The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-27
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Healthy and well-proportioned indi-
Yiduals of both sexes, measuring not
mere than 4 feet inches in hight.
were by no means rare.
Scotch banks, unlike the Bank of
England, reissue old notes again and
again, apparently not Directing to the
uncleanliness of the practice. On one
note some time ago 10000 microbes
were counted in the space that a six
pence would occupy, including germs
of some virulent diseases.
-Soundings have shown that the
ocean basins are comparatively steep
sided and fiat floored The greatest
depth yet found is 31,614 feet, in the
western Pacific near the Island of
Guam Qat. II N, long. las As Ed An
other place of great depth 30,930 feet,
is in the Pacific. near the Fiji Islands.
The deepest sounding yet made in the
Atlantic is 1856 feet, or over five
miles, in 4 local depression 100 miles
north of Porto Rico, West Indies.
I'm regard to King Edwards appen-
dicitis, the Philadelphia Medical Jour
nal says: What is to be gained by
days with pus forming in his abdo-
men? There can be but one answer to
this question. Early operation, while
the case is merely one of appendiceal
collie, usually means cure. Deferred
| operation inevitably means protracted
convalescence, invalidism or, in too
many cases, death The value of the
Kings case will arise from the fact
that it will be educational to the pub
lie, and that hereafter it will be even
| more difficult for a conservative sur
geon to refuse to operate"
-Thierry and Bertail recently re-
ported an epidemic of diphtheria in
and near Argenteuil, France. On July
2. 1900, a patient with diphtheria ar
rived from Dion. Up to March 9, 1902,
| 79 cases of diphtheria had occurred.
All the patients received from 10 to 81
| cubic centimeters of antitoXin when
first seen, and in many cases this was
repeated in a day or two. OF the 79
cases but two died, and one of these
vas the original patient from Dijon.
| Slight paralysis occurred in but 4
cases. The case histories of all 70 pa
tents are given in detail. These results
show the great efficacy of anti-diph-
| theritic serum.
"A dispatch from Beaumont, Tex,
says: Information has been received
in the southwestern corner of Louisi-
ana, desolate, marshy country, al
most uninhabited and uninhabitable.
| The information states that the ground
in that section took fire about three
months ago and has been burning
ever since. hole half a mile WIDE
/ two miles long and six feet deep has
already been burned out, and the fire
continues slowly and surely. The
tanks are clean cut when left by the
fire, but soon tumble in by the action
of the rain. No explanation is offered
by the informant; rather he seeks
some explanation of this strange oc-
currence. The soil in this vicinity for
the most part is nothing but sea
marsh, and it is surmised that gas is
escaping through this in sufficient
quantities to make it combustible.
A dispatch from Pittsburg says the
most intimate friends of John Henry
Franz, of Lautner street, Troy Hill,
are unable to understand why he has
been masquerading about his home for
! the past twenty years at various times
| dressed in woman's attire. According
| to his wife, Franz has been in the
habit of rigging himself in clothes of
| a female from head to foot, wearing
earrings, large picture hat, and, in
fact, everything which goes to make
up woman's wardrobe. The only an
swer the man will give when asked
why he enjoys acting the part of the
opposite sex is that it helps his foot
and he can rest easier when dressed
so. For twenty-five years the man
| has been suffering from a sore on his
leg, which at times, he says, drives
him frantic. This Is the only reason
he will give for acting in such a man
| ner. From what could be gotten out
of Franz it seems that he is laboring
under great mental trouble. This he
| would only hint at. making the mys-
ferrous statement that he has carried
a secret since a few weeks after his
marriage, which not a soul knows, nor
shall any person ever get the secret
from him. The story came out when
| Franz was arrested for beating his
wife because she would not buy him a
silk skirt.
Experience has demonstrated, says
the Chicago Chronicle, that the opal
escent layers of the oyster shell are
not the sole available material for
button-making, as has long been be-
lleVed by the trade, and that CLANS.
mussels and other bivalves, not to
speak of many conchs, are of nearly,
| II not quite, equal value. The first
result of these examinations was the
prompt utilization of other shells and
consequent reduction in the price
| or oyster mother-of-pearl and of but
tons made from that substance. Thus
far the best clam discovered is the
pearl clam of the Mississippi and the
other rivers of that region The sea
CLAIMS are useful, but the inner Innings
are not so lustrous or iridescent. The
deep-sea clam with it's rich indigo
color, makes a snowy and rather pop
ular button. The soft clam or Rhode
Island clam, has often a beautiful
| play of color upon it's inner surface.
but is usually too thin and fragile
The hard CLAIMS or cohogues vary ex-
tensively. A few have brilliant inte-
riors; the majority are very dull. The
treatment is about the same in all
cases. The clam must be gathered
so as not to injure the shell. They
are washed and then boiled with a
small amount of alkali, either washing
soda or lime being added to remove
any grease or dirt held by grease.
Few, perhaps, are aware that the
first automobile, considered in the
sense of a vehicle containing within
itself powers of locomotion, of which
there is any authentic account, was a
self-moving shrine of Bacchus. This
was the invention of Heron of Alex
| andria, who describes it in his work on
automatic mechanism. The shrine in
question was mounted upon two sup