The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-08-18
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

SaltOn, Cdl.f IN the mlddle OF the COl-
orado desert, is 2s4 feet below the level
of the sea, and is more than thou
sand acres in extent. Its surface is as
white as snow, and when the sun is
shining its brilliance is too dazzling for
the eyes. The field is constantly sup
piled by the many salt springs in the
adjacent foothills.
A school to accommodate from 120
to 125 children is to be built in the
depth of the Junfernheide Woods, near
Berlin, and the children will remain
there the whole day, special arrange
ments being made to supply them with
their meals. They are only to receive
from two to three hours instruction
daily, and are to spend the rest of the
day in taking healthy exercise in the
forest.
The year 1860 marks the entrance
of woman upon the stage. At about
the same time movable scenery was in
troduced and music and dancing fol-
lowed, Women had been prohibited
from appearing on the stage, perhaps
because the female parts were not of
a character for feminine presentation.
At that time the standards of the the
alter were low, due to the era of Ii
II inaugurated.
On the statute book of Scotland is
stiTl an act passed in 1924, ordering
that mo man play at futebalP' be-
cause it is esteemed to be Improbable
sport for the common guide of the
realme and defence thereof" There is
also a statute against alien immigra-
ton, passed in 1896, and authorizing
''all his majestys good subjects" to
take, apprehend, imprison and exc
cute to death the said Egyptians (gyp-
sies), either men or women"
An English railway has an ingen-
ious contrivance for giving a locomo-
tive its trial trip without leaving the
scene of it's construction. The engine,
after being placed on the machine,
runs on wheels fitted with tires which
correspond to the tread and section of
the permanent way. A clever brak-
ing arrangement secures a represen-
tation of the difficulties encountered in
running on the metals and all the tests
usually made on a trial trip can be
conducted inside the works with all the
appliances at hand.
The finest example of sardonyx
cameo is in King Edwards collection
at Windsor Castle. The stone meas
ures rs by 5.S75 inches, and is cut
upon a rich Oriental sardonyx of four
strata. 1t is contemporary portrait
of the Emperor Claudius. The ground
is in the dark-brown stratum, the lau-
rel wreath and front of the cuirass in
the HOMEGROWN and the head and hair
in the white. The whole is surround
ed by a raised border enriched with
r7OldiOor ont in the thickness nf the
stone.
At a recent medical exhibition in
London new anaesthetic, called SOM
noforn, was shown. 1t is liquid whose
boiling point is % degrese below
zero. The moment it comes in contact
with the air it becomes a gas. The
exhibitor broke a glass capsule of
somnoferm to illustrate its character.
AS soon as the glass was Clipped there
was a rush of what looked like steam,
and sevenpence worth of somnoform
was loose in the Queens Hall trying
to- asphyxiate the exhibitors. Its
great virtue, from a medical point of
view, is that breathing stops before
the heart when it is administered.
1T is not often nowadays that a
forgotten painting by an old master
comes to light, but two were discov-
cred lately in one rich haul at Leeds,
England. They were found in the old
Catholic Cathedral and bought. "for a
song''-not song by Patti, but just an
ordinary song. One was by Rubens
and the other by Van Dyck, and the
two together are believed to be worth
something like $4,000 1t is believed
that they were brought to England
during the Franco-Prussian war, and a
novelist might easily construct a ro-
nance based upon the death of their
owners in battle as the reason for their
not being claimed. The fortunate find
er has offered % per cent. of the re-
ceipts toward the fund for building a
new cathedral. An artistic taste among
the clergy would have yielded even
greater profits for the church.
The influence of the missionaries
has certainly been for the most part
beneficial to the natives, says Presi-
dent d. S. Jordan in the Atlantic. The
constant antagonism of the less reput-
able traders and the beachcombers-
the lost human foatsam and jetsam
of the South seas-to the missionaries
is shining evidence that their work is
for the real good of the natives. But
two things they have brought into the
life of our joyous brown wards of the
coral beaches which are certainly
calamitous. These are clothing and,
by consequence, Pneumonia. As ter
rible a scourage as elephantiasis is,
Pneumonia is the more rapidly de-
structive, and in time it may depopu-
late the islands. In the good old days
the rains beat upon the shining oiled
shoulders and backs of the half-naked
native as harmlessly as on the we'll
preened plumage Of the wild duck;
but now the cheap cotton shirt or
white jacket clings wet and clammy
to the skin, the quick chill strikes
through the blood, and the end comes
with appalling swiftness and certain
ty. The gaudily be-ribboned absurd
little chip hat pinned to the great
mass of long black hair, and the inn
modest holuku Mother Hubbard gown
Of the women, and the tightly but
toned white BARRIERS jacket above the
bare brown legs of the men, really
reach the climax of absurdity, and,
what is worse, they are unwholesone,
both for health and morals. But such
is the costume of the saved Well,
that they be truly saved, for they
have made a fair start in their mil
linery" clothes to test quickly the pow
er of their new religion.
A novel experiment is to be tried,
according to the New York Times,
this winter by a professional man
who has paid for his advancement with
his health. Insomnia in acu'ate form