The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

"A wagon went through Manhattan.
Kan, the other day, and on the wagon
cover was painted this device: Not bound
for Missouri. Not busted. Not going 20
wife's folks. Just doin' this to beat the
railroads"
Collectors of Old documents, stamps
scarce engravings or other valuable pa
pers that ought TO be protected from the
noxious influences of the air and from
moisture. can easily preserve them in
their original condition by covering them
with a per cent solution of collOdion.
This solution can be applied with a soft
brush without the slightest danger to the
objects thus treated This proceeding is
mainly applicable where delicate colors
that are soluble in water are to be pre-
served in their pristine freshness aud
beauty. The collodion covering is. there
fore, most excellent for preserving water
color paintings and pastels.
-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
pressure. especially when few connections
have to be resOrted to on the way, such
pipes are pronounced as much superior
~ muse u CAST IRON as the steer SUD-
sutuIe is to the old cast-iron tension men,
Der Of a bridge 1t is thought, too, that
they Will ultimately be used to the ex-
clusion of others-the fact appearing
however, that, though similar pipes made
of wrought iron have been successfully
used for years on the Pacific coast and
elsewhere, it is not recorded that the
coatings employed for preserving the pipes
from oxidation have proved wholly sat
isfactory. The rivetS which fasten the
pipes and the tapping joints impede the
flow 10 a certain extent, and pipe has
been devised, the fastenings of which
are entirely outside and provide the pipe
with a smooth bore; and the great i'm
provement in steel-welded pipes of large
diameter will also remedy that defect to
a large extent. 1t is now proposed 10
convey a supply of 100000 gallons of wa
ter daily TO a mining district in Australia
by steel pipe thirty inches in diameter
and 32S miles long.
The international bureau of weights
and measures at Paris preserves the
standards of length and mass with which
the secondary standards used by the va
rious national governments have been
most carefully compared. These stand
ards, says the New York Evening Post
are the concrete representation of a frac-
ton of the circumference of the earth at
a certain point, and of the mass Of a GER
tain amount of pure water at its maximum
density. The length of the standard meter
has been determined in terms of the wave
| length of light in case of the loss of the
standard, but it has remained for a French
| scientist to inquire what would be done
in the event of the disappearance of all
standards, and all measures of length eX-
pressed in terms Of the standard. With
what accuracy the meter could be res tored
| from memory was the object of his inves-
tigation, and by experimenting with
number Of artisans, mechanics and scien-
lists used to making measurements he
was able TO publish a table of very salts
| factory results From 100 people of the
| classes described he asked for estimates
on the length OF certain distances, and also
| that they should mark off a certain length
on a board. The smaller distances were
found nearly always underestimated,
| while everest imaGon was the rule with
! the greater distances. Reducing from
these observations the value of the meter
! it was found that the distance thus ascer-
| tain,d showed a variation from the true
meter Of only a few millimeters, or but
several thousandth parts of its own length
1t is a curious fact, says the New York
Herald, that there are topers innumerable
in the animal kingdom Bipeds and quad
rupeds alike are fond of alcoholic drinks
and although some display aversion when
/ first tasting liquor, they soon acquire
craving for il. Chickens and ducks, after
| having once tasted brandy, become abso-
| lurely slaves TO the drink. They refuse to
eat, grow thin and exhibit symptoms of
| detection when unable to obtain their
| favorite tipple Monkeys and apes are
passionately fond of spirituous liquors. OF
| these, Buttons Wine-bibbing chimpanzee
was a shining example, and Brehm, the
| German BIOLOGIST, owned several mandriEs
| that drank wine regularly and did not dis
dain brandy. Herbivorous animals fire.
| quently become intoxicated, innOcently
enough through eating decayed fruit In
orchards oxen and cows, after eating over
ripe apples, have been seen to display all
! the symptoms of drunkenness. They stag
| ger, their eyes lose expression, and they
! grow sleepy. 1t seems that animals are
susceptible to alcoholism in proportion to
| the development of their intelligence. Ele-
! plants are fond of wine and rum, and rats
gnaw the slaves of wine casks to get at
| the contents. Cats, however, rarely exhibit
a fonduess for intoXicants. Among birds
! the parrot takes first place as an habitual
topper. Insects have many opportunities to
become intoxicated and it is the most ac-
| tive that most frequently avail themselves
of the chance. There is an aromatic in
! toxcating fluid in linden blossoms for
| which the bees show an especial fondness.
| Instances have been observed where
swarms of bees RECALLED themselves with
! the poisonous linden nectar until they ex
hibited all the signs of intoxication. Hun
dreds fell helplessly 10 The roadside, 10 be
| trampeed under foot
Two new systems of biography are
soon to receive practical trials, the expert
mental work in each having been salts
/ factorily accomplished, and the inventors
/ claim that the new methods will occasion
J many and important changes in the pres
ent practice. In America Prof. Henry A.
( Rowland has perfected a system known
/ as the multiplex, which in the near future
will be tested thoroughly by the operation
| of a line extending from Philadelphia 10
| New York. In this system eight mes
sages can be sent over one wire stimuli
taneousy, four in each direction, and the
transmission is affected by means of a
| keyboard resembling that of an ordinary
| H. "a