The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-30
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

stands about seven feet high and though
the case is of inexpensive cedar the works
are very fine, and the pendulum and the
dial are highly ornamented. One peculi-
arity of the mechanism is that it strikes
twice at every hour, the second time just
two minutes after the first.
The old, merry rhyme, 'tGirls and boys
come out to play is said to date back to
the time of Charles II, in whose reign
Lucy Locket lost her pocket" is supposed
to have had it's origin. Sing a song of
sixpence" is traced back to the sixteenth
century. Pussy cat, pussy cat, where
have you been?" is of the Elizabethan
period. Little Jack Horner" is probably
as old, and London bridge is broken
down" is of unknown antiquity.
The White Star Liner Britannia, a
short time ago, arrived In the Mersey from
New York, after passage occupying only
seven days, eight hours, despite her two
hundred and fftieth round voyage to and
from New York and her five hundredth
passage across the ocean. This means
that she has travelled a distance of $50
times 600 nautical miles, or more than
10000 statute miles without renewal of
engines or boilers, a performance probab-
ly. without parallel in the history of steam
navigation. She has carried 81, 1000 saloon
passengers and 165, 500 steerage passengers.
Under steam 114OO0 hours and 1O6,SOO hours
under way, she has consumed 513, 900 tons
of coal, and her engines have made
$50, 900 revolutions.
One of the most tragic pictures of his
tory is presented in the assassination of
King James 1 of Scotland, says the Pitts
burg Dispatch. The King was at supper
in Dominican convent at Perth. The
place had been surrounded by the con-
sprators the night before, of course, I'M
known to the King, who was without even
a body guard. Walter Straton, one of the
Kings cupbearers, having found occasion
to leave the room, found the passage way
filled with armed men. He tried TO give
the alarm, but was killed in his tracks.
Catherine Douglass, one of the Queen S
maids, then tried to bolt the door of the
chamber, but found the bar gone. Hesitat-
ing not a moment but thrust her delicate
white arm through the staple. 1t was of
no use against the maddened rush of the
assassins. In a moment GATHERINGS arm
was shattered to pieces and the door hurst
open. Patrick Dunbar was killed in at
tempting to defend his sovereign. The
Queen also received several wounds. King
James fought desperately, but was at last
overcome. AN examination of his body af
ter death showed no less than twenty
eight wounds.
Dogs was the favorite food all over
America at the conquest says the Pail
Mall Gazette. Spanish chronicles agree
that the breed approved everywhere was
hairless, and Humboldt did not disdain
to look into the matter critically. He
found a hairless breed in Peru and Cen
trail America and two in Mexico. They are
very like the common chow chow, black
and shiny with hair only ON the face and
fba fin of the tail (tIavioaTO fiJ11raS tho
variety, so famous still in his time, which
Montezuma loved. But Humboldt, with
the courage of German research, does not
hesitate to declare him mistaken. Claw
gero's dog is the large naked beast called
Xotlotzcuintl-this would be its pet name
Now xotloti means servant. or, as applied
10 animals, tame. How could the~ use
such a word as that for an eatablG dog?
We give it up, but, as a mere suggestion
it seems worth while to ask. what zcuinili
means, because that might possibly ex-
plain matters However, the small, hair
less variety is called Techichi, and chichi
is Aztec for "to suck" Evidently this is
the correct strain. Whatever its name or
breed, the Mexican dog must have fur
nished plat of supreme excellence as
dressed by the Aztec cooks; all agree on
that point. Bernal Diaz had strong pre-
judice against it, but after one taste he
owned it Irresistible. While Montezuma
was kept in honorable captivity those
unutterable Williams, his murderers, re-
ceived their daily ration from the palace,
An they always exacted a dish of dog.
The oak cradle in which Mary Queen
of Scots was rocked is very handsome and
well preserved though it has passed
through many vicissitudes. says the Pail
Mall Gazette. She was born Dec
1912, at Idn1ithgow palace, which
was the favorite residence of
James V. of Scotland, and his young
wife, Mary of Guse. The royal father
never saw his child, for he was on his
death bed at Falkland palace when she
came into the world. The palace at Lin
lithgow was burned by Gen. Hawley's
Dragons after they had been defeated by
the Highland army under Bonnie Prince
Charlie in 1916 and the oak cradle was
most likely looted and got into the
hands of a woman who used it for her
own babies and passed it ON to her children
and children's children. From her grand
daughter it was, states a writer in the
Culver, obtained about sixt years ago by
Mr.. Joseph V. Patton, well-knoWn Scot
fish antiquary of Dunfermline, who made
a fine collection of antique furniture His
daughter Mrs. d. o. Hill, gives the follow
ing account of it: "a man whom my
father employed to look out for any old
carved IN the nelSlDOrnOO0 OF
palaces went into a house near Linlithgow
palace, where a woman was rocking a
child in an old oak cradle without one of
the rockers. The man said, what are We
doing, jumblin' your BARNS judgement in
a thing like that? She answered him, Eth
mon! de We no ken that was the Queen
cradle? He said, You'll be asking a lot
for it?' She replied, I wouldna tax a
pound note for it, The man, on his return
told my father about this, but thought the
woman was asking too much for it, My
father went off at once to LnIithgow,
and gave the woman good price for it.
and it has been in possession of the family
ever since.
The word toast" used for describing
the proposal of health in an after-dinner
speech, dates back to the medieval times.
when the loving-cup was still regarded as
an indispensable feature of every banquet
says the Chicago News. The cup would be
filled to the brim with wine or mead, in the
center of which would be placed piece of
toasted bread. After putting his lips there
to the host would pass the cup to the guest
of homer seated on his right hand, and the
latter would in turn pass 1t on to his right
hand neighbor. In this manner the cup
would circulate round the table, each one
present taking a sip while drinking toward