New, Odd, Interesting

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 May 1911, Page 4

New, Odd, Interesting

A Turin jeweller has made a tiny bo«it formed of a single pearl. Its sail is of beaten gold studded with diamonds and the 'binnacle light is a perfec trub.v. An emerald serves as a rudder, and its stand is a slab of ivory. It weighs less than half an ounce, and its price is £1000. A Chinese manuscript lately discovered proves that anaesthetics wer«» used' in China seventen luundrod years ago. A certain concoction was given by the doctors before performing an operation wliicih rendered the patient unconscious. The anaesthetic was a simple preparation of hemp. Some 270,000,000 tons of coal were raised from the pits of Great Britain during 1910—sufficient »n bulk to Jjuild a wall around the United Kingdom 60 feet high and 12 feet thick. The :he<at given off by the sun in one minute is estimated to be of greater mechanical value than the whole of the coal raised in one year. Something new in aeroplanes has been invented by a Japanese nobleman. The inventor 'has taken the dragon-fly as his model, and 'h'as constructed two sets of wings which ean.be made to flap at the will of thia operator. It is claimed that this arrangement will enable the aeroplane to maintain its position in tne air without moving. There is a soap lake in Nicaragua. This sheet of water, the lake of Nejpa, contains a strong solution of bicarbonate of potash, bicarbonate of soda, and sulphate of magnesia. The water, when rubbed against any,greasy object, at once forms a lather. It is used as a liair wash, and enjoys a local reputation as a oure for external and internal complaints. _ Both Italy and Switzerland are fortifying the entrances of the Simplom Tunnel., while in the tunnel itself engineers are engaged in constructing mines and strengthening those already in place in order to blow up the tunnel at a moment's notice, in the event of war. Near the middle of;the tunnel, a few yards from the Swiss frontier, Italian engineers liave put in place a, double iron dtoor which can resist the rush of an express train travelling at 60 miles an hour. The iron door is worked by electricity from Iselle, the station ,at the Italian end of the tunnel, and under ordinary conditions 'it is hidden in the rocky side of the trannel. The door, is carefully tested! one© a week.