NEW, ODD, INTERESTING.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 550, 15 March 1913, Page 2

NEW, ODD, INTERESTING.

Paner was first made by the Chinese B.C. 220.

A motor-boat restaurant on the Thames is to be a probable innovation in the near future.

In A.D. 105, Trajan built a magnificent stone bridge across the Danube 4,770 feet long.

The great aqueduct which supplied Carthage with water . was seventy miles long.

The diamond drill takes its name from the black diamonds with which it is pointed. ..-»-

An alloy of gold and aluminium has been made. Its colour is a most beautiful purple.

In one day the human body generates enough heat to melt forty pounds of ice and raise it to boiling heat.

A pig is usually kept in every stable in Persia. It is thought its presence is beneficial to the health of the horses.

Man is the only animal whose nostrils open downwards. Even in the highest apes the nostrils open to the front.

It is said that wasps' nests often take fire, supposed to be caused by the chemical action of the wax upon the material of the nest itself.

An astonishing number of edible seaweeds is known to the native Hawaiians, who give to these kinds and some others the general name of "limu."

Sawdust concrete has been used as a base on which to lay cork carpet. The object was to obtain a layer into which nails could be driven with stability. The experiment is said to have been successful.

Gilding on steel can be imitated by galvanic coating with copper from a cyanide bath and then with zinc. The zinc film must be very thin. After drying and polishing the article is heated l in linseed oil to 160 degrees Centigrade.

Siena, Italy, is famous for the large hats of its women, and the'long horns of its cattle. The hats, which we know in America as Leghorn hats, are a peculiar product of Siena, although they are known abroad by the name of the city from which they are exported.

It was officially estimated in May, 1904, that the average legal life of a sovereign, that is, the time elapsing between its coinage and the date wh :n it falls below the legal tender weight, is not less than 26 years. An examination by the Mint two years ago showed the average ages of\the various silver coins to be as follows: Half-crowns, 65 years; florins, 45 years; shillings, 42 years; sixpences, 2S years; threepences, 33 years

To Save Space. A Chicago builder, an expert in the erection of tenement houses, is about to erect a structure devoted entirely to three-room homes. In the kitchen, after the meal is prepared, the gas range will disappear into a cabinet in the wall, the kitchen-table will sink through the floor, the diningroom table after being used, will fold up against the wall. Everything will disappear after use. Celluloid Pen-Nibs. An enterprising inventor has discovered yet another use for celluloid. This is its application to writing in the form of the humble pen-nib. In appearance it calls to mind the writing point of the almost extinct quill. The nib is always clean, of great durability, and, what is important, does not corrode. The point retains its original condition for a prolonged length of time, and is extremely flexible. * The Most Beautiful Words. After an interesting contest to decide the tjwenty most beautiful words in the Eqglish language, in which thousands, of members of the Y.M.C. A.'s in New York took part, Mr. John Shea, a lajwyer, has been declared the winner. Of the twenty-five words submitted by Mr. Shea, twenty-one were accented. The words accepted were: Melody, Splendour, Adoration, Eloquence, Virtue, Innocence, Modesty, Faith,, [Joy, Honour, Radiance, Nobility, Sympathy, Heaven, Love, Divine, Hope, Harmony, Happiness, Putity tand Liberty. A Mountain Planet. How many -of our readers are aware that somewJhare, many miles away from this earth, an enormous mountain twenty miles htigh is flying through space? Ther mountain is known astronomically 'as .the planet Eros. The ordmapry man has long taken it for granted i that all the planets arc more or less round in shape. The small planet Eros, however, is an exception to t' bis mile. to the latest a' sttonomical information, it is a mere m tenntain in space, "without form and v ©id," and as it turns upon its axis fir: st one corner and then another is pr tesented to view. ® A tantalising fact for astronomers is that Eros pass b& very close to us about January 2. #%, 1894 —before the planet was recog jwised—and that quite so near an apprc i&sfe is not due again till »0?5- 1