Newspaper Page Text
Almost Free .
Some of this week's Prices are almost
equivalent to
I Christmas Gifts.
Notably B MAN TAILORED SUITS, EIDER■
DOWNSACQUES, FLANNEL and SILK WAISTS,
etc. Every item merits a careful reading, as
money is tobe p icked up throughout.
A Girl's Cloak Gift.
f# About Children’s
F LA N NE L LETTE
CLOAKS, ages $ to 9
years, heretofore sold
at from to $3.00.
This week
89c to SIA9
and they should not
last the week.
Enough of those nice
EIDERDOWN
SACQUES
to about finish the
week; SI.OO to $4.50
values at
59c to $2.48.
Also a few Lounging Robes left.
t
Eton Jackets.
A few of tbose put on sale
last week. They proved great
sellers. No wonder. SIO.OO
to $25 values
For $4.90 and $5.90.
Hosiery.
Ladies’ Black Cotton,
drop stitch, Polka Dot Sli
j patterns, wqrth 25'c.
This Week J 4c. I
Misses’ School Hose, wjfv
20c. value. While they /Ijr 9\lu Jr
2 for 25c. ! '
TRICKS OF THE STRONG MAN.
A <.OOI> DEAL OF HUMBUG ABOUT
THEM, SAYS A CIRCUS MAN.
Fake Dumbbells—Knnck of Break
ings Stones With the Fist—Feats
With the Teeth Explained—'The
Horse on the Teeter Board—Bit
inn Nulls in Two.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
"There are tricks in all trades,” said
the old circus strong man, “but the
trade of the circus Hercules Is mostly
all tricks. Anybody with ordinary
strength can do the feats that seem
so wonderful when done by these tan
bark Samsons. In fact, few of them
require any particular muscular exer
tion, but are accomplished simply by
trickery.
"The dumb bells used by the per
formers are always hollow, and weigh
much less than the figures marked
upon them would indicate. When you
see a man pretending to put above his
head a bell marked 400 or 800 pounds,
you may safely conclude that he is try
ing to fool you. The very greatest
weight ever lifted in this way was 245
pounds, ‘Cyclops’ accomplishing the
feat in Cleveland, in 1803. Genuine
dumb bells, closely resembling the hol
low ones, are thrown out into the au
dience for Inspection, but these are
ne\er the ones used by the strong roan
or woman.
"Another common feat that arouses
wonder is the breaking of stones with
the fist. Spectators think that a man
who can bring his clenched hand down
upon a rock and tiake a piece off with
one blow must have tremendous mus
cles, but on ordinary man can do this
if he knows how, while, on the other
hand, old Samson himself couldn’t
have done it unless he had been put
on to the trick.
“You will notice that the strong man
always provides a solid piece of iron
or stone upon whicli to crack his
rocks. Now. if he held the stone to be
smashed firmly against this support he
might pound away at it until dooms
day without hurting anything but his
fist. But notice closely and you will
see that he holds the small stone a
sixteenth of an Inch above the sup
port, and when he hit it it’s the con
cussion thnt breaks it. Any one can
do it neatly after a little practice.
"A little more real strength is need
ed in the feat of lifting a barrel of
water and two men with the teeth, but
not much. A man of ordinary strength
<an accomplish it. To begin with, the
water barrel, which, if genuine, would
weigh, with its contents, about 900
pounds, has a false top and bottom,
and holds only enough water so that
a little can be let out of the bung hole
to deceive the onlookers. Fastened
to the barrel and to the waist of the
performer, and concealed by a sash
which he wears, is a rope. This is
deftly hitched to the barrel when it
1* lifted up for him to take the mouth
piece In his teeth.
"The mouthpiece e-xactly fits his
mouth so that whatever weight comes
here is usually sustained by the Jaw.
Here comes the thrilling moment! Two
inc{> lift themselves unon the barrel.
and with two other sturdy fellows to
support his back and keep his balance,
the strong man slowly lifts the bar
rel. Bending back, he supports the
weight at an angle of about forty
five degrees, apparently with his teeth,
but actually upon his chest. It’s a
sensational act, but, as a matter of
fact, more strength is required in the
men who support him than in the star
performer himself. Not more than
200 pounds was ever actually support
ed by any athlete in this fashion.
