The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

| New York.
| Street railways of Havana are to
f, change the motive power from horses to
| electricity. The city is in great need of
rapid transit and the delay in the new
| imp. ovement is caused by putting down
| new sewers.
June % a festival will be held at May
ence to commemorate the 5O0th anniversary
Of the birth of Gutenberg the reputed in
ventor of the art of printing. In this feS-
| tival almost all civilized nations viii take
part. In connection with this festival the
foundation of a Gutenberg museum is
| planned.
An expert accountant who has been
going over the books of the city colec
tors department in Boston has reported
| to Mayor Hart that the bills due to the
| municipality amount to 81 1856, 1864, a large
! part of which sum can never be collect
| ed. More than 100000 of the bills are
| for poll taxes. The examiner recommend
| ed that 1858 421G of the uncollected bills
| should be wiped out.
Each infant robin, 1t is estimated,
| requires for its proper maintenance about
| fourteen inches of tender angle worm
| every day, says the New York Tribune.
| AS a robin family averages four, the
mother is obliged to provide fifty-six
| inches of worm daily. Considering the
difficulties and dangers of getting worms,
| these statistics throw an interesting light
| on the Industry and courage of the moth
| er robin
There has been provided a machine for
automatically cleaning shoes. The foot is
inser ed into properly arranged opening
| and the raj ing of the machine is firmly
| grasped A small motor actuates rotary
| brushes that remove the mud. The foot
| is next placed in the backing arrange
ment proper, which acts as the dauber,
| and the third set of brushes is devoted to
| p-l,shng. A needle on a machine indicates
the various stages in the operation.
Prof Erland Nordenskiold, who is the
! son of the Arctic explorer, recently observ-
! ed while engaged in scientific research in
| South Patagonia a most curious sight
| while rowing in the long and narrow chan
| mel of Ultima EsperanZa on the southwest
| coast of Patagonia. He observed frag-
ments Of slate floating on the surface in
| large and small clusters. There were
| great many of them, and at one cast Of
the net he gathered in 700 pieces. The
| stones had evidently drifted out from the
| beach, which was covered with similar
fragments which had fallen from the slate
| cliffs.
"A sharp New York woman made a
! great business deal last week by securing
the title TO a house worth $1,000 or $1,000
for s1,7OO She owned a lot at One Hun
! bred and Sixtieth street and Washington
avenue Harlem and, learning that a
| large. handsome brick house a block
| away had been condemned to make way
| for municipal improvements, she pur-
| chased the structure for $500. Then she
contracted with a house mover TO move
the building to her lot for s1,500. The
Fae
house to it's new site with practically no
damage.
An interesting telescope has just been
put in position at Potsdam. 1t is a dupli-
cate instrument, being composed of Two
tubes, side by side, the larger one for pho
tographic purposes and the other IS to he
used usually and as an aid to keeping the
star images stationary upon the plate dur
ing long exposures. The phot0gr aphic one
has a diameter of thirty-two inches and a
focal length Of forty feet. The visual OBJ
jeciive is slightly longer in focus, being
forty one feet and is twenty inches in di
ameter. For this instrument. which will he
employed to determine the m5tion of the
stars in The line IF sight by ms ans of the
spectroscope, a special dome has been
built.
-Rcman Christian monuments OF hstort-
cal interest are now receiving fair share
of attention, both from public Institutions
and private individuals. Prof. Lanciani
| hos recently given an interesting account
of some of the recent discoveries relatir g
| 10 Christian Rome. There has been RO-
man house discovered under the Church of
ST. Cecilia; Santa Maria in Cosmedin has
| been reopened and has been restored in a
| scientific archaeological sense, and the
same process will be followed in connec-
ton with the churches of ST. Maria in Ara
DELI and St Saba. The underground
Church of IS. Petronilla, NereI< and
Achilles was restored and was inaugural
ed May IA. The columns of the Narthex
have been again set up on their bases, he
Enclosure of Schola Cantorum restore1,
the tombstones set in the pavemsn ts have
been made visible again. and the walls of
the aisles turned into a local geographic
museum.
is there not an idea that may be Of
value 10 tree planting associations in the
reported success of G. NJ. Sherman of
Springfield, Mass, in forcing the growth
of all sorts Of plant life? Mr. Sherman s
method, according to a brief outline of
: ii that the newspapers printed, involve s
the use of an appaI atus by which chem
| | ais are supplied from the surface of the
ground TO the roots of growing plants,
says HarPer's Bazaar. This method we
1
year-old bush to grow fifteen feet high
and bear 1000 blossoms, while a compan-
ion bush under good natural conditions
grew only three feet and bore seven
blossoms. 1t is thought that shade trees
nourished by this process may be urn ght
to a useful size in a year or two II so,
it seems just the thing for the trees that
it is hoped to raise en- diet of gas-pipes
and asphalt for the ameloration of resi-
dence streets in cities Objection may be
made that the process involves overstim-
ulation and that plants once addicted to
chemicals may never be weaned from
| them
Among the most incomprehensive pro-
ceedings to be observed within the vast
area of Woolwich reserve depot, says the
London News, are the dongs of a small
party of officials, one of whom appears to
do nothing all Gay long but sit at a table
and tap on the top of tin canisters with