The Savannah morning news., 1901-06-11
ITEMS of INTEREST.


in summer and autumn are taller than
those born in spring and winter the All
gust girls being the talest. With boys
those born in autumn and winter are not
as tall as those born in spring and sum-
mer; the July boys being the tanest and
the November boys the shortest, on the
average. Fair haired people of both sexes
are said to be becoming less numerous
than formerly. What is this sign Of
anything? People like Lombroso and Max
Nordau ought to be able TO write several
chapters on this next.
.-Navigators Of the North Atlantic
have to be constantly on watch during
the summer months, for the icebergs that
come down from Greenland and other Arc
tic regions. Some vessels are fitted with
apparatus that gives immediate warning
of the vicinity of one. but where there
is no such apparatus, the temperature of
the water is taken at intervals, for an
iceberg will make a vast extent of sea
cold An iceberg is nothing but part of
a glacier that has been detached by the
action of water, washing and beating
against it. Some of them are of enor-
nous size. 1t is generally accepted by
scientific men that only one-eighth of the
berg appears above the water. If, there
fore, the part that is visible rises fifty
feet above the surface, the part under
water would measure $50 feet. No won
der the sea captains have a holy horror of
them.
Stones do not form part of the recog-
nized diet of the corrlorant, but one of
these birds in the National Geological
Park in Washington had a craving which
could be satisfied only by eating two
pounds of stones. The keepers attention
was attracted to the bird because after
having once sat down it couldn't get up.
He was picked up and then the stones
were heard rafting inside of him w. H.
Blackburn, who is connected with the
park, decided that something must be
done at once, and he promptly cut the
cormorant open and relieved him of his
burden. One of the stones, of irregular
shape, was three and a half inches in
length. The incision was sewed up, and
for five days the bird got along all right,
the wound healing finely; but at the end
of that time the cormorant grew FESTIVE
and pulled out the stitches with his hooked
bill AS consequence Of opening up the
wound he died.
-One of the curious customs of Old
England is that of beating the bound
aries, which term applies TO parishes as
we'll as to separate pieces of landed
estates within the parishes. The au-
the boundaries, beating the earth with
the sticks at frequent intervals. This
quaint ceremony was performed recently
in Leighton BuZZard, Bedfordshire. Un=
der a will made by E. Wilkes, the bound
aries OF various properties were beaten
by the trustees of Wilkes charity, which
maintains ten almshouses and confers
other benefits on the poor. The trustees
were accompanied by the town crier and
Of for MI zi
reward, has to stand on his head while
the will is read. Until recent years rolls
and beer were given to men and boys,
but this practice, though provided for in
the will to be continued $50 long as the
sun shines and the water runs" has been.
discontinued.
Sir Henry Johnston British Special
Commissioner in Uganda, who recently
came into prominence through his. share
in the discovery that the heladotherium
still lives, has written 10 the Foreign Of
fee III London, complaining about the
great number of explorers who come to
his part of the world: He remarks: 81
do not hesitate to say that we have lately
been suffering from a plague of explorers
sportsmen and amateur collectors. No.
matter how wealthy some of these indi-
viduals profess themselves to be, or how
wealthy the newspapers or capitalists
whom they represent, they invariably
end by living like parasites on one Of
fetal or another. 1t is really becoming a
case of blackmaii." He asks that a po-
lite warning be issued to persons who
mediate visiting Uganda in the future
not to plant themselves as unlimited
guests on officials or on native chiefs
whose means do not permit of their Of
fering unlimited hospitality, and who,
naturally, resent being compelled to offer
this hospitality under the threat of being
abused in the press, or, almost worse
still, being induced to do so by the prom
Use Of fulsome ard most damaging
praise"
What would the shade of Shakespeare
think of 1t all, we wonder. if permitted
once again to revisit the glimpses of the
moon? How the poet who realized that
all the worlds a stage would marvel at
the way regulations and fortunes are
made upon it nowadays when the craft
of the Spectator renders superf1uous the
genius of the actor. How would the Ju-
liet of the present compare with his own
conception of the part, or his memories
of ONeill or Fanny Kemble? Art, in
sorry truth, is but the handmade of adver-
tisement Not long ago Madame Bern
hardt, who, at all events, has a great ca
reer behind her, was voWing that she
could never speak English because that
barbaric tongue would spoil her French
accent. Concerning the effect of that ac-
cent upon Shakespeare verse she has no
anxiety. Is it possible that when she
was bidding those fearful adieux, her
eternal farewells, to her beloved Ameri-
cans, few weeks back. she knew of this
projected return? Doubtless the comedy
has been well rehearsed, and as has been
said, the success of it is assured. Nov
city, even when monstrous, or on account
of it's very monstrosity. has an irresistible
attraction for the multitude. The fame
of Shakespeare, happily, is beyond the
reach of the most malignant assaults, but
it is too bad that an indignity of this sort
should be offered under the pretense of
dramatic art.
The apparent size of the abdomen may
be made less by a correct standing and
sitting position, says a writer in the
Ledger Monthly. A lounging position,
which let's the body fall in a heap at the
waist line, relaxes the muscles and ia
vors fatty deposit just where II is most
detrimental to the beauty of contour of
a woman's figure. In standing, draw in
the abdomen and throw out the chest.
letting the weight of the body fall upon
the ball of the foot. This will insure n
perfect poise and teach the abdominal
muscles to be self-supporting. If these
muscles are not permitted to become re.
l.