The Savannah morning news., 1902-04-18


The area planted with wheat in
Bengal this year is estimated at only
1,404, 700 acres, a total considerably be-
low the normal area. 1t is explained
that the falling off is due to the want
of rain at sowing time.
The Australian Postmaster Gener-
al states that an internal penny post
within the commonwealth must pre-
cede an external penny post. Both OBJ
jects might be accomplished by the
time of the coronation.
During the year 1901 thirty-six as
teroids were discovered, all but one of
them at Heidelberg by photography.
The asteroid group is now known to
have AS members. No. 361 is interest
ing as having the greatest known
aphelion distance, viz, Ala (the earths
distance from the sun being 1.00). The
mean motion of No. 401 is approx
mately twice that of Jupiter. No. AIS
is interesting from it's great southern
declination (611s degrees) at discovery,
for it's large eccentricity (e-03S) and
small perihelion distance $3.50. 1t was
discovered at the Harvard College sta
ton at .Arequipa in Peru.
AS antiquities go nowadays, says
Ainslee's, the brass band is a very an
cient institution. That is to say its in
ventor died in 1894 at the age of so.
There We're horns before Adolphe Sax,
to be sure, but not such horns as we
have now, for they could not play
every tune in every key. They could
not even play a scale in any key. The
very first band entirely of brass was
organized in 1885, and l doubt if any
of the instruments then used could be
played upon by modern musicians
without special practice. 1t is only 119
years back to 1888, when a full regi-
mental band in the British army con-
sisted of two oboes, two clarinets, two
hcrns and two bassoons. 1t must have
sounded even funner than Tennyson's
famous combination of flute, violin
and bassoon.' How long a way we
have come since 1873 may be learned
from this ensemble of a first-class
modern band. which 1 give on the au-
thority of Thomas F. Shannon, band
master of the Twenty-third Regiment,
N. Y. N. G., probably the best regl-
mental bandmaster in the United
States. Note that the modern band of
Of forty-two pieces has half as many
oboes and bassoons as the ancient
band of eight pieces, seven times as
many clarinets and nine times as many
horns, to say nothing of the saxa-
phones, which are part clarinet and
part horn.
AT o'clock" says a correspondent
of the Kansas City Star, every hotel
in Java serves a most distinctive and
remarkable meal called the rice table
(rijst-tafeD. A large, fiat, bowl-shaped
dish is placed in front of you, which
you fill with beautiful white, faky
Oh In
fully quarter of a bushel. Then
comes a seemingly never ending stream
of natives, each bearing a dish con-
tanning some different meat, vegetable
or condiment, from which you take a
small portion and place it on top of
the rice. After you have had a little
of everything you mince it up with a
knife and fork and mix it well with the
rice, and then fall to with a large
spoon. A list of the side dishes, with
an ordinary rice table, would read
something like this: Fried eggs, ONE
let fried chicken, broiled chicken,
stewed chicken, beef steak, sausage,
fish, fritters, a mixture of vegetables
stewed with a mustard dressing. raw
cucumbers, liver and ten or twelve diff
ferent spices and relishes, besides
pickles. Many a stout Dutchman have
we seen take a liberal helping from
d
of rice for background of table, Nat
urally, every one must go to sleep inn
mediately after such a meal, and all
business is suspended for several
hours. The dinner in the evening, at
o'clock, is a very simple meal"
The Japanese army is equipped,
organized and drilled like a European
army and many Of its officers have re-
| ceived their education in European
countries. CONSUMPTION was intro
duced into Japan in 1874 and the reg
| ulations now in force were adopted in
| 1888. Every male citizen between the
| ages of II and 40 years owes military
| service, which is given three years in
| the active army, four years in the
| first reserve, five years in the terrific
| rial army and eleven years in the ma
| tional army or the second reserve. For
| the year 1901-02 the budget provides for
| Is divisions or "a brigades of infantry
each brigade is composed of two regi-
| ments of three battalions each The
cavalry comprises II regiments or 81
| squadrons. The artillery has 10 regi-
| ments or ia field and mountain bat
tarieS. The engineers have at present
| Is companies and will soon have 80.
| The Army Service Corps has 10 bat
| talions of 2 companies, with l battal-
| ion q cOmpanieS) of railway troops
and battalion g companies) of tele-
| graph troops. Besides the 13 divisions
| OF infantry there are 3 regiments of
coast guards and battalions of foot
artillery and special brigade of 4
battalions of infantry, cavalry, artil-
| lery and engineers (the Yesso Brigade)
| The aggregate is 8,116 officers and 1875, :
633 men on a peace footing. The war
strength is 392,220 men and 1,09S guns
| the reserves excluded. When it is re-
membered that recent campaigns have
shown the Japanese army to be of
first rate quality it is obvious that the
military power of the new nation of
the Pacific is formidable.
Certain Newfoundland dogs which
have gone back on the municipality
of Paris, are now serving as an ignoble
contrast to the geese which saved
Rome, says the New York Evening
Post. These Newfoundlands are
bought, at considerable expense, by the
Life-Saving Service of the Seine, to
discourage would be suicides and to
rescue careless anglers for gudgeons.
The gravity of the beasts as they
paraded the river banks in charge of
their keepers excited the levity of the
volatile Parisians. The maintenance
of the life saving kennels was report
ed to be expensive, and the Newfound-
lands, to which chance persistently de-
MED drowning person, came near to
becoming a political issue. Ridicule
soon changed to abuse, and the stupid
ity and inefficiency of these dogs were
er7IN Of .n..I