The morning news., 1897-07-17
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


England. founded in 1890, now has nearly
1900 fellows. In its library are about 10000
volumes and pamphlets, and 1t publishes
two highly important periodicals. The So
ciety is not merely the headquarters of
geographical science in Great Britain. Il
is virtually the headquarters for the
whole world, and was the leading infiu-
ence at the eleventh geogra phical con-
gress, held at Jena last April. where po-
lar exploration was the leading topic of
discussion.
-Landsmen who are slow to realize the
tremendous force of the sea had an OBJ
ject lesson ashore in this city the other
day when five large tanks, built to con-
tain 10000 pounds Of soap, but temporarily
filled with water, and situated on the
fourth floor of a large building on West
F'ifty-second street, this city, collapsed
and completely wrecked the whole struc-
ture, killing three men and doing a large
amount of damage, says the Marine
Journal. The tanks were each fifteen feet
high and about thirteen feet diameter
and contained 151, ,703 poinds of water, but
the floors and supporting beams proved
altogether inadequate to stand the strain,
A wave of the dimensions of one of these
tanks is not at all unusual at sea, and
when such a wave breaks on a vessels
deck the force of the blow can only be
estimated by the amount Of damage it
does in spite of the elasticity of the wa
ter beneath the vessel to ease her in re-
ceiving the shock. When the city firemen
state that a stream from a hose under
fifty pounds pressure will cut through any
ordinary brick wall, the force of the sea
in gale may be, perhaps, better imagined
William Stewart, an inventor, has al
most completed his dra wings and model
for a trolley wire air ship, and he expects
co secure a patent at an early date, says
a st. Louis dispatch to the New York Her
a.d. He looks for no trouble in interest
ing capitalists in his invention, because,
he says, he easily demonstrates that an
elveated trolley line is not only feasible,
but means increased speed and carrying
capacity at a minimum of expense. Stew
art thinks 100 miles an hour will be a low
rate of sped over a well equipped air ship
line. His plan is for the ordinary double
wire trolley, with the cars running over
head instead of below. His drawings rep
resent cigar shaped balloon, inflated with
gas sufficient to lift it and the passengers
or freight cars from the ground. -Four
wires, two in front and two in rear, serve
to hold the airship within short distance
OF the earth and supply the power to the
propelled at the rear of the ship. The
lower ends of the guide wires are attach
ed to set of wheels, which revoive freely
between the power bearing wires. There is
no danger of the trolley slipping off. The
imitation will be enough to cause slight
friction of the upper wheel against the top
power bearing wire. The upper wheel pre-
vents the airship from ascending further
than that certain length. Mr.. Stewart
estimates that the trolley line airship can
be operated at one-thlrd the cost of an
electric railway.
Considerable excitement has been Great.
ed on the south side by stories of biz
snakes having been seen at the Ferguson
bayou and near the mouth of the Flint
river, says a Saginaw dispatch to the Chi
cago Chronicle. Some of these snakes have
been killed and brought to the city The
species is unknown in this locality, being
all the way from four and one-half feet to
ten feet long, and of bright yellow color
with darker or brownish spots. The head
is small and fiat, while the body of the
smallest snakes measure over two inches
in diameter. What is more curious is the
fact that each reptile has a horn in It's
tail, varying with its size. The hunters
and men accustomed to working in those
localities are puzzled over the species of
snakes. and one man is authority for the
statement that they are a ''rattlesnake
guide" as they resemble that reptile
somewhat, only without the rattles They
make soft, ourring noise to give notice
Of their presence. They have been found
in pairs, but one manages to escape each
time. Four or five have been brought to
the south side during the week and one
measuring six feet is at Henry Lafayette's
shanty. where it has been viewed by
many. One theory is that they are natives
IF Kentucky, and We're driven from the
swamos by the spring floods and are
raveling northward. No one has yet
been bitten by them but they are sup
Sosed to be poisonous.
Boys in the east sometimes think
money a scarce enough article, but they
really know very little about it, compared
with what some of their cousins from thu
sar-off west could tell them saws the San
francisco Chronicle. There one often
goes for days without sight of even so
much as a nickel, and then the people re
sort to all sorts of queer devices to make
change" An eastern man, who had oc
caSion to spend many months in Montana
tells of having seen a man buy box of
matches with a watermelon, and receive
as change two muskmelons. Another paiG
for suspenders in turnips, and got a car
rot or two back with his purchase But Of
all the queer financial transactio thai
l have ever known" said he, 1.-THE oddest
came under the head of paying the fid-
der 1t had been noised abroad that a
dance was to be given little way up the
one of the boys and see the fun. After
going through the elaborate preparations
Of backing his boots and putting on o
collar, saw my companion go to the DO
tato bin and carefully select a dozen mic,
potatoes and put them into his pocket
No sooner had we arrived at the music
hall than he gracefully surrendered hi.
vegetables for an entrance ticket. But
what puzzled me the most was that upoT
coming out after dancing all night he
was given two onions as change l hav,
been trying to make up my mind ever
since just what that dance was worth in
the currency Of the realm"
Various plans have been suggested at
| different times for the utilization OF IN,
| energy developed by the rise and fall o.
the tides, but the intermittent charactel
Of the power has usually prevented any
satisfactory solution of the problem, say,
Cassiers Magazine. There is, however
one Instance In which tide power has been
| quite successfully applied in a very slmpl
manner. Along the river front at Liver
! pool there Is a tendency for the accumula
| ton Of all silt against the dock walls. re-
| quiring occasional dredging for It's remov.