“The mouthpiece used in this trick
is employed in all acts where the per
formers appear to hang by their teeth.
It Is so constructed that when one
gets it in his mouth he cannot let go
of it until the weight Is taken off. So
circus folks do not really support their
weight or the weight of any other ob
ject by their teeth. It is actually on
the neck that most of the strain comes
and the performer doing this stunt
very much gets an abnormal neck de
velopment. Nowadays my neck meas
ures sixteen inches, but when I was
in the business it was nineteen inches
around.
"About the only act that requires
real strength is that of supporting a
horse on a teeter board, bat even in
this trick the most important needs
are nerve and a well trained horse.
Bodily strength comes third. I’ll nev
er forget to my dying day the first
time I tried this. I had rigged up two
chairs as strongly as possible in a barn
and fastened them to tl)e floor, after
which I had put a board across be
tween them to support a teeter, upon
which I had trained my pony to walk.
When the animal had learned his les
son thoroughly and would ascend the
teeter and balance at the word of com
mand, I .prepared for the Anal test.
"In place of the board connecting
the chairs I put my own body. Across
my chest I put the teeter board. Then,
locking my feet (Irmly In one chair
and my arms around the back of the
other, I called, ’Romeo!’
"He came from the stall straight for
the teeter. Then my nerve failed me.
I cried, ‘Whoa!’ wildly, but Romeo
didn’t seem to know the meaning of
the word. On he came, directly up
the incline. There was no backing
out. All that I could do was to hang
on desperately, and this I did. When
Romeo got above my chest he balanced
himself gracefully for awhile—lt seem
ed an hour to me. though It was only
a few seconds—then he went off the
other side. I had succeeded and the
trick was not so hard ns I had fen red.
"It appears to the audience as If the
man in this act was supporting the
weight largely with hi* neck. Such Is
not the case, for most of it cemes on
his arms and legs, and the latter are
fastened so that they cannot become
loosened. It takes strength, but not
extraordinary strength.
"Not unlike this trick, hut requiring
even less muscular power, Is the feat
of supporting a lot of people on a
board placed across your body while
you are bent over backward. This is
certainly the easiest way for a man to
support his family I know of. Before
the athlete bends his body his feet are
braced so strongly that they can’t
slide. Then he bends back and a
board Is placed across his knees and
shoulders, upon which another board is
put crosswise for the men to get upon.
In this position the bones of the arms
and legs support the weight, and ns
the bone of a healthy human being is
crettv strong a number of men may
Going
t Rapidly are our Boys’
Good and Fine Wear
ables.
Overcoats,
Suits,
Underwear,
Stockings,
Neckwear,
Hats, frl
Caps, JfyrVsi'
Shirt Waists, j j \ 1
Shirts, Etc., f/ j[ jjp
greatest stock and on- M
ly complete lines of fl/v
No. 1 garments in § fk
Savannah. Jp
Popular
Models and styles in all the best
makes of
Corsets.
KABO, P. N., NEMO,
ROYAL WORCESTER,
C. P., WARNER'S R. P.
Stout sizes a feature.
WE FIT YOU
RIGHT HERE.
get upon the board without causing
the slightest inconvenience. The bones
will have to be crushed before any
thing will give way.
"One of the strong man’s greatest
accomplishments, one that has a par
ticular charm and terror for the small
hoy, is the biting in two of nails. This
long cherished delusion, too, is a fake.
The men who do this never use the
common steel nails. They use the cast
iron ones, whose grain makes them
break more easily. Nor are the nails
bitten in two by the teeth, as is com
monly supposed, but they are simply
broken by the strength of the fingers.
To bite a nail in two put the thumb
of your right hand under the nail near
the middle, with the Index finger on
top of the nail at the right end. Then
put the other end of the nail between
your teeth on the left side of the
mouth. Push down sharply and
strongly with your index finger and up
ward with your thumb, und crack
goes the nail! If you do it quickly the
crowd will think you have bitten it off,
but you haven’t. Try this with a lead
pencil if you have not a cast iron nail
handy.
