The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-09
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


employed on civic work in that city.
1t used to happen in Java that, ow-
ing to want of transportation facilities,
the inhabitants of one part of the island
might be starving while those of another
had as much rice as they could eat. Rail-
ways have remedied that state of affairs.
The inhabitants of Nicobar Islands, a
group in the Indian ocean, have an ex-
traordinary fancy for old hats. and reg
ular trade in such castoff headgear is car
ried on between Calcutta and Nicobar, the
headpieces being paid for in cocoanuts.
The longest reach of railway without a
curve is claimed by travellers to be that of
the Argentine Pacific Railway, from
Buenos Ayres to the foot of the Andes.
For I'll miles it is without curve and has
no cutting of embankment deeper than
two or three feet.
The Prince of Wales, when annoyed,
winks his left eye rapidly; the Emperor
of Austria puffs out his cheeks; the Car
lays his left hand fiat on the top of his
head; Mr.. Gladstone turns swiftly on his
heels, and the Sultan of Turkey grasps
his throat tightly with his hand.
All the houses in Mobile, Ala, in
which there were fever cases last fall are
again to be disinfected carefully and thor
oughlys When they were disinfected dur
ing the prevalence of the fever the work
was necessarily done hurriedly and with
out that care and completeness possible
now that the cold weather has come.
During the Crimean war more than
one-half 63.5 per cent? of the amputa-
lions that were performed resulted in
death. In the American civil war the
mortality from amputation was still 4S.1
per cent, but in 1890 the statistics of am
putation showed that the mortality had
been reduced to SO per cent. The value of
antiseptic surgery is thus shown.
The British admiralty and war depart
ment, notes the Scientific American, are
testing under various climatic conditions
the new method for preserving flour. One
objection to the establishment of national
sranaries has been the difficulty of stor-
ing grain for any length of time The
grain terminates and is ruined, and to
keep large quantities in sound condition
has been pronounced impracticable. Ex-
periments are being made with a system
of compression into bricks by hydraulic
pressure. The trials show that the flour
so treated is not affected by damp, even
under unfavorable conditions, and is free
from mold. The compression de-
stroys all forms of larval life
end the flour is thus rendered
safe from the attacks of the insects
The saving in storage is enormous, as the
cubic space occupied by 100 pounds of loose
-four will hold more than 300 pounds of the
compressed article.
The liquid products into which wood
| may be converted are estimated at some
sixty per cent. Although the strongest
| hydraulic pressure will not squeeze one
half of l per cent. of moisture from dry
wood, yet by putting the same material
into an iron retort and converting it into
charcoal by means of heat the gases and
smoke, to the extent of fully 65 per cent.
of the weight of the wood, may be con-
densed into pyroligneous acid, from which
| are obtained wood alcohol acetate of lime,
and wood tars. Data in this line show that
cord of wood, Weighing 1000 pounds, pro-
duces about 1850 pounds of pyrohgneous
acid and 700 pounds of charcoal-the acid
| in this case yielding nine gallons of 50 per
cent. crude wood alcohol 200 pounds of
| acetate of lime and about twenty-five gal
Ions of tar, besides thirty-five bushels of
| charcoal. This wood alcohol is a perfect
| substitute for grain alcohol for manufac
| turing and mechanical purposes, and at
| less than one-third the cost.
Another attempt, says the New Yorl.
Sun, is to be made at this session of Con
gress to adopt the metric system for the
| United States. At the last session Repre-
! sentative Hurley of New York introduced
| in the House of Representatives a bill
with this purpose in view, but it failed to
| receive favorable consideration. In Ger
many, italy, Spain, France, Austria, Hun
| gary, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland,
Norway and Sweden, Servia, Peru and
| Venezuela the metric system is by law OBJ
| ligatory. In Great Britain and ireland,
| in Turkey and the United States, it is per-
| missive, while Denmark, Japan and Rus
| STA are non-metric. The latest advfces re-
| ceived by the coast survey indicate that
| Great Britain is in a fair way to adopt the
| system, for it has been found that in some
of the countries where the metric system
| is compulsory England has lost many con-
| tracts, for the reason that the transfer
ence of figures from one system to an
| other has frequently resulted in inaccu-
| racy.
| The alligator as a useful animal has
nearly been exterminated in Florida, and
| the people of the state are going to ma e
a formal appeal to the United States Fish
| Commission to restock the rivers and
| lakes with these old-time valuable saur-
| ians says a Jacksonville telegram in the
| New York Herald The demand for alli-
| gator leather for manufacturing pur-
| poses is on the increase, but most of the
|
| brought from South and Central America
| Florida had more than 100000 alligators
| in 1880, but to-day she has not one-uuar-
| ter that number, and they are all young
| fellows unfit for market except to stock
| dime museums and circus exhibitions
| The alligator hunters have destroyed the
| great saurians at such a rate that there
| is scarcely an old full grown alligator to
| be found in Florida outside of the great
| Everglades. The United States Fish Com
mission looked over the field last week.
| and visits were made in various parts of
| the state to see what prospects there were
| for breeding alligators artifcally Espec-
ial attention was given to the small hatch
| cries on the Caloosahatchie river lust
| above Fort Myers, where a private citi-
| zen has established an infant industry of
| alligator breeding. The success of this
experiment is important, in view of the
| probable attempt to breed alligators for
stocking the rivers in Florida by the fish
commission
Trials of animals were by no means
uncommon in the law courts of 400 or 500
years ago, says the Pittsburg Dispatch
Even as recently as the year 1882 cow
was tried for murder, convicted and
strangled in France. The same country
also records tha trial opa oop,v;o.io~.