The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-17
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

-Tarantulas are being used in Austria
liza for the sake of their webs, the MA
ments of which are made into thread for
balloons. They are lighter than silk, ana,
when woven, lighter than canvas. Each
tarantula yields from twenty to forty
yards of filament, of which eight twisted
together form a single thread.
The first electric launch to be used
on the canals of Venice, Italy, has been
delivered from England. The launch,
which is called the Alessandro Volta, Will
accommodate fifty passengers. Its length
is about fifty-six feet and width ten feet.
1t is equipped with a storage battery of
100 cells and will travel at speed OF
about nine miles an hour.
A Russian has devised a machine for
corrugating boiler tubes by subjecting
them to internal pressure, and at the same
time COMPRISING them lengthwise The
ends of the welded red-hot iron tube to
be corrugated are clamped and frightened
into two press platens. Divided profile
rings, which can readily be locked up,
are then arranged at a certain distance
apart upon the tube in a longitudinal di-
rection between the two press platens,
and the heated tube is put into these
rings Pressure is then applied in the AK
ial direction of the tube while at the
same time the walls of the tube are sub
jected to internal pressure by means of
compressed gases or vapors which con-
SANITY effect the outward bullying of the
tube against the rings and thereby form
corrugations therein corresponding to The
configuration of the rings.
Tests made in Detroit give promise
that singing, with some degree of accu-
racy, may be taught to deaf children. The
experiments were made under the direc-
ton of the supervisor of music In the pub
lie schools. The children were gathered
around a piano, retsing their hands, and
in some cases their arms upon the instru-
ment. After the instrument had been
played for some time the children began
| TO count in correct time with the music,
| catching the accentuation of beats through
| the vibration of the wood Occasionally a
child would seem to progress beyond the
mere response to time and count aloud
with some approximation to the tune.
When this fact was observed by the
| teacher, the pupils were told to repeat the
words baby, baby" over and over, and
| at the same time a lullaby was played on
| the piano In a short time it was noticed
| that nearly all the children with whom
| the experiment was tried indicated the air
with more or less distinctness. Still an
other experiment was tried by singing the
| scale into the ear of a boy and playing 1t
| on the piano. After few trials, the pu-
| pill was able to sound the notes as we'll as
could many children with unimpaired
| hearing.
The Common Carrier describes the
running of the trains of the Southern
Railway from New York to Jacksonville,
| Fla, distance of 1,O56 miles, in twenty-six
| hours and fifty-five minutes as the fastest
| running attained anywhere in the world
over that distance. There are faster trains
! for shorter distances. The fastest regular
train in the world is that which runs be-
| tween London and Bath, 1O7 miles, at a
rate of $40 miles an hour. A New York
| Central train makes the distance of 440
| miles between New York and Buffalo, ex-
| Guiding stops, at a rate of $50 miles an
| hour. The London and Bath line has the
record. therefore, for 100-mile runs and
| the New York Central for 400-mile runs,
| but the Southern Railway, the Carrier af-
| firms, has the record for ], 900 miles, as 1t
makes that distance at a rate of 80. %
miles an hour-a rate not equaled by any
| other road over 1000 miles. Another
| Southern line. the Atlantic Coast Line,
| according to the Carrier makes run of
| over LOCO miles at the rate of 80 miles; the
Chicago and Northwestern does 1852 miles
at a rate of 37.52 miles, and the New York
Central runs $50 miles to Chicago at a rate
of 40.S3 miles, but the last mentioned can
not be classed with those that run 900
| miles.
The Transiberian Railroad is very
closely guarded, the management feeling
personally responsible for the people they
carry on their trains, says an exchange
The road is divided into sections Of one
verst or five-eighths of a mile. In neat
little log house, usually in a garden, live
the guard and his people. The average
family is a wife and FIVE tow-headed chill
dren The houses were built by the COM
pany and evidently with view to meet
ing the demands of increasing families
The guard or a member of his family
must patrol his section night and day.
He steps to the side of the track as the
train approaches and after Il has passed
steps back into the middle of the track
holds a small green flag in the air, at
night a lantern, and stands like a statue
until the train has entered the next Sec
tion Several guards do duty In the heavy
curves, and frequently they are only few
hundred feet apart. Much of the track
patrolling is done by women. who have
proved fully as reliable as the men. The
women are nearly always barefooted and
as they stand on the track holding the flag
aloft, a Siberian breeze toying with their
short skirts, they are fine subjects for
| a sculptor after a unique model