The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-12-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


otherwise act, nevertheless, in quite an
efficient manner in a thunderstorm.
This is due to the oscilating character
of lightning discharges Electromag-
netic waves are produced, which act
upon the imperfect connections as up
on a coherer, restoring their conduc-
tivity for a more or less long period.
Lightning has hitherto been considered
a continuous discharge, which often
becomes apparently oscillatory by
quick repetition.
Two hundred years ago next month
Bienville, under direction of IbervilIe,
founded Fort Louis, that being the or
igin of the French colony of Louisiana,
and of its capital, Mobile. The citizens
of that Alabama city will, therefore,
celebrate its 'bi-centennial on Jan. IL
and H. They will have parades, ora
tons, music and addresses by visiting
Governors. On the second day Twen-
ty-seven Mile Bluff will be visited, and
a memorial stone will be erected there
to mark the site of Fort st. Louis. AS
is usual in Southern celebrations, the
women will have a special part, and
at an evening reception the bravery
of the South'S pioneer women Will be
appropriately eXtolled.
Medical records contain many ref
erences to the human ostrich" but the
latest case, hailing from the New Jer-
sey State Insane Hospital, should be
printed in upper-case letters. The post
mortem examination evolved the fact
that the patients stomach contained
three teaspoons, six dessert spoon ham
dies, three tin cup handles. two trouser
buckles, three suspender buckles, two
pieces of tin, one brass back Of a comb,
twenty-siX pieces of glass, twenty
eight stones, a piece of slate and TWEEN
ty-SeVen pieces of WREN all 102 arti-
cles. The doctors ascribe the patients
death to gastritis; to the ordinary lay
man it. looks rather like an abortive
attempt to convert his "innards' into
a junk store. But the scientific frater-
nifty never seems to be happy unless it
'wallowing in era ck-j jaw terms when
good, plain Anglo Saxon would fill the
bill to a nicely.
Under the new contract made by
the postofiice officials the time of trans
it of winter mails between Seattle,
Wash, and Nome, Alaska, will be cut
down from sixty and Sixty-flve days
each way to twenty-four days, with
corresponding expedition for interme-
date points. The service will be per-
AOA llCd ny IL new NGSlGiL IOuLGg dNOlu-
ing the usual winter route via the Up
per Yukon region. The new service
is via Valdez, Alaska, Hanna bay, on
Cooks inlet, st. Michael, and Golovin,
to Nome, 1857 miles in all, with two
round trips month during this win
ter. Steamers will sail from Seattle
about the 7th and 25th of each month,
beginning with December. The con-
tract compensation is $4,000 per round
trip, the contractor being the North
ern Commercial Company for the
ocean part and the Trans-Alaska Com
pany for the overland part of the route
The weight of mail for the overland
part of this route is limited to $50
pounds per single trip, and preference
VIII be given first to letter mail and
second to separately addressed news
papers.
Beer is the staple product of Mil
waukee. and is regarded by the ma
Jority of its citizens as having been
the prime factor in promoting it's
growth. There is minority, however,
and strong one, which objects to the
showing of the barley juice before the
outside public on every possible oc-
casion. The proposition to give the
new bridge, which is shortly to be
opened with all kinds of formal cere-
monies, a good send-off by breaking
bottle of the juice on the structure
is creating considerable opposition. 1t
is contended that there are other sorts
of business in the city besides the
brewing interests, and that the smash
ing of the bottle could very we'll be
dispensed with. The minority is hard
~ likely to succeed for the other side
seems to have disarmed opposition in
the only direction which would have
had any weight-the breweries them
>selves-for the bottle will be made
up of samples from all the establish
ments in the city. 1t may be all very
well to advertise the city by the beer,
but to spread the virtues of somebody's
treble y book or lager is not to be toll
Grated. For once, mixing the drinks
seems likely to promote good feeling.
The drink habits of Canadians are
gradually changing, resulting in an in
creased consumption of beer and a de-
creased drinking of wine and liquors.
During the past fiscal year Canadians
consumed 4,737 gallons of beer per
head, as against 1890 gallons in 1869.
Since confederation the per capita con-
sumption of beer has, therefore, more
than doubled. This has been accom-
panied by a considerable decrease in
consumption of spirits per head was
I65, or about three quarters of a gall
Ion for every man, woman and child
In 1869 Canadians used 1124 gallons
Very slight is the change in the ma
tional wine bill. The Canadians are
now drinking 100 of a gallon per head,
whereas thirty-two years ago they con-
sumed lis of gallon. The average
consumption of wine since confedera-
ton was .124 of gallon which is
about one-fifth larger than the demand
last year A comparison of these re-
turns with those of other countries
goes to show that the Canadians are
sober people. IF the teetotalers were
counted" the Toronto Mail and En-
pire says, sit would probably be found
hat in proportion to population, they
are more numerous in Canada than
anywhere else in the civilized world"
Some fishes do not have sharp
weapons with which to keep off their
enemies or to use in catching other
fishes for themselves; so nature, which
looks after all things, teaches them
little tricks which they use to great
advantage, says the Pittsburg Dis
patch. There is one fish who hides
himself in the mud at the bottom of
the big rivers in India, where he makes
his home, and just peeps his head out
to see what is going on. Now, this
fish has a kind of beard growing on
his lips. The hairs of the beard keep
weighing about in the water, and the
little fishes think that surely they are
worms. All little fishes are very