The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Everyone who enjoys sitting by a wood
fire says the st. Louis Republic must have
observed how the wood sputters and
Kisses and frequently gives off little jets
or flames and again the pieces crackle
and fly off at a considerable distance.
This caused by the water in the wood,
which, confined in the cells becomes
heated and generates steam. 1t is curl
GUS fact that intense heat and intense
cold produce fractures in tarious SUBJ
stances. In the most extreme cold
weather it is not uncommon. especially if
the cold has come on suddenly, to find
trees that are split from the 81 ound to the
top by the action of the frost. Freezing
expands the water in the cells of the
wood, and so suddenly is this done that
the trees burst as would pitcher or
mug in which water was confined.
John Babcock, an old resident of Cali
en-, Mich, is dead, after fast which
probably breaks all records, says the Chi
cago Record. He had not tasted food since
October last MIR. Babcock was in a run
away accident a year ago and received in
juries which affected his head. In October
he became worse, and for some reason
which the doctors cannot explain he could
not eat a mouthful of food Every effort
was made to give him nourishment, but in
vain, and finally the medical men gave up
his case of hopeless and left him to die.
He continued 10 live, however, week after
week, without food until death came after
he had gone $50 days without a morsel OF
| food having passed his lips. About two
months ago Mr.. Babcock's skin began to
harden, and to all appearances it was turns
ing to bone. At his death his body was
hard and did not seem ever to have had
drop of blood in ii.
Speaking of the peculiar avocations of
| the Sunday 1t is worthy of note how
strong was the old-time superstition
| against secular employment on the day
that should be kept holy Strange were
| the divine punshments inflicted upon the
/ sinner who should dare to do servile work
on that day. At one place in England
carpenter who made peg and weaver
who remained at his web after Y o'clock
| on Saturday night We're each smitten with
| the palsy. A man baked a cake at Nasur-
ia 10 the early hours of Sunday, and it
| bled ali of that day A miller who kept
! his mill going was obliged to stop because
of the blood that flowed from between the
| stones. 1t is even recorded that to save
mans life on that day was worldly en-
| ployment, therefore a sacrAege. A Tewkes-
| bury Hebrew fell into a sink on the Sab
| bath, and so great was his reverence for
the day that he would not permit himself
| to be drawn out. That was on a Satur-
1 day The following day the good Earl of
/ Gloucester would not permit the man to
be taken out, because il was his Sunday.
| Between the two the unfortunate man re-
manned in the sink till Monday. He was
dead long before that time.
There are certain regulations not pre-
cisely enforced, but admitted by custom
in England in regard to treasure trove'
BY an old law one-half of a treasure be-
! longs to the state. In January last, on a
farm near Penicuck Midlothian, DR..
| Badger found cache of old English
coin. In the lot were Edward I and
| Edward II pennies of the following
minis: London, 101; Canterbury 81; Dur.
ham, IS; Bristol, 5; st. Edmundsbury. I.
Newcastle, 4; Lincoln, q; York with quat-
! refoil on the reverse, 2; Exeter. /; Kings
ton-upon-EIull, l; uncertain, l. broken,
2. Edward Irish pennies Dublin, 4; Wat
erford, 3. Alexandria III pennies, two null
let's of six and two stars of seven
points, 3; four mullets of six points, i;
Robert the Bruce penny, l. foreign, ster-
ling, l. A person who accompanied DF.
Badger also forwarded fifty-eght coins,
but among these were no fresh mintages,
although one of the Alexander III pen
MES showed four stars and seven points
| The Queen and that august persona e
called the lord treasurer remembrance
took their allotted share, which was one
half of the find. and handed over to Dr.
Badger what was left. This treasure trove
now finds its place in the British museum.
The cal1ewalk properly had it's origin
among the French negroes of Louisiana
more than a century ago, says the New
Orleans Times-Democrat. There is little
fI,ot IL ;e
old French country dances. 1t resembles
several of them in form. From New Or
leans it spread over the entire South and
thence North. 1t was found of convent
ence to the plantation negroes. They
were not welded by license and it was
seldom that the services of a preacher
were called in. At a cal1ewalk a man
might legitimately show his preference fer
a woman and thus publicly claim her for
a wife. In effect the cakewalk was rot
different from the old Scotch marriage
which required only pubic acknowledg-
ment from the contracting parties So this
festival became in some sense a wooing,
an acceptance or rejection and a cere-
mony. This explains its popularity with
tine blacks, outside of its beauties with
the accompaniment of music, which is
competent at all times to command negro
support Cake walking has improved, as
10 IuOSl liliSS ludl are constantly pf1C-
ticed 1t has lost its old significance in
the South. Negroes now get married, when
they marry at ALL in the white folks ia sh-
ion. 1t has, however, become a pantonime
dance. Properly performed, it is a beau
tiful one. The cake is not much of a prize,
though the negro has a sweet tooth.
The rudder of wooden ship is COM
posed of the stalk and the backing, which
are so Joined together as to form in effect
a single piece, says the New York Sun
The complete rudder is coppered, to pro-
tect it from worms, and then, besides be-
ing practically all in one piece it has that
appearance also. The stalk is the part
to which are attached the pintles, or plvors.
by which the rudder is suspended and
held in place, these going through eyes set
in the ships sternpost. The stalks runs
up through the stern of the ship, and to its
head is bolted cap to which are attached
the ropes by means of which the rudder is
controlled. The backing Is the blade pa RI
of the rudder. By far the greater strain
comes on the stalk, and the greatest strain
of all comes on the head of the staik-the