The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

1t is the custom in Cincinnati to ring
out the Old year and ring in the new year
by tapping the numerals of the years On
the fire bells. on the evening of Dec 81
all preparations had been made to carry
oui the custom and the firemen were
waiting for midnight. Then some curious
persons asked how the men would ring
1900. Everybody was stuck. Al. er a good
deal of puzzling over an apparent imp0s
sibiity the desperate ringers decided To
ring one then nine, and thea ring the
bells too vigorously for any very particular
person to count the strokes.
The Living Church says: THE RI
Rev. DIR. Bonsfeld has been the Angelica
Bishop of Pretoria, the capital of tn.
Transvaal republic, for the last twent,
years When the order came for the de
parture of all foreigners he naturally de
sired TO obtain permit to remain ana
continue his mnistrations TO ms flock,
who are described as almost all burghers
and subjects of the republic. He was told
by President Kruger that he was al lib
erty to remain, but when the otf1ciaAper-
mits were issued none came to him, and
his application TO the bureau or commit
lee having this matter in charge met with
no response. It appears that the penalty
for remaining in the republic without
permit was twenty-five lashes and three
months imprisonment The possibility OF
such an infliction was undoubtedly a hOr-
rble thing to contemplate. The Bishop
found himself unable TO face such a pen
atty, and accordingly departed with the
other eXiles."
In view of the constant activity in At
lantic cables, which has resulted in a new
cable about every two years since the
first successful cable of 1866, it stands to
reason that the difficulties offered by the
Pacific ocean must be great for the nine
leenth century to reach its close without
definite scheme for spanning the Pacific
by telegraph having been adopted, says
Scribner's Magazine. These difficulties
may be summed up in few words: First,
the great cost of a complete system of ca
bles; second the extreme depth of water
known to exist in certain parts of the
Pacific and feared in others; third, the
long distances between landing points;
and fourth, the lack of intermediate
points having an extensive trade. The es-
timated cost of the British Pacific cable,
for a single cable connecting Vancouver
with Australia and New Zealand, is placed
at about 81 600 900 including two repairing
ships and a sum of $4,000 for maintenance
of the cables for six months. The presi-
dent of one of the cabe companies OF
New York estimates the total capital cost
of cable to Japan. Austria and the
Philippines via Hawaii a $l2,00O,O0O, and
the cost of maintenance, including two re-
pairing ships and of operating expenses,
az $780, 900 year. 1t is not considered that
a single cable will be sufficient 10 in
sure permanent communication and any
scheme for a Pacific cable must provide
eventually for duplicate cables throughout
the entire route, so that the total capital
cost of a thoroughly reliable and efficient
Pacific cable may be put down at approx
imateIy $26, 100000, which would include two
repairing ships a reasonable quantty OF
spare cable and the equipment OF operat-
ing stations at the various landing points.
Consul Albion w. Tourgee, in recent
report to the state department, speaks os
follows in regard TO oyster culture In
France: Oysters are luxury in Europe.
The natural beds have been exhausted, as
the American beds are rapidly becoming,
and artificial culture has long been depend
ed upon for the supply of this luscious BIZ
valve. The chief breeding ground in
France is the Basin d'Arcachon, trians
ular tidal bay about nine miles on each
side. entirely landocked, and opening out
of the Collie de Gascoigne (Bay of Bis
cav into the department of Gironde by a
narrow channel about three miles in
length The coast is sandy and deserted.
A solid forest of maritime pines Pinus
pinaster). hand-planted during the pres
ent century, has checked the inland march
of the sand dunes and protects the basin
from the southwest winds, which blow
fifty out of the fifty-two weeks of each
year The shallow bay is networked with
navigable channels, between which a low
tide rise the half clay, half sand flats
utilized for breeding the succulent mol
lusk During the low spring tides. the
flats are covered with quantities of a
cheap variety of roofing tile, which has
been previously coated with a sort of
coarse whitewash. The spawn brought
in by high water catches on these tiles,
and the lime water helps the little molusk
to form his first shell. Toward winter
these tiles are taken up and carefully
scraped. The oysters, as large now as
ones thumb nail, are spread in flat-cov-
cred trays or baskets of closely woven
osier 20 protect them from the starfish
crabs and other enemies, and moved near
er the salt marshes on the east side of
the basin to grow. When they have be-
come little accustomed to an independ-
ent existence they are placed in trenches
little below water level, which are pro-
vided with sluice gates, by which they
can be flooded at will They ore thus
prevented from being chilled in winter or
dried up in summer, and are easily pro-
b.. hat.