The morning news., 1899-12-13
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

- = N''NNN Az III AacElas SitiGc the lDSldlld-
ton Of the electric tram cars. The fol-
iage begins to turn brown and drop early
IN August, to bud and even biossc m aga II
IN october. The trees on the opposite side
OF the tramway behave like ordinary tree
for they lose their foliage in the late au-
tumn and do not put forth fresh blossoms
until spring. Botanists are inclined TO be-
lieve that this singular state Of things is
due TO the leakage of the electrical cur
rent at places underground acting upon
the roots of the trees, which are o,her-
wise healthy.
The visitor to the coast Of Maine is o.
ten amazed at the surprising versatility
OF he lowfy herring, says Lippncotts. In
many Of the1 sea-coast villages thousands
OF cases of herring are shipped to various
sections of the country disguised as
French sardines, brCok-uout, and macker-
el. The herring, when unloaded from the
little steamer which brings them from the
Weir, are separated inlo three piles ac-
cording to size. The evolution of the her
ring then begins. The largest size rapidly
deve -op into mac1ersl, the med UNI re ate
scon we'll on their way towards becom ng
brcok-trout VIII le the smallest, in the
course of day, are ready to be sent into
the unsusPecting word gorgeously labelled
In black and gold, Fine French Sar-
dimes" Some slight difference in the pre-
paration and the alluring labels are al
that distinguish the mackerel from the
brook-trout and the brook-trout from sar-
dine.
In Russia the number Of steps to the
minute covered by soldiers on the march
is from 112 to 116 in Germany it is ia,
in Austria 115 in France and Italy 120,
with the exception of the chasseur-a-pied
and the Bersaglieri, who make respect
lively 1870 and 140 steps. Length of the step
RnsSfa 10 21IL
inches and in France, Italy and Austria,
29lA inches, while the Italian Bersaglieri
use a step of "a inches. The Russian SOL
dier, under these conditions, covers a dis
tance of 261 feet to 30 feet a minute. the
Austrian 2S2 feet, the French and Italian
294 feet and the German 299 feet, the lat
ter occupying the mean between the Rus
sian and the special Italian corps, which
has the most rapid march In the British
army slow march consists of seventy-fve
thirty-inch PAGES to the minute, this meas
ure being used only on parade and for SOL
emn occasions. The quick march, in
which all evolutionS are performed, in
creases to 111 PAGES, while the double rises
to $50 PAGES in the minute.
"A really accurate screw, true to pitch
and thread form, is an almost impossible
and almost unknown production while true
nuts which would accurately fit a true
screw are even more rare, says the Engin-
eering Magazine. These troubles with
screw forms are we'll known and the lead
ing mechanics of the word are widely sep
arated as to the pitch for a given dame
ter and the form of thread most suitable
to use. The standard English thread,
adopted first by Clement and made stand
ard by WhitwOrth has round top and bot
tom with straight sides, and is an excellent
form. The American standard thread, fixed
by Sellers has fiat top and bottom, con-
nected by straight sides, and is also an eX-
celient form, the Sellers system being mar
red however in my opinion, by far too
coarsely-pitched screws below ga inches
diameter. Much finer-pitched small screws
are still in general use among the New
England tool makers, and it would be ad-
vantageous to establish a second set of
pitches for small screws. In America the
worst of all possible screw forms is still
used-the 60 degrees angle V-thread, which
should be utterly discarded. as it is i'm
possible of accurate p,o1uction.
The names of the British killed and
wounded after battle are ascertained by
means of the identification cards which
all our soldiers carry sewn in the left
hand corner of their khaki tuncs, says
the London Mail On the card are writ
ten the soldiers name, rank, regimelIai
number, together with the name and ad-
added so that the authorities may know
where to forward the effects of any sol
der who gets killed After an engagement
the roll is called as soon as the regiments
get back to their camp Every man who
does not answer is "lcked off, as miss
ing, and search is made for him on the
field. As the search parties come across
the dead and wounded men they rip open
the tunic al the left-hand corner and
take out the Identification card The
cards thus collected are carried back 10
camp aud handed over to the clerks of the
General in command, who therefrom com
pile the casualty lists. After all the
cards have been collected the roll is check
ed again and note made of those men
of whom no trace has been discovered
Ihese are usually presumed TO have been
taken prisoners, but it does not always fol-
low that the assumption is correct. In
the corner of his tuuic opposite the iden-
tlhcation card, every soldier carries q
small pad of bandages, etc, for dressing
a wound This field dressing" as it is
called. is added to "Tommy's" eauipment
in order that he may be his own surgeon
until medical assistance arrives. or NAV
have the wherewithal on him to bind IN
the wound OF a chum. You will proba-
bly, be surprised to learn that one of the
first things Tommy" does when ordered
to the front is TO make a will. although
every regiment contains a percentage of
happy-go-lucky fellows who do not WORRY
themselves about what will become of
their property when they no longer re-
quire it.
-Marvels surgery are performed daily
on human beings, but we hear Itre of
the similar operations performed on far
more difficult patients-anmals thai can
not understand why they are being put
in pain, says the Chicago News. Nero. a
star performing tiger in New York. had q
fracture of the right hind leg, having been
bitten by another angry animal AS he
was worth lots of money it was decided
to try to save his life. He was got under
an anaesthetc by eating meat sprinkled
wlth morphia and atrophine. After an
hour or so the potion took effect the
broken leg set, put in splints and sur
rounded with plaster of paris The lep
healed and Nero got well. When Calipb'