The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-20
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


more, $l5,O00.0J0; of Chicago Sl2. coo 900; of
St Louis, 100000, and of New Orleans,
$l5,0O0000.
Statistics of life insurance companies
show that in the last twenty-five years
the average woman's life has increased
from about AZ to So years, or more than
per cent. In the same period mans life
on the average has increased in length
per cent.
Remarkable reports are current about
new kind of steel invented by Maxim at
his experimental laboratory in Maine. The
inventor believes it Identical with the an
clent steel of India, which is alleged to
have been far superior to any steel made in
these later days. 1t is said that a small
blade of the new steel cuts a piece of
glass as though it were chalk.
The Bertillon scheme of identification
is being resorted to in the case of persons
other than criminals. A large number of
men in business that takes them away
from home have voluntarily undergone the
Bertillon ordeal so that in case of sudden
death away from home their families may
have positive means of identifying their
bodies, which might be disfigured:.
DR.. Ranke of the German Anthropol-
ogical Society recently undertook to de-
scribe the physical characteristics of the
earliest men as ascertained from an ex-
animation OF prehistoric graves. They
were of yellowish color, he says, and had
coarse hair. Their heads were peculiar
ly shaped, the part of the skull that con
tains the brain being large relatively to
the face. The doctor believes the first
men originated in Asia.
In a paper lately read before the
French Society of Civil Engineers an in
teresting report of some experiments with
pneumatic tire and ordinary wheels was
made. The first experiment was made
when there were two inches of snow on
the ground, also when the snow was melt
ing and when the ground was muddy.
Other tests were made in pulls of VARYING
speed over macadam, paved and ordinary
roads. In all of these the pneumatic tire
wheel showed saving in pulling power of
from 30 to 90 per cent.
1t is stated that in Western Australia
there is in operation a process of extract
ing gold from ore by which every part-
Gle of the gold is saved. Gold quartz is
crushed into small Jumps and is then nut
into closed chamber, subjected to the
heat of furnace, to the action of water
and hydrogen gas This takes out the sui
phur and reduces all oxides to a metallic
state. After being heated the material is
cooled by sudden jets of water. This on
Grafton is repeated till the quartz crumbles
TO powder at a touch of the finger. Then
it is thrown into a tank and the gold sep
arated by washing.
The introduction of steel mantels is
being largely favored by builders in the
construction of dwellings. In these, all
the surface below the slab is composed
of 2-gauge wrought STEEL pressed into
the desired shape or style by heavy ma
chlnery, the outside surface being enamel
ed to initiate any kind of wood or marble
the nature of this enameling being such
that the material will Withstand all chang
eS OF temperature without injury. OF the
advantages pertaining to such mantelS, in
addition to their economy, prominence is
given to that of diminished weight as
compared with the slate or marble mantel
"a To fhn MIA 81
latter weighing, say, some 400 pounds
while one of steel weighs only 100 this
also including seventy pounds for the slate
slab which is supplied with the metal man
telpieces. Such mantels hold their shape
II the house settles, as there are no Joints
to part; they are fireproof, and act as a
radlator OF the heat, instead of absorbing
1T.
Before the English occupation of ia
maica the island was in the hands of the
Spaniards, who left the record of horrible
cruelties behind them. In museum in
the city of Kingston, capital of Jamaica,
| is preserved a human skeleton and by its
side is an iron cage, made to fit the human
form. This dreadful instrument of tor
ture is really an iron shroud so construct
ed as to closely fit the human body and
surround 1t in its deadly embrace After
1.4e body had been laced within the frame
the neck was confined by bands, so that
II could not be moved a fraction of an
men. The feet were placed in stirrups
Soles, causing intense agony; the hands
were crossed in front of the waist and
gives placed about the wrists to prevent
thelr moving. The cage was then suspend
ed 10 the branch of a tree and the occu-
pant either starved to death or was stung
70 death by insects. The skeleton in the
hlngstOn museum was found some years
ago EMBEDDED in the earth a. the foot of a
tree in its iron shroud and the bones were
found to be those of a woman.
1t appears that the sun has always
been in the hair bleaching business and
stands at the very head of the trade,
though the fact has only lately been dis
covered. An English physician recon-
mends bright sunshine as the best means
OF making the hair light-colored healthy
ana strong and says that all sailors agree
that hair grows very rapidly in the trop-
les. tair-halred mariners out-number
tilelr dark-halred shipmates by nearly
three to one. which is said to conclusive
iy prove that the sun bleaches hair To
know a mans character study how his
ndlr grows is the latest advice of the stu
dent or character. The method applies
particularly to youth and is recommended
20 anxious mothers of small boys The in
structions given are as follows: Fix volr
eye on central spot at the back of the
mead and should the hair start from a cir
grow IN widening circles, firm in form
and regularity, then you can be sure that
the BOY Will always be far from an imbe-
Gle. The growth of the hair i'm the man
ner indicated shows the lad to he nossess-
ed OF good intelligence and that as the
years go on the brain development viii be
gradual, thorough and sufficiently great
IN amount to insure plenty of ability 10
Dattle with life. When the point of
starting is not in the middle of the head
put farther up toward the crown II de-
notes eccentricity. The color texture and
prittleness of the hair havel ong been CON
sldered guides to the owners tempara
nent and physique, but the study OF the
mar growth as a revealer of character
IS an entirely new idea.
r Talbot Kelly. the English artist who
Illustrated Slatin Pasha's Fire and Sword
IN the Soudan," has written a. paper for
the February Century. which he calls "Tn
the Desert with the Beduoin." MIR. Kelly
mas drawn a number of striking nictures
lor the article: A bit of his description is
as follows: Night in the desert is very
solemn. Surrounded by these sandy wastes
iheltlng IN the gloom, the silence of nature
Is almost painful, and the occasional howl
o. Jackal or neigh of horse only serves
10 accentuate the succeeding Stiffness
while the wonderfully rare atmosnhere
makes the stars appear of such unusual
slIS ana nearness that one feels Oppressed
Win a. sense OF lonely littleness | am or
zen asked now / occupy my time I'm The
qesert. My reply is, Painting Everv-
h.,