The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-06-05
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

|
found In certain articles Of clothing. and
that il is capable of inducing skin all
ments under certain circumstances, has
long been known to the medical world,
says the London Chronicle. The most
recent information afforded TO US on this
| head is that supplied by Drs. Tunichffe
and Rosenheim on the amount of arsenic
which is liable to be contained in black
wooden stockings. The arsenic, it appears,
originally made its appearance in connec-
ton with analine dyes On this account
German law, / learn forbids the use
OF any dye of which arsenic forms
! component part. In Sweden and Austria
similar enactments prevail At home no
| such provisions exist, and even wallpa-
pers may be colored with arsenical dyes
without representing articles that
the law considers injurious to health. The
best classes of wallpapers are, OF course,
non-arsenical, but it is to be feared that
many lower priced papers contain a more
| than appreciable amount of the poison,
| which is liable to be volatiized by the
gas of room. The authors from whom
l quote remark that the analyses of black
silk socks and yellow stockings, made in
Germany" showed a freedom from ar
senic.
"A refrgerating plant to cost about
100000 is to be put in at the Lucy fur
naces of the steel trust, says the Bir-
mingham Age-Herald. This plant is de-
signed for the purpose of depriving the
| air of it's moisture by precipitating the
latter, or the greater part of it, and freez-
| ing 1t. The dry air is then heated and
sent by force into the furnace. The oper-
ators of blast furnaces have long been
aware that the dry crisp air of the win
| ter season is more favorable for iron
making than the moisture-laden air of
| the summer season, and at Pittsburg the
| managers of the trust propose to equalize
| atmospheric conditions by artificial re-
| frigeration. What nature will not do they
propose to do. They will take the mois-
| ture out of it before sending into the
stores and thence into the stacks. The
| experimenters at Pfttsburg hope to effect
| a great saving in coke. for a part of the
coke in a stack goes ait present to the Of
flee of Transforming the moisture in the
| air into first steam and then into hydro
| gen and oxygen. 1t is proposed TO save
this part of the coke. These Pittsburg
| furnace men Hken the present use of air
on q moist day in a stack to the heating
| of a room by fire which water is
| constantly thrown. The room can be
| heated under such circumstances by a
| larger consumption of coal. So it is in
| the stack. The introduction of moist air
| has a smothering effect. delaying the re-
| duction of the ore, and demanding more
| coke in the process. The saving through
refrigeration promises to Justify the large
| expenditure at the Lucy furnaces, and 1t
may lead to similar plants at an other
furnaces.
81 see by the st. Louis papers, said
an old resident of the Mound City, &C.
cording to the New Orleans Times-Demo-
| crat that eight feet of clay sediment was
found in the big city reservoir when that
| basin. was recently cleaned. This reminds
me of an odd happening in connection
| with the former city reservoir which dis
| pensed saffron-colored water to st. Lou
| isans many years ago. The present res
| ervoir is on Compton Hill, the highest
| point of the city, but before St Louis had
aspired so high the reservoir was large
clay banked structure in the northern sec
! ton of the city not far from the then
| famous Kerry Patch. When the new
system was established, the water was
| pumped out of the old reservoir, and, al
| a quantity OF mud was found in the bot
| tom of the basin, it was left undisturbed.
| In few months it hardened thoroughly
| and nobody paid any further attention to
! the old plant About ten years passed,
| during which the city was growing ike
| asparagus. and someone took notion to
! level the old reservoir for a building site.
| contractor arrived with carts and pad
| dies and work was begun. 1t took but
little time to cut through the old wall
| of the reservoir, and then that neighbor-
hood was given the surprise of its life.
| Instead of producing the solid mass of
| earth which everyone expected, ten years
| had sufficed to dry heavy crust on top
| of the sediment, which, preventing fur
| Their evaporation preserved thousand
| carloads of loblolly. The mud burst out
and surged through the district like a
| tidal wave, covering streets, sidewalks
| and yards with slop the consistency of
| country road after a months rain. Pc
destrians of both sexes were caught knee
| deep in slime and the contractor jumped
| the game for fear of a lynching."
Almost all the brlstles used in this
country in the manufacture of brushes
| are imported, and Notwithstanding the
| increased production Of pork in this coun-
| try the supply of American bristles is
| now even smaller than it formerly was,
| said manufacturer of brushes the other
! day, according to the Washington Star.
| Hogs are fattened and killed young in
| the United States, and with the constant
and widespread improvement of breeds
| here the hogs have run less to bristles.
| Some extensive packers collect bristles,
but the American supply is probably less
| than one per cent. of the consumption.
| The longest American bristles are about
| four and a half inches in length. I'M
| ported bristles come from various parts
1 of Russia, but most largely from Poland
| and North Germany. Some finer. soft
| bristles come from France. The bulk of
| the supply come from cod countries
where the hogs are we'll protected by
| thick coats, and many OF the bristles
/ are those of wild hogs. The hogs shed
| their coats as many other animals do,
and there are men who gather the brs-
| ties of wild hogs. knowing their haunts
4 and where the bristles are to be found.
| Other bristles are collected in the usual
| way when hogs are killed. The bristles
| are subjected to various processes of cur
ing and preparation before they become
| commercial bristles and ready for the
1 market Imported bristles range from
| three and a half to seven and half
inches in length. Various vegetable fbres
1 are now used extensively in the manu-
| facture of cheap brushes. but for the
| best kinds of brushes only the finest i'm
| ported bristles are used, and their i'm
| portation continues steadily"
The chief medical officer of Paiputana
in a recent report says that In a very un-
usual season like that through which the
district has lately passed the people are
deprived of seeds and the succulent roots
of grasses and even OF the green leaves