The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

tnal Z1Z mad detective VISION.
"A Western paper notes that the ship
ments of pianos to farming communities
in chat section have never been greater
than during the last few months and 1t
pertinently says: Farmers do not buy
pianos when mortgages cover their
lands"
The American Agrlculturalist has gath
cred and compiled statistics which show
that of 5000 students in nearly 200 col
leses and universities in this country near
" 2l0O0 are from the agricultural classes.
The farmers boy still has a thirst for
education.
1t is customary among Kaff1r tribes.
when trouble is brewing among themselves
or with white races, to skin oxen alive In
order to ascertain which side Will win.
A white OK always represents the Dutch,
a red OK the English, and a black one the
natives The Basutos in the Free States,
having heard of the trouble between the
English government and the Transvaal
put their old custom to the test q short
time ago. They reported that the white
OK lived four days longer than the other
one; both oxen were skinned alive. The
result is that the Basutos think If war
Games about that the Beers will win, and
they have decided to take ne part in any
trouble that may ensue.
A new international question has been
raised by recent antics of the Rio Grande
river in changing its course. The river
formerly flowed within a few yards of
Fort Ringgold. Tex, but has forsaken its
old channel and made a new one a mile
to the southeast, entirely In Mexican ter
ritory. A treaty with Mexico, made in
1884, provides that the abandonment of an
existing bed by the river and the forma-
ton of a new one shall not effect a change
of the boundary. But as Fort Ringgold
depends entirely on the Rio Grande for
its water supply and as the United States
requires a military post there the matter
has been referred to the international
boundary commission for settlement.
The extraordinary revelation was made
at a recent meeting Of the State Savings
Bank Association Of New York that there
were in the savings banks of the Empire
State 81, 500 900 in dormant account The
savings banks of New York state now
hold about $7OO, 100000 of the peoples mon
ey and the dormant accounts of $1,000
remain without any evidence that their
owners will ever call for them. Some of
them have been dormant for over fifty
years. One bank in the city of Albany
reports that its unclaimed accounts have
claimants who will appear in due season.
GUS nation, when we can overlook a lit
tie Item of over %,500000 lying unclaimed
in the savings banks of a single state.
There is danger even in temperance
drinks. Samuel Kissler, a Philadelphia lad,
aged H. bought a bottle Of root beer and
put it in his hip pocket as he walked
home. As he was crossing a car track
there was a loud report and persons pass
ing by were amazed to see the boy lifted
about three feet from the ground. A horse
that was not accustomed to artillery also
forgot himself, and, pulling the lines out
of his sleepy drivers hands. garloped I'D
the street Before he had gone a square he
ran into trolley car, throwing the driver
into the street. 1t was found that the boy
who had the bottle was bleeding and he
was carried to the Pennsylvania hospital
The bottle had exploded and torn the
back of his trousers off. Several pieces of
the glass had entered the flesh, INJECTING
cuts which it required eleven stitches to
mend.
Some years ago, an explorer in Asia
discovered plant of silken fiber, used by
the Turcomans for the manufacture of
withes and cord and, by the Canagues. for
woven goods. This plant known as the
Apocynum venetum, is a sort of bush with
slender cylindrical branches, sometimes
six feet high. 1t grows in Europe, Sibe-
ria, Asia Minor, the north Of India. Man
churia and Japan The branches die ear
ly, and in the spring new shoots start
horizontally from the roots. 1t fiourishes
best where the land is under water during
a part of the year. notably in the neigh
borhood of rivers that overflow at stated
periods. The attention of the Russian gov
eminent was called to this plant in 1891
and in 1895 the authorities began to use it
in the manufacture of bank notes, and
since then the plant has been cultivated
at Poltava. The results obtained thus far
are considered excellent.
"A writer in Appleton's Popular Science
Monthly says: Are we in America in dan
ger of the plague? 1 will have to answer
this question very much as 1 did two years
ago: Yes, we are in danger; but this
danger, being foreseen, may be easily
avoided" In my opinion, our most vul-
neraole point is along the Pacific coast.
With the plague at Hong Kong, it is pos
sible that it may be transferred to Manila.
and the transports bringing soldiers to
this country may also bring the infection.
However, I think the chances of this hap
pening are small. The length of time re-
quired to make the voyage from Manila
to San Francisco is so great that with the
infection on board, it would be almost
certain to manifest itself before reaching
our shores, and, knowing its presence on
board snip reaching san Francisco or
any other point on the Western coast
thorough inspection and disinfection will
keep the disease out of this country. The
probabilities are that for several years
to come the larger cities of India, at least,
will remain infected, and our sanitary au-
thorities must be viglant. The fact that
if the plague reaches us at all, it must
come by sea, that a long voyage must be
made before it can reach us, and that the
disease will most probably appear on
board ship before arrival at any American
portal these conditions are in our favor
The general government should take upon
Itself the control of all measures to pre-
vent the Introduction of infectious dis
eases from without"
One of the most accurate pieces of me
chanical work that have recently been
done, is the grinding of the plane mirror
for the great siderostat telescope which
is to be shown at the Paris exposition in
taIa haS eI.