The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


fury after Christ. II was practically exter-
minated, except in Wales and Cornwall, by
the pagan Saxons during the fifth century
In the year $50 Augustin came from Rome
to convert the Saxons. but even his church
was not fully Roman for more than a cen
fury after his time. A. -.
The most widely separated points be-
tween which telegram can be sent are
British Columbia and New Zealand The
telegram would cross North America, New
foundland, the Atlantic Britain Germany
Russia european and Asiatic), China, ia
pan, Java and Australia IL would make
nearly circuit of the globe, and would
traverse over 10000 miles in doing so.
1t was, 1 believe, Fromentin, the emil
nent French scholar and art critic who
remarked that the sudden view of the
Orient through the gateway of El-Kan-
tara presented the most contrasting pic
ture of life and nature that was to be
found anywhere on the surface of the
earth, says Prof. Angelo Heilprin, in
'Appletons' Popular Science Monthly"
for March. How nearly true this state
ment may be it is hardly possible to de-
termine, but it is certain that it would
be difficult to find elsewhere on the
globe a more striking closing of one
world and opening of another. Through
El-Kantara passes the solemn tread of
the camel trains, whose destination is
the silent Sahara and the deeper Sou
dan; in it are offered up the fervent
Moslem prayers for a safe journey and
return. The giant buttresses of the At
las mountains, red and purple, with
the glow of the morning and twilight
sun, look down upon a tempestuous
mountain torrent which has cut its way
athwart their core, and grim and crag-
eaten rocks, buried deep within their
own bowlder masses, wall off with
nights of three thousand to five thous-
and feet the gray and yellow panorama
of shifting sands-the warm heart of
the Southern Sahara.
The transport of heavy ordnance from
place to place is one of the most serious
| difficulties which military authorities have
to face, especially when the work has to
be accomplished in out-of-the-way dis
tricts destitute of railway or roads. For
mountain warfare a gun of small calber
| has for many years been in use, which
| can be unscrewed into two pieces for ease
| of transport by two camels or other avail
able animals, and rapidly put together
when required for use, but no ATTEMPT
| has hitherto been made to construct large
weapons on the same line. Mr. E. j. Blood
OF Chicago has, however, now invented
| method of building up ordnance in sec
| tions, which, should it bear the necessary
| tests as to stability, ETC., will be most val
liable in placing guns OF heavy caliber in
situations which under present conditions
could not possibly be defended with such
weapons The new guns are built up of a
number of rolled sheet steeIt disks, hello
together between thick plates or cross
| heads by steel tie-rods. The breech part
of the gun is further strengthened by bolts
carried through holes in the disks form.
ing that portion of the weapon Such a
| gun could be carried piecemeal by pack an
imals, even by porterage, to its destina-
tion, and there screwed together by the
nuts. te-rods, and bolts which form an
essential feature of its design. The other
| advantages claimed for this method of
| construction are greatly reduced from the
! fact that the different parts can be dis
triDuted among many workshops and that
the inner barrel can be readily removed
| ana another put in its place in case of
| corrosion or other accidents.
In the light of the attempts that NAV
be made to raise the battleship Maine. it
is of interest to know of a very novel way
of floating vessel that was successfully
| tried short time ago by the Russians
| The cruiser Rossia, one of the LARGEST
vessels in the Baltic fleet, with a length
of 4S0 feet and a displacement of L. 900
| tons, ran on bank in the Neva in twenty
feet of water. The water fell and the snip
| pressing upon the bank with a weight Of
| 200 tons, resisted all attempts to free her
| The admiralty appealed to the Imperial
School at Cronstadt for aid in solving the
problem, and divers were sent, who, as it
was winter, were forced to work from
| tents on the ice Surrounding the cruiser
| Piles were driven into the bottom close
| to the hull, and down these the divers
descended. determined by measurement the
position of the ship, and communicated the
result by telephone. These results were
obtained only with the greatest difficulty,
| for the intense cold prevented the divers
| from remaining beneath the surface of the
water for more than thirty minutes, made
brittle their rubber shirts and necessita.ed
the conStantsheating Of the air pumps 1t
being found that nearly the whole keel
was buried, although the rudder was free
an iron pipe sixty feet long and two feet
in diameter was inserted under the keel
and a current of water driven through it
at high pressure. So strong was this
stream that a diver sixty feet from the
mouth of the pipe was upset by the cur
rent, and the light from the 200 candle
power lamps used by the divers could only
penetrate afoot through the turbid wa
ter. This device was so successful in wash
ing away the bank which held the keel
that the ship was quickly and safely re-
leased.
An amusing story is going the rounds
of Paris in which cinematographe plays
the leading role, and wherein it proves it.
self not only source of entertainment, but
an impeccable authority in matters of
historical import, says the Chicago Inter-
Ocean. 1t is rumored that the dwellers in
a no less high place than the palace of the
Elysee called in this ingenious invention
the other day to settle a dispute which
arose from the assertion by Prince Bis
marck that President Faure had neglected
a point of etiquette on his recent visit to
st. Petersburg. The Prince claimed that
instead of saluting the cossacks, who con
stituted the garde d honneur, by raising
his hat, President Faure had merely rails
ed his hand to the brim, and paid them
no further respect. In our country such
an accusation would receive no attention,
except on the part of the comic papers
which would be pleased to make merry
over it-our dignitaries dispose of their at
tentions as best suits their humor, with
a wave of the hand or a nod or q t1,a