The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-23
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


ized in 1867, after the great fire to desig-
nate where sewers, drains, etc, should be
placed in the section to be rebuilt, the
commissions powers were from time TO
time extended until IL had charge of fix
ing the tax rates, caring for the streets and
these great powers now revert directly to
the municipal corporation of London.
Manchester has a strange subject of
interest at present. The spike-studded
ball which surmounts the town hall is said
to be the third or fourth highest architec-
tural point in England; and keen-sight-
ed person recently noticed that a large
bird was hanging from it, pierced through
the body by one of the northern spikes.
The bird, which some say is heron, 9TH
erS an eagle, must have been flying SOUTH
ward over the city at a tremendous rate
of speed, and, not seeing the ball, owing
perhaps to misty weather, have come into
terrific collision with it.
According to a recent London estimate
only about 5000 American tourists visited
the English capital in the course of the past
season and this is regarded as a very poor
catch. The average tourist from 'the
states" we are told, scatters about $1,000
while making a three-months' trip in Eu-
rope. This multiplied by $1,000, makes $685.
100000, and of that amount it is believed,
gets more American money than London
does, not because more Americans go
there, but because the French capital wins
the trade of all the women, and this is both
larger and more profitable than that of the
men, to whose needs and tastes the Lon
don shops more especially cater.
The Australian mollusk is of two kinds
the mud oyster and the rock oyster, says
Chambers Journal. The former grows to
a larger size, but the rock oysters is more
generally esteemed for flavor. Their name
indicates their place of growth. The rock
oysters love the beds and adjoining rocks
of tidal streams. They grow in clusters,
in a variety of shapes and sizes, and each
cluster is attached to something solid.
Here they are alternately bathed in salt
water and in fresh or brackish. They are
also left for hours high and dry until the
incoming tide refreshes them. Nor do
these oysters always select rocks on
which to dwell. These accommodating
mollusks may frequently be found adj
herring to the roots and lower branches Of
the mangrove and other trees which de-
light in a sort of submarine residence. 1t
is doubtless to this popularity that the
sailor referred when he wrote to his moth
er at home, telling the old lady, and rot
untruly, that in Australia oysters grow
on trees
DIR. Schwartz of Berlin has come to the
conclusion, says the London Telegraph,
that marriage is the most important factor
in human life conducive to longevity, as Of
200 persons who attained the age of forty
125 were married and seventy-five single.
At sixty the proportions were forty-eight
to twenty-five; at seventy, twenty to
eleven, and at ninety, nine to three. Among
fifty centenarians not one bachelor or
spinster could be found, nor for the matter
of that, one married couple-all these VEN
cradle individuals being widows widow
ers. 1t may be urged, says Business, that
these statistics only prove the numerical
superiority of married folk, but DR..
Schwartz declares the rate of mortality
for husbands and wives between the ages
of thirty and forty-five to be IS per cent,
whereas unwedded persons perish at the
rate of % per cent. Marry early and mar
ny often appears to be the worthy doc
tors advice to all who desire long life.
"A curious phenomenon was presented IN
the northern heavens shortly before 4
o'clock yesterday afternoon, says the
Morning Oregonian. Looking out of a win
dow in the law offices of Snow & Mecca
mant there appeared. looming skyward
above the Kamm building, an exact repro
duction of the Worcester block The pic
ture was complete in every detail, giving a
wonderful presentation of the building,
suspended in mid-air. Above it were rang
ed a series of floating Clouds to the left
Mount ST. Helens could be plainly seen,
while to the distant right Mount Hood, in
all the glory of it's new winter raiment,
stood out boldly against the horizon There
seemed to be some peculiar atmospheric
conditions prevailing, and the mirage, as
it seemed to be, held its place for twenty
minutes, to the astonishment and delight
of those who were privileged to gaze upon
it. Had there been but one to see it, his
story could well be taken with more than
usual allowance, but the discoverer of the
mirage, losing confidence in himself, called
the attention of others to the phenomenon
and, much to his relief, found that he was
not laboring under any form of optical il
fusion.
The bagpipe, whose stirring music fred
the blood of the Gordon Highlanders as
they scaled the nights of Dargai, enjoys.
though it is not generally known, the
unique distinction of having been declared
by a court of law to be IAN instrument
of war" In an early volume Of the Scots
Magazine we find it reported that on the
18th of November, 1746, James Reid of
Angus was tried for taking part in the
rebellion. 1t was proved for his defense
that he had never carried arms of any
kind, but, on the other hand it was shown
that he had for some time officiated as a
piper in a Highland regiment. 1t is not
unlikely that he had been pressed into the
service, for we are told 'he behaved very
devoutly, prayed fervently and sang part
of psalm. Notwithstanding these most
untraditional piper traits, however, the
the court found poor Reid guilty of high
treason, and sentenced him to suffer the
punishment which that crime involved 1t
was held that Highland regiment never
marched without a piper and, therefore
his bagpipe in the eye of the law, was
an instrument of war" There is little
wonder in the face of such a decision
that Penhant, when he came North later
in the century, found the "bagpipes be-
coming scarce"
Readers of the Pail Mall Gazette do not
require telling that silk is heavily
weighted" with chemical dyes, but few
have any idea to what extent this pernic-
ious system is carried out, says the paper
named. DIR. T. L. Phipson throws a little
much-needed light upon the subject. AT
the request of a lady visitor, whose hus-
band was in the silk trade, Dr. Phipson
recently undertook to make an analysis of
a silk blouse, the results of which have
now been made known. The silk analyzed
is described as having been of a fnadi,nn