The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-30
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


place coal on warships in the immediate
future. In the British Navy there has
been much opposition to its use, party be-
cause of the difficulty of burning oil with
| out the trailing black smoke, but mainly
because there is not large supply of it
| available in British territory. In Italy,
| Germany, France and Russia nearly all
| of the new ships are equipped for the use
/ of oil fuel. 1T was demonstrated only re-
Gently that dangers following the use of
oil fuel are likely to be present. For
| instance when Kaiser Frederick IF went
aground a few weeks ago the thrush of
water carried the oil from the tanks in
the double bottom up into the furnace
rooms, where 1t ignited and introduced
a peril that had not been thought Of If
| such danger may be presented in this
way it is obvious what might occur in
battle should the hull of the ship be
punctured and leakage caused.
The time-honored theory of the cause
of tides is being assaulted. 1t remains
to be seen whether the evidence in favor
| of the new theory is so well grounded
| as to relegate the old belief that the mu-
! tual attraction of the EARTH moon and
| sun has the peculiar effect upon the sea
| which results in the tidal wave Alex
ander Brownie, who sets forth the new
theory of the tides in the Bulletin of the
American Geographical Society, gives
many reasons for discrediting the part as
| signed to the moon as a tide LITTER
Among them is the fact that the tide is
| instantaneous over many degrees of longi-
| tude, while the moon takes hours to tFav-
| ell the same distance. The new theorists
| rely upon gravitation to unlock the tidal
mystery. They say, as Prof. G. H. OAR
win does in his books, THE Tides" that
the form of equilibrium can never be at
! tanned by the ocean. They assert that
| tide is due to different levels in contigu-
Gus masses of water, one mass standing
at high level Immediately contiguous to
another at low level.
April 10 was the great fete day of
"Balukli," or place of fishes, says the
London Telegraph. This is a small church
| situated outside the walls of CONSTANT
rople, and it enjoyed no particular rep
utation before the conquest of Constan-
| tinople by the Turks. At the time of the
| invasion, however a monk was cooking
i some fish there when a messenger came
! and told him that the Turks had entered
| Constantinople. The monk did not believe
| the story, and said he would sooner be-
| lieve that the halfcooked fish would Jump
| back into the water. AS he spoke the fish
| jumped back into the water, and since
| a T6DuId-
! ten for its healing powers A church
| has been built over the spring, dedicated
to Our Lady of the Fishes" and on this
| day a regular pilgrimage takes place from
| all parts of the town. Many sick are car
| ried thither and many miraculous cures
are reported. The truth of the story is
| proved by the presence, in large Marble
| lined tank in the church, of a lineal de-
| scendants of the half-cooked fish. Any
| L.
| in the water, and he will see them
brown on one side and white on the 9TH
er-swimmihg about at their ease.
The following interesting particulars
concerning India rubber and gutta percha
are given in a consular report to the State
Department at Washington: The quality
| of elasticity and of returning after
! stretching to its original form distinguish
| es rcbber from gutta percha, whose form
| is susceptible of easy permanent change.
| Both are impervious to water and are
| bad conductors of electricity. Mixed with
carbon and vulcanized by the addition of
sulphur, gutta percha is largely used in
| the making of telegraph cables as an in
| sulator in which the cables are imbedded.
| Gutta percha is the product of one plant,
! while rubber is derived from over sixty
| plants Three-fourths of the gutta percha
commrcial product comes from Sumatra
and Borneo, although, like tin, it is ship
| ped from Singapore and not from Bata-
via. The total world production of rub
Ter may be estimated at 100000 kilo-
grams (99,207,000 pounds), of which nearly
| tWo-thirds comes from the Amazon valley,
one-third from Central Africa, and one
| twentieth from Asia. The expectation
from the Indian archipelago is of slight
influence upon the trade Of the world. Mos t
of the rubber produced is imported at
| North American ports Liverpool imports
more than all other European ports COM
bined.
"A dispatch from Bangor, Me-, says: A
race between an express train and a fish
hawk was one Of the interesting events in
northern Maine this week. and those who
| witnessed 1t were surprised at the ease
| with which the hawk won. The train
was on the Bangor and Aroostook Rail-
| road,and it was running faster than usual.
| being late and trying to make UP time.
| From Pressure Isle northward for the dis
lance of fifty miles the train ran at the
rate of fifty miles an hour Just at the
| beginning of this stretch the fish hawk
| rose from a marsh and tried speed with
| the locomotive. At first the hawk kept
| along just abreast of the train and SEEM
ed to be examining it. Then, having ap-
| pdrenIly SatlSned Its curiosity the great
bird swept aloft and for a time was lost
| to sight The passengers were surprised
! few minutes later to see the hawk
| Swimming along with scarcely a movement
| of its powerful wings, even with the train
| and about hundred yards away. Then
| again II went aloft. and for fun ten min
| utes the race was thought to be over
| The people in the train concluded that the
/ bird had become tired. Soon the oonduc-
| tor, who had been to the forward end of
| the train. came back with the astonis hing
| news that the hawk was flying along I'M
| eoncernedly little ahead OF the locomo-
| tive, and as he spoke the birds wings
brushed the windows of the parlor car.
| The hawk had paused in its flight and al
lowed the train to catch up. 1t was play
| Ing tag with the express. Finally after
run of about thirty miles in this fashion
the hawk, disguised with the sdowness
of the train, gave a few impatient flaps
of its wings and shot ahead like a streak
of lightning why" said Conductor
Charles Potter, "by the way that hawk
left u.s. you'd think we were anchored. !"
1t is doubtful, judging from the fire.
| quency of inquiries, if the ordinary read
er grasps with intelligence what is meant
| by the terms natural draught" and
| arat trrt,f tt,xta rsatxf.