The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

While 100 tons is load for an
English freight train, an average load
on one of our railroads last year was
$40 tons. On two British roads it costs
from 4S1a cents to move a ton of
freight one mile. while the cost of
leading New York road is 231z cents a
mile.
"A Swedish consul at Bombay says
that because of their fear of sanitary
inspection and modern methods of
preventing and curing disease the ma
tives of India in vast numbers are the
victims of plague. In consequence of
the hatred and fear of hospitals and
medical men the population of Bonn
bay has decreased 10000 in the last ten
years, while the increase in the whole
of India in the same time was about
Is per cent. Bombay now has go, 900
people. The hospital and general med
ical service in India are of the best
and do much good in the affected dis
tricts in spite of the prejudice which
prevails against such things. The
plague is generally fatal without the
most skiflful medical attention. The
natives in their Ignorance seek only
to be left to die in peace. The ancient
traditions of the country are extreme
ly difficult, almost impossible, to eradi-
cate"
DIR. de Lavarenne, editor of La
Presse Medicale, refers to the manner
in which the use of saccharin is being
extended 1t is not only used to sweet
en- beer, but it is now also employed
in the manufacture of syrups, jams,
lemonades. wines Especially cham
pagnel, cider, brandy, pastry and choc-
olateS. Special substances of this ma
ture are on the market for sweetening
cider and brandy. Among these ,sa-
cramine may be mentioned, which is
said to be 700 times sweeter than cane
sugar. Other products of the same
kind are sugar extract (made in Switz-
erland) cannabin, etc. All these names
are misleading, for the substances are
only sugars in name, being coal-far
derivatives. They are not foods. More
over, their long continued use may
gravely affect the digestive functions.
Dulcin, another SWeetening body,
which has been used as substitute
for saccharin, was given to a dog at
the rate of one gram a day The ami
NAL died in three weeks.
Why do darkies, as a rule have
such splendid teeth? Mostly because
they have lived on coarse food, which
make demands on the teeth, says an
exchange. People as a rule now do
not want to do any chewing. They
demand meat which is SO tender that
it will melt in the mouth, etc. Ma
ture, prodigaI as she is, never be-
slows anything where it is not used;
and the result is that the civilized
races are losing their teeth. If the
style continues to forbid our teeth
to do any grinding our progeny of
say 1902 A. D. will be born toothless,
or with only rudimentary teeth. AS
individuals we cannot grow good
teeth in our heads by eating coarse
food. We are beginning to get bad
teeth by hereditary. But there is al
most no tooth or bone-forming mate
rial in fine white flour, and the avoid
ance of coarse foods undoubtedly has
tens the decaying of our teeth. Perhaps
the millers and the dentists are in a
secret league to work for mutual in
terests. Who knows?
The sea, except in the shallow wa
ter-fringe along the shore, is devoid of
vegetable matter. 1t contains, in gen.
eral, no growth of weeds and plants
to harbor swarms of possible food
creatures with their eggs and larvae.
and where such vegetable growths do
occur, as in the floating weeds of the
SargasSo sea, a race of fish and crus-
taceans at once appears, limited to that
ICcdllIy anu ODNIOQS1y leu 1tOAu thai
source alone Neither does the sea, ex-
cept in certain areas, greatly abound in
vertebrate fish. A bucket of Atlantic
water is to the eye simply a vessel of
transparent brine, unfouled with weed.
void of fish, and in most cases not Visi-
bly, infested with any form of floating
marine organisms. Y ct at any moment
shoals of fish mum bering millions of in
dividuals may elect to enter this APP
parently foodiess waste. The herring
shoals disappear into the deep Atlantic
and return in good condition, oily and
exuberant, and the whales find suf-
ficient food to make them the latest
creatures in creation. Many of the
whales are carniyorous. Some, includ-
ing the right" whale, have long been
known to live on small sea crustaceans
which were supposed to he found in ex-
ceptionaI numbers in the Arctic seas.
But the case of the typical ''shoal''
fish, such as pilchards and behring's, Of
fered special difficulties. r
The United States Geological Sur
vey has recently issued an excellent
map of a section of the country, in the
heart of the Southern Appalachian
mountains. The map is one OF the sur
vey's regular topographic atlas sheets,
and it's name is the Mount Mitchell.
1t represents, an area of approximate
ly 900 square miles, in the center of
which stands Mount Mitchell, which
has the highest elevation in the Unit
ed States east of the Mississippi river,
rising 6,z11 feet above sea level. In
association with Mount Mitchell are
the other elevations of the Black noun
tains-Black Brothers, Balsam Cone,
Bearwallow mountain, Hurricane Noun
tain, Mount Gibbs, CIingmans Peak and
Potato Knob, which makes the Mount
Mitchell district one of the most i'm
pressive mountain regions of the East.
Besides the Black mountains ranges
appearing on the sheet in whole or in
part are the Blue Ridge, Great Craggy
mountains. Green mountains, Cane
River mountains and Seven Mile Ridge,
the attitudes and Topographic features.
of which are clearly brought out. All
the settlements, roads and trails of the
region appear, as do all the drainage
features. railroads and boundaries. The
map is to be had at the usual govern
ment rate of five cents on application
to the director of the United States
Geological Survey.
The lamented death of Admiral
Sampson illustrates the fact that the
life of the individual is only as long
as the life of his blood-vessels, says
the PHILADELPHIA Medical Journal This