The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-22
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The heaviest rainfalls so far observed
with scientific accuracy occur in India.
Al Cherapuuji, in the Khasi hills, in As
sam, the mean annual precipitation is 80
feet inches, at Debundja 80 feet 10 inches,
and at Bibundi "a feet 4 inches. Both the
latter stations are on the sea coast, and
a a much lower level than Cherrapunji
Prof Adolf DIR, an accomplished
German scholar and linguist, has invented
a system of shorthand symbols which viii
enable stenographers to report in any one
or all the chief European languages as
readily and correctly as they can in their
respective mother tongues. This system,
upon which Prof. DIR has been engaged
for a long time, is explained in a volume
which viii probably be issued in a few
weeks by a Paris publisher. Prof. DIR
is master of some thirty languages, Orien-
tai included. His system has nothing what
ever to do with 'Nolapuk," a dismal fad,
which also was made in Germany, but
which the professor has ridiculed He mas
advised all people in search of a 'univer-
sal language" to learn English. and he has
given his reasons. English literature is
the richest and greatest in the world Eng
lish is more generally spoken, than any
other language since the mishap at Babal,
it is the universal language of commerce
in the East and Far East especially-and
it is spreading with increasing rapidity.
Mr.. Chncholle, writing in lie Figaro,
gives some amusing details regarding the
allowances made by law TO witnesses for
their expenses attending the AenneS court
martial. 1t appears that the rate in the
case Of courtmartial is double that fixed
for assize or other trials. Witnesses at
Rennes can claim ) francs per day for
their expenses whereas if they had de-
posed before a criminal or civil court they
would only have been allowed francs
and 80 centimes. In addition they are en-
powered to charge travelling expenses at
the rate of 10 centimes per kilometer. In
the case of the journey from Paris 10
Rennes and return the allowance is, there
fore, "a francs. Experts officially called
in that capacity, however, have the right
to charge for travelling expenses at the
rate not of / cent, but of a sumptuous 5
cents d kilometer 1t is said that the rea-
son for this special proviso of the law is
that experts are expected to travel first
class, while third-class accommodations
are considered to be good enough for the
common herd of witnesses.
Prof Nernst has recently published
some further researches that bear upon
the production of Fight in his lamp. As is
well known, metallic conductivity increas-
es in the inverse ratio of the temperature
! increase; while, electrolytic conductivty
is exactly the opposite of this. He shows
that the electroyltic conductivty of solids
at high temperatures is very high. With
pure oxides it increases slowly with the
temperatur and remains relatively small
but that of mixtures, and particularly of
! the oxides Of magnesium, silicon, and Zir-
con, is very much greater; in fact, better
than that Of sulyhuric acid. He considers
that the electric are does not conduct
metaicaly, but electrolytically. In exper-
irf1HT Ff41cr wit u rgEE
ing currents at first, to avoid electrolysis
! Of the incandescent rod; but later on, he
found that with a continuous or direct cur
rent of mixture of oxides can be kent in
candescent for hundreds of hours without
decomposition occurring. Nernst holds that
the current that maintains the rod in an
incandescent state is only a residual cur
ret, which he terms "Reststrom"
AT the Devon Great Consols mine in
the south of England, copper mining has
been abandoned many years because it
proved Improbable, but now the ore.
mundic copper pyrites, is being treated
for The extraction of the arsenic it con-
| talnS. After crushing, the ore is washed
and then put IN roasting furnaces where il
IS heated up 10 about 800 degrees Fahren-
! heit The heat causes chemical decompo
sitiou, setting free the dense fumes of ar
Senious acid These fumes pass through
a series of long flues before reaching the
slack, and are almost completely deposited
as arsenic SCOT AZ certain intervals this
| is scraped off the interior of the hues and
| again roasted, and when this deposits its
| vapors i'm the flues there is found a snow
white, crystalline substance which is re-
fined arsenic. It is ground in a mill and
conveyed through leather hosepipe to bar
rels, in which it is shipped for sale An
immense quantity of refuse from the form
or days of copper working at this mine
is now also being treated in the manner
| described above, and it is said will yield
at least $4,000 as refined arsenic, which
now commands about $50 ton.
The scarcity Of rubber is a matter that
/ attracts the attention of so many DIFF
! fcrent people in so many lines of applied
! science, that some facts from one of the
! United States consular reports bearing on
! the subject will not be amiss The princi-
! pal reason advanced to explain the lack
/ OF rubber IS the great difficulty In secur-
! ing enough men to go into the forests
/ al'ns the Amazon and tap the trees. There
/ Us no immediate danger of any great short
/ age in the supply Of rubber, but conserv-
! alVe opinion in the Amazon district holds
/ that there is sure TO be a steady diminu-
] ion of the output for two very cogent
! reasons; first, the trees growing near the
/ banks of The river are naturally the first
! to be tapped, and as a result are now he
coming exhausted, the milk becoming poor
/ cr every year; second the river banks
! have all been worked inland for a dis
/ lance OF about three miles from their
banks, and IN order 10 reach the fresh I'M
! touched rubber trees deeper i'm the for
/ est much longer time and a very much
larger number Of men win be required
Inc hnest rubber forests are now said to
! be a.ong the Purus river, one of the large
| tributaries Of the Amazon from the south