The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-24
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


its consuls in foreign countries, is dis
couraging emigration to Cape Colony,
on the ground that trade conditions
| there are unfavorable to all except
! persons of ample means or those who
| have certain prospects of immediate
employment.
French engineers are OF opinion
that it will soon be necessary to re-
move the Eiffel Tower from the
Champs de Mars. The concession for
the structure will not expire until 1910,
but the tower has leaned so far out
OF plumb that a slight increase in the
depression at one side of its founda-
ton will place the center of gravity
outside its base.
The national hospital for insane
Indians, at Canton, S. D., has finished
its first year. AT the beginning it had
thirty-four patients. half its capacity.
In a few months it was filled. Ac-
cording to Supt. Clifford the number of
insane Indians is constantly increas-
ing, the chief cause being desponden-
cy. Lack of active occupation is the
chief cause of this.
"A trackless-or automobile Trolley
line is now in operation at Scranton,
Pa. The cars, or omnibuses, have
bodies similar, although much shorter,
than the ordinary trolley car, and will
carry twenty passengers seated and
fifteen standing. Power is obtained
from two wires overhead, by means of
trolley poles which allow a turnout of
fifteen feet on either side, so that the
car can travel along anywhere on a
space of thirty feet in width. Ac-
cordlng to the Electrical World this is
probably the only trackless trolley line
IN the United States, and as such a
free-running car requires twice as
much power as a trolley car on rails
it does not seem probable that the
system will be widely adopted.
The Hungarian journals are MAX
ing merry at the expense of Count
Tisza, the Premier. who, although a
Liberal, is not free from the foibles
of his caste One of these is a love
to appear at all functions in his uni
form as reserve lieutenant of Hus-
sars. AT recent public funeral, since
his accession to office, this led him into
a ludicrous scrape. A regular captain
of Hussars, of Tory principles. who
happened to be on duty, spied the
Premier in his reserve uniform, and
therefore. in the position of his sub
ordinate. AS one or two little details
of the uniform had not been donned,
the captain peremptorily ordered the
lieutenant" out of the church to dress
correctly" and the Premier had no ap-
peal. Home he rushed to rectify HIM
self, but when he got back to church
the funeral was over.
The Australian government finds it.
self the defendant in a suit for $4,000
on account of the most absurd of de-
C1SIOnS- if0or1 icy--sa I'm Low
declares that an immigrant must sub
NIT to an educational test in his native
language before he is allowed to land
Not long ago mate on a ship was
arrested for smuggling. When he was
released he was ordered to submit to
the test or be expelled from the coun-
try. 1t was found that his father was
a German and his mother a native of
Egypt. He was born in Alexandria.
1t was decided, therefore, that his ma
tive language was Greek, since Greece
is the European country nearest to
Egypt. He failed to pass an exami-
nation and was condemned to a fur
Their Imprisonment of six months. Now
he is suing for damages, with a fair
chance of getting them.
In popular belief plum pudding,
though difficult of digestion, contains
large proportion of nutriment. The
London Lancet publishes the analysis
made of two puddings, of which one
was found to have a nutrient value"
OF 6S per cent. and the other of SO.
1t appears that, although most agree
able as an article of food, plum pud-
ding is not quite so concentrated
form of diet as has been supposed, and
conjectures that it yields as much sus-
tenance as beefSteak are certainly not
supported by it's chemical composition.
The amount of heterogeneous matter is
only moderate, and it must be remem-
bered that in calculating the nutrient
ratio and value all the nitrogen has
been assumed to be albuminoid. Prob
ably the true albuminoids, and conse-
quently the food value, are slightly
lower than would appear from the re-
suits. Also, the percentage of water is
rather large, and the quantities of the
remaining components are proportion
ately lessened.
What medical investigation has
done to prolong life is indicated by fig
ures published in London: while in
the sixteenth century the average du-
ration of life was but twenty years.
now it is forty, no less than six years
having been added on during the last
quarter of a century. Again. with con-
from this disease in New York was
245 per hundred thousand, in 1900 it had
fallen to 1877. In Prussia, before the
discovery of the tubercle bacillus as
the cause of the malady-that is. in
lSS2-the annual mortality for some
years was 80 per hundred thousand:
in 1900 it had fallen to 21O, and in
England during the same period there
has been a reduction from 24O to 100
per hundred thousand. Two other strik-
ing examples of the vast strides that
have recently been made in preventive
medicine are afforded by the effective
ness of scientific methods in the starnn-
ing out of malaria and yellow fever
when these known methods are made,
use of. So also with other diseases
whose life history is known, or for
which preventive NEGOTIATIONS have
been discovered. The reverse is seen
in the case of such diseases as measles
and scarlet fever, which are as preya.
lent as ever in spite of isolation and
Improved sanitation, for about their
causation and biology we still know
little.
The literary feller." who sends
verses to the magazines which he finds
time to scribble when he isn't other
wise occupied with his newspaper
work, was holding forth for the bene-
mt of several cub reporters who lis
tened, open-mouthed. says the Phila-
delphia Record. It's surprising" he
SAID, how many words there are in
hn IFp,rr Is~. L.,