"A great deal of unnecessary sym
pathy is wasted upon the circus man
who stands up proudly In spangled
tights and lets another circus man
bring down a sledge hammer upon a
rock placed upon his head, with force
enough to break it. This is spectacu
lar, but is entirely painless and calls
for no great strength or endurance.
Upon the cranium of the strong man
is put an iron contrivance weighing
about 150 pounds and provided, with
cushions both above and where it rests
upon the head. A pretty good sized
rock Is used, and the hammer la also
a heavy one. so you can see that the
blow that cracks the rock
is really a serious one. But
most of the force is taken un by
the rock and the rest by the Iron and
cushions, while the only sensation felt
by the subject is a gentle tap.
"No more difficult than this is the
act whereby the hero of the canvass
tent permits a rock to be broken upon
his chest with a blow from a sledge
hammer. Bo long as the subject's back
Is free and does not rest against any
solid object the trick is perfectly sim
ple. A little illustration. Take a board
and let It lie freely In your hand and
hit It smartlv with a hammer. It I*
difficult to hurt your hand, and tlte
thicker the board the less the sensa
tion. But now put your hand on the
table and hit the board. Hurts, doesn’t
it? Well, it's the same with the rock
on the chest. Let me try it on you."
The reporter demurred, but the for
mer strong man hunted up a stone
and a sledge hammer, which he said
weighed nine pounds. He put the rock
on the lower part of his own chest,
bent backward, and told the reporter
to break it. This the latter did suc
cessfully and then consented to have it
tried unon himself. With a (mighty
blow from the sledge the rock was
shattered, but the only sensation felt
by the subject was a slight pressure
on the chest.
KIND SECRETS OF FRANCE.
British Spies Gain Information of
Submarine Vessels.
From the Chicago Chronicle.
Immured In a French prison, with a
Jall and chain to his leg. an English
SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY. DECEMBER 8. IflOf,
Suit Startlers.
This will undoubtedly be the SUIT BUYERS week.
About Tailor-Made Suits, jfai
all styles and materials, re
mainders of many lots. All
new and jaunty garments.
Been selling at from $i j.jo
to $ 18.00 and real values.
SIO.OO NET THIS WEEK fill’ll
Another line of, say 25
Sample Suits, very finest i\
materials and linings. The jF j |\A
styles are “ Patterns " and j j **
were tailored by experts. jAJ II j
Actual values, %0.00 to MM j *
I ! k
$31.50 to $45.00. vS
In addition new arrivals
in our regular lines, com
plete assortment of colors, in all the seasonable shades
in Blues and Blacks. Many New Styles: yoke effects,
Etons, Fly front and double-breasted, tight-fitting
Jackets. Skirts, plain flare, graduated flouuce or
trimmed.
PRICES ARE WHAT YOU EXPECT HERE.
Fine Underskirt Values.
We offer genuine inducements
in Silk and other materials. We ft
again ask you to consider the | kJT
The McGee Self-Adjusting
Underskirt. It will save you a "
lot of trouble and worry. MlEm
HOLIDAY ITEMS. p!|v\
Leather, Willow, Celluloid and Sil- pdf
ver Goods, Fine Umbrellas, Neck- jMm jl g TOMafcg.
wear, Handkerchiefs, Collars, Cuffs,
Perrin’s Kid Gloves.
B. E LEVY & BRO.
spy is paying the price of his liberty
for knowledge of how the Frenchmen
build and equip their submarine boats.
The British admiralty has the plans of
the Gyrnnote and the Gustave Zede,
and the French have the man whom
they believe to have been the agent of
the British government in securing
these plans. That is as much has any
one not intimately connected with the
British admiralty or the French minis
try of marine knows about the matter.
Who this spy is and whether he was
employed by the British admiralty di
rect or through Vickers’ Sons & Maxim
Are state secrets in Great Britain, and
may never be known . generally. But
the French government’s announce
ment of the arrest of a supposed Brit
ish spy in the Cherbourg dockyards
was immediately followed by an an
nouncement from the British naval of
fice that the government had secretly
completed the construction of five sub
marine boats; that these would be
launched in October, and that they
combined the best features of the Gym
note and Gustave Zede. with newer
ind better Ideas of English engineers,
it was as if Great Britain were say
'mg to France:
"You have the man, but In exchange
for him.we have the results of all your
years of experimenting, and will now
proceed to profit by him.”
