The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-19
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

statue of King CHARLES /. at Charing Cross
TO be taken down and destroyed River
brought 1t in as old bronze. INSTEAD of
breaking up the statue, however, he quiet
ly buried it in the garden, substituting
some other broken pieces of metal in proof
of the conditions of his purchase being car
risd out. In the meantime River did good
business with the royalists through the
sale of souvenir knives and forks, the
bronze handles of which were alleged to
have been made from the statue. Then,
when Charles H., returned River resur-
rected the statue and sold II back to the
original owners for considerable advance
over what he had originally paid for it.
The Philadelphia Press quotes this de-
scription of the Ghilkoot Pass from pri-
vate letter:s THE elevation of Chilkoot
Pass is $3.50 feet, and nearly z,5O0 feet of
this occurs at one place. Here one must
use both hands and feet to ascend, and
before it is possible to reach place with
suflclent room to rest, the weight of the
pack seems bent on crushing out ones life
Inc summit is glacier, and for four or
hve miles down this side of it we Travelled
over ice. The trail is dotted with hastily
dug graves, some with names roughly
carved on wood, and others with no sign
save rude cross of sticks, which the first
winters snow will obliterate. Some died
from sheer exposure and exhaustion. some
through accident, and a few from desper-
alton put an end to their torment with a
bullet
The object of Ceramics in writing
Don Quixote," says the London Mail.
was, as he himself declared, to render abb
horred of men the false and absurd sto-
ries contained in the books of chiyalrv.
The fanaticism caused by these romances
was SO great in Spain during the sixteenth
century that the burning of all extant con-
les was earnestly requested by the cortes
Tor legislature of the realml, To destroy
a passion that had taken such deep root
among all classes, to break UP the only
reading which at that time was fashion
able and popular, was a bold undertaking,
yet one in which Cervantes succeeded. No
books of chivalry were written after the
appearance of Don Quixote" and from
that time those in existence have been
steadily disappearing, until now they are
among the rarest of literary curiosities
This romance, which Cervantes threw so
carelessly from his pen, and which he
only regarded as an effort to break up
the absurd fancies about chivalry, has
row therefore become the Oldest specimen
of romantic fiction and one of the most
remarkable monuments to genius. Ten
years after Its appearance its author pub
hshed the second part of ''Don Quixote,"
which is even better than the first. It was
written in his old age, when in prison and
finished when he felt the hand of death
pressing cold and heavy upon him.
"A tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar
Is proposed by M. Berlier who lately drove
the tunnel under the Seine for the sewage
disposal of Paris. Aside from its assumed
commercial use, Mr.. Berler tells the
French people that it would be extremely
valuable in connecting France with Alge-
ria in case of any trouble with England,
which now controls the surface of the
Strait with it's Notifications and powerful
navy. be this as il may, says the Engineer
ing News, the engineering features of the
plan may be noted as follows The tunnel
would begin on Spanish soil at the Bay of
Naqueros, on the line to Cadiz it would
then cross straight TO Tangiers with a sub
marine tunnel 1884 miles long or, with its
tunneled land approaches, 25.4 miles long; a
25-mile railway would connecO it with
Ceuta on the Algerian side. At the mar
rowest part the Strait is only 81 miles
wide; but the depth of water there is 1858
feet and the consequent grades would
make a tunnel impracticable AT the site
of the proposed crossing the depth of wa
ter is 1872 feet, and with the length pro-
posed he finds permissible grades and
construct than the Alpine tunnels NJ Der.
lier estimates that il would cost about $500
per linear foot, or $24 600, 900 in ALL To con-
meet it with the Algerian railway system,
2lS miles of railway would haveAto be built
at further cost of about $4,000. 600.
"A new comb for fastening the hair of
ladies has drawn from the London Lancet
strong condemnatory article because of
m av,1
ing to TIE medical contemporary, saws the
London Mail, this latest help to female
adornment is made of celluloid or other
highly and easily inflammable substance.
and is hinged in the center, so that combs
clamp the back hair on either side, and
the teeth overlap amid the tresses. After
emphasizing the difficulty in rapidly dis
engaging this comb should it take fire. the
journal states that it is in duty bound TO
issue a not uncertain note of warning
as to The dangerous and combustible
properties of its composition. An instance
is quoted of the comb taking fire while
fixed in the hair, owing to the touch OF
pair of hot curling tongs, and this is con.
firmed by the results of experiments made
1t was fond that when one offthese. combs
is detached from the hair it maybe readily
ignited, but that the combustion does not
proceed far. When the article is placed IN
ton proceeds al a most alarming rate
aided, 1t is surmised,. by the non-condIct-
ing property of the hair concentrating the
heat In conclusion the indictment on
presses a strong opinion that such in
fiamfnable substances as celluloid arc ut
terly unsuitable for ornamental or useful
purposes on the person. since they expose
the wearer to such serious risks"
For the past two years there has been
wholesale adulteration of bread in many
parts of France notably in the DEPART
ments of the Eure, Calvados and of the
Seine-Inferieure, where numerous com
plants have been received from time TO
time by the police, says the Paris edition
of the New York Herald. The deleterious
matter mixed up with the flour with
which this bread was made was snothine
less than sawdust reduced to a fine pow
der so as to resemble meal. Asman named
Fessat, who has, presumably, been maxi
ing i1rge fortune by selling, in conniy
anee with millers, a mixture of sawdust
and flour, has been arrested. Five thousand
kilogrammes of sawdust, addressed to the
accused, have just been seized at tho
Havre railway station. 1t was hoped thar
in consequence of This seizY,ra Iro..o4