The Savannah morning news., 1902-11-03
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


ly numerous complaints from Ameri-
can women who bought pet dogs here
at high prices, but at the end of sew
en- or eight days the dogs sickened and
died, says the Chicago Chronicle. A
member of the Belmont family paid.
lately $500 for dog, left it with the
dog fancier, went to England, returned
to Paris and found that the dog had
died. The money paid for the animal
was not returned. AS high as $3.50 is
often paid for these pet dogs, which
never live more than a fortnight. Ere
quently they are dyed to improve their
appearance. and after few days the
paint wears off. revealing an ugly cur
not worth hOuse-room. Americans
should have no dealings with itinerant
dog fanciers whose names and ad
dresses are unknown and who never
are found after the purchaser has been
victimized.
With the increasing demand for an
tiques, the supply of mementoes and
relics of past generations is becoming
exhausted, and the prices of genuine
pieces are waxing higher and higher.
Old candleStickS, for example, that
have had such continuous popularity,
are scarce, and good specimens sell for
almost any price that the dealer feels
disposed to charge. To tell old brass,
copper or pewter from the modern i'm
itation requires long experience and a
trained eye. Brass varies much in
color, its shade depending upon the
proportion of copper and zinc used in
Its composition, and also on the hue of
the copper employed. Copper itself as
sumes a variety of compilations. The
old Spanish and Russian copper and
brass are both peculiarly rich in color
a fah fof 1Af-
others. In the old pieces there is a
sickness of texture not found in the
sorts made now. This is partly due, 1t
is said, to the natural wear of the
utensils. In some cases, such as pots,
kettles and fire-boxes, the action of
heat may be responsible, in part at
least, for this quality. Colonial fur
ntshings are the kinds most eagerly
sought by collectors.
In certain rocks the footprints of
large animals which walked on their
hind legs are found. 1t has formed a
moot question with biologists whether
such prints were those of gigantic
BIRDS or reptiles. In the Friassic
sandstones of Connecticut, for exam
pie, typical footprints of this kind oc-
cur The impressions in question ex-
hibit the arrangement of joints in the
toes such as is characteristic of birds,
out then reptiles and birds are so init
mately related in many anatomical
points that little reliance can be placed
upon the resemblances in question.
Some extinct reptiles walked on their
mind legs, and recently a number of
observations have been made which
tend to show that this bipedal mode of
progression is by no means uncommon
even in ordinary reptiles. Mr. w. Sa-
vile Kent showed that certain Austria
liam lizards habitually adopted the
two-footed attitude, and now it is re-
corded that the common green lizards
ana others nearly related may assume
this position. Perhaps the modern
hind-footed movements of lizards, oc-
casionally assumed, are the survivals
Of an ancestral habit which was COM
mon enough.
Now that the fair, golden Rhode
Island greening is making it's appear
ance in market, it is interesting to
learn that the parent tree of the stock
IS still in existence, says the New
York Tribune. 1t is on the farm of
Thomas r. browne, within the limits
OF the town of Foster, r. l., not far
from the Connecticut state lines: SO
near that it was nearly the Connecti-
cut greening. 1t stands IN the rear of
the browne residence, inclosed by a
! WIRE netting and propped up with sew
eral rails and poles. The trunk is
scared and gnarled and looks devoid of
life, but bright green branches crop
out at the top each season and bear a
| lew apples to indicates that the Strug-
| gle Tor existence is not yet abandoned,
| About $50 years ago, perhaps earlier
| than that, the tree in question appear
| cd on the hillside as a sapling Now
IL measures more than ten feet in cir
| cumference at the base. DIR. Solomon
browne purchased the farm in 1S0N and
erected what was and is the third house
| to occupy the site near the old apple
tree. He purchased the farm from
| Henry Jones, and learned the history
| OF the tree and passed it down to his
| family. Mr.. Jones at that time, a CEN
fury ago, called attention to the old
tree, then dying from extreme age"
as the most valuable apple tree on the
| place.
United States Consul General Evans
has forwarded from London to the Pen
sion Bureau in Washington what is
probably the most curious voucher of
identification ever filed in a pension
| case. The voucher consists of the shell
OF a field tortoise with the name Rob
Williams" scratched on the under side.
1t was sent to Consul General Evans
| from Christ Church, New Zealand.
where the applicant for a pension is
| now living. and is accompanied by let
tiers and affidavits which explain that
! the soldiers real name is William
| Wright, but that he enlisted under the
name of Williams" Wright, or will
| 1ams, says in his application that he
caught the tortoise during the Shenan-
| doah campaign, and afterward gave the
shell to Mrs. Mary Johnson of Port
Henry, Essex County, N. Y, who kept
1t until recently, when Wright decided
| to apply for pension, and sent to
| New York for the shell in order to
! identify himself as WILLIAMS, under
which name he served in Company e.
| One Hundred and Ninety-second New
York Infantry. The curious document
was addressed to Consul General
Evans, who was formerly Commissioner
| of Pensions at Washington, personally.
| and was forwarded to him from WASH
ington, by mistake. Mr.. Evans returns
it to the Pension Office without COM
| ment.
Prof. Dewar in his address as presi-
dent Of the British Association has
given an accurate estimate of the cost
of maintaining the Royal Institution of
London during the nineteenth century.
Sir Humphrey Davy became the head
| of the institution in 1901. He discover
1 al 4Ha Sd e