The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-04
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

rived from visits to the city. where new
ana strange interests appeal strongly to
the Wonder-loving mind of the child TO
whom city sights and sounds and scenes
are unfamiliar. The child of the rural
districts Is as susceptible to the healthy
influence OF change as is his city cousin,
ana well might Denmarks custom of
sending country children to the city be
ADOPTED in the land where her country
week suggestions have grown and -four
shed with each succeeding summer. A
CITY week might with profit be establish
ed, which in days to come would rival even
cess"
There are several methods by which
mines and torpedoes anchored in harbors
may be detected, says the Chicago Record
out 1t is very dangerous and difficult WORK.
ana its success depends largely upon the
circumstances and the condition of the wa
Ter and the bottom of the bay in which
they are placed. Sometimes they are DIS
covered by dragging with a kedge; some
times they can De seen when the water is
clear, and in order to assist the natural
vision canvas telescope is rugged which
drops upon the water and shuts OUT the
llght from the eyes of the observer 50 that
ne can have better view of the bottom.
There are other methods also known to
sailors and frequently practised the most
is, the explosion Of torpedoes in the water,
which by their detonation cause the mines
to explode.
The east pier of the big bridge of the
Northern Pacific Railroad. weighing over
100000 pounds, was moved from its
foundation yesterday afternoon and slid
on rollers to new foundation, a distance
of nearly four feet, says a Bismarck. n
D., dispatch of May 80. The pier vas
sixty feet high, twenty-five feet wide and
twelve feet in diameter, built of solid gran
tie. The entire time occupied in moving the
pier was less than minute.
The engineers were assisted by
slide of earth which Slid the entire mass
along the steel rollers, provided for that
purpose, in time so short as to be phe-
nomenal. The work of preparing for the
movement has occupied eight months. The
moving of the pier was necessary from
the fact that it was displaced by the
sliding of the earth beneath the founda-
ton several years ago, and to correct the
difficulty permanently it was necessary to
build the entire new foundation and rlove
the pier back to the old place from which
it had been moved. The work has been
done entirely without interruption of traf-
fic.
The rapidity with which progress has
been made in the manufacture of projec-
tiles caused by the continued successive in
Venuon of superior types has developed IN
England fairly large business in mill
tary scrap" iron, as it is called. These OBJ
solete projectiles, owing to long contin-
uance OF peace, collect at the various ar
senals, and from time to time they are Of
tered on the market in large and some
times small lois. This military scrap, says
the Philadelphia Record, consists of solid
proJecdies, or shells. Some of the latter
have been filed and in such cases have to
be broken up and their explosive contents
removed before they can be used The solid
shot, consisting of balls weighing 81 &c and
liz pounds each, are made of finest Scotch
pig iron, ami as scrap they fetch very
good prices. The great difficulty, however
in utilizing them appears to be to break
them up, as the solid pieces if put d.
rectly into the furnace, owing to their
shape, require considerably more fuel than
II broken and then fed to the furnace The
shells being made of gray iron, also make
desirable scrap very convenient for use IN
founGries.
At the electrical exhibition in Madison
Square Garden last week, Prof. Short of
the Walker Electric Company gave a lee
ture with kaleidoscope pictures on cleo
tricity as a railroad motive power The
principal point of his remarks was in ref
erence to the use of electric motors on ele-
waited roads. Brooklyn is to have its ele-
waited roads operated in this way There
are two reasons. said Prof. Short for the
adoption of electricity by elevated railways
one TO reduce the cost of operation, the
other to increase its schedule speed to the
utmost limit. The cost of opera ton can
be materially reduced, as fully one-haIf
of the fuel will be saved on account of the
cheaper grade of coal which can be burned
under stationary boilers, the tonnage re-
naming the same. The increased rapidity
in the movement of the trains will for the
same service reduce the train crew wages
by a large percentage. The repair ex
penses of the electrical equipment will
snow large annual saving over the re-
pairs required by locomotives The de-
crease in the running time of the trains
must be made principally by stopping and
starting them more rapidly.
The Smithsonian Institution is con-
templating a scientific invasion of the
Philippines along with the military occu-
patton. AS contemplated, the invasion will
be by company of scientific men of the
institution under the leadership of a sci
enlist of the highest attainments TO 90
along with the troops and under their pro-
lection. This is not regarded as a new
thing, but to the United States il would
be absolutely novel, for the reason that it
has never before undertaken conuuests of
foreign territory. Very rich collections
could be obtained, it is believed, on the
Island of Luzon, attractive for the pur-
poses of the institution and interesting for
the public generally. The cooperation of
the scientists and the troops would be adj
Vantageous, and it is believed that the ma
tives would be found amiable and helpful
1t would not be necessary, for the success
of the scientific expedition that the United
States should hold the islands The col
lections would greatly enrich the Smithso-
man. and with an ethnologlst, botanist
geoiosist and other trained men alone. a
report could be produced that would ada
much to the instructive literature of the
institution. The disposition Of the war de-
partment has not yet been ascertained. but
1t is believed there will be entire willing
ness on the part of Gen. Merritt to assist
the Smithsonian Institution in its desire 70
make this expedition a successful one.
An improvement on the present signal
system between ships at sea is possible
by the use of telephone lines strung bv
kites. In a recent experiment bv British
naval authorities the end of the wire
which the kite bore away from the shin
was dropped upon the deck of II NJ 6