For years the French government
has been experimenting with submarine
boats. It has provided funds without
stint and the move was everywhere fa
vored In France, as It gave promise of
a weapon that could be used to great
advantage against the English Channel
squadron should occasion ever arise.
The same idea prevailed In England,
and the press of Great Britain has been
almost a unit in urging upon the ad
miralty the necessity for building a
fleet of submarines to put the navy at
least on a footing with that of France.
But the British admiralty pursued the
even tenor of its way, apparently un
mindful of the danger threatening by
reason of French activity in subma
rine boatbuilding, and seemingly un
concerned as to the success or failure
of France in launching a serviceable
fleet of submarines. There were many
evidences of disapproval with the
course of the admiralty, and many pre
dictions of disaster to result from Us
failure to keep abreast of the times.
Now it seems that the attitude of in
difference was assumed by the admiral
ty to cloak its actual intentions and
that from the very beginning that
body has been eager to profit by the
experience of the builders and experi
menters with submarine boats. Among
other things that have leaked out of
the naval office is the knowledge that
duplicates of the plans of the Ameri
can submarines of the Holland type
are In possession of the Admiralty, an<>
that for a long time an English spy
has been in the employ of the French
as a naval engineer and drafts man.
Absolutely nothing can be learned as
to the Identity of this spy from the
British admiralty, but certain things
about him are so perfectly obvious that
they may be given as facts.
For Instance, no English engineer
would knowingly have been employed
by France on a work of, such Import
ance or where any secrecy was to be
maintained as to details; consequently,
it Is certain that this Englishman was
thoroughly well up in the language and
manners of France and so well versed
In French affairs that he could with
ease pass himself off as a Frenchirfan.
It also lc perfectly obvious that, after
$6.30
Fora Fine $8. 5:0 Silk Q
Waist. Newandpret- N J \
ty styles. Button
front or back, corded yvtiv /
or tucked, with lace mmF*/
hemstitched effect,
in Black, White, Red J2* . '
Rose, Light and Dark otUr^,
'Blue, Pink and Green.
Cuts in Flannels.
Fine French Flannel, with neat
stripe, well made, assorted colors,
worth
THIS WEEK $2.70.
Our general waist stock is very
full and complete.
Silk Waists from $3.00.
Flannels from 90c to SIO.OO.
A Fur Smash.
Furs must be closed. Will this do
it? Surely!
Fifty Collarettes, several kinds and
colors, colored satin linings, easily
worth #6.00 to S B.
SALE PRICE $3.60.
We also have an (extraordinary va
riety of good and extra fine
Fur Garments
that may be yours
at very reasonable
Nice Christmas
Pocketbooks, M tfltw fj
Bags, Toilet Cases, 1
Writing Pads, and
many other attrac- jr|m|
tive and useful ar- j
the Dreyfus case, he would not dare to
trust any part of his design to a
French confederate, so that he must
have worked alone. Long ago. when
alleged plans of the Gus lave Zede were
made public in a French newspaper,
an attache of the admiralty was one
of the first to declare in England that
the plans had been deliberately faked
to deceive those interested In learning
the details of the construction of that
vessel, and that declaration, made be
fore sufficient time had elapgd to per
mit a test of the alleged plans, is evi
dence that the admiralty had even then
received from its spy data enough to
enable them to detect the fraud, which
is only another way of saying that the
spy was sending piecemeal the details
and changes in construction as they
were worked out and shows that he
actually was assisting in the building
of the boat.
But this spy has done much—so much
In fact, that the British admiralty lias
succeeded in building from the piece
meal data five boats of the type of the
Zede —was able, in truth, to begin these
five vessels before the originals of
which they are copies were completed.
