The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-05-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


wound up by declaring that If Mr. LAYER
ock could sell the property at the valua-
ton named the city official named could
have a commission of per cent. In less
than two hours Mr.. Laverock had sold
fine residence and two business blocks
Then the taxpayer backed water, but the
assessor declares he will have his com
mission, which amounts to $780, even if
he has to sue for it.
The African quagga is extinct, and
several families of antelopes have been
wiped out of existence, says the Philadel-
phia Record. Zebras are scarce; CRATES
are few in number; the rhinoceros and
hippopotamus are passing from view; but
the heliadotherium (hitherto only known
through fossil remains found in Greece)
still roams through the forests of Ugan-
da. The helladotherium is of the size of
an OK; it's neck is a little longer, proper
tionately, than that of a horse, the ears
like those of the ass with silky black
fringes, the head taper-like and the nos
trils like those of the giraffe. The fore
head is vivid red, and the neck, Shout
ders, stomach and back deep reddish
brown, and the headquarters and legs are
boldly striped in purplish black and white.
Great Is the helladotherium, for has it
not survived the vicissitudes of two or
more geological ages? And does its ex-
istence provide the narrators of tales
about the sea serpent-that antediluvian
leviathan of the deep-with badly needed
evidence of their truthfulness?
One of the first things that surprised a
foreigner in visiting Pekin, says Facts, is
the strange sound that seems to emana;e
from the celebrated musical doves OF
that city. Overhead on all sides are
great flocks of these birds, and ever as
they sweep to and fro the weird music is
heard. Compared with the plaintive COO
of ordinary pigeons it seems mysterious,
and yet it is easily explained. To the tail
of each bird is fastened an instrument
known as the choa-the, "choa" signify
irg pipe, and "the" mechanical. The in
strument is composed of several small
reeds, and it is so light that the birds
fight Is not impeded thereby. 1t is fas-
tened to the tail, between the two middle
feathers, and is kept in place by small
stick, which passes through the instru-
ment. During the birds rapid fight the
air passes through the reeds causing con-
tinuous shrill sounds. 1t is said that these
instruments were invented by a manda-
rim, and that the object is to protect the
doves, which are highly priced every
where in China, from birds of prey. If
this be true, the object has certainly been
attained, since only bird of great cour-
age would venture to attack g dove capa-
bic of making such noise.
"A story will serve to throw new light
upon Edison's character, says an ex-
change. AT one time there was great
fear i'm the scientific world that the de-
posts of platinum were about to become
extinct. Edison thereupon organized a
correspondence bureau, and sent letters to
every American consul upon the globe, to
British consuls in ports where the United
States had nc representative, and to sci
entitic men in every land The letter
gave clear statement respecting the
metal, how and where it was found and
might be found. how it could be identified
and treated. and much other information.
In each letter were inclosed samples Of
platinum as found in the various rock
beds. This may seem to be a small I'M
dertaking, but when it is remembered
that she letters were sent off by the
thous ands, that the postage was 10 cents
to each letter, and that the pieces of
platinum inclosed were almost as valuable
as metallic gold, the cost of the achieve
ment is readily seen. While he did not
succeed in greatly increasing the output
of platinum, he set at rest all fear of it's
extinction. and thus earned the gratitude
of every scientific investigator.
Monte Carlo, the most famous gam
bling place in the world, has very Gu
rious pension list, says the Ledger
Monthly. Here are inscribed the names
of the men and women who have lost
their fortunes at the tables and who are
allowed small sums daily for the rest
of their miserable lives. This practice,
which was inaugurated by Pere Blanc in
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being dropped as the pensionnaires die
out. The pensions now paid range from
one dollar to eight dollars a day, accord
ing to the amount which has been lost
at the tables and the social position of
the recipient. For instance, tall Scotch
man who is familiar figure upon the
Promenade des Anglais in Nice receives
two louis (about eight dollars) per day.
He lost a million and quarter at rou-
lette. He has still small income and
the bank therefore, considers his pension
sufficient to keep this broken vessel from
coming to the ground. If one could go
through the whole list, what story
might be written anent each iteml There
is no hope of the Casino being closed
not even during the summer-but IL peo-
pie would only restrain their passion for
gambling for another five years, as they
showed themselves capable of doing dur
ing the winter or 70 ana ~, the dividend
will come out zero. and the bank will be
broken, not in name only, but also in
deed.
Probably one question that has puz
zled the lay mind is how the depth of
rainfall may be accurately determined,
says the New York Herald The way 1t
is done is this: A funnel whose larger
aperture represents a surface of 100
square inches is placed in a position
where it may catch the direct fall of the
rain, with the rim of the funnel extend
ing perhaps an inch or more beyond the
platform to which II may be fixed. This
is for the purpose Of preventing any rain
from being washed into the funnel and
increasing the true fall. From this fun
mel the water runs to a tube which bears
an exact and carefully determined ratio
to the area of the tunnels mouth, say
cne-tenth. II, therefore, the tube shows
water TO the depth of an inch. 1t is clear
that one-tenth of an inch Of rain has
fallen. The tube is provided with care
fully graduated scale so that the fall
may be readily seen. Three inches of rain
would show a depth Of thirty inches In a
tube one-tenth the size of the receiving
aperture, and the decmals of an inch
could be quickly noted by observing the
scale. III placed on the roof of building
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