The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-07
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

and of emptying 1t completely at eacn
exhalation. There is no better way
of getting to sleep soon after going to
bed than by breathing properly. Push
away the pillow and lie fiat upon the
back with the muscles relaxed. Slow
ly draw in the deepest breath possible,
hold it for four seconds, then slowly
expel it until the chest and abdomen
have collapsed. Repeat this until you
are tired or fall asleep. There are
scores of ways of varying this exer-
else. But this the essential. OF course
it is assumed that one sleep with his
bedroom windows open.
Platinum has long been mined in
the Similkameen, about $50 miles east
of Vancouver. 1t is said that China
men have been earning living wages
for the past fifteen years by recover
ing platinum from the placer deposits
of the Tulameen river, and also OF
Granite creek. Local newspapers an
nounce that a company has just been
formed to develop the platinum claims
in that vicinity, and that it will begin
operations at once. The fact that the
creeks in this region have all along
been producing more or less platinum
will doubtless lead to further prospect
ing. The proportion of precious met
ais in the gravel, as shown by hun
dreds of assays, is about two-thirds
gold to one-third coarse platinum.
Some of the nuggets are as large as
the little finger of a mans hand.
1t is not generally understood how
useless dynamite would be but for the
Insignificant little detonator. A ton OF
dynamite may lie secure yet the small
est Nobel detonator exploded in the
mass sets free the terrible reslstless
power of the dynamite in all its fury
Decorators consist of thin copper tubes
closed at one end and filled with de-
tonating composition consisting OF ful@
inmate of mercury and, generally,
potassium chlorate. illuminate of mer-
curry is produced by the action of nitric
acid and alcohol upon mercury. 1t is
very sensitive to heat and shock, and,
being one of the quickest explosives
known, gives an extremely sharp
shock, which is exactly what is re-
quired to detonate dynamite. Electric
decorators usually contain mixture
of anthony sulphide and potassium
chlorate as a printing mixture, in ad-
dition to the illuminate of mercury.
From 200 to 800 persons are killed
annually by lightning in the United
States, says A. J. Henry of the United
States Weather Bureau. In 1900 there
were reports of 713 cases of fatal
| lightning strokes. In the same year
| 973 persons were more or less serious
ly injured by lightning. The loss OF
| life from lightning is greatest in the
| Ohio valley and the Middle Atlantic
| States. If density of population only
| be considered it is greatest in the Up
! per Missouri valley and in the middle
| Rocky Mountain region. OF the 713
co. IN 1Q00
| sons were killed in the open, 15S in
| houses, 81 under trees and 56 in barns.
The circumstances attending the death
of the remaining ISL were not report
ed. This does not, however, dispose
of the idea that the safest place to
| be in during a thunderstorm is the
| open country and the most dangerous,
under a tree. The area not under trees
is the larger.
The Prussian state railways, after
a long and exhaustive series of tests
of electric train lighting systems, have
come to the conclusion that separate
dynamo carried on the locomotive or
tender, Immediately under the super
vision of the engineer, and operated
by a direct connected steam engine,
drawing it's steam from the locomotive
boiler, with a regulating storage bat
terry, is the most efficient and pract1-
cal system The scheme of carrying
dynamo mounted on and geared to the
axle of each passenger coach with an
| individual storage battery to carry the
lights during the time the train is at
rest, has been abandoned in favor of
the central concentrated plant. The
system of carrying storage batteries
| of sufficient capacity to carry the en-
| tire lighting load during the train run,
| and charged at the electric plants at
| the principal terminal stations OF the
! lines has the serious disadvantage of
| the great weight and costly installa-
! ton, and serious delays due to the
time lost in charging the batteries. The
system outlined in the initial para
| graph has now been adopted as the
standard of all Prussian railways. and
the most important trains are being
equipped with this apparatus.
-"On the same ride as Zion,' writes
William E. Curtis from Jerusalem to
the Chicago Record Herald. but lower
down the slope, lies the Jewish quarter
of the city, where from five thousand
to eight thousand pc ople, men, women
and children, are packed into the most
loathsone tenements, reeking with filth
and offensive to the eye and the nos
trllS. This quarter was once covered
with palaces and synagogues, some of
the finest edifices in Jerusalem, but in
any city of Europe or America the
district would be condemned as
plague spot and as a danger to the
public health. There are now two syn
agogues, representing the Ashkenazim,
who are of Polish and German origin
and under the protection of their con-
suls, and Sephardim, who come from
Spain and Portugal, but are Turkish
subjects, sects of Hebrews, a hospice
for Jewish pilgrims, a free dispensary
and hospital and several schools. A
considerable part of the population of
the Jewish quarter talk the Spanish
language and retain the customs and
habits they have inherited from their
ancestors, who were expelled from
Spanish territory by Ferdinand and
Isabella. The number of Jews now. in
Jerusalem is subject of dispute, but
it exceeds thirty thousand. Some say
that they constitute at least three
fourths, and perhaps four fifths, of the
population, although theoretically they
are forbidden to live here"
AT the meeting of the Royal So
ciety last night, Mr.. ]. Stuart Thorn
son made public by exhibits discovery
of very great consequence to the fish
supply of this country. He has ascer-
tanned that, as in the case of the bark
of some trees, the ages of many fish
furnished with scales can be deter
mined by the markings of this protec-
tive armor. The scales show, when