The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-29

cept in the Rocky Mountains, the fire.
quency of storms diminishes until on
the Pacific Coast there are practical
ly none. The greatest number of
storms occurs in Florida, in the mid
die Mississippi Valley and the mid
die Missouri Valley. The average num-
Der of storms in each in 1900 was
forty-five, thirty-five and thirty, re-
spectively. The greatest number of
deaths in any single state QS96-1900) was
1S6-in Pennsylvania. Ohio came next
with 1876, Indiana, Illinois and New
York having 124 each. AS to city and
country, the more dense the popula-
ton the smaller the rate to the L.
100000 of population, due, of course.
to the fact that the territory of the
country is far greater than that of the
city. Besides this, the metal roofs,
telegraph wires, etc., of the cities serve
as conductors. Lightning rods, as
usually put up, are of no use. A tin
roof with cutters spouts leading in
to the ground is much more effective.
Barns with green hay seem to in
vite lightning. Maple and cottonwood
trees are struck much more frequently
than oaks, these much more than
beeches. Trees are surely a poor place
for shelter, and feather beds are not
disliked by the stroke.
In his article, us English Becoming
Corrupt?'' in Harper's Magazine, Prof.
Lounsbury tells the interesting history
of the word "mob,' originally a corrup-
ton, but now an accepted part of the
language: Let us now take up the
consideration of one of the corruptions
which has lived through it's day of trial
and has been long received into the best
literary society. 1t is the abbreviatfon
mob. This is nothing but a fragment
of the full Latin original mobile vulgus
the tickle common people, First the
noun VulguS was dropped. Mobile,
coming into common use, was in few
years cut down to mob By Swift it
was abominated to his dying day as a
peculiarly odious kind of slang. Addi-
son sympathiZed with this feeling. In
No. 1875 of the Spectator, mob is put
down by him as one of the ridiculous
words which he fears will in time be
looked upon as part of the speech.
There must have been a host of minor
defenders of the purity of our tongue
who bewailed it's increasing use, and
pointed to that fact as evidence of the
growing degeneracy of the language.
But the assailed form Stoutly held it's
ground and outlived it's censurers. Adj
diSon's fears have been realized. The
abbreviation has thoroughly establish
ed itself. Accordingly a word which
ruption of the vilest kind is now used
unhesitatingly by the most precise of
modern purists. The reason of it's prev
alence is obvious. 1t came to supply a
very genuine want. There is no other
single word that conveys definitely the
idea of particular sort of riotous as
semblage."
AS in the case of the story of Jonah
and his brief but intimate acquaintance
with the whale questions have been
raised about the authenticity of the
story of the trip of the first house
boat, the ark. Was it possible to con-
struct a vessel having the reputed ca
pacity of that famous craft? What
were it's dimensions, anyway? These
questions have buzzed in the head of
more than one "old subscriber and
constant reader The editor of the
Syren and Shipping has undertaken
to answer these questions and to lay
for all time any doubts as to whether
the writer of the story of the Deluge
was ignorant of the subject of ship
building. Within the last ten years."
he says, "the general dimensions of
the ark have been closely followed by
cargo steamship builders for deep sea
and the American Great Lakes serv-
ice. According to the Bible, the ark
was 4S0 feet long. so feet wide and 48
feet deep. Her tonnage was II. Alb, and
she had plenty of room for pairs of
all the distinct species of animals that
are cTassed by Buffon-244-and she
could have accommodated 1000 per-
sons, and then have plenty of room
for the storage of supplies. In the
seventeenth century Peter Jansen, a
Hollander, built a vessel of the exact
proportions of the ark, and she was
successful, as records of the times
show, in making money for her own
ers. Noah, the Father of Naval Ar
chitecture,' is held in profound respect
by naval architects OF to-day, who
know how UNNECESSARILY the Phoeni-
clans. Greeks and Romans and all
other shipbuilders fell short of the ex-
cellence of the type Of the ark as a
commodious, safe and economical YES
sell"
There is every prospect that the ma
val camp for tuberculous patients at
the Pensacola (Fla.) Navy Yard will be
of much advantage to the patients as
signed to that place for treatment, says
the New York Tribune's Washington
letter. 1t was not long ago when an Of
ficer stricken with consumption was
promptly retired, and an enlisted man
was discharged with a. pension, on the
theory that such cases were hopeless
and beyond medical aid. Since the army
has been operating a hospital in New
Mexico it has been found that patients
prosper under the special treatment and
the favorable esmatic conditions. and
the navy has lately been sending off,
GERS and sailors to the army hospital
with such profitable results to individ-
uals that ii has now been determined to
establish under the Navy Department
certain means OF treating consumptives.
There are now five or six patients in
the experimental camp at Pensacola,
and the reports received of the first
months results are most gratifying to
the medical authorities. The patients
Will live out of doors day and night, be-
ing sheltered In tents, and a part of the
treatment viii be numerous meals each
day, with the requirement that the pa
tient shall consume n maximum
amount Of nourishlng food. While IL
has been decided 10 establish a naval
resort for this class OF patients, II may
not be located at Pensacola, as Surgeon
General Rixey intends % investigate
other localities. one on the Pacific
coast and another In the East. further
north. When the experts decide on the
best place Congress viii be asked 10
make an appropriation for the ostab-
lishment ana maintenance OF an open
air hospital. II Is believed that the
money viii be- promptly Forthcoming
~ Humanitarian measure and that
the station viii contribute much ~ im-
rOrfuUoe 70 fha fund az hvafanfr fr.fes.