The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

and light hair are destined to disappear
within 200 years. More brunettes than
| blondes find husbands. The ratio is such
that the descendants are becoming darker
in complexion.
The inhabitants of the lonely isle of St.
| Kilda were astonished one winter not long
| ago at the appearance of the great blood
red, conical object floating on the wild
| Atlantic pillows to the westward of the
| isle, says Household Words With much
| difficulty the derehct was brought to
| shore, and as the ST. Klldans had never
| before seen such a queer looking thing,
and could make no guess as TO its pur-
poses or place in the scale of created
things, they INDUCED in wild visions of
| its valuable nature. But when the factor
| came across on his yearly visit from the
neighboring but distant island of Great
| Britain, he identified it as a great iron
buoy, which, it subsequently appeared,
| had broken away from its moorings in
| New York harbor and drifted in the Gulf
stream across the Atlantic 1t had taken
two years in its passage.
The portable searchlights which nave
been dispatched to Cuba with the army of
| Gen. Shafter will be of great value for di-
| recting the aim of the heavy guns by
| night, for gathering the dead ana the
wounded left on the battlefelds at night
| and for many other purposes. but cXpe-
| rience shows. that no great reliance could
| be placed on their use for signaling pur-
| poses. In 1895 the searchlight of The
| United States steamship Maine was loan
| ed by the navy department to the weather
| bureau for temporary use in Chicago, IN
| experiments designed to test the efficiency
| of such a means of distributing warnings
| Of coming important weather changes. The
| light, which had lens of so inches diam
| eter, and a candlepower of about 100000,
| was erected at an elevation of 30 feet
| above the level of the street It was used
| but once, in giving a warning of a coming
| cold wave, the light being slowly revolved
at the rate of one revolution in five min
utes. Although the night was dark and
| cloudy, the signal was seen twenty miles
| off, but it was finally determined that
| searchlight signaling was too much ce-
| pendent for its efficiency on favorable
weather conditions TO become generally
| practicable
A study of paper-making with view
| of ascertaining the relative durability Of
different kinds of paper, has been made by
| the English Society of Arts, says the st.
| Louis Globe-Democrat. The society finds
| that while papers have come down to
| US from the middle ages in perfect con-
| dition of preservation, on the other hand,
| there are many instances of the total de-
| struction of books produced within quite
| recent years. The trouble with modern
| books seems to be that they become dis
| colored and disintegrate; and both these
! faults are caused by the way the wood
| pulp is treated There is chemical
| change of the fiber. Although a large
| proportion of the books now being print
| ed will have become useless before the
| middle of the next century, there is no
| reason why durable volumes should not
| be produced where sufficient care is taken.
| The Society of Arts tells how this can
| be accomplished. % Book paper should
| be sized with a minimum quantity of rosin;
| (2) the presence of starch is objectiona-
| bic; 90 care must be taken that paper
| should contain a minimum of chlorides,
| (D 10 per cent. of total mineral constiu-
| ents is the outside of what can be allowed
| in papers for publications of permanent
| value; and 90 a close and well-cOmpacted
sheet is especially necessary for printing
| papers. For book papers for publications
| of permanent value, not less than 20 per
| cent. of cotton, fax or hemp should be
| used; not more than 2 per cent. of rosin,
and not more than 10 per cent total min
eral matter.
In time leap year will go out of exist
ence entirely" explained an almanac come
puter, to the Washington star, but
as it will not occur for over 800
| years, we haven't much personal interest
| in the event. In the ordinary course of
events 1900 would be leap year, but it will
| get left in the calculation. In other
words, while it does occur, it does not oc-
| cur, simply because it is not in the agree
ment that it shall occur The story is
| long one, but 1t can be briefly told, so that
| the average person can understand it
| without much difficulty. In 1882, in the ar
| rangement of the Julian calendar, ten days
were dropped so as to get things running
| on the then new, but the present basis of
o
| running right it was determined that
year ending a century should not be bis
| sextle, except every fourth century. Thus
| there was no leap year in 1900, 1900 or 1900.
| 1t is, or at least was, rather rough on the
| ladies, who have a special advantage in
| leap year, for it is the only year that it
| is proper for them to propose themselves
| in marriage, but as it has always been so
in matters affecting womanknd, men al
| ways find reasons for restricting their
| privileges. The ladies get left again in
| 1900, but though there will not be many of
| those who see 1900 who will see 2000 the
| latter year ending a fourth century viii
| be a leap year. In this way three days are
| retrenched in four centuries, and the re-
naming seven days will be made up in
| little over 500 years. After that calendar
| years will be like solar years and future
| errors in the calculation of time will occur
no more. Thes4pss of leap years will in
| thousands of years affect the seasons, but
I suppose the mathematician of The cen
| turtles hence will be so flip in handling fig
| ures and making calculations that they
win have no difficulty in keeping things
going correctly.
Jules Lemaitre, a most accomplished
classical scholar, of exceptional attain
ments In his knowledge of Latin, has re-
| Gently written two articles in the Paris FL
| caro- setting forth al length his view that
| the study of Latin is a waste of time, saws
| the Portland Oregonian. Lemaitre who
| stands in the front rank of Frenchmen of
superior literary power, says that he owes
| the formation of his heart and mind to the
! Bible, to Montaigne, Pascal, Rousseau,
! Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Michelet,
Sainte BeuVe, Tame and Renan He CON
| fesses that he Is ignorant of the English
! language, spoken by one-half the world
and his German is simply pitiable Lemai-
| tire grants that the study Of dead Ian
guages is useful as an exercise of the mind