The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-03-16
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Is 10 DSCOHlS ali
established institution in Australia.
One pound of cork is sufficient to
support a man of ordinary size in the
water.
There is now no pitchblende, from
which radium is extracted, for sale at
the Austrian mines.
antee the construction of a railway
from the Pacific to a navigable branch
of the Amazon.
During 1903 the United States pro-
duced 1924, 100000 worth of electrical ap-
paratus and machines used in connec-
ton with electric plants and workings.
The British Bible Society, which is
celebrating it's centennial, has issued
over 1SO,OG00 900 Bibles or portions there
of in nearly every language and dia-
lect on earth There is no speech nor
language where the Bible is not read.
There are now $40 different languages
in which it is printed, and in many
cases the Bible is the first or the only
book so published.
"A curious cooperation of plant and
animal life is shown in rare plant
which the University of Biological De-
partment has received from a former
student w. NJ. Maule, who is now in
the Philippines, says the Philadelphia
Record. 1t is called the Dischidia, and
is found twining about the dead bam-
boo canes in open areas near Sublg,
Zambaloo. 1t has two forms of leaves,
one fieshy and the other pitchered in
the form of a purse; inside the cham
bered leaf is a second sac There are
also two sets of roots; one set holds
the plant to the canes while the other
is longer and grows into the sacs of
the leaves. On these pitchers lives
little brown ant, and by it's death and
the material it carries into them the
roots are furnished with an abundant
supply of food. The plant, thus nour-
ished, soon sewers all connection with
the soil and lives entirely in the air,
deriving its water from the reservoirs
of the leaves, and there is small,
belt-shaped flower of pink color
which is produced in January and
February.
king Brian Boru was the subject
of an extremely interesting paper read
by Mr.. NJ. C. Saton before the Irish
Literary Society at 20 Hanover Square
recently, says the St. James Gazette.
Mr.. Saton related many details of
King Brian's career which are not
generally known. According to sthe
Annals of Innisfallen-where Brian
was educated-he was born in 925, and
was the son of Kennedy. King of North
Minister who died in $50. King Bria n
conquered all the Princes of Ireland,
and then converted the country into
to land of peace, this period being
known as The Golden Age" Brian
built churches and schools, and provid-
ed money to buy books. For twelve
years he reigned supreme King of Ire
land, and all went we'll until the beau
tiful but bad Gormfaith appeared up
on the scene. This lady was the sister
of Mael Mordha, King of Leinster, and
first married Malache, King of the
North of Ireland, from whom she was
divorced, marrying secondly Olaf, the
Danish King of Dublin, after whose
death she married Brian Boru, with
whom she soon quarreled. Being APP
parently, rather more than usually
treacherous and vindictive, she sent
her Danish son Cedric to invite the
Danes to conquer Ireland, and, at the
same time, in her airy way, authoriz-
! ed him to promise her hand in mar
riage to several Morse chiefs who came
over to ireland for that bride. Then
was fought the famous battle of Clon-
tart in 1914, after which Malache be-
| came sole King of Ireland. Poor King
Brian was killed after the battle in
his tent, and his body was brought to
| Armagh.
In Lapland, the native heath of the
reindeer, the natives take from these
| animals the woody hair with which ma
ture has provided them and make from
1t blankets, which are remarkable for
their excellent qualities Of resisting
moisture and cold, says an exchange.
OF these blankets the United States
consul at Frankfort, Germany, has this
to say "A close examination of the
hair of the reindeer furnishes an ex-
PLANTATION of it's peculiar value. The
hair does not have hollow space in
side for its whole length, but is di-
vided or partitioned off, in exceeding
| ly numerous cells, like water-tight
compartments. These are filled with
| condensed air and their walls are so
| elastic and at the same time of such
| strong resistance that they are not
broken up either during the process of
! manufa cture or by swelling when wet.
| The cells expand in water and thus IL
| happens that a man clad in garments
made of reindeer wool does not sink
| when in water, because he is buoyed
up by means of the air contained in
the hundreds of thousands of hair
cells. In the markets and stores of
Norway, Sweden and Russia garments
and blankets of reindeer wool are to
| be had at lower prices than other IA
| brics. In Vienna there is a factory
which manufactures garments of REIN
deer wool, especially bathing costumes.
For persons unable to swim the pos
session of such garments is of great
value. 1t is possible that they may be
utilized in learning how to swim. Re-
Gently successful trials have been made
in Paris in this line. In England at
tention has been directed to this pecu-
liar property of reindeer wool and it
is proposed to take up it's manufacture
and possibly to improve it,"
1t gives one rather an ache in the
mouth to reflect that a gentleman who
died recently in London has left an
estate of nearly f170000 all from MAX
ing artificial teeth, says the st. James
Gazette. Better that way than the
fashion in which his prototypes raised
their wealth. Before the artificial
tooth was created deficiencies had to
be made good by the real article, SO
body-snatchers ravaged the cemeteries
at night, breaking up the jaws of the
dead to extract their teeth to sell to
dentists for insertion in live mems
mouths. An army of these ghouls fol-
lowed Wellington. They were licensed
as suffers, but, once night fell, out
came their pliers, and out came the
teeth of those dead and dying on the
battlefields. 1t is a horrible idea, but
we are not SO much more refined to-
day. Only eighteen months ago some