The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-31
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

From Germany comes news of a
locomotive worked by steam, and yet
independent of fire of its own. The
engine has just been completed at
the Hohenzollern Works at Dussel-
dorf, and is one of a type designed
for shuntinlg in explosive factories.
Instead of carrying fire in it's own
boiler, it is filled with steam from
stationary boilers, and when so charg-
ed is capable of several hours work.
The first warming up occupies half an
hour, and subsequent recharging can
be done in a quarter of an hour. The
apparatus is so simple that an un-
skilled workman is able to look after
it. The absence of fire in a place
where dynamite or gunpowder is being
handled is the reason for the inven-
tion of this type of engine.
One of the strangest railroad ac-
cidents on record is reported from
Hammond, Ind. A hotelkeeper, Charles
Stahlbohm, was driving home one
night last week. and, coming to rail-
road track, tried to drive his horses
across ahead of the fast freight. The
engineer did not even know that he
had hit anything, but kept up the
speed of his engine until he pulled
into a station fifteen miles beyond
the scene. Then he got down to oil
his engine and was slightly startled
to see Stahlbohm sitting on the cow
catcher, whip in one hand and the
ends of some reins' in the other. He
shook him a few times, and when the
hotelkeeper came to he asked where
his hat and horses were. He did not
know that the train had made them
into soap stock.
America is not the only part of the
world which is making contributions
to the English language. "Barrack'
is an Australian verb, and Prof. Nor
ris, in his Austral-English dictionary
defines it as TO jeer at opponents, to
interrupt noisily, to make a disturb
ance." According to Prof. Morris, who
occupied the chair of modern Ian
guages in the University of Melbourne
for many years, the word was evolved
about the year 1880 from the boisterous
behavior of Australian football crowds
Since then it has spread in all direc-
tions, and has even had the distinction
of being ruled an supplementary ex-
preston by the Victorian Speaker
There are two theories as to the origin
of the word. The one that Prof. Nor
ris considers the more probable is that
it is an Anglicized form of the aborigi-
nal word 'borak," which meant banter,
chaff, fun at another's expense. But
the belief that 'barrack" is merely an
elongation of bark, just as that other
Australian word ''larrikin' came from
lark, also finds acceptance.
After this year, says the London
Chronicle, Mr.. Rudyard Kiplings Sim
la will hardly know itself any more, for
the rattle of the tinkling tonga barr
Will no longer be heard on the winding
mountain road that leads from Kalka
to Simla. A mountain railway has now
been constructed to Simla, and the first
train has already performed the journey,
though on his departure for the Punjab
States and the Persian Gulf, Lord Cur
zon went down for the last time by
tonga. The rate of the speed is still
restricted to ten miles an hour, as the
engine is liable to leave the metals, and
at that rate of progress the vacuum
brakes bring 1t to stop Immediately.
This is only the second mountain rail-
way in India, the other being at Dar-
Jeeling but the Simla line is on a
broader gauge and on a more ambitious
scale in the matter of cuttings and tun-
nels. Another mountain line, however
mas been proposed for some years past
through the Dehra Dun valley up to
the hill station of Mussoorie, and it is
likely soon to be carried into effect.
Gloves will soon become an indis-
pensable part of every burglars outfit,
says the Pail Mall Gazette. The other
day Mr.. Denman of the London courts
sentenced man to twelve months
hard labor on the sole evidence of the
Impressions of the middle finger of his
left hand. This method of identifying
prisoner far more certain than pho
tography, was in use, we believe. in
China years before its adoption in any
European country, and in conjunction
with the Bertillon system, has been
used IN France successfully for a de-
cade or so. 1t is a strange thing that
nature should have so provided every
man with witness against himself. a
witness Which he cannot be rid of. Dis
gulse can alter the face until a photo
graph, however careful, is useless for
identification, and even the elaborate
Bertlllon system can be upset by the
deliberate infiiction of some new mark
on the body But if a criminal mutt
late the end of his finger, such nv
tllatlon alone would suffice to make
h1m suspect. In attempting to avoid
its evidence he practically confirms his
guilt. ans
An interesting light is thrown on
NANA vi ellldlIS ny d queer
story OF feud between squire and
parson in village of the West of
England, as told in the London Truth.
The parson cares for the bodies as
well as the souls of his parishioners.
and he was largely responsible for
an outcry against the unsanitary con-
dition of the village, which resulted in
the squire being put to considera BILE
expense for its Improvement. The
squire manifests his disapproval of
the clergyman's conduct in a singular
manner. He does not absent himself
from church; on the contrary. he
makes point of attending regularly
and insists upon reading the lessons
what he does Is to affront the parson
by leaving the church in the most os-
tentatlous manner the moment the
sermon is about to commence. To
sleep during the sermon has always
been a squirarchal privilege. If was
Tor instance, privilege freely eyer,
clsed by Sir Roger de Coverley. who
made up for his own somnolence hv
insisting upon everybody else re-
remaining awake. For the squire to
make practice of walking out of the
church before the sermon is. however
very different matter and If ,nay
be imagined what effect this exan,rIa
win have on the rest Of the congreea-
tion. 'ei 9ea-
nnnulor raf;o.