This engineer’s greatest work, the re
port upon which the admiralty depend
ed in a large measure for the assur
ance that It had been proceeding up an
proper lines, has been prevented from
reaching England. The report was to
have been upon the result of the Tou
lon trials of the Zede and Gyrnnote.
with all Information as to their con- I
duct and control under water, and of
all conditions operating for success or
failure. To have obtained these the
spy must have been in the engineer’s
crew of one of the boats and the fact
that the admiralty expected Buch a re
port and is disappointed in not having
received it Is evidence thnt he was so
employed. Instead of that report word
came of the arrest in Cherbourg of a
Bri ish spy, which accounts for the ad
miralty’s failure to receive the expect
ed Information.
How the spy happened to betray
himself Is a mystery that never may
be cleared up. Rumor has it that ho
was caught red-handed with incrimi
nating documents upon his person and
that af'er secret trial he was sentenc
ed to fortress work for life.
THE SIMPLON TUNNEL.
An Army of Laborers Catting
Through the Alps.
From the Scientific American.
The road from Paris to Milan by way ;
of the Mont Cents tunnel is 1,958 kilo- ■
meters, and by way* of the St. Gothard
tunnel 1,068 kilometers In length. To
reduce this distance 970 kilometers is
the primary purpose of the Simplon
tunnel.
The new tunnel through the Simplon
pass, when completed, will undoubtedly
be the most stupendous engineering
feat of Its kind ever performed—a feat
which many engineers thought it im
possible to accomplish by reason of the
great depth which was to be attained.
It Is evident even to a layman that
It is far easier to carry a load up a hill
for a distance of 500 yards than for
1,009 yards. It is in this lightening
of the task to be performed by the
railroad locomotive which will he one
of the ends attained by the new tun
nel in comparison with the routes of
tit. Gothard and Mont Cents. The high
est point of the Simplon tunnel is 705
meters; of the St. Gothard, 1,154 me
ters, and of the Mont Cenls as much
as 1,294 meters. The greater the hlght
the more formidable the difficulties. In
winter time especially the operation of
Alpine roads is a herculean task and
Involves appalling additional expenses.
With the completion of the new road
these difficulties will vanish. Indeed,
there Is probably no part of the Alps
more admirably situated for railway
purposes than the Simplon pass. The
construction of the St. Gothard route
necessitated the building of approaches
of magnificent proportions, the cost of
which rivaled that of the tunnel Itself.
The builders of the Simplon will be
confronted by no such necessity. On
the northern side the new tunnel starts
at the level of the valley, and on the
southern side terminates after a few
miles at the very border of the great
plain of Lombardy.
So rapid have been the strides made
by the modern engineer that this latest
engineering work will be completed In
a far shortec time than any of Its pre
decessors. despite the character of the
country. The building of the Mont
Cents road required thirteen years; the
St. Gothard tunnel was completed only
after seven and a half years; but the
engineers of the Simplon pledged them
selves to finish the tunnel through the
pass in five and a half years; which,
In comparison with the St. Gothard,
represents a reduction in cost of 25 per
cent. Despite the greater rapidity with
which the work can be pushed forward,
and the consequent saving In expense,
the tunnel will cost *65,500,000.
Temperature and Ventilation.
Keenly appreciating the difficulties
which confronted the engineers of the
St. Go'hard and Mont Cenis routes, so
far as the provision of proper ventila
tion was concerned, the Simplon engi
neers have hit upon a simple and in
genious method of improving the sani
tary conditions within the tunnel. In
stead of constructing a single two
track tunnel, it was decided to build
two single-track tunnels, one of which
was to serve, when completed, us a
huge ventilating tube for the other,
still incoinpleted tunnel. How enor
mously this simple expedient has im
proved the ventilation is shown by a
comparison with the conditions that
prevailed In the St. Gothard tunnel.
The quantity of fresh air which could
be supplied to the workmen of the St.
Gothard tunnel was one and a half to
two cubic meters per second; in the
Simplon tunnel the laborers are sup
plied with twenty-five cubic meters.
Moreover, by the use of sprayers, the
temperature has been so far reduced
that the thermometers In the cuts have
never registered more than 32 degrees
C.—the maximum temperature attained
at the St. Gothard. This result Is all
the more gratifying when It Is consldr
ered that many skeptical engineers
had declared that a minimum temper
ature of 40 degrees C. would be met.
