The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-12
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Lord Lurgan has announced the dis
covery of Volcanic capable Of resisting
electric current at a pressure of fifty
volts, ten times the resistance of ordinary
| vulcanite, and costing only a fraction as
much as that material. He also said that
| he could manufacture a valuable material
| for insulating telegraph wires, and make
| pulleys and wheels giving far better re-
I suits than any other aterial.
On tine approach of a thunderstorm
French peasants often make up a very
smoky fire in the belief that safety from
| lightning will result. This practice has
| generally been set down as mere spersti-
ton, but there is an underlying reason,
| based on scientific principles. This is that
| the smoke acts as a conductor and dissi-
pates the electric charge of the clouds
| slowly and safely. Tt is pointed out in
| standardization of this that of 900 cases
of damage by lightning 6.S per cent. were
| churches, S.5 mills, while the number in
factory chimneys was less than one-half
of per cent.
in quaint old cemetery at Bass Har-
| Dor, Me, lies an aged couple who were
noted in their life for their piety and their
| active interest in meetings and other good
works. The old gentleman, in his exhor-
| tation, would often speak of wearing the
| crown, while the old lady often spoke of
| poisoning as the rose. after the tomb
stones had been erected at their graves
with their names and ages duly chronicled
thereon, there appeared on his tombstone
| distinctly outlined the figure of a crown,
| while on hers appeared the figure of full
| blown rose. The fact is we'll authenticated
by many people who have visited the Gem
| etery on purpose to see the wonderful
sight.
The public schools of Brussels have
| their shortcomings, no doubt, but failure
to impress economy on the minds of pu-
pills is not to be numbered among them.
| says the Boston Globe. During a period
| of eight months the children were asked
| by their instructors to bring to school such
waste and apparently useless articles as
they might chance to find on their way to
| school. great collection was made, in
Guiding not less than 1925 pounds of tin
| foil, 200 pounds of metal scraps, AGO
! pounds of bottle capsules and old paint
| tubes that in the aggregate weighed 220
| pounds. AS result of the sale of this
heterogeneous gathering 800 needy children
were clothed and ninety sick children were
| sent to hospital and conYalescent homes,
while handsome remainder was distrbut-
ed among the sick and poor of Brussels
all due to this concerted effort in the line
of economy.
Some days ago the province of Mace
rata, in Italy, was the scene of an ex-
traordinary phenomenon, says the Golden
| Penny. Half an hour before sunset an
immense number of small blood-colored
! clouds covered the sky. About an hour
/ later cyclone storm burst and immedi-
ately the air became filled with myriads
| of small seeds. The seeds fell over town
! and country, covering the ground to a
depth of about half an inch. The next day
the whole of the scientists of Macerata
were abroad in order to find some expla-
nation. Prof. CARDINAL, a celebrated Ital-
ian naturalist. stated that the seeds were
of the genus Cercis commonly called Ju-
| dus Tree and that they belonged to an
order of Leguminosae, found only in Cen
trail Africa or the antilles. 1t was found
upon examination that a great number of
the seeds were actually in the first stage
of termination.
Moonlight effects in photographs, says
writer an Scribner's, have long been adj
mired by the uninitiated, and fully APP
preciated by both amateur and profess
sional photographers for their beauty, and
many plates, too have been spoiled by the
snap-ShotterS who have accepted moon
light as the real illuminators of these
views, and accordingly focused directly on
this beautiful orb of night. Moonlights
with the moon herself directly in evidence
are really sun photographs; that Is, pic
lures taken WITH II Idplu exposure, the
| camera pointed toward the sun generally
| in the late afternoon or early morning and
| with clouds between the lens and the d-
rect rays. Many charming so-called night
pictures are taken by making two expos
| ures a short one in the rapidly diminish
| ing afternoon sunlight, to get an impress
sion of buildings and other dark objects,
| and another longer one after dark to print
| in the gas and electric lights that line
the long street or mark out the roads
and winding pathways of city park.
Some one has recently sent an inquiry
in reference to the turquoise and the sap
phire, knowing only that both were blue
gems, but unable to state the difference be-
| tween them, says the New Orleans Times
| Democrat. The sapphire is a transparent
| gem, like the ruby, topaz and others. 1t
is blue, and next in hardness to the dia-
! mond. The sapphire is pure crystalized
| alumina. The turquoise is a hydrated phos-
phate of alumina 1t is also blue, like a
| piece of sky, but is Opaque, and comes
| mainly from the mountains of Persia. That
indefinable property like the water of
diamond, or the luster of pearl, is in a
turquoise called the Eat In the middle
| ages many superstitions were attached to
it, and virtues ascribed to it. 1t was said
to strengthen the sight, to save the bones
| in fall, to pale if the possessor was sick
| or died, but to recover its color when an
other owner took it. Most extraordinary
fancy of all, is was asserted that when sus-
pended by a string 1t was capable OF cor
rectly striking the hours in some mystic
| rious way on the inside of a glass Some
very beautiful specimens of turquoise can
| be seen in the national museum at Wash
ington, both singly and also incrusted on
| Persian boxes and bowls, as ornaments.
Modern science has brought to light
nothing more curiously interesting than
the fact that worry will kill, says Phar-
maceutical Products. More remarkable
| STILL it has been able to determine. from
| recent discoveries, just how worry does
| kill 1t is believed by many scientists who
have followed most carefully the growth
| of the science of brain diseases that scores
of the deaths set down to other causes
| are due to worry, and that alone The
| theory is simple one-so simple that any
| one can really understand it. Briefly put
| it amounts to this: Worry Injuries be-
yond repair certain cells of the brain, and