The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

"A strange case is reported by the
Eagle of Wichita, Kan. One Mrs.
French, washlady, is possessed of
a pair of ossified lungs. She uses I've
in her washing, and she has inhaled
the fumes of this I've until her lungs
are coated with it, The crust of I've
is so hard and thick, says the Eagle,
that the action of these organs is
impaired" And, seeking to find terms
with which to impress the facts upon
science and ignorance alike, the editor
adds: Mrs. Frenchs case may be
compared to some extent to the scale
which forms in engine boilers and pre-
vents proper heating. An effort will
be made to break up the scale into fine
particles and let it pass off with the
breath"
"A Paris cable to the New York
World says: NJ. Gayet, a French anti
quarian, making researches in the an
cient soil of Antinoe, recently un-
earthed the body of woman magician
named Myrithes, with a magic mirror
and some cabalisuic writings. Later,
coming in contact with a young man
endowed with psychometric gift, the
antiquarian declares in La Renaissance
Latino, that marvellous results were at
tanned. The brain cells of this young
man vibrate not at 81 pulsations, like
those of the ordinary man, but at a
hundred, and if an object is given him
and he presses it against his forehead
he can evoke scenes that took place in
the presence of that object. He was
able to call up one scene after another
with the aid of the magic mirror, de-
scribing faithfully the country of An
tinoe and the costumes of the remote
period in which the magician lived. He
finally called up such pictures of blood
and carnage that the agoniZed M. Ga
yet could endure no more.
The pump is still largely used all
over the world, despite the extensive
introduction of water systems in su-
burban and even in country districts.
The task of pumping is always unro-
mantle or irksome. 1t is an occupa ton
that no one delights in, and while it
frequently happens that a gentleman
VIII cut down a tree for exercise, it
never occurs to him to pump a couple
OF tons of water to the surface from the
bottom of a big well. This would afford
just as much exercise and be of as
much practical use. In country houses
and other places where there are tanks
to be kept filled by hand it is mat
ter OF some difficulty TO keep the reser-
Voir filled. With a spring arrange
ment which can be readily fastened to
almost any pump the labor is greatly
cut down. 1t is true that the work is
not made enhancing and that the chill
dren will not cry for the pleasure of
pumping, but the work will be made
much easier, as the springs them
selves will lift a certain amount of
water.
Canton pirates who prey along the
river between that city and Hongkong
are becoming very bold and desperate.
According to the Hongkong Press pi-
rates are beginning to make their pres
ence felt on the West River again
Recently was reported the looting of
a Hongkong junk near the Bogue
Forts, in Chinese waters, and now the
master Of another HongkOng craft
licensed passboat No. 295, has informed
the police that on the evening of the
10Th ult., halfway between Canton
and this port, he was attacked by pi-
rates in a fishing junk They fired
shots from muskets across his bows.
compelling him to heave to. The pass
boat was then boarded by about Is
OF the pirates, who tied up the
crew by the queues in patches of four,
drove them into the hold, and kent
them imprisoned there for over three
hours, under a guard of three men arm
ed with reVolVers, while the boat was
fects to the total amount of $4,000 were
stolen by the pirates, who eventually
sailed away in the direction of Can
ton.
w. M. Flinders Petrie writes to
the London Times as follows about
recent excavations at Abydos: The
continuation of the work of the Egypt
exploration Fund at Abydos this year
has given wider view of the early
civilization, of which the general lines
had been fixed by the previous work
on the Royal Tombs and the town.
The clearance of the old temple site
over several acres has brought to light
in depth of about twenty feet no
less than ten successive temples, rang
ing in age from about 5000 to 500 B.
G. For the first time we can see
on one spot the changes from age to
age through the whole of Egyptian
history. To separate these buildings
was an affair of anatomy rather than
spade work; the walls of mud brick
were so commingled with the soil that
1ncessant section cutting with a sharp
knife was the only way to discrimi-
nate the brickwork. Often only a sin
gle course of bricks or thin bed of
foundation sand was all that told of
the great buildings which had existed
here for centuries. Over 5000 meas
urements were taken for the plans and
levels. The discoveries of the ciyili-
cation of the first dynasty, the be-
ginning of the kingdom, expand what
we already had from my work in the
Royal Tombs. OF Menes, the founder,
we have part of a large globular vase
of green glaze, with his name in
laid in purple. Thus polychrome glaz-
ing is taken back thousands of years
before it was previously known to ex-
list. The free use of great tiles of glaze
for wall coverings shows how usual the
are was then In the highest art of
delicate ivory carving there are sew
eral pieces of this age.
in Harper's Magazine Brander Mat
thews voices the need for the develop
ment of a purely English language, and
criticises some of the present charac-
terstics of the language. "At the be-
ginning of the nineteenth century Eng
lish was spoken as a native tongue by
a few more than 20,000.O0O of men and
women: and at the end of the century
1t was spoken by very nearly 1876, 000.-
600. Probably the English-speaking
race cannot possibly quintuple itself
again or even quadruple itself in the
twentieth century; but it will pretty
certainly double and it may very likely
treble itself within the next hundred
years. Before the year 1000 the num-
Der of those who use English as their
natural speech will be between $50 :
10000 and 500 900 600 BEFORE the xaor |