The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-06
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The relation of the gas burner to the
gas bill is much greater than many people
suppose says an exchange If flame is
of improper shape the result is often
! broken globes, poor illumination, large gas
| bills. and a complaint of poor gas. Many
believe that by using small tip they
are practicing economy. This is an error.
| one of these tips is capable of consuming
large quantity of gas while producing
| small flame, unless the supply is check
! ed by not turning on full. "A small con-
/ sumption of gas does not necessarily fol-
low the use of small tips A smooth even
| flame without points, gives the best re-
| suits in both light and economy.
A colony of 100000 dairymen ants is
said to have been discovered on the wes-
| tern border of Chester county Pennsyl-
! Vania, says the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
| These insects subsist on honey secured
from the tiny aphides, which live on
| grape vines and rose bushes. These yield
single drop of honey when disturbed.
| The datryman ant pats the aphide, the
| greedily. The frightened aphide is dis
turbed until its supply of honey IS eX-
hausted, when the ant seeks another store
house. The head and chest of the ants
| are bright red the abdomen black. Their
homes are mounds ten feet high. Each
mound is said to contain several castles.
The aristocracy have wings, and are
about siX-sXteenths of an inch long. Their
| exclusive task is to raise the young. Next
are the workers. They are shorter and
without wings.
Capt. Bernier of Quebec, who is plan
ming an expedition to the north pole, went
| to sea at the age of Y years, and became
master OF a sailing vessel when only
| little over II years old. He has sailed in
! ftty-nine different ships, and has visited
every part of the world though now but
| so years of age. Before being appointed
| governor of the Quebec jail, he was super
intendent of the government grading dock
| at st Joseph de Lewis. Arctic discovery
| has been his special study as a hobby for
! many years, and he has expended nun
| dreds of dollars upon books and reports
| bearing upon attempts to reach the north
| pole. Like most navigatorS who have as
| sumed the task, he has perfect confidence
in his. ability to reach the pole If assist
ance is given him. He wants to leave
| Quebec about May next, if that port Is
| selected. but if the start is made from
| England it should be month earlier.
With legacy of 100000 francs from a
loving daughter, our sister repub-
| lie France, says the New York Herald,
| has erected on the rocky shores of the
| Gulf of Saute Nome, upon the point of
| Penmarch, in Finisterre, the lighthouse
| of Eckmuehl, to which the patriotic Gaul
points with pride, for if you believe him 1t
| contains the most powerful light in the
| world. 1t is a solid, imposing pile, and the
! great electric light and powerful Tense in
| its tower would be Incompatible were II
| not that the United States lighthouse de
| partment is soon to place in the tower OF
] Barnegat on our own Atlantic coast.
| veritabie midnight sun-the biValvuiar
! light lately exhibited at the Tennessee e&-
! position, which, if it does not excel, eX-
perts believe viii equal in power the mon
| ster beacon of Finisterre. The French
/ government asserts that the new hghL,
! when intensified by a flash through the
| big bullseye tense, IS of 36,6DOO0-candle
/ power; that it has a greater power OF H.
| Elimination than the four largest beacons
/ in England combined; that if the surface
| of the earth were fat it could be seen at
a distance of 100 miles, and that it really
| shines out Ike the sun to a sailor In the
| crosstrees twenty-one nautical miles away.
Some interesting experiments and re-
searches into the ability of water to eX-
ercise a destructive influence on iron pipe,
| which have recently been made in Europe,
| have yielded results not generally expect
| ed says the Philadelphia Record. II has
| been ascertained that waters containing
| little lime, but an appreciate quantity
/ of dissolved carbOnic acid, were observed
to exercise a solvent action upon the iron,
| and the course of the action was traced.
a known, quantity of iron filings was
placed in each of three vessels, which
were respectively filled with ordinary riv
er water, aud the same water after car
bonic acid had passed through it for few
minutes and after the addition of suff
cient lime to just neutrahze the carbOnic
acid. The vessels were sealed by mercury
| from contact by the air, and after a lapse
of a certain time the iron dissolved in
| each case was determined In the first
case the water had dissolved about 0.O003
per cent; in the second 0.62 per cent,
while in the third only traces of iron
! could be discerned. The water in the sec
ond case was clear. but on standing ex-
| posed to the air ferric oxide separated.
| It was therefore. inferred that waters
containing carbOnic acid and very little
lime dissolved iron as ferrous carbonate.
The latter is then decomposed by the oXy-
gen of the air and ferric oxide is depos-
tied and carbonic acid formed. The latter
can again attack the iron, and thus water
containing little carbonc acid may have
a powerful action upon iron pipes.
of immense Importance for the health
~ T0a1a ic tbe of
state medical system, says the New York
Independent. Thirty years ago there
were only seven official physicians in the
whole of Iceland. Under the new arrange
ment the island will be divided into forty
two medical districts, each with a regular
physician. A salary, varying in amount
in the different classes, is attached to the
position in addition 10 patients fees,
which latter are regulated by government
ordinances, and there is a pension But
when one thinks of the enormous distances
to be Travelled on cold, dark winter days
and nights there seems to be no occasion
to envy these Icelandic country doctors
their salaries and pensions. These great
distances and the small number of ply
sicians are in part responsible for the
very slow increase in the population of
| Iceland. DR.. Ehlers the Danish leprOsy
specialist, in one of an interesting series
of letters from Iceland, published two
years ago, states that large families are
the rule in Iceland, a family of from
fourteen to eighteen children being by no
means unusual He adds that of this
number of children frequently not more
than three or four reach maturity the
majority yielding to Group, the common-
est infantile disease in Iceland The con-
diton must be very similar to that i'm New
England 200 years ago. There must be the
same pathetic suggestion of infant sacri-
flee in Iceland country churchyards as one
sees in the little gravestOnes of a New
England village with a past
The words weight. of a body" are Of
ten and incorrectly used for mass of
body says the Chicgao Inter-Ocean. The
latter means the quantity of matter it
contains. This idea has nothing to do
with weight, which, at the earth's sur
face, is the attraction the earth exerts
on bodies surrounding 1.-THE resultant of
the action of gravity over all the particles
of those bodies. In the same place all
bodies from which support is withdrawn
fall in the same direction, which is call
ed the vertical The vertical is directed
toward the center of the earth, as if the
whole mass of the earth were cOncentra-
ted at its center. The weight of a body
IS greater as the body is nearer the earth's
center Weight, or, as is generally said,
gravity, bs less at the top of a mountain
than at it's foot and at the aouatO- than