The Savannah morning news., 1904-07-14
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

by spreading about pieces of paper
soaked in peppermint oil. The ants dis
appeared within half an hour, and
have not returned.
The mystery of the rain tree of the
Canaries is a cloud that hovers about
it constantly; this is condensed to wa
ter, which saturates the leaves and,
falling from them in constant drops
keep the cisterns which are in exca-
walton beneath them always full of
water.
Tribes of men with feet almost
useless have been discovered in New
Guinea. They live in the midst of lakes,
moving about on little canoes, and pos
sessing d few cabins built on wood
piles. Their feet are so undeveloped
as to be of little service for walk
ing.
One of the most remarkable places
of worship in the world is the miners
chapel in Myndd Menigdd colliery,
Swansea, Wales. 1t is close to the
bottom of the shaft The only light is
that obtained from a solitary safety
lamp hung over the pulpit from the
ceiling, and the oldest miner in the
colliery is generally chosen to officiate.
In Germany. when a person breaks
down with consumption, he is sent to
government sanatorium, where he
is kept until he RECEIVERS or dies. In
the meantime his family receives Il
weekly pension from a fund to which
the patient himself contributed when
he was in good health. By this means
the risk of spreading the disease is
avoided.
There are 1894 mutual telephone sys-
TENS of rural character, with S9,316
instruments and 70,915 miles of single
wire. In addition to these the COM
mercial companies operate 1888 rural
lines, with 1873, 1926 miles of single wire
and 121 800 telephones. There are also
1885 Independent farmers lines with
1896 miles of single wire and 55.747
instruments.
The Italian sculptor Ettore Fer
raria has completed a relief portrait
of" the Italian Jeanne dare" Signora
Stamura, for Ancona, which place she
helped to defend during the siege by
Barbarossa. She inspired courage in
the citizens by her eXhortations, and
during a sally applied the torches with
her own hands to the German siege
towers, according to tradition. She
was a widow.
An article in the Fruit, Flower and
Vegetable Trades Journal of London
gives the reasons why Jamaica oranges
can be had for nothing in Jamaica, and
do not pay for packing. A car of
oranges from Kendall to Kingston thir
ty odd miles) costs fla. IS; the same car
laden with bananas costs merely IS.
Orange marmalade made in Jamaica
pat ho of IN
Jamaica, so that it does not pay to
make marmalade, and the demand for
orange wine is small compared with
the supply. So oranges are left to fall
and rot.
An information bureau has recent
ly been inaugurated in connection with
the University of Paris, and is con-
sidered an excellent innovation. The
bureau will afford information on all
matters connected with higher educa-
ton in Paris, whether in government
or private institutions. Those Who in
this country or elsewhere, are contem-
plating entering the university, and
who have spent hours in trying TO de-
rive some tangible ideas from calen-
dars and class syllabuses, will appre-
ciate the useful purpose which would
be served by bureau of this charac-
ter.
An important series of experiments
with submarines is to be carried out at
Portsmouth. One of the principal tests
will consist of fishing" for subma-
rines with a wire net. For the pur-
poses of the experiments a netting
200 feet long, made of thin but strong
steel wire, is to be attached to three
steam pinnaces and by them drawn
under water at the depth which it is
known submarines usually travel.
When one of the little craft becomes
entagled in the meshes the two out
side boats will close in around it, and
so force it to come to the surface, or
sink.
Herr Axel Hamberg, of the Uni
versity of Stockholm, has, with the
help of Herr Linderoth, a Swedish
clockmaker, constructed a registering
meteorograph, which has been placed
on the Sarjektjokko, one of the Alps
of Swedish Lapland, says the London
Globe 1t registers the temperature,
barometric pressure, humidity of ne
air, velocity and direction of the wind
as well as the amount of rain and
snow. The thermograph and baro-
graph were supplied by Richard of Par
is. The registration is not by means
of ink, which would freeze but per-
forations in the paper. The apparatus
is installed about $50 meters below the
summit because the boar frost would
cover 1t on the top. II worked sue
cessfully during the whole winter
Our consul general at Tientsin
gives interesting information about the
wages of Chinese coolies who are taken
to South Africa for work in the mines
says the New York Times. The Brit
ish authorities guarantee that the con-
tracts will run three years; the coolies
are transported to Africa free of all
charge, and are permitted to carry a
reasonable kit of baggage and personal
belongings; they are to be housed, fed
and furnished medical attendance, and
If Chinaman dies his remains are to
be sent back to the sacred soil of
China. Each coolie is to draw a daily
ration of two and a half pounds of
rice, grain or flour, six ounces of fresh
or salt meat, half an ounce of tea,
some salt and groundnut oil. Clothes
and tobacco will be furnished at cost
price, and the pay is to be Sc a month
for ten hours work. If perchance a
coolie should be injured through no
fault of his own he will be paid S12.
and If through no negligence of his
own he should be killed, his heirs are
to be paid the princely sum of $50. 1t
appears from these statistics that the
coolies are to be paid at the rate of
about Ia cents an hour, and thus the
meaning of the phrase Chinese cheap
labor" becomes plain.
III.