here
after Is asked to kiss the Bible In court
need not be afraid that he thereby can
contract some contagious disease.
The New York papers have printed ac-
counts of the feat of woman who on
Sunday rode a bicycle for 200 miles being
the only survivor of the run" 1t is report
ed that she lost several pounds of flesh in
the ordeal; that her face was haggard,
plnched and painful to look at that her
stomach was disordered, and that she
looked ten years older after the awful
strain than she was when she began it,
An interesting discovery from a geolog-
ical point of view was recently made by
an explorer in the mountains of Whites
Hook Natal, says lie Genie Civil On the
summit of an extinct volcano on the edge
of lake that occupies the crater sound
lngs revealed a layer of sand inclosing
small diamonds II would be interesting
10 know whether these diamonds were
there accidentally-that is, as the result of
washing operations carried on by the ma
tives-or whether this discovery cores
ponds to an actual mine or diamonds for
the hills of Whites Hook are not situated
in regions known to be diamond bearing
On the last hypothesis the presence OF pre-
cious stones in the crater of a volcano
would doubtless throw some light on the
formation of the gems in nature.
The portrait of Cardinal d'Amboise.
made in 1924 by Nicephore Niepce and now
preserved in the Museum of Challons-sur-
Saone, is believed to be the oldest BIZ
tumen print on metal in existence, says the
Philadelphia Record. The son of Nfepce
describes how the plate was made. He
says: Il was a witness of the making of
the portrait of Cardinal d'Amboise. My
father spread on a well polished tin plate
Syrian asphalt mixed with DippePs oil.
ON this Varnish he laid the drawing to be
copied, which had been made transparent,
and placed it in the light in his apparatus
After a longer or shorter time according
TO the strength of the light he laid the
plate IN developing medium which caus-
ed the picture, which till then had been
invisible, to appear by degrees; he then
washed the plate and let it dry. After
this he laid 1t for etching in water, which
was more or less acid"
The United States marine hospital SER
vice, which will soon celebrate its CEN
tennial anniversary, is the most distinct
lively American institution in our country
says Joanna r. Nichols in Lippincott's
There is nothing exactly like it abroad,
and foreigners, endeavorng to compre-
bend its scope, are constantly confusing it
with the naval service. 1t is, on the con-
trary, one of the important branches of
the treasury department, and was estab-
lished, in 1888, in the interests of the mer-
chant marine, by placing a tax of twenty
cents month upon the wages of every
seaman employed upon United States yes
seis OF commerce, and using the fund thus
derived in affording hospital relief to their
sick and disabled. The nucleus of this
benevolent system was formed in Boston
by providing for the care of patients at
local hospitals and the appointment of a
sequenlty congress appropriated $4,000 for
the erection of a hospital building for the
port of Boston, but the first marine hos
pital owned by the government was OBJ
tanned by purchase. in 1885, and was loca-
ted nea" Norfolk. Va.
The item, obtained from all the local
committees, partly by telegram-with the
exception of some parts of the Province
OF Yakutsk-are now published says Ma
ture, and the population of the empire
appears from them as follows European
Russia, a. 1888, $50; kingdom of Poland g. 442
500; grand duchy of Finland diminish year.
ly census) 2,527 sol; Caucasia, 9,723 $50; ST.
IBERIA and Sakhalin, 5,73l 1872; the Kirghiz
steppes, 3,4l5 ia; Turkestan, with the
Transcaspian region and the Pamirs,
4l75,l 0l; Russian subjects in Bokhara and
Knivsiz, GAP Total, 129, 211 ll3 1t may be
said that although the percentage of
births is very high in Russia, it took near
ly fifty years for the population to double.
An English writer about Russia made
some time ago the remark that Russia
suffers from apolism, that is, from a
want of towns. This want has la tely very
much disappeared. There is now in the
empire no less than nineteen towns having
a population of more than 100000 tout of
which are two in Poland two IN Caucasia
and one, Tashkend, in Turkestan): thirty
five towns with populations from 5000
to 10000, and sixty-nine towns with pop
ulations of from $1,000 10 $1,000. St Peters
burg has already attained the figure of
1,267O2S and Moscow approaches the mil
lion (9SS, GlO).
1t is quite impossible to assign credit
for the first Idea of experimenting with
iron the strength of a wooden ship in
battle. We know the buccaneers of Morse
land ranged their bucklers along the YES
sells sides, and the Norman, as far back
az the twelfth century, ran belt or arm
allure Of iron around their ships, says
Leslie's Weekly. Similar expedients were
used in the crusades and a vessel plant
ed with lead figured In the expedition
against Tunis in 1885. When Il comes 20
a question Of priority we can go back to
Hampton roads and Kinburn, for the two
great principles which have rev
olutioned the naval warfare -
namely. the iron-pated floating
battery ana the revolving iron
turret-are American In origin The earli-
est recorded floating battery with iron
plates was designed by Robert Fulton IN
1914, and intended TO break the English
blockade OF the Hudson and Chesapeake
Congress- ordered IL lttilt bttt tn 80.