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

ming over the Merthyr Iydhl course.
Its inventor was Richard Trevithis, a
Cornishman. 1t could draw fifteen tons
at a rate of five miles an hour. 1t
had an eight-inch cylinder and tooth
ed wheels, which caught in notched
rails and helped it over hard places
in the track. Only few trips were
made by it, for the experiment was
not commercially profitable.
-Fifty-nine thousand, eight hundred
and seventy-seven applications for cit
izenship in the Five Civilized Indian
Tribes have not been granted by the
Dawes commission, and they are clas-
sified either as rejected or as unde-
termined. OF the latter class there are
25,729 distributed among the tribes as
follows: In the Creek nation, 527 cases
of disputed citizenship are still pend
ing; in the Choctaw nation, 1929 such
cases; in the Chickasaw nation. S,747
such cases, and in the Cherokee ma
ton, 1929 such cases.
The foreigner should beware of
making presents to any Japanese girl
unless he is bent upon matrimony.
To present her with any sort of gift,
even though it be only posy, will be
regarded as a proposal of marriage,
and to accept the present, though not
a word of love or matrimony be pass
ed, is a sign that she accepts you. Gal
liant Americans have got into serious
trouble, and found it necessary to leave
the country at night to escape a bind
ing engagement which they thought
lessly incurred by giving to a maiden
some trife.
The greatest of all Russians Cath
crime excepted) was Peter Bias, or Peter
Michaeloff, or Peter the Great. On
his visit to England he wanted to see
how criminals were executed. The
Old Bailey failing to furnish a vic
tim Peter complained to King Will
liam, who regretted the disappoint-
ment. but said that inasmuch as no
person had been condemned he had
no right to take a life. eff that be
the CASE said the Car, you may
take any of my retinue and cause them
to be executed in the English manner"
This offer his Britannia majesty
thought proper to decline.
The French committee on automo-
bile traffic has made a series of ex-
periments for the purpose of compar-
ing the Quickness with which horse
vehicles and automobiles can be stop
ped. AT 4 speed of seven and a half
miles an hour the horse vehicle can
only be completely stopped at thirty
feet. the motors at ten feet. At a
speed of ten miles an hour a one
horse vehicle stopped at forty feet,
the motors at thirteen and one-half
feet. At a speed of twelve miles an
hour the distance increased to forty
three and one-third feet and sixteen
and three-fourths feet, respectively.
Everybody knows the fondness of
the adult Chinese for kite flying, says
the Philadelphia Press. The Korean.
however. puts this pastime to a use
altogether novel. When the time of
good resolutions comes around at the
new year the Korean writes on a kite
all his faults. Evil disposition, i'm
patience, bad works, street fights
etc. 1T was so dark" says one Amer
lean residing in Korea, relating such
an instance. that no kite could be
seen, but when he had run the string
out to its full length he cut it and
let 1T go, imagining that so he had rid
himself of his enemies and could be-
gin the new year with new courage.
Each new year season there are con-
tests in kite flying, the object being to
cut the enemy's string and let his
kite go. In preparation for this a
string is twisted of silk and coated
with ground glass and porcelain mix
ed with glue"
An improvement in steam turbine
design, due to Johann Stumpf, is de-
scribed in the London Mechanical En-
gineer. The novelty consists in caus-
ing the steam to pass through the
wheel buckets twice. This is accom-
plished by means of a set of guides
having circular shape, which receive
h. u.fa
through the buckets, carry it around
through a spiral path. and discharge
it second time against the wheel.
This plan has been tried before, but
choking of the steam resulted which
cut down the output of the turbine
In the present invention the guides
are so designed that choking does not
take place. The jet of steam is main
tanned uniformly distributed by means
of the guides. The admission angle to
these guides is larger than the de-
livery angle from the buckets, and
by this means the cross section of the
steam jet at the discharge end of the
buckets is considerably enlarged The
steam also leaves the return buckets
at different angle from that at
which 1t first strikes the wheel This
is necessary, as the velocities in the
two cases are different.
We are not only asked to believe
that the Japanese have no swear
words, says an Exchange, but that
they, as a people, are singularly un-
emotional and undemonstrative in their
expressions of joy or sorrow. An Eng
lish correspondent says that the high
est flight of Japanese enthusiasm rare
ly exceed one or two utterances of
'Banzai," a word which literally means
ten thousand years. but is used as the
equivalent of God Save the King" or
'Hurrah." The announcement of the
capture of the whole Chinese fleet at
Wei Hai-Wei, the correspondent says,
evoked no stronger exclama lions of
joy than Excellent" Splendid. ="
There were no torchlight professions,
no footing of horns, no bowling of pa
triotic songs. A Japanese correspond
ent of The Globe, however, seems not
to be lacking in spirit and it's proper
expression, giving the Russians the
lie, not once. but thrice, in the space
of short letter. From the tone of
this letter it must be believed there
is one Jap who would swear sufficient
ly fiuently if Russia sends out any
more slies" through the press dis
patches, and who, in event of Japan
csc victories. may be depended upon
to make his share of patriotic noise.
AS a result of recent agitation
over the communicating of disease
by shellfish taken from waters pol
luted by sewage, says Harper's Week
ly. there have been numerous inves-
legations of the subject by biologists