The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-02-24
ITEMS or INTEREST.

the changes run in cycles So that
taking periods of ten or a dozen years
together, we find that the changes are
remarkably uniform; and we come
back with great regularity to the OLD
fashioned winter.
The reason that persons suffering
from delirium tremens so frequently
have the sensation of seeing snakes is
probably explained by some recent ex-
periments in France, where a number
OF alcoholic patients were examined
with the ophthalmoscope with the re-
sulting discovery that the minute blood
vessels in the retina of the eye were
congested. In this condition they ap-
pear black and are projected into the
field of vision, where their movements
resemble the squirming of serpents.
In 1879 a Kansas man named Hill
mon, who was carrying $4,000 life
insurance, disappeared while travelling
on the plains. A companion testified,
on behalf of the widow, who sued to
recover the amount of the policy, that
EIillmon killed himself by the acciden-
tai discharge of his gun. He has never
been seen since, but the insurance
company has so strenuously and sue
cessfully contested the suit that 1t has
DCtll Cdiiltu " TIC OIltCu pN
preme Court six times on different is
sues and sent back for retrial on each
occasion, the last order for a rehearing
being issued about two weeks ago.
The other day Paris shopkeeper
accompanied by his wife and young
son, left their home to attend funeral
of a relative. The distance being
great they hailed a cab, at the bottom
of which they deposited the wreath
they intended to place on the coffin
an elaborate floral tribute in cellu-
loid During the course of the jour
ney paterfamilias lighted a cigarette,
and heedlessly threw the watch on the
floor. 1t fell, still lighted, on the
wreath, which Immediately burst into
flame. The cries of the occupants of
the vehicle attracted the attention of
the driver and of several passersby,
who lent their assistance. The father
had his beard and hair singed, the
mothers veil had caught fire and her
face was scorched, but the child had
come out of this ordeal by fire with
out injuries.
1t is declared by a gentleman we'll
vcrsed in continental social life that
cheating at French winter resorts
where gaming is practiced at so-called
clubs is far from being the mere iso-
lated act of an INSCRIPTIONS frequent
er. The cheating, it is said. emanates
from a thoroughly organized body,
who are in league with the tenants of
gaming tables These issue ''jetons"
and arrange with their managers Sc
ries of combinations under the direc-
ton of one of their members called
lie Jockey" who is responsible for his
men, and whotdeals for the bank with
cards carefully prepared. The only
remedy suggested is the adherence to
the rules laid down by the gaming de-
partment of the police, which are ID
prohibition to use counters; (2) an alb
solute obligation of shutting the cards,
a safeguard which is constantly eluded
for obvious purposes.
One of the houses in Wych street,
London, which are now being demol-
ished is believed to have been the
haunt of Jack Sheppard, the most ac-
complished slipstring" of his genera
ton. Prison breaking was a compare
lively easy accomplishment in those
times and the artistry of Sheppard,
as his latest eulogist,, Charles Whib
ley, describes his feats, would appear
but clumsy efforts to a modern crafts
man, according to the London Chroni-
Gle. The house which is about to be
demolished is the one where Edge
worth Bess' lived, and where Sheppard
intended to hide when he had made his
way out of Newgate. But he carried
the fetter locks on his legs when he
escaped, and sought, therefore, the
greater seclusion of Finchley Common.
When he made his way back to town
again. on a night in November, 1924.
he was captured in Drury lane. He
made no other escape, and Tyburn saw
the last of him.
The subject of observation-disclosures or
-brainedness was discussed by
Prof. Cunningham in a recent Huxley
lecture. So far as evidence goes it
seems probable that right-handednes
was a characteristic of man at a very
early period. 1t is an inherited quail
ty in the same sense that the potential
quality of articulate speech in man
and of song in birds are inherited pos
sessions. Investigation shows that
righthandedness is due to a transmit
ted functional pre-eminence of the left
brain, and this factor prevents an os-
cillation of the condition from one side
to the other in those curious cases in
which the right and left sides of the
body are reversed and the thoracic and
abdominal viscera transposed. The
greater part, if not the whole, of the
motor incitations which lead to articu-
late speech go out from the speech
center in the left cerebral hemisphere.
Left-handed people speak from the
right brain.
Scientific observation justifies the
estimate that a daily average of $780,
900 tons of water is received into the
Dead sea from the Jordan and other
sources during the year. During the
rainy season, says the Chicago Record
Herald, the amount is very much
greater; during the dry season 1t is,
of course, very much less; but this av-
erage will be maintained year after
year. There is no outlet, and the level
is kept down by evaporation only,
which is very rapid because of the in
tense heat the dry atmosphere and the
dry winds which are constantly blow
ing down the gorges between the
mountains. This evaporation causes
haze or mist to hang over the lake at
| all times, and when it is more rapid
than usual heavy clouds form, and
thunderstorms sometimes rage with
great violence in the pocket between
the cliffs, even in the dry season. A
flood of rain often falls upon the sur
face of the sea when the sun is shining
and the atmosphere is as dry as a bone
half a mile from the shore. The noun
tains around the Dead sea are rarely
seen with distinctness, because of this
haze.
"A museum of Nippur of the sixth
century B. c. discovered by Prof. Hill
precht, has come into the possession
of the University of Pennsylvania The