The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-25

1t has been estimated that there
are at least 100000 families living in
London on IS a week.
in Norway. anything that was
built within a century or two is con-
sidered modern. An Englishman, who
was recently looking at a house for a
fishing station, complained that II
was too old, when the owner became
indignant, and assured him that every
building on the place was put up since
1915.
Eleven million pounds of meat are
eaten every week by the inhabitants
of New York, Brooklyn and Jersey
City. OF this, six million pounds are
beef, two million pounds mutton and
lamb, and three million pounds pork,
ham and bacon. The total cost is
about s2,O00.000. Poultry and fish are
not included.
The postal business of the United
States is rapidly growing. The re-
ceipts for this year have been nearly
three times as large as they were In
1882, having increased from $42, 000, 900
to $121, O0O 900. The deficiency last
year, about 81, 100000, was less than
in any year since 1888.
A rich man in the West who says
that he wants all his five sons to get
along equally well in business, has
asked them to unite with him in a
corporation, each of the six men to
have the same amount of stock 1t
will be a family company, and there
will be no reason for jealouSieS and
disputes among the sons.
Connected with the parish house
of one of the large New York churches,
is a pawnshop, in which the interest
charged is only one per cent a month,
and the loans may be repaid in in
stallments. The sum of $4,000 was
loaned last year. 1t is worthy of
note that of 100000 loaned during the
last three years, only $1,000 has been
lost.
Medical men say that books and
paper money carry the microbes of
disease, and yet the employees of pub
lie libraries, who handle hundreds of
books daily, and bank officials, who
handle thousands of notes. do not
catch" the diseases. The reason is
that library people do not wet their
fingers with their lips to turn over the
leaves of books, and bank officials do
not wet their fingers in the same way
to count money.
The German Secretary of the
Treasury announces that the deficit
in the Imperial budget for 1908 is
estimated at $S7 500, coo, two and a half
times as much as it was in 1902. He
urges that, instead of providing for
the deficit by loans, taxation be in
creased particularly on beer and to-
bacco. There is no Imperial tax on
beer now, that being left to the
States, and the tax on tobacco is quite
low.
A wireless piano has been recently
perfected by Ira F. Gilmore, of
Bloomington, ILL.,, who has been work.
ing on the idea for the last thirteen
years under great disadvantages. He
was unable to have a steel comb reed
made in this country, he says, and he
started in to make one of these him
self, which alone has been a task of
many years. He secured a piece of
steel of the desired size and with a
drill and file made the reed on the
desired lines. This was mounted on
a bridge with sounding board, when
it was discovered that he had secured
beautiful harp tone, which has been
long sought after.
In the reign of Henry VIII a proc
makers encouraging the belief in saints
ruling the weather, says the London
Chronicle of Nov. 25. Notwithstanding
this and similar efforts to explode a
popular notion, certain saints days
are, however, still supposed to assist in
what may be called long-distance fore
casts. St. Catherine, whose festival
falls on Nov. rs, is such a saint, for
''as at Catherine, foul or fair, so will
be the next February" Yesterday
there was all sorts of weather, the ele
nents being under the control of gale
that was clustering in the west. Halos,
too, have recently been seen round the
moon so that the omens for fair St.
GATHERINGS Day were not very salts
factory.
Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, the French
statistician. in a recent article in the
Debats argues that the tide has be-
gun to turn in the matter of the birth
rate in France. In 1901 S57,274 births
were recorded, as compared with S27,-
297 in 1900. an increase nearly of 30
900. 1900 was the worst year in this
respect that France ever had, so that
this comparison of itself does not mean
much. The encouraging sign, however,
is that the number of births last year
was tsAlt III SACeSS VI the average an
nua1 number of births for the decade
ending with 1900. This notable increase
is due almost entirely to Brittany.
where the hardest men of the French
nation are raised. In 1901 the births
in the department of Finistere exceed
ed the deaths by 1856 in total popu-
lation of 773.014. In ten other depart
ments the number of births exceeded
the deaths.
AT many of the shooting tourna-
ments this fall in rifle ranges, armories
and the field, it has been remarked that
fat men are coming to the front as
sharpshooters, says Leslie's Weekly.
There is no good reason why the men
of superf1uous flesh should not excel
In this scientific and delightful past
time if they give attention to if Ner-
Vous energy plays little part in marks
manship. To become a sharpshooter
enc must have good eye, steady nerve
and be an excellent judge of distance
IL has been my experience that fewer
Tat men wear eyeglasses than do their
thln and nervous neighbors. Shooting
from prone or reclining positions an
peals to the stout shooter and he CON
sequently does his best work at dis
tances of 500 yards or over. While a
man with shooting eye can handle
any sort of a weapon with more or loss
skill, the sharpshooter with the rife
Is seldom expert with the shotgun II
Is the nervous and thin man who gen
orally makes the best bag in the 6eId
with the shotgun.