The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-30
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

There are two natural enemies of the
| mosquito-the dragon fly and the spider,
says the Washington Star The latter,
as we know, wages constant warfare upon
all insect life, and where mosquitoes are
| plentiful they form the chief diet of their
hairy foe. The dragon fly is a destroyer
OF mosquitoes in at least two stages of
life. The larva dragon fly feeds upon the
larYa mosquito, and when fully developed
the latter dimes upon the matured mos
quito The dragon fly as a solution of
the mosquito pest question, is not wholly
satisfactory, for while there is no serious
difficulty to be encountered in the cult
Vatlon OF dragon flies in large numbers
yet 1t is manifestly impossible TO keep
them in the dark woods where mosquitoes
abound, the hunting ground of the darn
ing needle" being among the flowers and
dry gardens where the sunshine prevails
For this very importat reason the scheme
OF hunting one kind of insect with an
other must be abandoned as impractical
BILE
-Tetricus, the barbarian, was the first
gentleman to wear trousers. He had no
heart in the inauguration of the new fash
lon ne simply had to do it. Aurelian the
Roman, had captured Tetricus on one of
his raids and determined to carry him in
triumph to Rome as one of the spoils of
conquest To make the captive to appear
IN tWo-part garment, which in Boston
might have been called pants" Instead
of appearing ridiculous, Tetricus seems
to nave made "a hit" for the garment he
Wore slowly but surely grew in favor with
the people of Rome We might find the
origin of many customs in the same way.
1t Is known that Charles VII. of France.
wore a long coat to conceal his crooked
legs Not all the French were crooked
put coats Eccame fashionable neverthe-
less. The process by which Peter the
Great put civilized clothes on his unciviliz-
ed SUBJECTS had more method in it, The
gates or the towns were hung with gar
ments OF the new fashion and the people
were Obliged to adopt them or be publicly
punished.
-Macauley, the historian, says an ex-
change, always used to eat his Sunday
dinner alnoe and at restaurant. When he
had nnlShed, he generally built up pvra-
mid OF Wine glasses, which he delighted
TO see topple over. When he left the res
taurant he used TO pay literally for the
broken glass as well as for the dinner
Cowper, the poet, was a great hand for
pets. At one time he possessed a squirrel
a cat, two dogs, several canary birds a
starring, a jay, magpie, two guinea pigs,
three hares and five rabbits. Whenever the
soldierly Duke of Epernay saw a hare il
made him sick, and once he kept his bed
touched him. 1t is said that Rembrandt.
the great artist. loved his pet monkey next
TO money; that he shed tears when the
creature dled and painted a portrait of it
from memory Tradition hath il That
Phillip, the Duke of Burgundy, devoted
much OF his time to contriving trap doors
IN ms house and grounds for the pur-
pose of sousing unwary strangers in water
holes underneath them. Cardinal Richelieu
loved cats as much he hated children
When he died his faVorite Angora cat re-
fused to eat, and soon died also. When
travelling, Handel. the composer. used to
order dinner for three; if very hungry for
five, and then eat the whole himself. Pigs
were the favorite pets of Harris, the poet.
He used to teach them 10 follow him about
ana one of unusual intelligence he taught
to drink beer out of a mug.
Palestine, says the Spectator, is at pres
ent, as Matthew Arnold has said. a land
of sun, and arid stone, and crumbling
wall, and sultry sand,'' but there is no
reason to doubt that culture and irriga-
ton would restore it's fertility, and that
1t might once again overflow with milk
ana honey If only the means were secur-
ed whereby the work of reclamation could
| be begun on large scale. The German
| colonies there have done well, and there
are few parts of the land that would not
yield wealth. 1t has been objected that the
moueTn jew is rarely farmer, that he
prefers to work with his brains, to turn
money over to engage in speculative oc-
equations, rather than TO work with his
| hands. The fact is true in the MAN, but it
is capable of explanation through historic
causes. 1t is almost certain that we owe
agriculture to the Semtes, and it is certain
that the Jews were in ancient times an
agricultural people. Their exclusion from
so many arts in Western Europe their
confinement for centuries to a few callings
and to narrow areas, will sufficiently &C
count for their present speculative and
somewhat mercenary instincts 1t would
be a distinct gain to them morally and
socially, could a goodly proportion of their
race be induced to resume,
under happy conditions, those
healthy and primary arts of life in
which they engaged before the overflow
of their ancient commonwealth. One more
land reclaimed from Turkish poverty and
desolation would be a gain for the Jews
and for the entire world 1t is certain that
the Turk will do nothing with Palestine;
1t seems equally certain that European
riValries will prevent any one European
country from colonizing it; why may not
the true solution be found in Jewish colo
nlzation? The idea is attractive, and it
seems feasible.
The astronomers look for the next
great meteoric shower on the morning of
Nov. 49, 1892 says the Baltimore Sun.
They calculate that the Garth will then
pass through the center of an immense
swarm of meteoroids, as they are called
before combustion. These great "Leonide
Star Showers as they are called, occur
at intervals of every thirty-three years
and one day. The great shower of 1888
on Nov 10; that of 1866 on Nov a. and
consequently, a repetition of the next
wonderful phenomena is expected on the
morning of Nov. Is 1899. In the mean
While, however, as the aggregation of
meteoroids is of immense length one end
of it will encounter the earth in 1898 and
the other in 1900, making, as Prof Lewis
Swift, the distinguished astronomer, OF
Rochester, N. Y, says, considerable
showers in those years also. Not only
this, but it is stated on the same author
fty that many forerunners of the great
shower may be expected to come within
the earth's atmosphere on Nov IA, 1897, be-
cause many of the meteoroids are always
considerably in advance of the main clus-
ter. Prof. Swift says the thickness Of
the meteoroidal stream is 100000 miles
and the duration of the shower is equal