The morning news., 1899-11-07
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

selections from a fully equipped automatic
orchestra. It is pronounced the most
complete musical automaton in the world
having eight divisions. each of which has
a repertoire of eight melodies. All of the
pieces played by this musical clock were
selected by the Emperor himself, and con-
sist of forty foreign and twenty-four
Chinese recitals.
The wife of poor government clerk,
says Mainly About People. had long been
yearning for the possession of a green par
rot. AT last a fine specimen was OBJ ain
ed for the sum of e. II was to be deliY-
cred during the morning, the purchaser
requested And it came to pass that a
new servant lass from the depths of he
country opened the door TO the parrot de-
liVering youth. She knew a barn yard
fowl when she saw it. but parrots had not
yet appeared on her horizon. Her mistress
was out, and there was not a soul 10 in
struct her in the code of ethics as applied
to parrot Is it for the table?' the gen
eraP asked. Without a doubt was the
wicked reply. Whereupon the parrot was
at once dispatched, plucked, trussed and
put into the oven. He was just turning
a beautiful brown when the mistress Of
the establishment returned, and the same
evening the little servant from The couu-
try was back among the ducks and brakes
of her own village green, a wiser and sal
der girl.
Whoever wishes to see Niagara Falls
in even its (their0 already somewhat di-
minished glory, would do well to make his
visit at his earliest convenience. says the
New York Times, for almost every cay
more and more of the river is finding its
way to the gorge below through subterra-
mean channels and incidental turbin 8.
Sooner or later, unless all signs fail, the
enterprising seekers for power wil3 leave
the precipice dry wall They are NOV
ing slowly and with a wise caution, rot
to strain the patience of grandeur lovers
to the breaking point; but they are moving
steadily as well and now and then they
venture on an appropriation of really con-
siderable size. For instance, the Cana
dian Niagara Power Company is now pre-
pairing TO remove from the upper river
enough water 10 do the work of 100000
horses This is not much, as compared
with the total volume of the Falls and
yet it is an appreciable addition TO the
amount already taken, and if the process
of abstraction goes on long enough at tNis
rate, the silencing of the cataract's roar
viii be effected at a time well within the
reach of computation. We have our
doubt whether much will be effected by
denunciaton of these encroachments. It's
all a question of relative values. The world
needs energy as wei as beauty. and Nj
aSaEa mas DOM. OtlGlLdklOtl Ol llit tlltESN
will destroy the beauty; preservation CT
the beauty wastes the energy. And there
you are!
The sea is an occasional contributor of
the silken fiber, says the American Silk
Journal A fiber Of a kind is obtained.
from the sheu-dsh known as the pima
(mytilida9, which is found in the Medit
ezra mean. This shell-hsh has the power
of secreting a viscid silk, which in Sicily Is
sometimes made into handsome fabric
The silk is elected by the shell fish in the
first instance, for the purpose of attach
ing itself to the rocks. 1t is able TO guide
the delicate flaments to the proper place
and there glue them fast, and If they are
cut away it can reproduce them. The ma
terial when gathered (Which is done at
low tide) is washed in soap and water,
dried, Strengthened and carded, one pound
Of the coarse hlament yielding about three
ounces OF fine thread, which, when spun,
is of a lovely FURNISHED golden brown col
or. Recently, renewed attention has been
called to the matter of mussel silk by the
receipt at the Berlin Royal Museum of a
pair of golden brown silk gloves made OF
byssus silk. This silk Is obtained from the
small silky tufts protruding from the bys-
sus shell. This fiber is silky and changes
in color from greenish yellow to dark
brown. The single threads are from two
to three inches long, and after being
cleaned and dried they are spun into yarn,
Byssus silk woven into material is still
a great curiosity, for the supply of mate
rial is so scarce that industrial develop
ment of the manufacture is out OF the ques-
ton Fishermen tear the shells from the
rocks and, after cutting the tufts, return
them into basins of shallow water; the
tufts will grow again within year. It
takes between 5000 and 900 shells to OBJ
tain one pound of the fiber.
Among footballers, especially those
haling from Scotland, there is a belief
that it is unlucky TO put the left boot on
first when dressing for a match, says the
Baltimore Sun. The same superstition
many bowlers share. con the way to
the ground all football teams dread meet
ing or passing a funeral cortege," says
Charles Dickens. fIt is a certain sign of
defeat, and as many coaches as they pass
SO many will be the goals scored against
them;" and he adds a number of confirm
ative experiences in football matches from
the records of the last five years. Cy-
clists also dread meeting or passing a fu-
neral, he states, and the old thirteen su-
perstition crops up in the refusal of wheel
men to ride in patches of a bakers dozen
A dog barking a a machine foretells dis
aster, and certainly a puncture. Even the
sturdy cricketer is affected by supersti-
ton. AT the beginning OF every season
prominent players find themselves besieg-
ed with requests for mascots and tails
mans. signed photo of a cricketing ce-
lebrity, an old batting glove, etc, are all
accounted as charms against bad fortune
and for success. A well-known player pos
sesses an old cap at which the veriest
ragamu1tin would turn up his nose Yet
gold would not buy that faded yellow and
vermilion headpiece 1t is a lucky can
and any one wearing it never fails to
make good score, however bad may have
been his luck before. The affection of a
player for his bat with which he has
made larger scores is as constant as ira
tional. After a long run of ill-success with
one bat, players frequently change their
bat in order to try to get away from
their bad luck. The racirg man, of course
like all gamblers. is steep5d in sl1persti.
tons. His belief in omens and names is
ineradicable. In dreams betting men i'm
plicitly believe. Many are the stories told
of large sums icing won by backing rank
outsiders. who7e real abil ties have hean
forecasted by dreams. Some years aeo an