The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


The cock in the church tower at
Whitneyville, Me-, which had licked off
the hours for thirty years. refused duty
simultaneously with the declaration of
war. and no amount of coaxng was able
to induce it to resume motion for some
time. a4o5
Lake sailormen are reputed to be the
best sailors. 1t is said that a sailor may
cross the Atlantic without danger of run
ming into an island, and he may hardly
see more than two or three ships during
the entire voyage, but on the lake it is just
The other way.
The managers of the telephone COM
pany operating the system at Versailles,
France. hold that the expression, ''Henor'
used in response to a call is impolite The
operators have been instructed to ask the
subscribed who rings up the central office:
What do you want?"
-Humming birds are domesticated by
placing in their cages number of paper
flowers of tubular form containing a small
quantity of sugar and water, which must
be frequently renewed. OF this liquid the
bird partakes and quickly become appar-
emily contented with their captivity.
In Canada the man or woman who
wants to sever the bonds of matrmony
must go before the Dominion Parliament,
when the committee on divorce in the SEN
ate takes up the case and goes over the
details very thoroughly, and If, in the
opinion of the committee, the testimony
warrants the granting of divorce the re-
rort to that effect is made and both houses
a 1iH f,a
lief. ts
To-day no American fighting craft is
deemed complete without its belt or COT
ferdam of corn-pith cenulose, says the
Chicago Chronicle. The pith of the stalk
is cut out and ground into coarse. mealy
mass, and then under pressure nodded into
blocks or bricquettes. In this form it Is
packed into the cells made for il against
the sides of the ship and about the region
of the water line. The stuff weighs only
a fractional part of a similar bulk of wa
ter. Now when an enemy's shot goes
tearing through the outside plating and
pierces the cellulose, if water be admitted
by the rolling of the vessel. the cellulose
at once swells automatically and plugs
the hole in itself as we'll as in the Mating
thus preventing dangerous admission of
water in the ticklish region OF the water
II does not exert a damaging pressure as
corn would do under like circumstances.
out rests content simply with plugging the
mole. OF course, this material would ne
scattered by explosive shell fire but even
then' being f1re-proof it would not burn.
Visitors to Ta9gier and other settle
ments Of Morocco notice the keys that
are carefully kept in safety in the houses
Of he 60.
scent. These keys belong to the houses
in Spain once occupied by the Moors he
lore their expulsion from their homes
many centuries ago. The Standards no
cupy these old houses, but the descend
ants of the Moorish owners still guard
the keys in the hope that the day will
come when they can return to Grenada
ana once more resume control of the
property from which they were dr;van
by spanish arms. Tangier is delightfully."-
oriental, like a leaf out Of the Arabian
Nights. Nowhere east of Damascus. It
Is said, do you get so good an idea Of
the Orient. One sees the Cadi admits
tering justice. In the houses are the
courts with fountains playing in the CEN
ter and all the interior detail of Arabian
architecture. Tall jars in which the
Forty Thieves" might hide stand in the
houses.
On the Rivera, says a London ex-
change, one occasionally sees small
stunted plant sof pricl1ly pears; but in the
Barbary States, and more particularly
in Tunis, the prickly pear grows to a ire
mendous size, and to such a thickness that
hedges of it form an impossible barrier
to human beings and large animals The
reckless person who tries to force his
way through will soon repent his temerity.
as the long prickles on the leaves will
speedily manage to insinuate themselves
into his skin, and the wounds they make
are peculiarly painful. This plant, which
people sometimes call the Barbary fig,
and sometimes the cactus, is not of Afri-
can origin, for the Spaniards brought it
over from America and planted it in Mo-
rocco, whence it spread to Algeria and
Tunis. 1t prefers a stony or rocky ground.
and will grow in the most barren places
The Arab finds in it food, drink and also
fodder for his cattle and camels The fig
he eats, and drinks the abundant supply
of juice found in the fieshy leaves. while
the camels chew up what remains.
The Berlin Correspondent of the Times
has given some particulars of a new in
vention by one Carl Wegener, which has
for its object the elimination of smoke
from a furnace accompanied by a notable
saving in the consumption of coal, says
Chambers Journal. This invention, we are
told, is shortly to be brought before the
British public in the form of the usual
limited company. The success of the eys-
tenn depends upon feeding The furnace
with powdered coal, instead of the well
screened" humps which have hitherto been
regarded as the most advantageous form
of such fuel. The coal dust is fed into the
fire from container in front by means of
a tube which is kept in motion by the
draught and has the effect of scattering
the fuel over the furnace in such a way
that it is at once nfiamed without smoke
and with very little ash. Coal of compar-
atively low quality can be economically
used in this powdered form, and the only
drawback to the process seems to be the
necessity for using a separate machine
for the grinding of the coal to powder On
the other hand, the slack, or dust which
forms a necessary by-product of the coal
industry will find here field for employ
ment., which will be much appreciated by