The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


rected by the Supreme Court to contri-
bute to the support of his wife, Adelaide
NJ. Merriam, 50 that she may live in the
style she has been accustomed to- This
decision is given Notwithstanding Mr..
Merriam obtained a divorce in North Da-
kota on the ground of cruelty and violent
temper. 1t is the first decision Of the kind
in that state.
-steel-riveted pipes for. the Conveyance
of water from the source of supply to the
point of consumption are coming more and
more into use; and for long distances, with
large diameters, under heavy water pres
sure, especially when few connections nave
10 be resorted TO on the way, such pipes
are pronounced as much superior to those
of cast-irOu as the steel substitute is to the
Old cast-iron tension member of a bridge
1t is thought, too, that they will ultimate
ly be used 10 the exclusion of others. The
rivets which fasten the pipes and the tap
ping joints impede the flow to a certain
extent, and a pipe has been devised, the
fastenings of which are entirely outside
and provide the pipe with a smooth bore
and the great improvement in steel-welded
pipes of large diameter viii also remedy
that defect to a large extent. 1t is now
proposed 10 convey a supply of 5,000030
gallons of water daily to a mining district
in Australia by a steel pipe thirty inches
in diameter and 32S miles long.
"A. clever adaptation of the cyclometer
to the canoe was made by Lieut. Hugh L.
Willoughby in a trip through the Florida
everglades, and described by him in a
book. All ordinary means of marine meas
urement are useless in the Everglades, and
| as it was necessary 10 keep record of the
! distance involved, Lieut. Willoughby de-
Vised a scheme whereby he used ciclom-
eter for the purpose successfully. He at
tached the front fork of an old bicycle to
the stern of his canoe. In the jaws of this
was swung a 2S-inch bicycle wheel, the
| tire being equipped with a series of small
| paddles, so fastened that they regulated
= the speed of the wheel 10 that of the boat.
| The cyciometer was attached in the usual
manner, Repeated experiment with the de-
vice demonstrated 10 Lieut.. WAouShoy
! that the slip of the wheel was constant
! and that its trailing behind the boat re-
corded reliable measurements on the cy-
clometer, even when going at SLOW gait.
He SAYS that The wheel and cyclometer
gave excellent results as a log of the trip.
/ Canoeists and oarsmen might take hint
from this for their next tours on the wa
ter. An old bicycle wheel is easy to get,
and IL must add to The pleasure of the trip
to keep an accurate record of the distances
covered.
In rebuilding large machine shop re-
Gently. says the New York Evening Post,
il was decided to substitute for the usual
| tall chimney a large fan to furnish the
necessary draught for the boilers, and the
innovation has been decidedly successful,
not only on account of doing away with
The tall aud unsightly chimney, but also
in securing greater economy in fuel Inc
plant where this experiment was tried mas
three boilers, aggregating 260-horse power
| and directly above them was mounted
| fan connected direct with a five by four
double cylinder engine. The wheel Of the
! fan is 81 inches in diameter, and, as 1t
| can be run at any desired speed, it pro-
| vides a draught quite independent of the
| fire 1t is here that the principal saving
| is effected, inasmuch as it is possible TO
use a much cheaper grade of coal, and in
a test made for the company the annual
consumption and cost of coal was COM
puted as follows: With the ordinary form
| of chimney-Cumberland coal, 1924 tons,
at 50 05, s., 929; using the blower-mixture
of Cumberland coal and yard SCREEN
ings, half and half, at 81 S212, 1885, show
ing a difference of 1894. The cost of oper-
ating the fan was stated to be $1S3 per
aunum, so that the net gain was $751; a
sum greater than the entire cost of the
! mechanical draught apparatus. The stack
used is of metal, and barely rises above
the roof.
of Photographic clock re-
Gently launched in Germany, the
New York Sun observes: One
must admit the alarm clock
in the theory of modern life, but pho
nographic alarm clock adds insult to in
jury If one must be Weakened, one must
but how can one turn over and take the
final luxurious forty winks when the de-
pressing programme of a busy day has
been shouted into ones ears? Things that
seemed natural and practicable the night
before present an appalling front in the
early morning, and the breakfast hour,
announced in strident tones, is much more
insistent than when suggested by an i'm
personal metallic clang Some valuable
possibilities the new invention does pos
sess. The housewife needn't laboriously
explain breakfast details to the servant
at night, and find the next morning that
all important points have been conscien-
tiously forgotten. She sets the phono-
graphic alarm for an early hour, talks di-
rections into it, and the next morning the
cook is Weakened by a stern voice telling
her exactly what is expected of her in
regard to breakfast preparation. Paterfa-
mlias, too, can work the combination. No
more will he sit up until his pretty daugh-
honored hints to hasten his departure.
Oh, no; he will simply set the monograph
ic alarm for the hour when he thinks
young men should end their calls Then
he will go serenely to bed; and when the
fatal hour strikes a specimen of the Old
gentlemans finest irony will be hurled
at the offending guest. Exit young man.
The maiden wrathfully weeps alone.
Martin Dodge, director of the office
Of road inquiry in the agricultural depart
ment revives in a report the suggestion
: of grooved steel tracks for horse traffic
on highways. In substance, he says, that
previous to the experiments of which he
has the supervision steel tracks hereto
fore placed upon highways was done by
private enterprise, and so laid as only to
be used by vehicles with Hanged wheels
When the government took the matter in
hand it was decided to experiment with
vehicles without danged wheels on a