The Savannah morning news., 1901-11-23
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Blot estimated that the depth was
only forty miles, Bravas 20
miles. Mann 81 miles, Callandrau
100 miles, Schiaparelli 125 miles, Marie
Davy 1877 miles, while Ritter stated
that it reached to a hight of ZIG miles
In Great Britain, during the early part
of the last century. the depth of the
atmosphere was generally accepted as
being forty-seven miles. but the fact
that meteors became incandescent at
a much greater altitude proved that
this calculation was at fault Sir Rob-
ert Ball states that neteors have been
observed at a celsitude of more than
200 miles; and since they only become
incandescent when they come into
contact with the air the calculation of
Ritter appears to be the most correct.
A big black cat that makes it's home
in a Camden hotel and is on friendly
terms with many of the thirty habitues
of the place has recently developed a
we'll defined penchant for illuminated
art, says the Philadelphia Record. The
cat was first noticed jumping to the
top of one of those nickel-in- the-slot
machines which exhibit photographs of
more or less clothed women. There it
would lie by the hour softly rub its
nose against the neck of any one who
dropped nickel into the depths of the
machine and started the pictures on
their rounds. Then, one day, the mix
ologist was stupefied to discover that
the cat had learned how to push the
button and see one picture free" 1t was
a fixed habit with it after that and
the black beast can scarcely be kept
away from the machine now. When the
agent comes around to put in new sets
of pictures the cat is the first to get
s- p ha Nxhan
some customer drops nickel into the
slot for the fun of seeing the cat gaze
upon the revolving pictures.
"A couple of years ago says the
advertising agent of a tobacco firm
quoted by the Philadelphia Record, Il
wished to introduce among the Chinese
a two-forfive cigar that my people
were heavily interested in, and / de-
cided to draw up a little card extolling
this cigar in Chinese characters. l
cought out Lo Hen Wong, in San
Francisco, a very intelligent fellow, and
got him to write me few sentences
in praise of my article. l had what
he wrote autographed and distributed
the cards by thousands in all the
Chinatowns of the United States. They
were inscribed with piture of the
cigar, and below were the words:
Smoke this cigar. 1t is the best on
the market, and two for five is it's
price That, at least, is what i thought
was the meaning of the Chinese char
acters. l found out, some six months
later, my mistake. The words Lo Hen
Wong had written and which had had
Autographed were: Don't smoke this
cigar. 1t is not good. But the Gong
Companys cigarettes. for sale in every
Chinatown at cents a package, are
excellent Lo Hen Wong had got $40
from me for his work, and I don't know
how much he got from the Gong Com
pany. We distributed many thousands
of the cards before we got on to the
trick that had been played on us"
The King Alfred, which was
launched the other. day, is the very
latest type of cruiser added to the Brit
ish navy, says the New York Post.
She is 500 feet long, II feet wide, and
when in fighting trim she will displace
14,100 tons, her draught being 20 feet.
Her speed will be % knots, attained oy
means of two sets of triple
engines, developing 10000 horsepower
said to be the most powerful machin-
cry ever put into a warship. The ves-
sci carries $500 tons of coal in her
bunkers, and will therefore be able to
knots for 1850 sea miles, equal to
voltage from Portsmouth to Melbourne,
without renewing her fuel supply. She
will carry thirty-five guns, varying in
energy from the twenty -eight-ton wea-
pom, firing a 3S0-pound shot, with
power capable of sending one ton
weight nearly three and half miles
into the air. One of these guns is
mounted on the forecastle, firing ahead
or on either side, and the other is On
the poop for astern or broadside at
tack. They are 1886 feet long, and of
9.2 calihre, and, using cordite, develop
muzzle energy of 1880 foot tons 1t
is expected that they will be able to
maintain continuous fire of four shots
per minute. Their mountings are of
new type, and are arranged to be work
ed by hand as well as hydraulic power.
The whole revolving weight of the
mounting, with its gun, is l20 tons, and
this can easily be worked by hand.
There are eight six-inch guns on each
broadside arranged in series of two
story casemates. These are seven-ton
guns, firing 100-pound projectiles, and
are capable of firing eight rounds per
minute. Two of the guns on each
broadside fire ahead as we'll as four ~
Founders and the 9.2-inch weapon, and
thus the King Alfred, when chasing an
enemy, will be able to fire ahead per
minute 4 projectiles of $50 pounds, 81
projectiles of 100 pounds and so projec-
tiles of 1919 pounds. She Will be able
also to discharge an equal weight of
metal astern. She. is subdivided into
24s compartments, and carries crew
of 900 officers and men.
Despite the extreme severity with
which Mr.. w L. Moore, the head of
of our Weather Bureau, recently as
sailed everybody who pays any atten-
ton to reports from Europe about the
protection of crops from hail by the
use of specially constructed canon, says
the New York Times, we venture to
note the fact that the Swiss govern
ment, generally regarded as rather
intelligent body, possessed of some
common sense has been investigating
the subject with care. and that its
agents have advised the adoption of
whatever system of cloud canonading
further inquiry may prove to be the
best. Their report says: "A direct proof
that hail shooting properly practiced
will under all circumstances prevent
hail is of course impossible to furnish;
but the fact that certain districts of
Styria. which were before the use of
hail guns devastated by hail-storms,
year by year, have not for the last
FIVE years, since the guns are in use,
experienced any hail, is strong point
in favor of the hail guns" 1t does look
little that way to the ordinary OBJ
server. though of course Mr.. Moore,
mindful of his success in prophesying
the continuance of last summers hot
4sffn l.4e