NEW, ODD, INTERESTING

Matamata Record, Volume II, Issue 103, 24 October 1918, Page 3

NEW, ODD, INTERESTING

Spain rigidly prohibits the adulter* ation olive oil. A neeeffo passes through eighty operations in its manufacture. Au elephant usually sleeps only about five hours out of twenty-four. Swallows have been scon at sea over one thousand miles from land. Jjfeio umbrellas which aro used by tho Koreans aro usually covered with oiled paper. Tho Tsar of Russia is s*oid to own more costly chinaworc than any other monarch in the world. A wounded chimpanzee stops the bleeding of a wound by placing leaves and grass on the injury. The hump of a camel is considered a great delicacy by the Arabs. It is like veal, but tastes like beef. China is manning a chain of forts all along her sea coast with Krupp guns. Telephone operators in. Egypt are required to speak English, French, Italian, Greek, and Arabic. 'More than three-fifths of the world’s supply of copper corner; from the American and .'.lcxicau mines. A lighthouse cons lynch'd of bamboo, which is in use in Japan, is said to have great power of resisting alt water not rot like ordinary wood. Before tho members of a fire engine brigade can go to a fire in Berlin they must all-fall in line in military fashion and formally salute their captain. j _ Remains have been found in the al- i luvial deposits of Mada-riscnr «of os- j trichos, which wli: u alive were fourteen I to fifteen feet in height. It is estimated that by m:re waste, caused by coins rubbing one against another, the civilised world loses one ton and a quarter of gold and eightyeight tons of silver annually. The use of the surface coat of oxide on aluminium wire i.i order to produce insulation for electrical purposes 'is gaining ground, and the process is now being applied to copper wire. Mistletoe thrives on the western coasts of America to an extent not approached in the c;c ?. In many places this pare/;! c gi\ th m responsible,, directly or indlr:ctly, for a con* loss cf timber. ••a • The-'Greeks and Rotr.ans, with all their luxury, ate with their fingers. They had large forks for dealing with hay and for taking moat from kettles, lu#(rtliey never thought of having small ones for tabic use. The Japanese lay out their gardens so as to suggest famous rccnes in their history. Miniature landscapes aro laid out so as to recall well-known spots in history, and suggest Utc events that have taken place there. In order to encourage .the creofron of beautiful residence., in Paris, the 1 authorities award three goal medals annually to tho; designers ol the most artistic dwellings. Jnc owners of thesft homes arc relieved of half of tlieii annual taxes. About two hundred thousand gipsies wander about H ungary and are regarded as a dangerous community. So notorious are their thieving propensities than they are not allowed inside the towns, while the villages tolerate them for only two days. The bridal veil is of Eastern origin. A distinctive feature of the bride’s attire in old Hebrew times was tho veil '■which covered the whole figure. Hie Turkish woman, who goes veiled always, has’ a special heavy gold-embroidered veil which is put on over her wedding attire. } The arts of weaving and rope and ruet making aro practised by some of the lower forms of life, notably among caterpillars and spiders. The weaver birds of Africa and India, which are species of finch, constiucc tvondoiful pLts out of leaves by sowing them togdter. In the Colorado district rain storms frequently occur during which not one single drop of water reaches the earth. The rain can be seen falling from tho clouds high above the desert, but when the water reaches the strata of hot dry air beneath the clouds it is entirely absorbed before falling half the distance to the ground, tho exig&mee of tall plants aud trees depends largely on the wind force. A treo with square trunk and branches .would offer so much resistance to the wind that it would he continually having its branches snapped. Engineers build all chimneys and piers for bridges round in preference to any Other form. Of the forty-three airmen in the rtvorldV-who have “looped tho loop,” 3FxaiA Fhas twenty-six, England five, one, and Russia and Italy two The other airmen all belong to jgmall States, including one each to Peru and Paraguay. Every one of the Joopera performed his exploit on a suushins* -