The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-12
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


the Finland Dragons were first chos-
en-, and shod with one aluminium shoe
and three iron shoes each. The expert
ment showed that the aluminium shoes
preserved the foot better than the iron
ones.
Prof. Karl Pearson says that he
notes decadence of character and loss
of intelligent leadership alike in the
British merchant, the professional man
and the workman. There is not only a
paucity of the better intelligences to
guide, but ''of the moderate intelli-
gence, to be guided" DR.. Pearson at
tributes it to race suicide.
of all European countries France
is the most favorable to longevity; of
| every 1000 persons forty-four reach
the age of 10. In Norway the number
is forty, in Sweden thirty-three, Italy
thirty-one, Switzerland thirty, Eng
land twenty-seven, Germany twenty
six, Spain twenty-four, Austria TWEEN
ty-three, Hungary eighteen.
The st. James Gazette says: THE
rainy season in Southern Manchuria is
not so bad as it has been represented
to be. Residents of long experience
state that while there are days in
which heavy falls of rain take place,
there are not many consecutive days
in which torrential rains are expert
enced. When really heavy downpour
of rain of some hours duration occurs
it is almost invariably followed by
| three or four weeks of splendid, dry,
bracing weather. There is no finer
summer climate in the world than that
of Southern Manchuria. The tempera-
! ture in the shade is seldom above SO
degrees"
1t is rumored that members of that
mighty combination of capitalists, the
Rothschilds, propose to spend 100000
francs in the setting up in Paris of
dwellings for wage earners, in which
the rentals shall be extremely moder-
ate and out of which the owners do
not intend to make any profits. Sim
liar work has been done in the Pea
body buildings in London and in va
| rious extensive enterprises of the sort
in a number of leading cities, but
every addition upon a large scale to
the comforts and cOnveniences in the
homes of people of small compensation
for hard work-people, for instance,
who resemble our faithful and indus
trious cleaners of the streets-is to be
welcomed heartily.
The eight largest diamonds in the
world are what are known as crown
jewels, and their weight is given be-
low. Some of them are in an uncut
state and others are carefully cut and
finished, so that there is a wide differ
ence in their value. The Kohinoor, the
smallest in weight, has been thus re-
duced by cutting and is much the most
valuable of the lot and has been esti-
mated at 100000. None of these
mentioned is estimated at less than
$500, 000 The list is as follows: The
| Braganza, part of the Portugal jew
els, weighs, 1880 carats; Kohinoor, be-
longing to the English crown, 103 car
rats; Star of Brazil, 125 carats; Regent
of France, 1876 carats; Austrian Kaiser,
1879 carats; Russian Gar, 1913 carats;
Rajah of Borneo, 367 carats.
"A 26-inch umbrella that will fold
up and go in an inside pocket without
crowding, has been invented and con-
structed by a. Minneapolis man, we are
told in the American Inventor. Says
this paper: This seems almost incred-
| IDLE until the secret is told. The han
| die and all the ribs consist of fine and
very strong steel tubes, in sections,
which telescope one inside the other.
The covering is of very fine silk, which
takes up Out llLllS TOOIH. Inc MOOu6Il
| handle of the umbrella is hollow and
| receives all the rest of the telescoping
umbrella rod when shut up. A small
and light case is provided to contain
the whole, which, as stated, goes easily
into the pocket. If such a device can
be made and sold for a reasonable
price there is little to prevent the own
er from making a fortune; there are
| few men who would not welcome an
n11e, ,s,I,
| ried without inconvenience and which
could be put out of the way of the
borrower ho-never-returns when en-
tering a public place, such as a res
| taurant.
The influence of radio-emanations
on the constitution of matter is very
curiously illustrated in some recent
experiments made by Sir William
Crookes, says the Lancet. According
| to the results, if radium comes to be
common commodity among us some
| dismay may be caused to those who
wear diamonds on finding that the car
| bon crystal under the influence of ra-
| dunn threatens to return to its less at
tractive form of graphite or crystalline
| black carbon. On the other hand, ra-
dunn may turn out to be a diamond
| improver.' 1t is we'll known that ra-
dunn emanations possess the property
| of darkening transparent bodies upon
which they impinge; and now Sir Will
| liam Crookes has shown that this also
holds good in the case of diamonds.
| The emanations not only convert the
surface into graphite but also alter
| the color of the body of the stone. 1t
is therefore suggested that this obser-
walton may prove to be of commercial
| Importance. For example: IF off,
color stones can be lightened their
| value will increase, while if the pro-
longed action of radium is to commu-
nicate TO them a decided color they
would be worth much more as fancy
stones" This may add considerably to
the business of the jeweler, who. for
consideration, might undertake to
submit "off jewels to burial in radium
| for season.
In Leslie's Weekly Clarence S.
Thompson writes: OF the feats done
by tramps in railways, none, believe,
excels in daring that known in the
vernacular as decking a train" To
deck a train one rides on top of the
cars-a sleeper, preferably, since the
method is one employed only at night.
| Its great advantage over other posi-
tions is that here the tramp traveller
may squat undisturbed at all stops.
Flat on the car top, on the darker
side OF the station, he usually escapes
detection; more often,at any rate, than
the man who dismounts at every sta
ton. once on top, therefore, 1t may
be an all-night ride, for the only men
| HgIn r.. 4.