The morning news., 1899-05-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


being the enemies of the farmer moles
are really his friends, and on Land where
the industrious little tunnelmakers have
been ruthlessly destroyed they would glac-
~ be welcomed back, were this possible.
They are of immense use in destroying
injurious grubs, especially the wire worm,
which does so much damage TO root crops.
Another benefit they confer is that OF
to some extent draining pasture, ana 10
this may be attributed the fact that sheep
always thrive best on land infested by
these quaint little quadrupeds.
When the statue of Benjamin Franklin
in front of the Philadelphia postoftice IS
unveiled. says the Philadelphia Record,
numerous kites of huge size will be al
tached 10 the canvas covering of the stat
ue, and through the agency or these kites
and by means of intricate electrical ap-
plances the statue will be unveiled with
out any apparent human or mechanical
assistance. Justus c. Strawbridge, who
bears the entire cost of the statue, $7,-
POO, and will present il to the city, con-
ceiVed the idea several years ago at
dinner after, listening to a speech IN
which it was pointed out that there was
no memorial in bronze to Franklin in this
city. The postofice pavement was select
ed as the site because tradition says that
on that spot Franklin made his memora-
Bile experiment. in kite-nying, and In later
years the University of Pennsylvania of
which he was the founder, was erected
there"
Mr. Rupert Schmid, German sculptor,
who has been established in Mexico for
some time has been turning his atten-
ton to the problem of discovering mar
Bile in the republic. the Italian marble used
,,s~~sv- Il, .lr IL
stains, besides being very expensive, oW-
ing to freight duties, exchange, etc. Hav
ing heard that mountains of marble exist
ed in the state of Vera Cruz he undertook
an exploration, and after considerable
| search is said to have discovered what he
considered magnificent deposit Of marble
of several colors. The white he declares
to be superior 20 Carrara marble, its white
ness being unblemished. and it is hard
and suited to all kinds of work. Mr.,
| Schmd took specimens with him to Mex
leo City but naturally is reticent as to
the exact spot - here the deposit is located,
| hoping to interest capitalists in the OK
plOitaton of this new form of national
wealth.
"A Latin newspaper is now regularly
appearing in Rome. says the London News.
The news of the day and editorial com
| be read in the tongue of Cicero. The pa
| per is as yet only issued once a month,
so that some will be inclined to give the
| Vox Urbis, for such is its tide, the hum
| bic name of magazine. But if the expert
| ment should prove successful from flnan-
| cial standpoint, the VOX Urbis may be
| come a weekly. The contrast between the
vulgar modern matter and the sedate an
cient manner are often entertaining, and
at times extremely piquant. The 'Drey-
| fus Syndicate" in the number before us,
! is classically slorihed into a "Factio pro
! Dreyfus constituta." NJ. Ciemenceau is
described by his modern Ciceronian critic
| as "ferox Vehemensque homo" The mod
ern Gauls are said to be enthusiastically
shouting "Vivat eXercitus!' and even
"Bene exercitus!' Old classical tales are
occasionally called into service as illustra-
tions to modern Instances, and there is a
strong dash of the pedagogue an the edi-
tor.
"A curious Illustration OF canine intelli-
gence-and its limitatons-was observed
by a writer in the Outlook few days
ago. Passing down the street he saw a
/ fine Airedale terrier lying down with both
fore paws and muzzled nose scrubbng
the surface of an iron grating with bone,
| as If to bring it to a high state of polish.
The owned saw and explained. The graf
| ing is just over a cellar in which the ter
rier sleeps. His muzzle prevents him from
| attacking bones to advantage by day,
50 he brings the bones or his finding to
the grating, hoping to push them through
| and guaw luXuriously when unmuzzled at
night. But the little chap had but the
| vaguest ideas of the size limits of the
grating, and the ordinary size of bones
go, he must have had at least two fail
Ures to every success. Yet, with real ter
| rier ingenuity, he turned even his failure
| to account for after vigorously trying
every hole in the grating he would quietly
stop. lick the entire grating free of the
grease and meat juice rubbed off the bone,
then rub off another layer and repeat the
licking.
"A New Orleans dispatch says: An act
of unusual horror has just been perpe-
rated in the country few miles from
New Orleans, in which a young woman i,
throat was cut for the purpose of killine
a devil believed to be lodged there The
victim was d young Italian woman. and
the perpetrator an Italian quack who saws
that he receives his medical knowledge di-
rect from God. Mrs. Nicoloce was suffer
ing with some affection of the throat that
rendered it almost impossible for her to
swallow, and Dicarlo, a kind of voudoo
put a few questions and declared it a
case of possession by the devil, the demon
having taken lodging in her throat He
| then gravely declared that the evil one
would have to be killed, and grasping the
young woman, he belabored her and
stabbed her in the throat with a pair of
scissors The same treatment was re-
peated a day later but the husband of
the victim finally thought matters had
gone too far, and called in a legitimate
physician. Mrs Nicoloce was found to be
at the point of death, and charges were
made against Dicarlo, and he was arrest
ed. Whether or not the woman viii live
cannot be told, but she is receiving The
best care the neighborhood can AFFORD
and feeling against the quack is intense
Every American and Englishmap
whom met in ConstantinopIe went to the
trouble to assure me thar the Turk was
not as wicked as some persons would
have us believe" writes the Constantine
pie correspondent of The Chicago Record