The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-15
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

bOrhood of $500 an Ounce-that Is,
about 20 times the value of gold, or 3
times what it was rs years ago. The
total worlds output of platinum is less
than tons a year. Most of this comes
from Russia. Formerly platinum was
mistaken for silver. and considerable
of 1t got into the Russian coinage
without being discovered. These old
Russian coins are now in demand for
remelting to recover the platinum. I'm
less a new source of platinum is dis
covered before long the price will no
doubt go still higher. Alaska is pro-
ducing a little, but the quantity is very
uncertain.
S. Holden HOWE, of New Zealand.
the originator of the carrier pigeon
postal service in that country, now
making a tour through the United
States: Is thus quoted in the Kansas
City Star: MY carrier pigeon service
would not be satisfactory or necessary
in the United States or any other
| place where the telegraph is used for
the transmission of messages. In New
Zealand there are many small islands,
where telegraph lines are unknown. For
many years the residents of the small
er islands have had no means of COM
munication except by slow boats. T es-
lohDllollCu IL carrier plScOA SSINlCS lHdI
is under the control of the government.
1t is a success in every detail. The
rate for pigeongrams is one Shilling,
| or "a cents in American money. l came
here to purchase American homing pig
cons. 1 expect to visit all the big lofts
in the United States before I return
to New Zealand"
While the average adult should in
0P DIV
minute, this is impossible in the street
cars of to-day. A New York sanitary
engineer found as much as 262 parts
of carbonic acid gas per 10000 volumes
of air in the trolley cars in New York
| city. This is to some extent due to in
sufficient heating of the cars, the win
dows being in winter necessarily tight
| ly shut. The cocoanut husk mats on
| the floors of the cars have been ex-
amined, single fbers 112 inches long
holding from 5000, 900 to 100000 bacte-
RIA. And yet this air compares favora-
bly, with that found on many railroads.
In the Mont Gents tunnel the air con-
tains 10Y parts of carbonic acid in cars
in the Mersey tunnel in England, 1854
in an electric car in the new Boston
subway 24.97, and in the Metropolitan
railway tunnel in London, S9.4 parts
per 10000 volumes.
The great desert in the forbidden
hinterland of Tripoli Nortehrn Africa,
which has not ben visited by Euro
peans for fifty years, has now been ex-
plored by Mr.. Edward Dodson, young
ERglishman, who went out last March,
says the London Mail. The members
of the expedition experienced much
difficulty with the authorities At one
thew
on two occasions threatened by Arabs,
who prepared to ambush them. One
on the most notable things on the Jour
ney to Murzuk was the great petrified
forest. For ten days they Travelled
across an area of petrified trees vary
ing in circumference from seven feet
to few inches Every branch of this
forest was, of course, lying prone, and
this, together with the presence of ma
rine shells, showed that this part of
the great Sahara had at one time been
submerged. One night they were sur
rounded by thunder storms. No less
than five distinct storms were in prog
ress all around, and the guns and
spears of the party became surround
ed by halo of phosphorescent light,
which greatly alarmed the supersti-
tious attendants, who regarded this as
fourth judgment upon them for 'trav-
cling with "unbelieVers."
After study of Rio de Janeiro, its
position and topography, of the mos
quitoes, their anatomy, life and GUS
toms, the epidemics of yellow fever in
Rio de Janeiro and Sac Paulo, its re-
lation to meteorological conditins, it's
transportation on sea by Mosquitoes,
and the recent experiments in Amer
lea. II. de Guyea thinks that yellow
fever is not transmitted directly or
indirectly, since the germ, as yet un-
known, is only found in the blood of
those affected; that it is propagated by
the mosquitoes infected by sucking the
blood of yellow fever PATIENTS that
the prophylaxis against yellow fever
is the same as that against malaria
and f1lariasis-namely, the voidance of
mosquitoes. Mosquito netting, scenes,
etc, the isolation of all yellow fever
patients, living away from the haunts
of the mosquitoes, inhabiting the up
per floors of wel-aired houses, these
are all necessary, and ships should not
be permitted to anchor in infected ports
from which the wind is blowing. Oil
should be employed to destroy the mos
quitoes, fish should be placed in the
ponds, drainage and entertainments
should be built, and ships leaving an
infected port shoJ1d have sulphurous
acid introduced into their holds to kill
all the mosquitoes present.
One of the fire chiefs in Chicago re-
marked recently that the day of the
fire engines as a necessary adjunct to a
fire department in q big city was near
ing it's end. This is a very strong
statement, and yet it is based upon
practical tests soon to be inaugurated
in Chicago. In the business section of
that city the municipal authorities are
having pipes laid through which water
will be forced at a pressure of from 40
to 200 pounds. The high pressure will
render the use of engines unnecessary,
it is claimed, as the water will be
forced through the lines of hose in as
great volumes as at present by the en-
gines. 1t is the intention to extend the
pipes into the large buildings in such
way as to have each floor protected
When a fire occurs the water may be
turned on from every floor, if neces-
sary, without waiting for the arrival of
the fire department. The fire depart
ment will be reorganized into hose
| companies, and the men will make
couplings to the pipes instead Of to en-
gines. Otherwise their duties VIII be
in no way changed. The experiment.
for that is what it amounts to at this
time, will be watched with interest by
other large cities.
in the matter of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition, Uncle Sam has
drawn in the strings of his purse and
tied the same in a double bow-knot
I