The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


The battering-ram, the ancient substi-
tute for artillery, was Invented about 40
b. c.
The distance from the farthest point of
polar discovery TO the pole itself is AGO
miles.
Profanity is forbidden by both the
army and navy regulations of the United
States.
In Austria Christian witness is sworn
before a cruciix, between two lighted can
dies.
According to the official forecast the
wheat harvest of Australia for 1895 will be
l,5So,oOO bushels in excess of that of 1897,
and there win be a surplus available for
export Of 2.225,C0O bushels.
The Queens footmen wear wigs which
have eight rows of curls, whereas those
of the Prince of Wales are allowed seven
rows, and those of the lord mayor of Lon
don are given six rows.
AT the battle of Atbara a number of
Italian rifles were captured from the derv-
ishes by the Egyptians. The Italians lost
them to the Abyssnians in 1887, and the
Abyssinians in turn to the dervishes in
1889
-One important Wall street commission
house recently borrowed 100000 for six
months at per cent. 1t has been in bus
mess for many years. and never before
was able to borrow so much money at so
low a rate for so long time.
In Manila most of the houses have tiny
window panes, made of translucent oyster
shells instead of glass. An average window,
six feet high by four feet wide contains $50
shells, which temper the heat and light
of the sun and prevent blindness.
The British government laboratory last
year analysed 1889 samples of so-caNed
Temperance" drinks. Of this number over
one-third were found to contain more
than the per cent. of alcohol allowed by
law. Some of the samples contained as
much as to per cent.
BY the latest extensions of the long
che merchant whom a tardy vacation
keeps in his house at Bar Harbor will! be
abe to converse with his agent in Austin,
the capital of Texas, by the banks of the
Colorado, $500 miles away"
When a traveller in the grand duchy of
Baden wants to send a telegram while he
is on the train he writes the message on
a post card with the request that it be
wired, puts on stamp and droos il into
the train letter box. AT the next station
the box is cleared and the message sent.
-Apropos of the agitation on the sub
ject of cheaper postage between this coun-
try and Great Britain, it is pointed out
that the cost of a first-class ocean passage
between this country and Europe averages
about 500 The charge for conveying the
same weight of letters as the passenger
weighs is $lS7.
-Ptomaine poisoning due to the inges-
ton of unsound fish destroyed nearly a
whole family in Florence not long ago,
and infective pneumonia communicated
from parrots became well nigh epidemic
in Genoa till the Uftizio d Santa stamped
it out by veto on the harboring Of such
household pets.
An English defaulting bank manager,
who had eluded the police for three years
by staying in a seaside village near Ply
mouth, has been discovered by a strange
accident. While strolling on the beach
with a young woman watching the war
ships, a sailor on board a cruiser, who
happened to come from the town whence
the defaulter had absconded, looked
through a telescope, recognized him and
informed the police.
Harvard University is to have its much
needed infirmary at once. By the gift
of $4,000 from James Stillman of New
York city to cover the cost of land and
a building for sick students and immediate
building of the infirmary, which has been
under discussion for several years. is as
suFed. The infirmary will bear the name
of the donor, who has made this gift I'M
hampered by restrictions. In addition Mr..
Stil.man will contribute annually for four
years the sum of 2,5O0 toward the sup
port of the infrmary.
Switzerland differs from other coun-
tries in many things, and one of the most
remarkable is the way in which its par
liamentary debates are conducted.
Swiss member of Parliament can express
himself in French, German or Italian. and
the privilege is freely used. When the
President of the federal assembly speaks
in German his remarks are translated by
a secretary in close proximity to him. All
the laws and resolutions, before being vot-
ed upon, are drawn up in French, German
and Italian, and every official report is
published in these three languages.
The first attempt at scientific forecast
ing of the weather was the result of
storm which during the Crimean war,
Nov. IA, 1854 almost destroyed the fleets
of France and England. AS a storm had
| ragged several days earlier in France Vail
liant, the French minister of war, directed
that Investigations be made to see if the
two storms were the same, and if the prog
ress of the disturbances could have been
foretold 1t was demonstrated that the
two were in reality one storm and that its
path could have been ascertained and the
fleet forewarned in ample time to reach
safety.
1t is a well-known fact, says the New
York Herald, that the cables which unite
Europe with America are connected on the
little island of St Pierre Miquelon The
quantity of electricity circulating for this
reason through the narrow strip of earth
which icla hoe