WORLD-WIDE NOTES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 541, 12 February 1913, Page 7

WORLD-WIDE NOTES.

According to the President of the Large Families League, recently founded in France, there is in that co'un try no fewer than 1,804,710 homes where there are bo children, while ir nearly three million there is only one child.

Fifty-seven stra»ded whales founc a short time ago on Perkin's Island Tasmania, yielded two hundredweight of ambergris, a soft, resinous substance much used, for perfumery which was valued at £9,000.

Chief among the symptoms of eyi strain are watering of the eyes, j rluing together of the oyell.ls o. wakening in the morning, hca'ache the position and character of v.hlcl avy with each individual. It raaj e neuralgic or it may be dscplj •■atcd, as was the case with Wa^nn la--- musician, who was complaianu n-itantly of the "nerves of hi;

Th2 headache is often replaced D 3 a inlammation of the eyelids, esa ia'ly in young and healthy per :-ns who also have a little conjunc t.itis with a feeling of tension oi Lsess in the eyes which may becomi cnl pain of a dull aching character he eyeballs being very tender or ■ressure. Sometimes there are vertigo anc ickness, with dyspepsia, palpitation, ■T.nd even difficulty in breathing sleeplessness is a very frequent symptom, due in part to the"' excessive 'ow of blood to the brain and ir •/art to the low tone of the whol< nervous system. The symptoms of eye strain appeal sooner in those who lsad a confined and sedentary life, who follow occupations which need a constant use oi the eyes in bad or unsuitable light and in those who are debilitated from any cause. The symptoms ap pear later in those of coarser fibre who pass much of their time in thi open air or who follow occupations which do not need a prolonged use o: the eyes for close work. —"Lancet." COOKING AT THE TOP OF A CHIMNEY. To cook a potato pie at the toi of a chimney three hundred feet high by means of the heat generated ir the fires below would seem an impos sible task, yet such a feat was* oi one occasion accomplished by Johr Faukner, a famour Lancashire steeple jack. The incident was the outcome of a wager between Faukner and the manager of a Manchester gasworks, who doubted John's statement regarding the excessive heat. A large iron kettle was procured and this, being filled with the necessary ingredients—sixty-six pounds it weight — was hoisted to the summil of the huge chimney stack. Fauknei placed the receptacle on the outei and coolest side of the brickwork, hut despite this the contents were found to be thoroughly cooked in one hour and twenty minutes, or ter minutes below the stipulated time. Fawkner won his wager, and the pie, which, it is said, was slightly burned at the bottom, was afterwards distributed among the poor of the district.

NO HOD-CARRYING IN JAPAN. There is no hod-carrying in Japan. The native builders have a method ol transporting mortar which makes it seem more like play than work—tc the onlooker. The mortar is mixed in a pile in the street,, one mat makes this up into balls of about six pounds weight, which he tosses to a man who stands on a laddei midway between the roof and the ground. This man deftly catches th< ball, and he tosses it up to a mat who stands on the roof.