The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

ton, was reopened TO tile public on Mon
day last after having been closed for re-
pairs since Feb. "a. The old timbers
which supported the roof have been re-
placed with steel trusses, and the whole
interior of the church has been painted
in oil.
The former Spanish warship Pedro,
which was captured by the cruiser New
York on April %, 1898 near Havana. is
now doing humble service as a coal car
rier. She has been renamed the Hector,
and is owned by the Metropolitan Coal
Company of Boston. which corporation
purchased her of the government
The Paris fire department gives an ex-
cellent report of the electric hose wagon
which was recently added to its equip
ment, and number of similar vehicles
are to be ordered forthwith. This VIII
lead to considerable saving of money,
as well as time since the maintenance
of the hose of the citys fire department
costs at present not less Ihan 800 a day.
| The fire service of the coming exposition
will be performed by these vehicles. The
wagon weighs when empty $3.50 pounds,
the weights of the crew bringing 1t up o
5,275 pounds. 1t is operated by storage
batteries, which make a run of sixty miles
without recharging, at speed of from
seven to nine miles an hour. AZ night,
when the way is clear, the speed can be
increased to thirteen miles an hour AS
| the radius of the fire centers Is 5000 feet,
on an average, from three and one-half
| to four miles would be run, provided the
| vehicle were called out two three times
a day. So that after the full service the
| batteries would still be in good heart.
| The reel at the back of the wagon car
| ries 525 feet of two and three-quarter-inch
| hose, while 26O feet of a small diameter
| together with three nozzles, are arranged
4 to,
| the side of the wagon, completes the
| equipment At several fires the wagon
| arrived before the engines and hose carts
| drawn by horses. The city has ordered
six other electrically propelled fire-extin-
gushing machines of different models, in
| Guiding hook and ladder and steam fire
engines These will all be in use at the
| exposition.
No race of men can surpass the Chi
nese in habits of industry and thrift, says
the January Atlantic. With the introduc-
ton of Western civilization the vast re-
| sources of the country will be developed
| the products of the soil and manufacture
| Will indefinitely increase and domestic and
! international trade will be multiplied in
! its proportions. Now, in all this material
| regeneration of China the Chnaman will
! he in evidence. Not a dollar will be gath
cred from the soil, from trade, from mines
| iIOH manufacturers, without MS securing
| a due proportion as a reward for his part
| in the enterprise. He will patiently and
| faithfully work for a master for half
! generation and in the second half he will
| appear as his own master, at the head of
| a thriving business. Thus, in the indus
| tries of the future, wherever there is work
| TO be done, there will be found Chinese
| ready to "sen strength" as working for
| hire is called in China; and they will sell
| more strength for the money than will
| men of any other nation Again, a dollar
| In the hands of a Chinaman represents far
| greater purchasing power than it does in
the hands of a European. In China a dol
lar will purchase 1850 pieces of cash, com
| posed of copper and zinc. These cash, with
| hole in the center and strung on a cord
weigh seven pounds. A common laborer in
Picking is glad to give ten days of labor
and carpenter or mason six days, to
| secure this amount of cash. This money
| would give a comfortable support to an
| average family. Three dollars a month or
$36 year. would cover the living income
of Chinese family of the working class
The meaning of this is that the Chinaman
viii survive and prosper under conditions
of life which would discourage and finally
overwhelm the European.
While electrical pianos can never con-
Vey the great claim derived from the in
dividuality of the artistic performer, says
an exchange, they have been brought to
a remarkable pitch of excellence and are
capable of rendering with absolute me-
chanical accuracy music the bare notes Of
which could only be played by a vrtuoso
The great advantage of this instrument is
that its possessor, even If unable to pIav
a note of music, can have instantly avail
able any class of composition for which
he has a fancy. The music is contained
on perforated rolls. An electric noter
| e n1aPnA Of he v,ia
base, and is belted to the mechanism
which unrolls the perforated music. and to
a long steel roller. Over this roller
which lies in a horizontal POSITION, Is a
row of fifty-eight small horseshoe electro
magnets, set vertically in a frame with
their poles upward. They are about three
inches long and less than an inch wide.
and are set close together. Each magnet
represents one key on the keyboard and
has over it a contact brush" of wire. The
perforated music paper passes over the
roller and under these contact fingers
which, as the perforations come under
them, make contact with the roller under
meath, thus closing the circuit through the
corresponding magnet. This puts into ac-
ton the connecting gear which causes a
hammer covered with felt to strike the
proper string with quick sharp blow
The misunderstanding machine is also
electric and entirely automatic in its
operation. The perforaton is done by
sets of punches connected with electro
magnets, and as the paper is unroIled il
passes under these, and an exact COPY of
the original record is produced. The ma
chine perforates fifteen sheets of paper at
one operation at paper speed of two feet
per minute, giving a total perforation Of
thirty feet of paper per minute.
William A. Eddy of Bayonne, N. j.,
sent aloft on Monday a chime of sleigh
bells by means of two kites nine feet in
diameter and two six feet in diameter.
says New York dispatch He also sent
aloft a music box playing waltzes. The
chime consisted of nine bells in the form
of half-circle, weighing about three
pounds, and they left the earth suspended
from the tandem kite cable. The sound of
the seligh bells was distinctly heard in
the eastern part of the Bergen Point sec