The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-06-06

adds that at least 300 churches and l.
100 schools are needed for immediate
use.
The spectroscope is an instrument
which has done much to increase our
knowledge of the sun and the stars.
BY its means the astronomer tells ex-
actly what is the chemical composition
of celestial bodies, of what metals or
gases they are composed, and even as
sures US that in some of the distant
stars-suns, some of them, far more
brilliant than our own-substances are
burning, the like of which can not be
found on our planet. With the devel-
opment of photography the spectre
scop and the sensitive Photographic
platNs a new instrument, the spectre
: graph,f has been obtained, by. means Of
which star pectra are permanently re-
corded for the study of the atrophysi-
cist-
For some years potato, semi
aquatic, and originally grown in Uru-
quay, has been cultivated in the neigh
oorhood of Marseilles. NJ Heckel, di-
rector of the Colonial Institute, of that
city, has made a report to the French
Minister of Agriculture on the subject,
in which he says that the growing of
the potato in question, which he calls
the "commerson," is a most promising
industry 1t has gradually become
sweet, large and mealy under cultiva-
ton, deies frost and has eatable foil
age, the cutting of which does not di-
minish the number of tubers. More
over, the "commerson" keeps we'll; it
does not rot rats do not eat it, and
the plant is subject to no potato dis
ease. But what is most wonderful of
all is that the common potato bug
quickly dies after feeding off it's foil
age.
The arrangements which are being
made by the French Ministry of Ma
rine at Brest for the most extraordi-
nary naval test of modern times are as
follows: Early in June one of the tur-
rets of the battleship Suffren is to be
fired at by a gun of the Messena. The
idea is not to see whether the plates
can be penetrated, but whether the
turret will remain in working order
after the impact. The shot will be
sent at distance of 400 meters, or 4S6
yards, and will be fired from one of
the new tWelve-inch guns. During
the experiment the men of the Suffren
will remain at the batteries, as in an
actual engagement, while the officers
will take up positions best calculated
to give them observations on the re-
turret barbette ship of 1862 tons dis
placement, and was launched in 1899.
A naval officer recently returned
from China tells an extraordinary story
about derelict which has been floating
around the Eastern sea. The Fannie
Kerr is a four-masted bark of 2,426 tons
built of steel. She left Newcastle in
April, 1902, with a cargo of coal for
San Francisco. She rounded the Horn
in safety, but her cargo caught fire In
the South Pacific, and after trying for
more than a month to extinguish the
flames the ship became so hot that the
captain and crew abandoned her on the
9Th of June and took to their boats.
They landed at Kauai. an island of the
Hawaiian group, made their way to
Honolulu. where the captain made his
report and the crew was discharged.
On the 10th of March last the captain
of the steamship Heathdene, bound
from Yokohama to Formosa, sighted a
vessel adrift, from which smoke SEEM
ed to arise. Steaming toward her he
discovered that she was the long miss
ing Fannie Kerr, which had been grad
ually drifting westward several thou
sand miles for nearly nine months,
with her cargo still on fire.
"A French traveller has discovered
new species of ant in Siam, or. at
least, new trait he has never before
seen recorded. The creatures were
small, of gray color. and lived in
damp places. They Travelled often and
In troops which seemed to be under the
direction of commander who rode
on horseback" M. NJ Nielsen, the
Frenchman. who noticed this peculiar
ity, was attracted to these groups by
discovering that each company con-
tanned a large ant that Travelled more
rapidly than the others. Observing
them more closely he noticed that each
large ant always carried a small gray
ant upon It's back. though the remand
or OF the troops were on foot. This
mounted ant would ride out from the
line, travel swiftly along the column
from head 10 rear. and apparently
overlook their manoeuyres. ~. Meie-
sen concluded from what he saw that
This species ~ ant, while on ~ fray-
els, u under the direction ~ . COM
mander, though such "ant horses as
ne general rides must be rare and val
uaplei Tor he scarcely ever found more
man one aaounteQ ant in a colony.