The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-17
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

estimated to number between 1000 and
5000 individuals, the offspring of two
stays and six kinds that were turned
out in 1868.
Over 5000, 900 Holsters were caught
in Maine waters during the past year.
The total catch sold for s1.226. sol. A
lobster hatchery win be established at
Boothbay Harbor this year.
Fish kept in filtered water, it is
said, will die. That is because the food
has been taken out of it. The food,
however, is what makes unfilteTed wa
ter dangerous as a beverage to human
beings.
1t has often been stated that sixty
miles an hour was the utmost rate at
which a swallow could fly. Recent ex-
periments between Compeigne and
Antwerp proved that a swallow in
hurry can cover 1881 miles in an hour.
-Varsalona, the Sicilian brigand
whose notoriety has overshadowed that
of Musolino, is still at large, notwith-
standing the unremitting efforts of the
government for his capture, says the
London Express. Two topedo boats
are cruising off the Sicilian coast to
prevent his escape to the Italian main
land. A prize of $1,000 is offered for
his arrest; the provinces of Palermo
and Trapani where he is supposed to
be are continually patrolled. His ia
Their and one of his brothers, notorious
miscreants, died in prison, another was
implicated in a case of burglary, and
a third was killed in. a street brawl.
To avenge his brothers death Varsa-
Iona committed his first murder in
1893. Since then twelve other victims
have fallen under his unerring aim
The man is RICH and the source of his
wealth is blackmail. He regularly col
1ects land owners contributions, which
vary according to the Importance of
their estates, and when the money is
not forthcoming the cattle and crops
of the defaulter are sure to suffer, and
the defaulter himself runs great per-
Sonal risks.
The English papers are asking what
portent the appearance of a whale in
the Thames signifies. In former times
such an appearance was considered
ominous. One was caught off Green
witch three months prior to the death
of Oliver Cromwell, and the common
opinion was expressed by Heath in his
'Flagellum." ut pleased God" he re-
marks, Ito usher in his end with a
great whale some three months before
June 2, that came up as far as Green
witch, and there was killed" Evelyn,
in his Diary" under the date of June
3, 1858, mentions that a whale was
killed off Greenwich, and that it drew
an infinite concourse to see it by
water, horse, coach, and on foot, from
London and all parts" According to
Robert Hubert, in his Catalogue of
Natural Rarities,' the tongue of this
whale was exhibited daily for some
time at the 'Miter, near the West End
of st. PauPs Church" In February,
1857, another whale was caught in the
Thames, and in The Times of that
month appeared an advertisement Cor
a piece of ground, some forty feet by
sixty feet, ''on which to exhibit a
whale" The piece of ground adver-
tised for was found in the MiIe-end-
Road, and the whale was exhibited
until March IA. In the same month
namely, on March 21-expired the
House of Commons, which had been
elected in 1852.
AT Birmingham, England, it is
found that when a macadamized road
requires an entirely new surface once
in three years granite block paving
becomes more economical; and again,
when this period is reduced below two
years, then wood, for the same reason,
can be laid down with advantage.
When the grade of the road is less
than l in 25 macadam is considered a
suitable material. Above that granite
paving can be used; and it is not con-
sldered wise to use soft wood when
the grade is sleeper than 1 in 40. or
hard wood with grade sleeper than
in so. Various kinds of wood blocks
have been used in Birmingham, with
very satisfactory results. The pave
ment is laid on a fiYe-inch cement
concrete foundation, carefully finished
OIL to smooth surface with one inch
of IL Portland cement mortar. The
blocks, varying from four to six inch
es in depth, are laid close and run
solid with hot asphalt. Along the curb
on both sides an expansion joint of
clay and sand is left, from one to two
inches WIDE the greater width being
used with blocks of soft wood. 1t is
necessary to keep hardwood block paw
ing watered in the summer time or the
blocks are likely to become loose.
Who would have thought, says the
New York Sun, that there are seats
enough in the New York theaters to
hold every night the population of a
city? About $4,000 persons can be seat
ed in the theaters, and in the holiday
week, which is the most prosperous
one in the year to theater managers,
there will doubtless be evenings on
which every one of these seats will be
filled. But even this number is not
thought large enough to supply the
demand, and, when the playhouses
now under way are completed, there
will be seats enough to accommodate
$4,000 persons. OF course there are
few evenings in the year when all of
the seats now available are occupied.
The theatrical facilities of the city are,
nevertheless, to be increased by 25 per
cent. within the next year. Not New
Workers alone are counted on to sup
ply audiences for all these theaters.
The city has a floating population of
nearly 100000, according to the usually
accepted estimate, and these transient
jewellers do more than their share of
the theater going. The hotel population
at the approach of night inclines the
aterward to a man. At least that is
the theory on which New Workers are
compelled to pay advanced prices at
the hotels for theater tickets.
During the discussion of the paper
on the ''Size of Atoms" which was
read by Mr.. H. V. Ridout at a recent
meeting of the British Physical So
ciety Lord Kelvin remarked that he
had often concerned himself with the
size of atoms, and pointed out that
the value obtained by the author
for the diameter of a hydrogen ion
was almost exactly one-half of that