The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-17
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Inc NOFtn emma Herald says tndL a |
curious phenomenon was witnessed recent
~ at daybreak upon the opening Of the
Ch'angmen gate of Sooohow Some 4,0s0
or more rats of all sizes were seen to file |
out of tho gates, showing no fear of the !
country people who were hocking to sell
their market produce in the city. There
is much excitement, amounting almost to
panic. therefore, in Soochow and a dire
fate is Drophesied to the city, it being re-
nembered that a similar exodus happened
IN the COS, just prior to the fall of the
city into the hands of the TAPPING rebels.
There are some curious facts that have
lately been noted about the calendar. No
century can begin on Wednesday, Friday
or Sunday. The same calendars can be
used every twenty years. October always
begins on the same day of the week as
January; April as July; March and No
vcmOer begin on the same days. May,
June ana August always begin on different
| days from each other. and every month
in the year. The first and the last days of
| the year are always the same. These rules
| do not apply TO leap year. when COMPARE
son is between days before and after
| Feb. %.
Immense fortunes have been made out
Of the banana business. Revenues do not
| accrue alone from the sale of the fruit,
for the leaves are used for packing; the
| juice, being strong in taunin, makes an
! indehble ink and shoe backing; the wax
| found on the underside of the leaves is a
| valuable article of commerce; manila
| hemp is made from the stems, and of this
| hemp are made mats plated work, and
| lace handkerchefs of the finest texture;
moreover, the banana is ground into ba-
mana flour The fruit TO be sold for des-
| sert is ripened by the dry warmth of far
! ing gas jets in the storage places in
| which it is kept, and immense care has to
| be taken to prevent softening or over
| ripening. The Island of Jamaica yields
| great crops of this useful and money
making fruit.
-Hotwater lamps are the newest auto
matte appliances set up in London's pub
lie places says the Baltimore Sun. One
| just established in Leicester square pre-
| sents some exceptional features. OF
! larger size than its precursors, it
| is fitted with Welsbach incandes-
cent. mantles. This lamp is provided with
double boiler in one department of
! which cocoa and in the other coffee will
| be kept hot and on tap at a halfpenny
| cup. In the pedestal are several slot ar
| rangements, by which will be distributed,
| in addition to the hot water at half
penny a gallon, little gelatine capsules of
| beef extract. These capsules, dantily
| packed up in crimped papers, are wrapped
| up with two small tablets of herb flavor
! ing. Thus the weary wayfarer who finds
| himself in the small hours of the morning
with a stray copper or two may make his
way to the hospital lumfnary slip in
his halfpenny and possess himself at once
of the extract of beef and, by another
| halfpenny, of the hot water for preparing
his beef tea.
1t has been said that next to the saw
ages and the infdels, sailors are the most
superstitious portion of humanity,
says the Baltimore Sun. A few
| weeks ago, when the new British warship
| Albion was launched, the bottle of rose
water-not of champagne, remember
with which the Duchess of York was to
christen Englands proudest vessel, failed
at the critical moment to break against
the ships bows. Immediately there was no
end of ominous talk among sailors about
| this abortive attempt at baptism Mr.
| lVey, the Mayor of the place of launching
| in commenting upon this fact, observed:
Il have been a sailor myself, and 1 know
what sailors are. There are plenty of
| them who would rather have three months
OF hard labor than serve on board that
ship If anything happens to her, they
are sure to say at once that 1t was be-
cause she was not christened, and, In
way, 1t is quite true that accidents do fol-
low evil omens Suppose there is storm
a
| sUt1ous man at the wheel He needs all
his nerve and GOODNESS, but just at the
critical time he remembers the bad omen.
All he says 10 himself that bottle
didn't break. Something is sure to hap
! pen.' He loses his balance, and some
thing does happen. 1t is in that sort of
| way that these 'unlucky' incidents do real
| ly bring ill-luck."
Consul Corey of Amsterdam, in the
July consular reports, makes the curious
statement that the water supply of that
city is being obtained from the sand
dunes bordering the sea in the vicinity
| says the Baltimore Sun. The dunes con-
| sist of sand blown up into ridges from
the beach, having a hight near HARLEM
of about twenty feet and a width of about
two and a half miles The fresh water
they contain is supposed to come chiefly
from the rainfall. Not only is the water
in the dunes fresh above sea level, but it
| is perfectly fresh also to depth of sixty
six feet below the sea level The water
in the immediate neighborhood is salt. 1t
is held by some persons that the sand in
some way renders the sea water fresh
but it is more ineligible to find the source
of the fresh water of the dunes in the
rainfall. Be the cause what it may, the
! dunes are vast reservoir of fresh water
which is being collected for Amsterdam
by means of stone ware pipes thirteen
feet beneath the surface and by means of
open canals For Harlem the water is
collected in wells fitty-five feet below sea
level. There is some doubt, however as
to the permanency of the supply If too
largely drawn uron. Wells sometimes
give fresh weter for a while and after
ward turn salty. The occurrence of fresh
water Oh small low islands and on sandy
beaches mas long been a curious problem
upon which the water works OF Amster-
dam may throw so3,e light
Wooden meat skewers are made almost
exclusively of hickory, and, like many
other manufactures of wood. they arc
made in factories located in proximity to
the forests whence the wood of which they
are made is taken, says the New YORK
Sun Wooden skewars are made mostly
In the Vest They are produced in great
numbers in Tennessee and Ohio. Hick~
DRY skewers are made in various lengths
| four and half five five and a ba1