The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Queen Victoria has had over seventy
descendants. over sixty of whom are iiv-
1 ing. She has had nine children. seven of
whom are living, and innumerable grand
children and great-grandchildren. Her
sons and daughters who are living are:
The Prince of Wales, the Duke Of Con-
| naught, the Duke of Edinburgh, the ex-
Empress Frederick of Germany, the Prin-
! cess Christian, the Warehouses of Lorne
and the Princess Beatrice.
"A peculiar state of affairs exists in
the Indian Territory. Reports from the
Kiowa and Comanche reservations, of
| which William Walker is agent, are that
| many of the Indians are dying of disease
caused by being stopped from eating mes
| cal beans. For some years the Indians
| surrepuiously have been eating these
beans, and the agent was never able to
learn how they managed to get drunk. Il
seems that the bean, which was smuggled
| to these Indians from Mexico had the eff
feet of intoxicating them. 1t also pre-
vented consumption, as medical experts
VINO nave Just returned from there bring
| ing this story testify AS soon as the In
| dams are stopped from eating the beans
they take sick and die.
Perhaps one of the most unexpected
| announcements that followed The declar-
| alton of peace was that the government
| had gathered complete informa ton of an
| the electric street and suburban railways
| in the country from Maine to Texas This
| Information included amount of rolling
Stock, trackage, routes and possible inter
connections. This work was instituted at
| the time when the unknown Wherea bouts
| OF the powerful Spanish navy suggested
| seaboard attack. The good sense of this
| becomes apparent when il is learned that
the capacity of some of these lines for
| handling traffic at several coast points is
SIMPLY astounding and far suTpasses that
| of the steam railways which approach the
same locality. The aggregate lengths of
| the systems reaching from Calais, Ne, to
! Galveston, Tex, is about 6S97 miles, oper-
ated by go distinct companies.
One of the officers of the battleship
Iowa tells of a thrilling scene which oc-
CURED on the deck soon after Cervera and
his officers came aboard after the destruc-
| ton of their squadron Capt. Eulaie had
| offered his sword to Capt. Evans, and the
| latter had returned it, saying that he could
not accept il from so brave a man. The
party was invited down to the shippers
| cabin to take something" AS Eulate en-
| tered the companionway he stopped and
| turned. lifted his cap, and In a most dra-
matte way extended his arms and ex-
| claimed: "Adios Vizcaya." At that in
| slant, as If in response to his farewell
| there was a tremendous eruption from
| the burning cruiser and Immediately after
| deafening explosion. One of the mag
| azines had blown up. Eulate buried his
I face in his hands and sobbed It was some
! moments before he recovered from his
| agitation.
-Drury Lane is to be the first theater
provided with electrical power for chang
ing of scenes, says the Westminster Ga
zette. Some experiments have been made
| and although they have ben somewh hal
| interferred with by the heavy work nee
essitaed in putting on a great spectacu-
lar play like the Great Ruby" satisfac-
| tory progress Is reported. When certain
| alterations have been completed large sec
| tons of the stage floor measuring forty
| feet by seven feet, will be capable of be-
| ing raised to any level above or below
| the stage, separately or together, by work.
| ing an ordinary switchboard. 1t is hoped
to have everything in readiness for the
| pantOmme at Christmas. 1t is proba Bile
| that by this novel and ingenious device
a considerable amount of time will be
| saved, and that on future boxing nights
audiences will get away after the per-
| Torrance before their last train or bus has
gone.
1t is well known that Spanish soldiers
| in Cuba were poor marksmen, says the
| Scientific American, but great surprise has
been expressed at the remarkable lack of
| execution which characterized their fire at
| Guantanamo and Santiago, and an officer
| of the United States gunboat Montgomery
| has been able to throw some light on the
| matter. He visited the Maria Teresa after
| the destruction of Cervera's fleet in search
| of souvenirs. TIE found large number of
| MauseT cartridges in groups of five ready
| to go into the magazines of the guns and
| if the entire Spanish army and navy were
xrftI L.
both Cervera and Toral were amply justi-
| fed in surrendering when they did. The
cartridges consisted of a metal shell loaded
with hair and a sprinkling of powder. The
| bullet was of neither brass nor lead but
of wood. Some army contractor had i'm
| posed on the ordnance bureau of the Span
ish navy, but to what extent the wooden
Mauser bullets We're used viii probably
never be known.
A resident of Fayal says the Revue
Scientifque, complains of the abundance
of rats and rabbits. The rats multiply fast,
and make all sorts of depreciation not
only within houses, but in the fields and
| gardens. They attack a great number of
edible fruits, such as bananas, oranges, and
| grapes; they infest granaries, houses, and
fields. Among other depredations, the rab-
| bits have attacked field of tea plants,
| and of 1000 vigorous shoots that were set
out Dy the proprietor tney nave destroyed
| 3,9SS completely, leaving him u by way of
consolation. The farmers are beginning to
ask what they shall do. Shall they import
| the mongoose? The example of Jamaica
makes them hesitate. And still another ex-
ample in the Azores is of a kind to rem
der them cautious in matters of acclimat-
alton. The pigs there have been allowed
to run wild and live in a state of freedom
| the result is that imported cartridges have
| almost entirely disappeared, the young
having been eaten by the swine. 1t is thus
difficult to tell what to do. and meanwhile
rats and rabbits are abandoning them
| selves to all sorts of excuses.
The Italians have an expression, voce
di compositore, indicating the defective
quality of the vocal apparatus in musical
composers. But if a composer need not
! have a voice he must have a good ear.
1t would seem, however, that a good ear
| need not be a beautiful one. In the Mo-
| Fart museum at SalZburg there is a small