The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-12
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


was engaged in casting metal for the man
ufacture of ordnance az the WoOlwich ar
senal when he lost his balance and fell
into huge cauidron containing u tons
molten steel. The metal was at white heat
and of course, the unfortunate man was
utterly consumed in an instant. The war
department authorities held a conference
and decided not to Drofane the dead by
using the steel In the manufacture of ord
nance, and the enormous mass of metal
was actually inferred and a Church OF
England clergyman read the burial service
over it.
Every engineer knows what Manila
hemp is, but few are aware that it is the
product of a species Of banana, which is
cultivated in certain localities in the Phil
ippine Islands, says an exchange. The
plant, called by the natives 'abaca,"
throws up a cluster Of sheathing leaf stalks
to hight of 20 or 50 feet, which spread
out at the top into a crown of huge, I'M
divided leaves. When il is 8 years old, il
Is cut down, and the stalks are torn into
strips. These strips. while still fresh, are
drawn between a knife. and a wooden
block, and the soft cellulose matter is re-
moved. The fiber is then hung up to dry
In the open air until it is fit for USE Each
stalk gives about a pound of fiber, and
Two natives will turn out about % pounds
-
weak, is used by the natives for making
articles of dress. The familiar Manila rope
is made from the fiber of the outer layer,
which is hard and strong. The whole sup
ply Of Manila hemp practically comes from
the Philippines, and the United States con-
sumo IL per cent. of it, Last year this
country took AT 473 bales out of the S25,-
02O bales exported, Great Britain coming
next with 355, 1S2 bales. The continent of
Europe took Z2S7 bales.
john w. Gibson, principal of the pub
lie school at Fairbank, Tilghman's Island,
one of the veteran teachers of Talbot
county, teaches geography on a big OBJ
ject lesson scale, says the Baltimore Sun.
He has laid off on about a quarter of an
acre of the school yard a map of the
world on Mercators projection, showing
the continents and islands, the oceans,
seas, lakes and rivers, the mountains and
the valleys. The water for the waterways
IS mechanically conveyed from che over
flow of a Semi-artesian well near by
The natural lay of the land gives the plane
surface, the mountains are built up with
oyster shells, gravel and earth and sand
FROM the river shore has been spread to
show the deserts. The work is done to
scale, Mr. Gibson being a surveyor and
civil engineer of no mean capacity His
pupils helped him enthusiastically I'm the
work. The various minerals and vegeta-
bic products of TIVE different countries are
assigned to the respective places Mr.
Gibson does not claim that the idea of a
school yard map is original with him,
but the work, probably, has never been
done on so large a scale before. nor with
such attention to accuracy of detail. There
IS large enough scope to show the progress
OF the naval side of the Spanish war: con-
structing warships of tin and the bark
of the pine tree is not difficult: every
country boy living on the salt water can
white out ship with his jackknife as
easily as a factory can make a match
and when the daily newspapers come
what delight they take in changing the
positions of the squadrons, according as
The news warrants 1t. This is both con-
structlVe and applied geography, and
makes the maps and letterpress of the
textbook much more interesting and more
easy of comprehension. PRINCIPAL Glib
sons novel school yard attracts many
visitors.
Foreign engineering journals are devot-
ing considerable attention to the recent
trial of self-propelling vehicles held at
Paris by the Automobile Club de France.
says the New York Post. At the first of
the series of tests twelve carriages com
| peted, one of which had petroleum mo-
| tor, While the others were electrically
driven. M. Forester, inspector of the
| Points ct ChausseeS, conducted the trial
Which We're thorough to a degree, and ex-
tended over several days. On the first
| day the carriages were given preliminary,
| tests to determine their brake mower
| speed, facility for reversing and their
aDlllty to climb hills. A test of the brakes
| was made while the vehicles were running
| at run speed down grade of 10 per cent
and it was found that they could be
brought TO a stop in about fourteen yards.
! hs.n ffIre apaf ~ . 10
| tnree routes of thirty-seven miles each. in
which was included every possible variety
OF road. On the first day of these road
| tests some trouble was caused by the in
experience of the drivers and the exhaus-
! ton OF the accumulators, but after this
! all ran without accident and with great
| regularity, with an average speed of from
! thirteen to fifteen kiometers per hour
| (elght to ten miles, approx mateiy). The
! petroleum motor seems to answer for priv
| ATE Nehlcles for use in the rural districts
! but its odor is thought to work against
its general use in large cities. 1t is in
! teresting to note that the carriage with
thlS motor hnished the distance in less
/ time Than any of it's competitors. Another
point noticed at these tests was maj in
| descending hills the motor of the electric
| vehicles served to recharge the aecunou
| lators, and while the gain was small
| nevertheless it became an item worthy Of
consideration. The trials up to their pres
! eht stage apparently indicate that the de-
hciencies in this form of carriage are for
the most part in their mechanical design
which additional experiments and inpe,
nulty Will surely remedy but that enough
| mas been done to warrant their Immediate
and general Introduction has been settled
| beyond question.
Every now and again, says the ST
Louis Globe Democrat, the death is re-
ported of some victim of the painful NAL
ady to which matchmal1ers are subject q
form OF blood poisoning set up by necro-
fumes of the PHOSPHORUS EMPLOYED in The
manufacture Of certain kinds of matches.
! In Sweden and in Belgium, in the exten-
eiVe match factories OF which large guam
! titles of yellow PHOSPHORUS are used tha
risk run by the operators has been great
! ly reduced by an excellent system Of ven
ulatlon and the means employed for re-
moving the PHOSPHORUS fumes. A strong
| down draught, for examine on tbo e