The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-22
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


probably in the world, is situated in the
southwestern part of Louisiana, says the
Knoxville Tribune. 1t extends 100 miles
east and west. 1t was purchased in 1888
by a syndicate of northern capitalists, by
whom it is still operated At the time of
its purchase its 100000 acres were a vast
pasture for cattle belonging TO a few
dealers in that country. Now it is divided
INTO pasture stations, or ranches, existing
every six miles The fencing is said to
have cost about $4,000. The land is best
adapted for rice, sugar, corn and cotton.
tract-say, half a mile wide-is taken,
and an engine is placed on each side. The
engines are portable and operate a cable
attached to four plows. BY this arrange
ment thirty acres are gone over in day
with the labor of only three men. There
is not a single draught horse on the en-
tire place, if we except those used by the
herders of cattle, Of which there are 49,,
600 on the place. The Southern Pacific
railway runs for thirty-six miles through
the farm. The company has three steam
boats operating on the waters of the es-
tate of which 300 miles are navigable 1t
has also an icehouse, bank, shipyard and
rice mills.
"A remarkable cave was recently discov-
cred by parties who were doing their as
sessment work on a group of claims on
Cow mountain, near Cripple Creek, Col.
A man was picking in the bottom of Ten
foot Hole, when suddenly his pick went
through the rock into what proved 10 be
a great cavern. Rocks dropped into the
hole struck bottom in about two seconds.
The men got a rope and fastening it Sc
curely above descended to explore the i'm
mense cavern, which proved to be a VERT.
able StorehouSe of ice. Stalagmites and
stalactites of pure ice stood like cypress
trees from the floor and hung like ghostly
fringe from the ceiling. Exploration was
not carried very far, as a yawning abyss
was encountered at a distance of abo-t
fifty feet from the entrance. Chunks of
ice thrown down this abyss could be heard
rafting and clanking on the sides, bat
never sound OF the bottom be ng touched
Photographs We're taken by hash-hght
and the pictures reveal the ice in crystal
condition, forming most fanciful figures.
An effort will be made to open the cave
to a more thorough exploration. The
chamber where these pictures were taken
is seventy-five feet high and about fifteen
feet wide. Beyond this the cave widens
into what is yet an unexplored subterra.
mean world.
in the June number of the North
American Review Mr.. Lewis Nixon, writ
ing of the Military Value of the Ship
yard,' says of the fact that British ships
now carry more than seven tenths of the
worlds ocean-borne commerce: This is
a source of absolute tribute from all ma
tons to Great Britain amounting to near
ly $500, 600 900 a year, every cent of which is
cash on a gold basis This immense
financial achievement is accomplished
and secured by Great Britain through its
long-continued aid to British shipbuilding
and ship-using, says the American Econ
omist. Mr.. Nixon says the British ship
yard is the keystone of the arch of the
fra II hos oil
regarded. There is no record of the pur-
chase of a warship from a foreign yard
by the British government, and while we
have been eXpendng $40, 800, 656 on our new
navy Great Britain has expended $541-
10000. Only $40 per cent. of this sum
has been expended for wages in the gov
eminent dock yards and gun factories,
so that the sum of $507 ISL 200 went to the
encouragement of those British industries
which aid shipbuilding. Under this COM
parison an expenditure of five on their
part to one on ours, through fifteen years,
no one can wonder that England has
usurped our old position as the shipbuild-
er for foreign nations.
DIR. Sheffield, a missionary at Tung
Chow, has invented a Chinese typewrit-
ing machine. which possesses many re-
markable qualifications, says the ST. Louis
Globe-DemOcrat. He made the model him
self, but sent the parts to a factory in
Connecticut, where they were made in
metal and put together The instrument
is a great success, and will relieve both
the foreigners and the native Chinese
from the necessity of using a paint brush
and pot of ink in conducting their cor
respondence. The characters, about 1900
in number, are on the edges of wheels
about one foot in diameter. 1t requires
twenty to thirty wheels to carry all the
letters, and the operators must strike
two keys to make an impression. The first
key turns the wheel and the second stops
1t at the letter wanted, which is brought
down upon the paper by an ingenious de-
vice. The machine is very complicated.
but DR.. Sheffield expects to make many
improvements in the way of simplicity.
The difficulty of his task and the wonder
of his invention may be recognized when
1t is known that there are 1900 characters
in the Chinese language, each one of them
representing a distinct word There are
between 1000 and 5000 in common use
which he has selected and placed upon his
typewriter The newspaper vocabulary of
China involves fully that number of char.
acters.
DIR. Edward o. Schaaf of Newark has
invented an electric lamp and camera
for photographing the interior of the stom-
ach, says the New York Sun The inven-
ton is intended to assist in diagnosing
obscure ailments, such as cancer of the
stomach, and render unnecessary LAMAR
otomy. If the interior of the stomach"
said DR.. Schaaf in speaking of his in
vention, could have been seen by a pho
tographic process, the hazardous opera
ton of exploring the inner organs of the
abdominal section would long ago have
been replaced, a safer, simpler, and more
scientific method instituted, and more
cases successfully treated and better I'M
derstood. Two weeks ago l successfully
photographed the interior of the stomach
IN living person, obtaining a perfect
picture Of the pyloric mucous membrane.
In the experiment upon dogs anaesthe-
tics were used, but the pictures obtained
were unsatisfactory. The solution of this
lay in the movements of the stomach.
The organ assembled and descended with
the diaphragm in each expiration and in
spiration. This movement occurred also
In deep anaesthesia. The trouble was
overcome when the camera was introduce
ed into the human subject, the patient
holding his breath during the exposure
OF the film. No narcotics are required
in individuals. there being no pain con-
I'D uHat he.