The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

~ men the DyakS OF BOfneo wish to IND
out which of two parties is in the right
they have two bumps of salt Of equal size
gwen them tofdrop into water, and he
whose lump hrst dissolves is deemed 10 be
in the wrong. Another method is TO put two
live shellfsh upon a rock, one for each lit
igant, and to squeeze Hmejuice over them.
The verdict is rendered according to which
mans mOllusk stirs FIRST.
There seems hardly any limit to the age
of fish of many kinds. Carp are known to
have lived 200 years and over, whilst the
case of the Russian pike that was caught
a few years ago with a gold band round
his tail on which the date 1916 was imprint
ed is well known. There are goldfish that
have belonged to one family over sixty
years, ana do not now appear much larger
than when originally placed in the aqua
rum, though they are every bit as Lively
as ever. In the Royal Aquarium of St.
Petersburg there are fish to-day that are
known to have been there at least $50
years. Some OF them are five times as big
as when first captured; others have not
grown an inch.
Carnival confetti have decided a Gu
rious point in Paris sanitation. Opponents
of the sewage farm system at Acheres had
declared that the drainage ia the city was
50 SLOW that it took two or three weeks
ton at Clichy, and that the fermentation
going on in that period was dangerous to
the health of Paris. At Easter, this year,
a great number of the paper pellets, called
confetti by the Parisians, that should
have been used for the carnival We're
thrown about the street. The main boule-
wards We're swept at 3 o clock in the morn
ing of the next day, the confetti going into
the sewers. and before Il they began TO
appear at Acheres. BY noon the sewage
fields were covered thick with them. The
passage had taken about eight hours, the
sewage travelling five miles and the fer
mentation theory was knocked in the
head.
Green gutta percha is extracted from
the leaves of the rubber tree, and is said
to possess the same properties as that OBJ
tanned from the old incision process, with
an increased strength and nerve which
permits the extension of it's use TO indus
trial and commercial applications former
~ known, and furthermore it requires no
expensive cleaning, which has heretofore
increased the price from IS to % per cent.
1t is very plastic, exceedingly strong, can
be made into thinnest sheets. takes the
most delicate and exact impressions in
moulding, resists the action of water and
the most powerful acids and when worn
out or broken is worth . per cent of its
struction OF submarine cables by the
French administration of posts and tele-
graphs, as superior to all others in point
of capacity and Insulation and for any
needs 10 be pointed out.
An ancient tomb has just been found
under one of the streets Of Genoa. In
side, a large vase of the form known as
crater vases was found, though unfortu-
nately, broken into several pieces 1t
seems to have served as a funeral urn
and was about sixty centimeters in hight
and magnifiently decorated. Numbers of
pearls of great value are set on the edge
OF the vase, and around the sides are
drawn in red on black many figures of
priests and warriors The date assigned
10 the vase is the third century before
Christ. In the same tomb bronze water
vase was found, extremely elegant in
shape, and apparently of Greek origin. 1t
as thought probable that before the exca-
Yations are finished other tombs of a sim
liar nature VIII be discovered, as some
Years back a group of tombs of the Ro-
man epoch was brought to light at Ge-
noa, not far from the spot where the pres
ent discovery has been made.
The initiation ceremonies of the natives
of Australia have in recent years receiv-
ed the attention of number of anthorpo-
logists. The latest paper upon the subject
deals with the initiation ceremonies of the
Arunta tribe, Central Australia, and is by
Prof Baldwin Spencer and f. J. Gillen
C'Proceedlngs of the Royal Society of Vic
tOra," vol. X, issued May, 1889. 1t may be
recalled that an account of the Engwurra
ceremony, as performed by the Arunta
tribe, appeared in Nature a year ago. The
Engwurra is not passed through until prob
ably the native has reached the age of at
N. Int Il. r.,,T. i
pressive ceremony is preceded by others,
beginning a about the age of 10 or y.
through which practically every Austria
liam native has to pass before he is admit
ted to the secrets of the tribe and regarded
a. a fully developed member of il. 1t need
hardly be pointed out that authentic re
cords, such as are given in the present
paper, of ceremonial rites of aboriginal
tribes are of increasing scientific value
even though the significance of the rites is
not understood.
Nevada elects a congressman this year.
its solitary member in the House of Repre-
sentatives, says the New York Sun. His
district is variegated one, geographical
ly politically and otherwise It includes
a land era Of 10000 square miles. The
district is 49, miles long and 80 miles wide.
1t has a lake 6,000 feeT above the level of
the seq and a mountain peak 1900 feet
high. The whole voting population of the
dis strict is less than 10000, made up, rough
ly speaking. of 700 Democrats, 1900 Repub-
hcanS, 1900 POpulIsts and 5000 silver men.
Nevada is one Of The states an which a BIZ
partisan division of election inspectors be
tween the Democrats and the Republicans
would be representative of not the two
chief, but the two minor, parties Mr..
Newlands, the present representative OF
Nevada is a native of Mississippi, was
a11r b al (fo1Iaun 4 Il