The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-01

-GlyoerA has the property. extra
ordinary among liquids. OF not evap-
Grating.
Oysters an very expensive in Ber-
lin seventy-hSe cents a dozen is the
ordinary price
A Fenezue.aA railway from Car
acas to Valenci2Aha eighty-six tun-
nels in hft<-hve mics.
in the MuototiaA near schwun. in
Switzerland, is a csve which was only
explored a year ago. Il proves 10 have
over $500 yards Of g4Aeries. and so is
probably the largest hNEurope.
The iron bridge orer the Severn,
which is still standing a Ironbridge,
was built in 177S, and. according TO the
act under which il was bgIr. even the
sovereign must pay toll ke8ore cross
ing.
The ideas OF a conversation club
OF Nashville are in the nature of
social peril Only one topic to- talk
Is to be allowed each month Thus
February conversation will be on Our
Children and Their Ways" March
conversation, The Fish Have
Caught" and so on. Fines will be in
flcted if any other topic is broache<3.
in the frozen northland, almost
within the Arctic circle. Mr.. W. T.
Lopp is looking after his publication,
the Eskimo bulletin, probably a
unique paper. II is published at Cape
Prince OF Wales, and the Bulletin is
issued but once every twelve months.
Indeed. under the head Of the paper is
the announcement, The Only Yearly
in the World"
A writer discussing the subject of
laughter describes the italian laugh as
languid, but musical. The German as
deliberate. the French as spasmodic
and uncertain. the upper class Eng
lsh as guarded and not always genu-
inc. the lower class English as explo-
sive, the Scotch OF all classes as hearty,
and theIrish as rolliCking. The Chinese
laugh is not so hearty or SO expressive
as the European. II is more often a
litter than 4 genuine outburst of mer-
riment.
The biggest ballroom in the world
is not at any European court, but at
government house. Melbourne. At the
time il was designed the architect con-
10 its size. DO you know anything
about bathrooms in other parts OF the
world2'' asked the Governor. Only
the ore at Buckingham Palace, re-
piled the architect. Then build our
ballroom a third bigger than that"
said he Governor, in lordly fashion.
Melbourne folks may be proud Of their
huge ballroom, but ii is a costly lux
ury 10 the Governor.
The first iron ship has more reputed
birthplaces than Homer, according TO
Chambers Journal. Both the Clyde
and the Mersey claim pre-eminence in
this respect. Sir E. J. Robson of Edin-
burgh, designed an iron vessel in 1915
which was not launched till three years
later, and it is said that an iron boat
vas worked on the Severn even as far
back as 1881. Steel was not used in
the construction of merchant ships
hulLs until 1853. Old salts were not
alone in their belief that wood was
meant by Providence TO float, but iron
TO go TO the bottom. a naval con-
structor of some repute once said:
Don't talk TO me of iron ships. They
are contrary to nature" Now none
but small craft are built Of wood in
this country.
No creatures present a greater in
terest 10 the naturalist than do the ele-
plants. says a writer in the London
Chronicle. We have only two distinct
species left-the Indian, with its small
ears. and the African, with big ears
There are, of course. other anatomical
differences TO be noted between these
species. Mr.. H. A. Dryden. in a re-
cent article, says that the African e1e-
plant has disappeared from certain
areas one mentioned being south of
the Zambesi. There can be no doubt
that the gun of the hunter is reSpon-
siole for determination here. The In
dian elephant has had better chances
Of protection because of its immense
utility as a beast OF burden and as a
willing worker. Wisely the govern
ment forbade in 1880 the destruction of
elephants in Cape Colony. and so the
species thus protected and conserved
has fiourished its none too prolific ma
ture notwithstanding. The case of the
fur seal has been stated by Mr.. J. COL
linson, who sends me his pamphlet on
this subject. reprint of his article
IN the Humane Review. I do not al
ways see eye-to-eye with Mr.. Collin
son, but l am heartily at ore with him
in his criticism OF the methods of kill
ing and Staying these creatures.
A dispatch from Tacoma. Wash.
says: President Hill has introduced a
new economy into operation OF the grea,
Northern Railway by ordering that as
fast as ties wear out they shall be re-
placed with triangular ties. each of
which contains about ten feet less of
timber than ordinary ties. John O'Brien
OF Minneapolis has been awarded the
contract for supplying the Great North
ern with million triangular ties this
year. He has located a large mnI AT
halispen. Ida, for this purpose. and
Will build another at Puget Sound. The
advantages of the new form of ties are
so apparent that Contractor O'Brien
believes other railroads will soon adopt
them. He declares they are not an
experiment, as they have been used IN
DER President Hills orders in the Yards
az St Paul for the past seven years.
during that time they have been thor
oughly' tested, proving that they are
more effective than the older type. The
broad surface of the ties on which the
ran rests is twelve inches wide. The
apex OF the triangle is seven inches be-
low the surface of the tie. There Is
thus gain Of four inches in width over
the old eight-inch ties. which means
mat fewer are needed TO a mile of the
road The shape of the new ties nro-
duces constant tamping into place. with
resulting gain in rigidity.
Prof. S. P. Langley of Washington
as the result OF his investigation az
the fire walking ceremonies performed
by the natives of Fiji. showed that 4