Disastrous epidemics occurred only too
frequently among the laborers of the
St. Gothard. In carrying on the work
of the Simplon comparatively few men
have reported themselves 111. The as
tonishingly srnull sick list may also
be partially attributed to the admirable
provisions made 'oy the company in
charge of the work, by securing the
very best sanitary conditions. The
tunnel exits consist at covered passage
ways, through which the laborers
pas* Into large bathrooms, where tn*y
As To Jackets:
This is “Jacket
vilie” sure enough.
A Fine Wool
Kersey \W
in Tan, Castor and
Black. Storm Collar, f \ ■
stitched raw edges. #s•
Cuffs stitched. Lined wf ! jri \
throughout with Sa- \ • 4 A\,
tin Romane. ! Xr /
Sale Price $6.75 cf
New arrivals in bet- u-•
ter grades in black and
colors. All lengths, iar - v
styles and prices. Al- * ' f\
so new arrival of :
Misses' Cloaks.
New Skirts.
Our new lines of SILK AND WOOLEN
DRESS SKIRTS surpass our happiest pre
vious efforts.
LADIES' EQUESTRIAN SKIRTS,
Handsomely tailored and stitched, from
$3.50 TO $ 16.50.
Don’t Forget fhe Baby.
Long Cloaks,
Bootees, Caps,
Sacques, Mitts.
WATCH OUR
WINDOWS.
wash themselves and change their
clothes.
Diplomatic Negotiations.
After long diplomatic negotiations
between Italy and Switzerland, work
was at last begun in the autumn of
1898. Before the final permission to
break ground had been received, elab
orate preparations had been made for
pushing on the work as fast as pos
sible. Above all, it was necessary to
provide sufficient power. On each side
of the mountain about 2,000 horse-pow
er was available, and this was to be
used primarily to drive the ventilating
apparatus and hydraulic compressors
as well as workshop tools and dvna
mos. In the north water power is ob
tained from the river Rhone; in the
south from the Diverts. Through huge
flumes, over m meters In diameter,
the water Is led many miles from Its
source to the power house. Great
repair shops were built, in which many
hundred artisans were to be employed,
whose duty it was merely to make and
repair the tools and rock drills. That
so huge an undertaking should neces
sitate the installation of many small
plants Is easily understood.
If unforeseen hindrances are not en
countered, the tunnel will be open tar
traffic before the contracted time of
five and a half years. If such be the
case, the engineers will receive a
bounty of 5,000 francs for each day be
tween the actual day of completion
and the contracted day; for each day
required in excess of the contracted
time a fine of 5.000 francs Is imposed.
On Ihe south side the rock up to the
3,820 th kilometer had been found per
fectly dry. but when the 3.825 th kilo
meter had been reached, springs yield
ing four to five liters of water oer
second were found. The schist forming
the walls of the galleries was moist,
without, however, causing any Incorf
venience. But when the 3,900 th kilo
meter was reached more formidable
springs, yielding as much aa 160 liters
per second, were discovered, the tem
perature of which, strange to say, va
ried from 25 to 30 degrees C.
Excellent train service via Plant
System between Savannah and Bruns
wick In connection with Southern Rail
way. Leave Savannah 3:16 p. m., ar
riving Brunswick 6:10 p. m. Leaves
Brunswick 8:00 a. m. arriving Savan
nah 9:00 a. ni. Through coaches with
out change.--ad.
Solid to Brnntnlck,
Via S. A. L .Rr.
The B. A B. special leaving Savan
nah at 4:30 p. m. via Seaboard Air Line
Railway, runs solid to Brunswick with
out change, arriving Brunswick at 7:30
p. m. Get tickets and fult information
at Ticket Office, corner Bull and Bryan
streets.—ad.
Southern Rullnny to the North nnd
Bast.
Two through trains dally via the
Southern Railway to Washington, Bal
timore, Philadelphia and New York,
with connections for points beyond.
Leave Savannah 12:55 p. m., and 12:30
a m. Convenient schedules by both
trains to Richmond and Norfolk. Pull
man drawing-room sleepers and din
ing cars, For information call on or
—cite tn K G. Thomson, C. P. A TANARUS, A*
iti gw ovt, pnwt.wg I*o.—ad-
5