The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-09
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

simple IRE eXtinSulsherS can be pro-
duced by anybody at a slight cost says
Technische Berichte. Dissolve 20 pounds
of common salt and 10 pounds of salam-
noniac in 90 liters of water and*fll the
mixture in quart bottles of thin glass The
extinguishers thus prepared are highly
suitable 70 smother small fires The bot
ties, which should be securely corked up
and sealed, to prevent hescontents from
eVapOrating, are thrown into the flames
of the starting fire or its immediate vicin-
ity with enough vehemence to cause them
to break
Not least among the promising re-
sources of the Philippines is a curious
natural product Several vegetable
growths appear to possess the faculty of
secreting mineral concredons in all re-
spects resembling certain familiar pre-
cious stones. The famous James Snlithson
was the first to give any real attention
to these curious plant gems, but. though
there can be no doubt of their authentic
ity, neither scientist nor merchant has
followed his lead One of the jewels. The
bamboo opal, rivals the best stones in its
delicate tints of red and green, but il is
among the rarest and 1000 stems may be
cut up before a single specimen be found
Electric sterilization of water has been
successfully pracuced in Germany. The
water taken from the Bruges canal at
Schoorebrugge is first filtered in the usual
manner through beds of different kinds
of sand, and is finally pumped through
steriiizers, being there subjected to the
influence of an electric current at a pres
sure of 1000 volts 1t is stated that by
this means all traces of microbes are en-
tirely destroyed and the pure water is
distributed to the inhabitants Of Blahken-
berg by means of the system previously
in use. About $4,000 cubic feet are treated
per day in summer, this volume falling to
about 10000 cubic feet per. day in winter.
The electrical installation has an output
of fifty-ffve horse power.
"A medical scientist is authority for
the statement that children and old peo-
pie especially suffer from a lack of lime
in the system. Persons who habitually
drink soft water while they may enjoy
immunity from certain of the ills of life,
expose themselves to others perhaps quite
as much to be avoided. Hard water helps
the teeth and the bones by furnishing
lime, which is necessary to health, growth
and development. Old persons who drink
but little lose their teeth more quickly than
those who take a reasonable amount of
drinking water. Lime or food products in
which it abounds should be a part of the
regular supply furnished to the system.
One of the most valuable vegetables for
this purpose is the yellow turnip or ruta-
baga.
The first paper mill in Montana will
soon be erected at Manhattan, in that
state. The material to be used in the man.
ufacture is the white barley straw grown
in the Gal,atin valley, thus utilizing a
product of the state which heretofore has
gone to waste. The plant will be the only
one of its kind in the United States, as
at the present time there are no paper
mills in this country converting straw into
pulp and paper. In Russia there are a
few mills of this sort while Germany has
more than 100 mills which manufacture
pulp and paper from the German barley
straw. The Germans export to this coun-
try annually upward of 5000 tons of straw
pulp, on which they pay a tariff of IS a
ton, placing it on the American market
at cents a pound
"A chronograph has says the Deutsche
Uhrmacher Zeitung, been invented which
is said to excel by far ali former achieve
ments in this field, and to admit of meas
uring one-millonth part of a second and
even smaller spaces of time. The appa-
ratus is based on The following principle:
At the end of a tuning fork of a very high
number of vibrations a hole is provided,
through which a pencil of rays falls upon
the case of a revolving cylinder whose cir
cumferentiai velocity is thirty meters per
second. In consequence of the quick vibra-
ton of the tuning fork and the rotation
of the cylinder, the said luminous tuft de-
scribes upon the cylinder, which is doubt
less covered with paper sensitive to light,
curve whose dimensions correspond to
certain particles of time
Bavaria has been shaken by law
case involving The rights of the beer drink
er and the decay of beer drinking. A man
entered the Augustiner beer hall in Mum
ich and asked for a pony" (one-Guarter
iter) glass of beer. The waitress brought
him half liter glass, which he refused
when he was told that the proprietor
would not sell a smaller quantity The
man was a lawyer. He brought suit and
had the proprietor fined 10 marks. The
case was appealed The lessee of the
Hofbrauhaus gave testimony that till this
decision was given no person in the his
tory of his establishment ever dreamed of
asking for less than a half liter of Hof-
brau. The court nevertheless gave judg-
ment that landlords are bound 10 deliver
goods in as small quantities as is reasona-
bic, charging a fair price, and that a our
ter liter even of Hofbrau beer is a rea-
sonable quantity.
Every individual who lives to grow up
has in all probability asked. at some time
in his life, says Harpers Bazaar, what be-
comes of all the pins that are manufac-
tured and lost. An old gentleman in Lon
don has prepared himself to answer The
question. By a series of experiments con-
Quoted in his back garden he has discoy-
cred that they go the way of ALI flesh. and
are resolved into dust Hair-pins, which
he watched for 154 days, disappeared at
the end of that time, having been resolved
into a ferrous oxide, brownish rust which
was blown away by the wind as it form
ed; bright pins took nearly IS months to
disappear; polished steel needles. nearly
two years and half; brass pins had but
little endurance; steel pens at the end of
baI