The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-27

tizing the Isonandra gutta, the tree
which produces guttapercha, indispen-
sable to the construction of subma-
rine cables. 1t seems that no other
product known at present replaces the
guttapercha found in the forests of
the Malay Peninsula and in certain
districts in Malacca. Inferior qualities
have not the requisite durability for
submarine use. The plantations in the
above mentioned districts have been
so ruinously exploited by the natives,
who uproot full grown trees and cut
young plants before they come to ma
turity, that it is feared there will be
a shortage in the supply of this quail
ity of guttapercha in the course of fif-
teen years, unless means are taken to
protect the forests or to propagate the
plants elsewhere.
-Chalfont st. Giles, the location of a
freehold sporting estate of about 1877
acres, known as Pollard's Wood, which
is to be sold soon, is a Buckingham
shire village indelibly associated with
Milton. The blind poet retired there
in 1865 from the plague, which was
then raging in London, to "a pretty
box which a Quaker friend had hired
to him. Here he finished Paradise
Lost" and planned, and in part wrote
Paradise Regained." Millions house
is a plain, half-timber, gable-fronted
cottage, with a little garden before it.
The porch shown in some old engrav
ings. has been removed. Millions name
is inscribed over the door. Another
place of pilgrimage near Chalfont is
the Friends burial ground at Jordan's,
where the remains of William Penn,
the founder of Pennsylvania, lie in
TERED. No record marks the spot, but
tradition indicates the place as being
quite close to the door of the chapel.
"A qaint but dying custom dat
ing from the Middle Ages, which still
obtains in a few English country par
ishes, is that of ringing the harvest
bell morning and evening. The time
varies in different localities. For in
stance, at Drifield, in Yorkshire. the
bell rings at 5 in the morning, while
at Willingham, in CambridgeShire, 1t
rings at Z, and the times, too, vary
in the evening Authorities differ as TO
the origin of the custom. some antiq-
uaries holding that the morning and
evening prayer in the Roman Church
were held earlier and later in harvest
time, hence the cleaners bell. Others
maintain the use of the bell is that
all cleaners may have a fair start, no
one being allowed in the fields before
or after bellringing, in fact that the
custom is similar to the signal given to
the collectors of vraick in the Chan
mel Islands, custom sanctioned there
by an old Norman law The ringer
was formerly paid by a portion of
corn from each crop, but payment is
now usually made by money.
Father Karner of Brunnkirschen,
who receives financial assistance from
the Austrian Imperial Academy of Sci
ence in order to enable him to continue
his underground researches, sends the
following interesting report to the
academy. He states that he has dis
covered in Eseite, in Hungary, an ar
tificial cavern of large size, with rooms,
passages and steps. From writings
and cuttings on the walls it appears
that in 1856 many Hungarian mobiles
took refuge here. A ladys name,
with the date 1868, is also visible Upon
the ground in the lowest vault a pre-
historic urn with fragments of other
ancient vessels was found, showing
that the cavern had been occupied in
very ancient times. In Waag Neus-
tadl similar artificial caverns also ex-
list. In the Houter country, Hungary,
Karner found very extensive under
ground stables, capable of accommo-
dating a large number of horses. At
present the population there is of Slav
origin, but tradition reports that the
early occupants of these caverns were
Germans.
The most significant feature of
every one of the half dozen saloons
and cafes in this city which are ad-
mittedly headquarters for anarchists
is their filth, says the New York Sun.
This is not due to the poverty of their
owners, for their frequenters punctu-
ate their harangues with many a
drink, and the business of catering to
them is not Improbable. Dirty win
dows, dirty floors and sloppy tables
seem to invite the patronage of anar-
chists, and if any one of these saloon
keepers was foolish enough ever to
give his place a thorough cleaning he
would have to seek other patronage
1t is noticeable also that the Italian
anarchists seem to get more pleasure
out OF life than do those of other ma
tionalities. Their headquarters in
Blocker street, are fitted up with pool
tables, and the men who gather there
are not morose. They drink more
wine and less beer than the Germans.
Every stranger who enters one of these
saloons after an outburst of anarchy is
looked upon with eowardly SUSPICION.
At other times these men are only too
glad to talk their doctrines to an out
slider.
If ii be true that a system has been
perfected by which torpedo may be
Kept under perfect control for an in
definite distance, the submarine boat is
likely to find itself ferstalled in its mis-
sion, says the New York Post. This
IS what has been done, so it is asserted.
by young English electrician. Mr.
cecil Naricas, who has perfected an ap-
paratus by which he can steer a. White
head or other torpedo by means of
wireless telegraphy. Up to the present
time the torpedo has been steered by a
complicated and very expensive bit of
mechanism, called the gyroscope. but
the probability of it's reaching its mark.
especially moving mark, beyond a
limited distance, has been a matter of
much uncertainty. In Mr.. Varicas' tor
pedo the gyroscope is absent, and it's
place is taken by a delicate in
strument. which governs the rud-
der in accordance with the
impulse derived, by an aerial
current, from the operator, who NAV
either be on shore or on shipboard. He
is provided with an apparatus which
includes powerful induction coil and a
wheel, and as the latter is turned To
right or left the torpedo changes it's
course accordingly. 1t is said that re-