The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-09
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


seem more like play than work-to the
onlooker. The mortar is mixed in a
pile in the street One man makes
this up in 70 balls of about six pounds
weight, which he losses to a man who
stands on a ladder midway between
the roof and the ground. This man
deity catches the ball and losses it
This plan would scarcely work for sky
scrapers.
Athens is just now disturbed over a
question which confronts the Holy
Synod of the Greek Partrianchate. 1t
seems that a certain Greek priest sud
denly discovered that the hair on one
side Of his beard was falling rapidly,
and, on consulting q doctor, he was told
that the only cure was shaving. But
no Creek priest is allowed to cut his
hair or shave. If he does. he IS pun
ished by being suspended from his
priesty functions. In his dilemma the
priest applied to the Holy Synod of
Greece, which declared that it was i'm
possible for him to shave and remain
a priest. He thereupon appealed to the
Holy Synod in COnstantinOple, which
is the highest authority in ecclesiasti-
cal matters in the Greek Church. and
got favorable decision, on the ground
that, although it was against the
rules, the Holy Synod could give per-
mission in exceptional cases. Accord
ingly the priest shaved, and has been
suspended from his Office By the Greek
Synod.
An interesting discovery has just
been made in Lisbon which recalls the
great earthquake of 1877. During some
building excavations made in the Sc
quarter Of the city, a portico of great
beauty was uncovered. Its entrance.
which was closed by massive bronze
doors, was thrown open, and a lofty
and ornate chapel was found con tain
ing several tombS of more or less note.
One of them. that of an infant was
opened nd found to hold the skeleton
of q female child clad in a gorgeous
gold brocade vestment, covered all over
with "gl cries" or representations of
the Holy Ghost. The tissue of the gar
ment is still in admirable condition,
and bears handling and stretching, but
it is feared that ere long exposure 10
the air will destroy the fibres and the
colors The Lisbon Archaeological So
ciety has taken possession of the relic.
Further investigation proved that the
remains are those of a child of Dom
Pedro Other tombs will be searched
as the excavation proceeds, and rum
ors of additional valuable finds are al
ready affOat.
There is an old tradition, says the
Chicago Record Herald, that the So
called treasure dome of the Jami ell
Kebir m Osque in Damascus contained
a number of valuable manuscripts re-
lating chiefly to early Christian times.
After years of persuasion, says a vi
emma correspondent of the Paris Mes
Senger, the Sultan was induced to al
low the opening of the dome, which
had remained closed and carefully
guarded for centuries, experts having
assured him that there We're no dOcu-
ments in the collection affecting the
Mohamm edan religion The manu-
scripts discovered in the dome were
sent to Constantinople, where it was
found that they included a number of
fragments of the Old and New Tesla
ments in the ancient Syrian language
and cha racters, together with frag-
ments of translation of the Old and
New eStaments in the dialect of Syro-
Palestine. Among the latter was
found a. translation of st. Pauls Epis-
ties into dialect which was spoken
at the time of Christ. There were
also fra gments of the Pentateuch in
the Sam aritan Language. a translation
of Psalm xviii, in Arabic, but writ
ten in Greek cha racterS, dating from
the eleventh century 1t is now re-
ported from Constantinople that the
manuscripts have been handed over
by the Turkish Foreign Ministry TO
Baron Marshall, the German Ambas-
sador, by order of the Sultan, for a
more Thorough scrutiny in Berlin.
"A dispatch from Lockport, N. Y,
says A successful test of a machine
patented under the head "a new and
useful improvement in gearing" has
recently taken place here. The ma
chine promises to give railroads the 125
mile per hour locomotive and to give
ocean steamships a power that will
overcome the momentum of an ocean
greyhound in one minute, instead of
the five minutes now required to re-
verse a. large steamship. The new en-
CINE is. properly speaking mechan-
ism devised to increase the power and
speed of any reciprocating type of en-
CINE. Doing away with the crank and
rods, as it does, it Increases the power
by means of a spiral shaft cross head
and stu b shaft, which gives a leverage
hitherto unknown in any type of en-
CINE. There is no change made in the
steam cylinder, except to put in two
piston rods instead of one. The two to
one engine has run 1000 revolutions per
minute moving the piston head 1000
times, something that. has never been
accomplished before with a reciprocal
ing engine. The engine is always I'M
der complete control by means of &C.
centricS and link motion, the same as
any crank engine. 1t may be reversed
at will at any speed, running equally
well in either direction. This engine
shows a. saving in fuel, water and
steam of not less than 33 1-3 per cent
over a. crank engine of the same type
cylinder. If an automobile, as they are
now constructed, can run eighty-five
miles an hour, this mechanism, using
the same generative power, will run it
1853 miles an hour with the twosto one
shaft, or 252 miles with the three to one
shaft, always providing the auto me-
chanisTn would stand such high speed
There is a retail establishment on
Fifth avenue which is probably with
out a parallel in New York or this
country in the fact that although tech
nically shop, as it deals only with
private purchasers, it has no till or
money drawer and no cash is ever seen
in 1t in connection with any business
transac ton, says the New York Post
The things sold are so costly and most
of the customers are so rich that pay
ments are invariably made by check
A similar condition prevails in the par
ent house in London established some
thirty years ago. The New York store
has existed about twenty-five years and
now rivals the business of the original
establishment, with which it inter
f1I-