The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-12-20
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

island, though actual free delivery of
mail was not then begun. The letter
carriers were sent out to familiarize
themselves with the streets and house
numbering, to apprise householders of
the beginning of the free delivery sys-
tenn, and to secure practically COM
pleIe census of the city.
In Burmah, in Ceylon, and in Mad
ras, quarrels are constantly occurring
in which knives are brought into play
and serious wounds inflicted. The
knives used in Ceylon are sheath
knives, and the law abiding commu-
nifty has been trying to get the authori-
ties to insist to these knives being
made with a button on the tip. They
wound be thus rendered harmless for
stabbing, while still available for legit-
innate use.
The production of ozone by the 81
lent electric discharge through air and
the use of this ozonized air for steril-
iZing water, for oxidization purposes
in the manufacture of perfumes and
for aging wines and spirits have re-
ceived much attention in France. In
only one case has a practical success
been achieved; namely, in connection
with the manufacture of heliotrop1ne
anu NdHIlllu. lie NGItGy O6OlilHCA 10
used in these works-situated at Cour-
bevoie, near Paris-and 10000 kegs of
the two products named are produced
per annum.
in a school opened in Bangkok by
an English lady there are fifteen pu-
pills, and all are princesses of the roy
al family of Siam. They receive les
sons each day in reading, writing, and
music, but the time which they spend
in this way is trifiing compared with
what they spend in learning to become
good housewives. They board at the
school, and they are taught to cook,
sweep rocsns, wash clothes, bake
bread, and do everything else that
a good housekeeper is supposed to
know. They cook the meals in turn.
and, while one is thus engaged, the
others lay the table, arrange the flow
ers, and write the menus.
The Klondike dinner was tried the
other day by a Philadelphia young
man, and its success has caused him
| to wonder. the Record says, why, in
this age of novel entertainment, no one
had ever thought of it before. The
! dining room was arranged with cano-
pies of rough canvas to give the ap-
pearance of tent. The table was of
! rough hewn boards, and there was no
| covering. A tin plate was at each
| place. and the plates were f1anked by
! knives, forks and spoons of the cheap
est variety. All the guests were in
| vited to come in Klondike costume. The
| men wore flannel shirts and the wonn-
| en- were dressed as suited their indi-
vidual tastes. The butler who served
| the dinner wore high boots. and slap
| ped the food down at each plate in
true miner spirit. Nothing but beer
was served to drink. and as there were
no glasses the efforts of the guests to
drink from the bottles was weird in
the extreme. All the guests agreed
| that the I<londike dinner is not des-
tined to become popular in polite So
ciety
A story is told of Senator Quay to
tive effect that when he once suffered
financial reverses he let everything go
except his library. The story is easily
believed, says the Philadelphia Times.
Quay is one of the best-read men in
the Senate. At his home in Beaver
Falls he has a fine collection of books,
while almost the largest room in his
X street residence in Washington is
lined with bookcases as high as the
| ceiling and built into the walls. Every
night after dinner Senator Quay is to
be found in this big room, sitting in an
| easy chair with a book in his hand.
He always reads with the light over his
| left shoulder. Quay's taste in the mat
ter of literature is not confined to any
one class of books. He likes a good
| novel, with plenty of action in every
| chapter, while history is always his de-
light. One of his visitors one night
found him porting over half a dozen
large volumes which told of the colo
NAL history of New York. He is also
a great collector of Napoleonic books
He regards Napoleau as one of the
greatest characters in the worlds his
tory and has rare bust of the great
Corsican in his library.
The census of France for 1900 IS
more discouraging than ever, says the
New York Commercial Advertiser. In
1896 the excess of births over deaths
was, in round numbers, $4,000; in 1897
it was 100000; in 1898 it was $4,000, and
in 1899 it was $1,000. In 1900, how
ever, the deaths exceeded the births by
$4,000, or, to put it in other words, the
native population of the country de-
creased by that number in the veal
ending Jan. 1, 1901. This is all the
4 more significant in that the number OF
marriages in that year was the high
est in the last decade, 300,0 But the
number of divorces is formidable
Through the country they averaged
five in 200 marriages. In the Depart
ment of the Seine there were 3400(
marriages and 1850 divorces, or nearly
five in 100. In Paris alone there were
1900 more deaths than births. In the
Rhone, with population one-fourtn
that of Paris. the deaths exceeded the
births by 5000; and in Bouches du
Rhone. with a population one-sixth
that of Paris, the deaths exceeded the
births by 1,400. Nornlany lost actually
$500 persons during the year. 1t is
no wonder that French statesmen are
racking their brains to find some
means to stop this depopulation, and
that talented dramatists like BrieuS
write such plays as Les Remplacantes
Wine germs which make it possible
to duplicate exactly the famous wines
of Bordeaux. Burgundy or the Rhine
in New York. Chicago or any other
place are among the latest pets OF
science. And considering that the wine
germ when carefully handled has act.
ually been doing the work required Of
him 1t is safe to say that he has come
to stay. French Sauterne wines, tht
Rudesheimer white wine and the Lau
Giro made hundreds of miles from tn,
home of the genius article and toned
up through the instrumentality of tn,
respective wine germs have deceived
the most expert connoisseurs. Prof AL
wood, head of the Theological labora
terry of the Virginia Agricultural Elk
, pertinent station at Blacksbllrq Wa