The Savannah morning news., 1902-09-30
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


ing carried on in Paris. A French
physician. impressed with the evil eff
fects OF alcohol upon the nation, has
started out to combat intemperance by
advertising. Upon billboards, in omni-
buses, in the newspapers and maya
zines, on the armor of sandwich men,
in railway stations and even on the
backs of the fans used by hospital pa
tients he displays in the largest of
types the pithiest of warnings. "Alco-
hol is always i poison, Beware of
bitters!" Drink makes consumptives,
and so on, are some of the repetitions
of this clever temperance advocate. He
gathers statistics as to absinthe and
insanity, wine drinking and various
diseases, alcohol and crime, and pre-
pares advertisements as deceitfully
readable as those in our own papers
which we take for genuine news and
peruse eagerly till we come to some
hodys soap at the end. The unequealed
spectacle is thus presented of all Paris
reading a temperance advertisement.
The grand jury of Memphis recent
ly investigated the public charities Of
the city and in its official report de-
scribed it's visit with civic pride and
literary inspiration. Here is a gem
about the poorhouse likely to make one
feel he would rather be poor in Mem
phis than rich anywhere else in the
world: THE poorhouse, the route
which we have all been warned to
evade, and which has been made hide
Gus both in verse and song, we cam
not do justice when stating our sur
prise upon entering the beautiful
grounds of this magnificently kept in
stitution-mOre like a haven of rest
than a finale of poverty. Scrupulous-
~ clean, both in and out with its ST.
lent and quiet old people, white and
black, lounging in the pure air of
perfect day, would suggest 'slesta,
modifying the oft repeated expression,
Mans inhumanity to man makes
countless thousands mourn for here
humanity is shown by every taxpayer
of our county, and the poor old people
of both sexes are certainly we'll cared
for and in good hands. AS one help
less old lady, bedridden for years, ex-
pressed it, L thank God / deserve the
privilege of being here; they are so
kind and gentle to me-"
During the South African war.
says the Boston Transcript, many Won
derful cases were reported of recovery
from bullet wounds under circum-
stances Which, at an earlier date. would
have had a very different ending. Such
recoVerieS were due in very large
measure to the difference in the char
acter of the projectile itself as COM
pared with those of previous wars, and
also to the progress made by modern
surgery. A case now reported by DR.,
Theodore Diller, in the Journal of Ner-
vous and Mental Disease, is chiefly re-
rarkable, however, in showing the eX-
tent of injury which may be tolerated
by so sensitive an organ as the brain.
The case was that of a boy who. at
the age of 10, was wounded by bullet,
which entered just above the middle
of the right eyebrow, and made its ex-
it five millimeters to the left of the oc-
cipital protuberance. Inconsistencies
followed the INJURY, and lasted for
three weeks. Hernia cerebri occurred
at the site of the wounds. and frag-
ments of bone had to be removed be-
fore healing took place. When the pa
tient regained consciousness he was
found to be Speechless and completely
paralyzed on the left side of the body.
Speech, however, returned at the end
of four or five weeks, and the paralyz-
ed leg gradually regained some degree
of power during the next three years.
Eleven years after the injury, although
he had lost all power of motion in the
left hand and forearm. and there was
partial paralysis of the left side of the
face, the patients health was other
wise good and he exhibited no mental
defect.
"A remarkable fact is mentioned in
the report of the fatal Alpine accident
to DR.. Largin, says the London Chroni-
Gle. He fell from near the summit of
the Nadelhorn, and when his body was
discovered at the foot of couloir both
boots were missing. The curious fact
that persons who fall great distances
often lose their boots in the descent
has not yet been explained. In mining
accidents in Cornwall this strange fact
frequently occurs. A case last year
was that of a man who fell 120 feet
down the Polbreen mine During his
fall both boots (Which were tightly
laced came off and We're discovered
in the shaft fathoms above him. No
reason for this has ever been offered.
| AT the same time, the experience of a
| coroner may be added as he gave it
| at an inquest last week. This was,
that In all cases of suicide which had
come under his notice the persons had
| first removed their boots before putting
| an end to their existence. Even this
fact, however, would not explain all
the cases of bootlesS falls A corre-
| spondent suggests that in these cases
| The sudden expansion of the muscles
| under the first nervous shock spIits
the races, Wnlle the subsequent con-
| traction which comes with uncon-
| seriousness releases the boots. Volun-
tary expansion and contraction of the
! muscles explained the extraordinary
! Keats of the Davenport brothers in
| getting free from the ropes that hound
them. 1t is, we believe. a fact that a
| contraction of the muscles of the foot
takes place under the influence of hvo-
| Hollsm: AND 1t may be that this sus-
| ceptlplllty OF the ankle to violent emo
tlon oHers an explanation of a long
| standlng superstition. In MANY places
the person whose boot laces are always
| coming united is viewed with strono,
! prejudice. There is, of course. the oh
| vious explanation that such a nereo,,
Is careless or incompetent But NAV
not the prejudice point to the instinc-
i've dislike felt by the ordinary man
Tor the person of strong and uncon-
trolled emotions.
Popping railroad ties at the rate
OF sixty-five or seventy miles an bo,r
Is going at pretty rapid pace when
you come to think of it," said an old
| rallfoad man in The New OrIaane
Ilmes- Democrat, "and men who sneal5
/ lnolHerently of such records sin,1l,-
| 40 not think about what it means r.
INTO the cab with the engineer and fre
man. II you want to get the real near
ing Oh TINS sort of thing. 1t is dan
| serous gait. Men who are Iolling in .
comfortable coach on cushioned cbairs
probably porting over some bool[ tbot -
| so Qull that n11iatc N-4eNe -