The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-18
ITEMS or INTEREST.

IN drawers, anu Dy 1elllIiS uOWh a
panel a convenient writing table is
formed. It has roof and canvas sides,
permitting its use in all weatners.
M. Camille Spiess, noted natur-
aIist, records in the French Revue
Scientifique a remarkable case of ami
NAL Sagacity. At the foot of the Jura
mountains, in the canton of Vaud,
there lives a farmer who raises edible
snails (Helix pomatia). He has as
many as $4,000 of them at one time in
an Enclosure surrounded by a wooden
fence about two feet high. To prevent
the escape of the mollusks the top of
the fence is covered with a board, the
edge of which is armed with sharp
metallic points. Lately the snails have
discovered the means to surmount this
barrier. A number of them climbed the
fence until they reached the top, and
then, forming sort of ladder, those
behind passed over the shells of the
others in front, and so all but one got
safely over the top without being i'm
paled on the metal points This sim
pie story proves" says NJ. Spiess,
that the vineyard snail is not with
out cunning; his behavior in this case
gives evidence of a reasoning faculty
such as we have never before encoun-
tered in his actions" One must go very
low down the animal scale to reach
| the last trace of thought and will.
From an elevation of 5000 feet on
the slopes of Mount Rainier last week
Arthur Hunter, mountaineer, witness
ed scenes of awful grandeur, says the
Los Angeles Times. 1t was given to
| Hunter to view from his eminence
forest fires raging over 100 miles away
| in Oregan. Flames shot upward from
/ @ az a
them rose tremendous clouds of smoke.
AS he looked the flames crossed the
| Columbia river, and simultaneously
another great fire began, sweeping
| westward from Wind River Valley.
| Hunters position gave him a pana-
ranic view embracing the Columbia
| River Valley. Gray's harbor, 100 miles
away to the westward; Puget Sound,
to the north, and British Columbia,
in the further distance. The distant
| fires climbed higher in the tree tops
| and then the great scene moved. The
| smoke poured high into the heavens
and rolled forward toward Puget Sound
and the Pacific Ocean. Soon the smoke
became one great blanket, which over
| hung all Western Washington, shutting
out sunlight and compelling the light
| ing of lamps everywhere. Gradually
| the clouds of smoke rolled higher and
| higher until they finally crossed the
summit of the Cascade Mountains and
spread their hot breadth over Eastern
Washington.
How to wake I'D in the morning
when called" said a young man, &C.
cording to the New Orleans Times
| Democrat, was for a long time a very
| serious matter with me and not infre-
| quently resulted in much embarrasS-
! ment because of engagements made the
night before. But 1 have fortunately
broken myself of the habit of going
back to sleep after being called. How
do 1 do it? Why it is the simplest
thing in the world. Some time ago
| adopted the plan of jumping out of
bed when called. But found this I'M
satisfactory. 1 would slip back to bed
| and go to sleep again. The coffee I
| would drink would not keep me awake.
! So l hit upon new plan and l have
found that it works all right. 1t is
about the best thing I have ever tried
And 1t has the virtue of being very
| simple. The first thing =. do is to
\ change my position in the bed. Then
| begin series of physical culture
movements. keep this up for short
while, and then l throw my feet over
the side of the bed and get UP. 1
drink my coffee. 1 go through another
| series of physical culture maneuvers I
walk over to the window raise it, peep
| out at the rising sun, sniff the morn
ing air, expand my lungs by inhaling
the crisp fresh ozone of the morning,
swing my arms up over my head. dance
| across the floor thus, cut the pigeon
wing, do the 'possum-a-Ia, and But
the listener had wearied of the spiel of
the strenuous young man and f1oated
out of the room.
A hazardous demonstration of the
efficiency of a life-saving invention
took place in the English Channel on
i wednesday evening, says a London ca
Bile to the Herald. The tug Swift of
Dover, when about four miles off
Folkestone, sighted a strange looking
OBJECT in the water. Upon coming
| nearer it was found to be a large
globe. From a manhole on the top a
mans head projected. The Swift went
alongside and two men emerged from
the globe. They proved to be Capt
Doenvig, the inventor, and his assist
ant, both Norwegians. According to
their story, the globe, which is com
posed Oh aluminium, was put overheard
| from steamer off Havre on Wednes-
day, and since that time it had been
knocking about the channel with its
two occupants, who were in their con-
nned quarters more than twenty- folIr
hours before they were picked up. The
| inventor or the globe claims that it
satisfied all requirements and exnecta
| tons and demonstrated its seryiceabil
| lty for saving lives at sea. The ting
toWed the curious craft to Dover. where
1t attracted much attention. It is about
| eight fet in diameter, with manholes
| An a1rshaft is also provided and an
air pump, and it is also fitted with a
water pump, sail and rudder It's ca
paclty is claimed to be sufficient for
sixteen persons, together with $50
| pounds of food and LOO pound of wa
| ter. The globe is intended to be car
ried on deck in case of disaster. II
| floats with its occupants when the shin
| sinks. -P
There is not the slightest doubt
that the eyesight of the human race is
rapidly failing For years the fact that
the Germans were the most specialized
OF all people was rightly attributed to
their close application to study and
painstaking research that involved a
continuous eye strain. But there are
other contributory causes. A London
writer recently said: Recent injuries
by oculists and opticians in England
and on the continent have deyeloped
the opinion that a few generations
hence there will scarcely be man or
woman not wearing glasses
rms does not mean, apparently, that
the eyes OF each general ton grow
weaker. 1t is rather that the envi-
ronment of modern civilization is inin1
ical to healthy sight. Dust or fog NAV
no small part in the from hla- of a.