The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-11
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Two of the largest transatlantic
steamship lines, the White Star and the
Atlantic Transport, have announced their
new rates of passage for the season of
1850. In both cases the rates have been
advanced about 80 per cent, which is
simply a resumption of the standard of
rates which obtained before the reduction
IN prices for saloon passage last year. The
reduction last spring only affected the
n nimum prices at which saloon passage
could be secured; the maximum saloon
rates were not touched.
The biggest egg in the world has re-
Gently been taken 10 London for sale. 1t
is the finest known specimen of the egg of
Aepyornis maximus, and is over a foot
long and nearly a yard in circumference.
In cubical capacity it equals six ostrich
or $50 hens egges. Its value is about $3.50.
II was found buried in the sand in Mad
agascar by natives. II. G. Wells recently
wrote an amusing story of the narrowing
experiences of a naturalist who Matched
out one Of these monstrus birds and was
nearly pecked to death.
"A new and quicker method than the old
of melting sand in glass-making is being
used by manufacturer in Anderson, Ind.
According to the account given, this man.
ufacturer, while passing through his plant
recently, observed a globe on an arc light
break and a piece of glass fall on the car
bon. 1t was only a second until it was
duced to a liquid and dripped to the
ground. This gave him his cue, and he
directed the construction of a big vat, with
sides and bottom composed of carbons,
over which could be turned lateral and
longitudinal current. An arrangement be-
ing made to run the sand through this
vat, the plan worked perfectly. the best
al fara crIo fJara= -,
about as many seconds as requires hours
for the fuels to melt it. The vat has been
patented, and is being used, being so ar
ranged that il can be adapted for every
kind of glass-making from plate to bot
ties. The cost of melting by this process
is stated as being not so great as by coal
or oil. though 1t may be more expensive
than by natural gas.
The English printing trade papers have
lately devoted much space to discussing an
invention for printing without ink The
basis of this scheme is an invention for
printing by an electrical process. the pat
ents covering which have been acquired by
an English corporation. The printing by
this method is effected without the use of
| ink in any form, by simply bringing the
| plate in contact with chemically damped
paper linen. silk, wool or other material
the result being a good, clear impression
| the density of which can be varied as de-
sired. The print obtained by this process
| resembles in clearness a copperplate or
| litho-engraving, and is obtained in more
| simple manner than by letter-press print
! ing. The ordinary printers type, forms,
| stereotypes or electrotypes constitute in
| themselves a suitable printing surface and
may be used in a similar way, merely COM
| ing in contact with the damped paper to
] form the print The chemical additions to
- fah 10 n
| the electric current are to be added 10 the
| pulp, and are said to be so cheap as to
! cause no appreciate increase in cost.
"A Chicago inventor, says the Scientific
| American has recently patented an cleo
| tricaily illuminated clock. 1t seems prac-
| teal and is not very expensive to make.
| 1t is specially adapted for clock towers.
| and the idea is to illuminate the figures
on the dial in turn, this end being obtain
| ed by the mechanism of the tmepiece.
| Upon the hour hand is arranged a brush
| which travels in contact with a ring and
| segmental contact pieces, for the purpose
| of completing the circuit between the ring
| and each of the contact pieces in turn.
| By this arrangement the contact piece will
| be in circuit with the brush during one
| hour, or until the brush passes to the next
| contact piece, the actual lighting being
| effected by means Of twelve electric lights,
| one behind each character AS soon as
| the hour hand passes the point midway be-
| tween the two characters, the brush snaps
| down upon the next contact piece and
| throws the next lamp into circuit. The
| minute hand carries an electric light on
| the end of it. and the contact continues,
/ so that the minute hand always indicates
| the exact minute by single lamp, which
| is lighted continuously, whereas the hour
hand uses twelve lamps in succession each
twelve hours.
! According to an article on King Meme
lik of Abyssinia in the November Windsor
| Magazine. it would seem that this dusky
rulers government is truly a "paternar'
one. If chief has displeased him in some
slight manner he calls him to the palace
and settles the score at once with a heavy
| cane. He does not rebuke the offender nor
put him to public shame, but in a truly
| fatherly way, gives him sound beating
| with his own strong hands and the chief
| departs the better for ii. Again, instead of
| getting reports about occurrences in the
city from his policemen or other subordi-
mates, he finds out what is going on him
self with the help of a powerful pair of
| field glasses. With these in hand he
| spends many hours in a tower built for
the purpose, from which he can sweep the
| principal streets and open places. And as
the people never know when the Emperor
may be watching them, they are careful
what they do. King Menelik moreover is
| constantly supervising all that goes on in
the palace, making his tour of inspection
| at all times of the day or night Now he
| stops at the kitchen, which is a building
| by itself, and sees what the cooks are do
| ing, now he looks in at the treasure house.
where the gold and precious things of the
| kingdom are guarded; now at the saddler's
| and blacksmith's; now he watches the wo-
men making hydromel, and now the chill
dren chanting their reading lessons in dull
| sing-song. Or, again, he walks through
| the gardens, where acres of fruit trees
are growing, many of them specially i'm
ported from Europe. He loves every de-
| tail of gardening, and is particularly in
| terested in experiments in irrigation. fer
| ttlizing and the like.
Emperor William, busy man though he
is, having finger, so to speak, not mere
ly in German pie, but likewise also in a
great many foreign ones has found tipoa