The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-31
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island
has decided that flowers are necessary
feature of a funeral. The case under
consideration was an action brought by
horist against the administrators of the
estate of a deceased citizen. who had re-
fused to pay the plain:xf for flowers fur
nished on the credit of the estate. The
court justified the expenditure, remark
ing that the custom of having flowers
at funerals is well nigh universal in this
country and that when not abused by
extravagance or unseemly ostentation II
is certainly TO be commended as giving
appropriate expression to our feelings Of
respect and love for the departed"
"A Nebraska correspondent of the Chi
cago Record says: Wind mills are get
ting to be as thick in Nebraska as in
Holland. There is at least one at every
farm house to pump water; often another
at the barnyard, and sometimes several
Others at the different corrais or feed
Ing places for cattle. In the towns clus-
tiers OF wind mills rise above the roofs
and give quaint and picturesque APP
pearance to the landscape. They differ
from the Dutch wind mills, however
They are open wheels of wood, while in
Holland the wheels are usually made of
canvas fastened TO long arms, which re-
volve very slowly and in a dignihed way
appropriate 90 the Dutch character. The
Nebraska wind mills whirl with great en-
ergy at the slightest provocation, illus
trative of the character of many citi-
zens of this state, and some of them creak
and croak in a most melancholy manner
like other citizens that might be describ-
ed. People who live in the neighborhood
soon get used to this disagreeable noise
and DO not mind 1t any more than the in
dustrtous and progressive elements mind
the croaking of the 'misfortunists."
-Apricots stand second to oranges as a
money-making crop in California, and
more of this fruit is grown on the Pacific
slope than in all other states and coun-
tries. Roughly estimated the present
apricot yield is worth $2,250,Ooo to the
STATE, and the same estimate has il that
there are between 40,000, 900 and 46, 0O0,-
GOO pounds of apricots in California this
year. Small apricots are grown in a few
sheltered places in the Eastern states,
and there are small ochards of the fruit
in the South of France, in Italy, and in
turkey, and larger ones in Japan, but
nowhere in the world are apricots grown
on the wholesale plan Of California The
product OF this fruit in California is more
than treble that of all the rest of the
the thousands of young apricot trees now
growing in the state come into full bear
ing, 1t is likely that the annual yield of
apricots in California will be upward Of
900 pounds, and that the product
of the rest of the world will be insignia
cant by the side of it. Apricot trees are
shy" bearers, and with all that science
and the arts of horticulture may do they
cannot make the apricot a steady bearer
h.
lemon or plum.
China can usually find double for
anything Europe possesses. On the stage
they have an Irving, though not in name.
In the study they have even had a
Shakespeare-or, at least, they say so.
The stage in China is, as in ages past,
closely allied 90 the temple, and a play
often extends over a full month. In a
severely plain and simple place of amuse-
ment, devoid Of ornamentatien of any
kind, the writer had the pleasure of see
ing Fon Chong Mai the Sir Henry Irv-
ing of China, act the leading part in a
play etitled Ching Won Bohow." The
plot Of this play contains nothing new to
an Englishman familiar with hakes-
peare There is scarcely an incident or
proverb in the piece which does not re-
cali the work Of the great poet. Fon
actor. For over 800 years his family has
been identified with the actors art, and
when he acts he is often attired in a
costume which an ancestor wore two CEN
turtles ago on the stage. He is man of
| the keenest perception, highly educated
| in Chinese arts and sciences, and should
| he by any misfortune be obliged to quit
| the stage, he could earn his living in al
| most any business or profession. His
memory Is prodigious, and he possesses a
| repertory which include all the great re-
| ligious plays Of the mandarin dialect,
some of them filing scores of volumes.
Like his great British contemporary, he
| is a splendid companion.
Tho London Lancet says that DR.. L..
| Sambon and DR.. Low, the two medical
men intrusted by the British government
with the perilous task of testing the pos
| sibility of guarding against maiarial in
| lection in the Roman Campagna, have
| found favorable place for their purpose.
| They have selected a spot about two miles
distant from Ostia, between Castel Por-
ziana and Castel Fusano. and within five
minutes walk of the latter place. The site
| of their hut is on the edge of a ''stagno, 4"
or swamp forming part of the royal
| hunting demesne of Castle Fusano, and
| left undrained in order TO preserve the
wild boar, water fowl, etc, which fire.
| quent it. The hut will stand close to a
canal containing a luxuriant growth of
algae and other aquatic plants. and with
| in a stones throw of a clump of pine
| trees. The few dwellings near are inhab-
| tied by peasants who constantly suffer
| from malaria and are infested by mos
| quitoes Of the anophees variety Situat-
| ed thus in the heart Of the swamps sur
| rounding the mouth Of a large river,
among the haunts of innumerable mosqui-
| toes of The melarial variety, and in a To-
4 cality notorious as one of the most dead
| ly of the fever-stricken centers of the Ro-
| rr an Campagna, this spot appears to offer
ideal conditions for the experiment. The
| two nvestiga tors have be n studying The
animal and insect life of the Campo gna,
| collecting and examining frogs, lizards,
| bats, spiders, mosquitoes and the like.
| King Humbert has manifested much in
| crest in their trial, and has assisted
| them In many ways.
When we told the story of Leo, the
| suburbanite dog who knows and an
nounces by banks and leaps the moment
when his master in the city takes the
| train for home, the tale was received
with cold incredulity for the most parf,
| and our request for other anecdotes Illus
| trating the possession by other dogs of
| similar telepathic powers. while 1t did
| not go quite without response, ELECTED
| nothing of exactly the same sort, says
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