The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-14
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

"A French engineer lieutenant, near
Toulouse, became convinced recently that
one Of his men had stolen. As the soldier
would not confess, the lieutenant ordered
him to be shot, and put him through all
the forms of a military execution, save
that the firing platoon used blank cart
ridges. The lieutenant has been court
martialed and sentenced 10 two months
imprisonment
"A Berlin beer seller, whose wife recent
ly died, was present not long ago at a con-
yivial gathering of widowers. and mention
ed the fact that his wife's coffin had cost
nm $50. A manufacturer of collins. who
happened to be present, offered to furnish
as good an article for SIS, and the beer
seller at once declared that he would take
thousand collins at that price Not Ions
aIterWardathe manufacturer sent the cot
Ems, with a bill for $1,000. But the court
has just ruled that the order was given
IN fun, and did not constitute a valid con-
tract.
Some years ago, says a Boston paper,
an English scientist-Dr. w. J. Russell
made the astonishing discovery that metals
and various other substances left a perma-
nent record of their surfaces if placed in
contact with photograp hic plates and left
Tor some time in the dark. A few weeks
since, the learned doctor. in the Bakerian
lecture before the Royal Society, gave
facts even more astonishing of this strange
photography. He demonstrated that a
newspaper cutting, a piece of wood 100
years old, polished sheet of zinc, any
sort OF metal or substance in short would
llmn Itself on a Photographic plate in the
dark even without being ia contact-even
with thin sheets of such substances as gel
atine, celluloid and collodion interDosed
hnsrtN~af ,.,1s,
substance constantly gives off a ordinary
temperature its own peculiar gas or vapor
which acts upon the silver salts of the
sensitive plate in precisely the same man
ner as light itself" The plate simply dis
covers them. These emanations are so in
finitesimally small that no balance how
ever delicate, detects any loss of weight or
substance.
Probably there is no nautical term more
frequently used during the present naval
war than the word knot" The word is
synonymous with the nautical mile or
6OSO.27 feet, while, as everyone knows the
geographical mile is $3.50 feet. This would
make the knot equal to 1910 of geo.
graphical miles, and therefore in order
10 compare the speed of a boat expressed
in Knots with a railroad train it is neces-
sary to multiply the speed in knots by
15-lO0. Another point to be remembered
unit time, so that when one speaks of
boat having a speed of twenty knots it is
not necessary or proper to add per hour,
as the word itself when employed as q unit
of speed signifies nautical mile per hour A
cruiser that makes twenty-one knots traV-
els N.i5 geogra phical miles per hour The
fastest speed yet obtained by any boat is
said TO have been attained by the yacht
Ellide, which is known to have record of
one geographical mile in one minute, thir-
ty-siX and one-half seconds, or 38.2 miles
an hour. In fact, a recent article in one of
the engineering journals states that re-
cord of forty miles an hour has been made
by this boat.
With view to providing facilities for
docking the largest vessels, the navy de-
partment is about to call for bids for a
steel floating dock capable of floating a
snip of 15,OOO tons, to cost $500 COO, and to
be located at New Orleans. The appro-
priation for this dock says a writer in the
Iron Age was made in the annual naval
Dill and was strongly recommended by
the special dry dock board of the depart
ment. While the government intends 10
maintain the dock at New Orleans, it will
be so constructed that it can be lowed to
any point desired. A board, consisting of
Admiral Ramsay, Engineer Asserson end
Naval Constructor Lnnard, is about to
make an extended tour of the sea cost.
with view TO recommending sites for
docks to be authorized by Congress here
after. In this connection a provision has
been inserted in the pending deficiency APP
preparation bin, authorizing the immedia te
purchase of two floating docks 1t is said
that the department has already inspected
and secured options on two satisfactory
docks now at New York, which viii be
tOwed to Key West, where they will be Of
great service, as they will accommodate all
but the largest batteships and cruisers
The necessity for docking many vessels of
the American fleet in Southern waters has
become so imperative that the department
has dispatched corps of fifteen divers to
Key West to clean the bottoms of such
vessels rs are in the greatest need of such
service.
The reduction Of bacteria by sedimenta-
ton, even for short time, is shown, says
the Engineering News by tests recently
made at Oberlin, .. w. B. Gerrish city
engineer and water works superintendent
writes that the water supply from a neigh
boring stream flowing through agTicultur-
al land is brought TO the storage reser-
voir through sly miles of virihed pipe
The supply first enters a basin covering
four acres and holding 100000 gallons.
then passes into smaller basin of 900
900 gallons capacity, and finally enters the
pump well. Both basins have clay banks
while the pump is well built of masonry.
and holds about $1,000 gallons. All the CON
nections are al the bottom, and the gates
are SO set that just the amount of water
used each day, $1,000 gallons, will be deliv-
cred 20 the pump we'll On May 4. 1897. bac-
tcrlal tests of the water were made with
the following results: In large basin. 2O00
bacteria per cubic ceniimetre: in small ba-
sim 426; IN pump wen, 200 and 1856. two sam
pies being tested. No sample was taken of
the water flowing in the conduit, is its out
let is below the surface of the large ba-
sin. On January 6, 1898, after the water
IN the large reservoir had stood for some
weeks without receiving any addition. il
was again tested and but 1856 bacteria
were found. This was soon after a large
hre, wnen the consumption was increased
hFe-fold. sample from the pumps also
showed 756 bacteria, and another from the
central part Of tho distributing system
showed go bacteria.
Tales of treasure islands never cease
to fascinate, and Stevenson himself could
not have written a more attractive faia
than the one which has come from tba
coast OF the Pacific, says an exchange
The story itself is not new: if was worid.
famous at one time but the faf1nr, -