The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-04
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The pleasure Of reading a letter, says
the Chautauquan. depends upon the ease
with which one follows the thought, and
the necessity for any efforts mars the en-
joyment and the sense of personal com
munication. This being so, the handwrit-
ing is of prime Importance. Nothing can
be more exasperating than an indstinct,
illegible letter, along whose highways one
must toll and struggle, never quite sure
of being on the right track or of having
arrived at the proper destination. There
is absolutely no excuse for infiicting such
discomfort on ones friends, and it is far
better to take refuge in the characterless
productions of the typewriter than to put
friendship to such a strain.
The story has been told that Vanderbilt
once dismissed an officer for gross miscon-
duct and dishonesty, but the only legible
part of the document being the signature
the man used it for years as free pass on
the railroads. Another. case 1 have per-
sonally known. A letter containing quite
full business details was received by a
man in a small community in Western
New York. He managed to decipher the
body of the letter with some approach to
assurance, but uch-underscored post
script defied his Interpretation, assisted by
the united wisdom of all his neighbors.
The conundrum was finally submitted to a
young lady visiting at the place and re-
ppted to be skilled in tongues, who imme-
diately translated it; ''P. S. Be sure you
keep this matter a profound secret" The
writer had only received his just deserts
in having his secret put at the mercy of a
whole neighborhood.
Pearls are named according to their
eli he rrs,
very large are called paragon pearls;
when the size of a cherry, cherry pearls:
medium are called piece pearls; smallest,
dust pearls. The oval and long are term
ed pear pearls, while badly formed specl-
mems are known as baroques. The value
of pearls varies, of course, with the quail
ity and general colors, but the piece, seed
and dust pearls always have a market
price The cherry and paragon are sold
on an entirely different basis. If many
fine ones are on the market at a time
they may be had at reasonable rates.
Some years they bring almost any price.
The last two years, especially, the deal
ers say, there has been a great scarcity
of fine pearls, although there is no falling
off in the supply of the small stuff. When
a pearl exceeds one karat in weight it is
sold separately. Under that weight they
are sold in parcels, and become less valu-
dust pearls collected average about 5000
to the troy ounce, and are at present rat
ed at about SO per ounce. If, on the con-
trary, one paragon weighing an ounce (or
80 karats) was on sale, it would bring any
amount from $4,000 to $20O,OOO according
to quality.
Canned peaches, at least seventy-fve
years old, which, like wine, seem to have
improved with long standing, were a feast
a few days ago for the family of Charles
Zellman of Haddington, says the Phladel-
phia Record 1t was while digging with
fellow workmen for the cellars of a row
of new houses on ground that was once
part of the old Dalton farm that Zellman
struck his pick into a cavity. Investiga-
ton revealed a sort of stone-lined well
not more than six feet deep, which had
been covered over and concealed. There
was a foot of clean cold water at the bot
tom, in which stood an old-fashioned
glazed earthenware jar, with the lid seal
ed tightly on with wax. 1t was not with
out some difficulty that the jar was open
ed but it was finally done by forcing it
with the edge of a spade The men had
expected to see treasure of some kind and
were surprised, not to. say disappointed
when only bright yellow peaches met their
gaze. The fruit was perfectly preserved.
Zellman claimed the prize by right of dis
covery, and his family devoured the con-
tents of the jar, about two quarts, with
out regard to historic value. Close by the
covered well is the now leveled site of the
old Dalton farmhouse, abandoned early in
the present century. How the good wife
who put up the peaches happened to for
get them in the spring is more than can
be told, nor does Zellman greatly care.
"A correspondent whose veracity has
L.
London Mail, writes from Ha-Flong, in
Assam, relating a story of the recent
earthquake there, which is best given
without further comment than the above
testimonial. 1t is as follows: 1.-TWO resi-
dents of Ha-Flong were out shooting rhi-
noceros forty-eight miles from the sta
ton. They had been following up the
spoor of one of these pachyderms, and fin
ally came upon it quietly browsing in q
valley. The first sportsman, waiting his
opportunity, took careful aim, and was on
the point of firing when the quick-witted
animal spotted him and charged. Just as
the shikar pulled the trigger the earth
began to trembe violently, and the bullet
missed it's mark The marksman was
thrown to the ground by the rocking of
the earth crust, and the rhnoceros, Wab-
bling about throgh the same cause, charg-
ed on its helpless victim. But Providence
into which the pachyderm fell and was
engulfed At the time of the animal be-
ing swallowed up by the gigantic earth
crack the sportsman's companion fired at
the beast, but the oscillation made his aim
so bad that he shot his already PROSTATE
friend, and when the smoke cleared away
could scarcely believe his senses. which
told him the rhinoceros was defunct How
ever, sportsman No summoned some
hill men, and, improvising a dhooly, or
stretcher, had his wounded companion car
ried in to Ha-Flong, where he is at pres
ent being attended to by the resident sur
geon and brought slowly back to life by
the nursing of his fiancee."
When w. J. Bryan was on his unprece-
dented speaking tour, says on exchange.
he tried cold compress, a cold gargle and
hot gargle, and cough drops and cough
cures in endless profusion. Finally he
abandoned all remedies, and found his
voice In better condition during the latter
days, without treatment, than il was
earlier in the campaign A voice sneoial