The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-12
ITEMS OF INTEREST


says: George Russell is the father of a
midget daughter that weighs less than
two pounds. The remarkable thing about
the child is that ID was born with full
set of teeth The child is well formed.
has dark brown eyes and hair, and wei
developed and pretty features. In spite
of it's small size the child gives no evil
dence of unusual weakness, and the sew
eral physicians who have been called
in declare that it will live.
The work on the remeasurement of
the famous Quito arc of meridian will be
commenced about June of the present year
and will be under the direction of a COM
mittee of the Paris Academy of Sci
ences. The funds to carry on this survey
have been voted by the French govern
ment, and the operations. which involved
the measurement of about six degrees of
arc, will occupy some four years. The
preliminary reconnaissance has already
been effected by two officers of the geo.
gra phic service of the French army, which
is to carry on the work, and a French
astronomer is in charge of the observa-
tory at Quito. The original measure
ments were made in 1875 by a party of
French engineers, SO that the new work
has more than, ordinary interest This
arc will cross the equator, and the data
obtained from the measurements will be
compared with the results of geodetic
work in higher attitudes.
Earl Roberts will have to pay, in one
way and another, something like $1,000 for
the honor of being an Earl, says the Bos-
ton Transcript. The greater part of this,
of course, will be the cost of the coronet,
but the charge is swelled by fees of all
sorts which many people will think ought
to be abolished. Bismarck was once made
furious by a charge of this kind The
Spanish government offered to invest the
chancellor with the Order of the Golden
Fleece, and the prince promised to accept
the honor if the government would send
the order and It's insignia to him instead
of expecting him to go to Spain to re-
ceive it. The request was compiled with,
and a few weeks after the arrival of the
order and its insignia at F'riedrichsruh
there came a bin for 5000 francs Bis
marck sent for the Spanish ambassador.
IF l had known the COST he said an
grily, 81 should not have accepted the
honor. In any case, l won't pay it,"
Spain had to get along somehow without
its 5000 francs for Bismarck never gave
way.
Does a city have the same right in its
public monuments that a publisher has
in the books on his list? This question
has been raised in Italy, and seems likely
TO be answered in the affirmative, says
the New York Post. A Roman dealer
in antiquities had obtained the permission
of the municipality to erect in the Piazza
Borghese a replica of the famous Nep>
tune fountain of Bologna-the chef
d'oeuvre of the sculptor John of Bologna.
The city of Bologna promptly enjoined
t1aa ID ,fT
of the project from taking such action
alleging besides legal precedents the moral
right of each city to guard it's own artis-
tic heritage. Whatever may prove to be
the legal aspects of the controversy there
is unquestionably a very real matter OF
courtesy involved in such cases, which
should have the effect of law A small
replica of Bartholdi's Liberty stands
very appropriately on the Seine, as the
gift of American resident in Paris. but
the city Of New York would have Just
Tightening the World were set up in an
other American harbor.
New York City consumes 7OOOOO,OOO
wooden toothpicks annually, says the Bos-
ton Herald. Nearly all of these come
from Japan, Portugal and Maine. Five
thousand cords of wood are used for this
industry in the United States each year,
and 80 per cent of it comes from Maine.
The timber used is mostly white birch
with some maple. and most of Il comes
from Franklin county. Outside of the
Pine Tree State the industry is confined
to Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New
York. When the lumbermen, in their
winter camps. find fine white birch tree,
it's choice portions are laid aside for tooth
picks The logs, after being seasoned in
the open air, are taken to the factories
stripped OF their bark, automatically cut
into veneers, about as thick as toothpicks
and as wide as toothpicks are long.
Another operation cuts these veneers into
finished toothplcks at the rate of a thou
sand minute. AS the manufacture is
so rapid The factories run only a few
weeks to prepare the supply for a year.
The very best toothpicks come from Port
ugal where they are whitfield by hand
from orangewood splints by girls, who re-
ceive 10 cents day for their labor These
toothpicks are remarkably smooth and do
not splinter They are found IN hrst-class
restaurants and IN the homes OF men
who are very particular about such con-
veniences Japan comes next to Portugal
IN the number of toothpicks exported TO
the Inhcd States. They are lut by hand
from reeds and arc sold in close compe-
tition with the American product not
wilhstanding duty Of 80 per cent. owing
to the very ebeeD labor 10 japan