The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-16
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

librarians. One of its two courses of in
struction lasts six months, and is for the
training of librarians for the ordinary
public libraries while the other, of three
years, prepares the students to take their
places at the heads of scientific libraries.
THE octopus" says Populist editor
quoted by the New York Tribune, sis be-
coming alarmed and desperate. 1t has
burned it's bridges behind it., and, having
placed its hand to the pillow, VIII not
pause until it has either bound its chains
around us or been forced to shed its
sleeps clo4hing ana retire into its hole"
"A new style of tire pump has been
made necessary by the use of the large
sized pneumatic tires on motto cycles and
automobiles At first these tires were in
nated by means of stored jars of COM
pressed air that were filed by the use of
machinery. but devices are now appear
ing that enable a man to fill the big
tires by hand without unreasonable work.
One maker has constructed a pump
which gives a pressure of 600 pounds 20
the square inch, and will fill an auto
mobile tire with a few strokes of the
lever.
Total arrivals of immigrants for the
year ended June 80, 1899 were 311,7l5. an
increase Of 50, 416, or SO per cent. OF the
total arrivals Europe furnished 297 349,
Asia S,972. Africa, 81, all other countries
5,343. There were 1927 men and 116, ass
women. According to age. 1888 were uu-
der IA years. 24S,1S7 We're from IA to 40 and
1855 were 40 years or older. AS TO Hit
eracy, 446 could neither read nor write,
and 1922 could read but were unable TO
write. The total amount of money which
they exhibited 10 the officers was $5,41l,
462; 174613 had less than $50 each.
There is a sharp debate going on in
Australia just now over abuses of the
free pass system. Every member of the
ministry gets little gold pendant to wear
on his watch chain, which entities him
to a free ride over any railroad. The
special beauty of the arrangement is that
it lasts for life, and while the office
holders family are not supposed to share
in, the privilege, the railway officials are
very lenient one of the humors of the
recent debate lay in the fact that DR..
Mckay, who was rejected by his conStt-
uents for opposing the free passage of
troops bound for South Africa, has the
free use of the state railways for life, be-
cause he was once minister of education
for ten days.
To do its work fast and well. a file
should be kept free from its cuttings, says
the Arcade File Works. If the metal is
of a non-fbrous nature. with cast
iron or brass, the cuttings pack solid be-
tween the teeth, thus holding the teeth
out of the work and preventing the file
from biting freely. A sharp blow of the
files edge against the wise back after
every few strokes will remove most of
these cuttings; if, however, too many
strokes are taken before cleaning, they
lodge so firmly that a file brush must be
used to remove them These brushes are
usually made of fine wire mounted in
leather and tackled to a light wooden
back A stiff bristle brush serves this
purpose well, and for very fine-cut file
is preferable to the wire.
The Railroad Commission of Louisiana
has taken steps to prevent the telephone
companies from raising their rates as they
had announced their intention of doing
Two rules were re-enacted and amended
follows: There shall be no increase
in the rates now charged for rent of in
struments for converse ton, or for ths
use of public station instruments for
conversation without the consent
of this commission; nor shall any
rates be put in force at new exchanges,
or on new toll lines, or elsewhere before
said rates shall have been authorized by
this commission. No subscriber shall be
hindered in the enjoyment of telephone
communication. nor shall instruments be
removed from the premises of such sub
scribers@ except for failure to pay tariff
rates authorized by this commission.
Where no tariff has been authorized the
commission will consider the rates to be
the amounts which the patrons are pay
ing for rent of instrumentsl and toll-line
service in their respective localities.
Indianapolis telephone subscribers
have made arrangements with the central
office to have their telephone-bell act as
an alarm clock. Orders have been left
there for the purpose and the manager
has regular schedule of calls from 4:30
to 1870 a. m. Persons who wish to take
early trains out Of town leave orders with
the manager and there is no danger OF
missing their trains. 1t has also fire.
quently happened that a subscriber has
left word to be called at one-hour or
two-hour intervals during the night when
he has had TO take medicine, and much
worry has been saved thereby.
The description of a wonderful cleo
trical gun has been going the rounds of
the daily press. The gun consists of q
series of coils of wire about a tube made
OF brass or other metal not capable of
being magnetized. A projectile of iron
is peced in the tube, and is magnetized
as electricity is passed through the coils
in succession, beginning with the breech,
The proiectie is supposed to move faster
and faster as 1t approaches the muzzie
of the gun, and TO leave it a t an enormous
rate of speed, and with no noise or other
evidence of the existence of the gun. 1t
is suggested, however, by practical cleo
tricans. that to have the estimated range
of twenty miles. the gun would have to be
1880 feet long, and be operated by an en-
CINE having 25.3S0 horsepower. For the
time consumed in shooting the gun once,
the cost would be thirty-fve cents, but
at the usual price of electrical apparat us.
the gun and its power-plant would cost
$2l 6i9, Goa rather expensive gun.
An umbrella that is useless to any one
except its rightful owner may well be con-
sidered valuable The New Orleans Times
Democrat says that lawyer in that city
possesses such an article. which he de-
scrbos as follows: Il bought II in Ger
many year before last. and nobody can
open it except myself. DO you notice that
lttle keyhole in The side? Here is the key
on the end Of my watch chain, and until
il is inserted and turned, the thing is alb
solutey immovable Anybody else would
find it harder to raise than a mortgage.