MULTUM IN PARVO

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO

— Of fifteen feminine candidates for the 'office of councillor in the recent English municipal elections, six were successful.

—Mr Eustace Miles says his chief ambi-, iion is to heip the poor of England to live on threepence a day for food — or even less. — Speaking at a prize-giving at Dover, the Archbishop of Ctoterhuxy said he ,*rould select the present as the greatest period in England's history.

— Naval experts put down the active life Of a modern battleship at about 15 yeai-3. A hundred' years ago fb&ttleships lasted almost six times as long, and were on active service nearly the wlhoie time of their conimission.

— Miss Innes Schaeffer, a well-known leader of New York society, has. just paid £1000 for- the famous English bulldog Mahomet. This lady is building^kennels at her residence in Maryland which will cost £5000.

—At Pagasae, in Thessaly, 150 .tombBtones of the second and third centuries B.C. have been discovered. Th© stones are ornamented with coloured designs, the colours being marvellously preserved.

— Eight millions sterling in bets was wagered by^ the French public during the three months of the past season at the summer resorts, and the 5 per cent, duty payable -to the State for charities amounted to £400,000.

— Artificial flowers we*e first invented by piouft nuns. In the Italian convents the altars and shrines were,' up to the end of the eighteenth century, decorated with artificial flowera, laboriously made from paper and parchment. — In 80 school-gardens in Surrey practical instruction in horticulture has been given to children during the past season. Nearly 3000 separate crops were grown in the 12 gardens in connection' with the continuation Bchool centres.

— The County Court judge, the Hon. Arthur Russell, died recently at Woking, following an operation for appendicitis. The deceased, who was 46, was the eldest eon of the late Lord Russell of Killowen. ,

—An imposing memorial is to be erected over the grave- of D-r Barnardo. The work has been entrusted to Mr George Frampton, ft. A., who hopes to have it completed for the unveiling on "Founder's Day" next year. — The Prince of Monaco possesses one of fche nxalt valuable collections of autographs in the world. An entire wing of bis Hughness's palace at Monaco is reserved for the j display of documents written by celebrities. *—. Mr Russell Cotea, to whose energy Bournemouth owes much, has presented the (town w«*h has house, Bast Cliff Hall, in I ■which aTe many valuable pictures, on the \ (understanding mat he should be entitled to live in it during his life. The value of the gift is about £40,000. — Mussels play an important part in protecting 'Bideford Long Bridge from the .scouring- action of the rapid tides of the Tbxridge river. So valuable are they, :n: n feat, -that their removal has been made an offence, and a man was recently fined EOs for taking some from the stonework. — .Lieut. Henry Clutterbuck, who wbs promoted from orderly-room sergeanrt of the jOoWstrefajH Guards during the Boer war to «. commiffision in the Kiin^s Own Yorkshire (Dig'ht finfamtary, ha 3 been, specially promoted to a captaincy in the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. — It is stated that a crane to be erected Bit Devoupont Dockyard is designed to lift 160 tons ait a maximum radius of 95ft, and 80 tons at '105 ft, while the extreme radius for loads" o| 30 tons will be 128 ft. The crane, which will be tested with a load of 2*o tons, will be the largest in any shipbuilding yard in the world. —As many children In the Wood-green, Xiondon, schools looked exhausted and slept at their desks, an inquiry into their home life was instituted. It wa« found *hat 568 of them were employed in earning money out of sohool hours. Nearly 100 ohildren finder 10 years worked not only before an<L aflter sohool hours, but on Saturday and Sunday as well. j — TJie railway stations of Berlin are shortly to "be provided wdbh automatic machines* which, on tibe insertion of two shillings a<nd a penny, witt deliver an umbrella. A ticket will also drop out, and on gnreserating it wttthin two days to an office of the automatic society, Is 8d will be paid back in return for the umbrella. — Before becomingr a bishop a clergyman Must "do the thing in style" in the matfter of fees and otiher but-ofHpooket expense*. TJiese range from, anything between £400 and. £600. First comes a. trifling £7 13s 6d for'tihe Sepretary of State's warrant and stamp. Next, £9 18s 6d for. the AttorneyjreneraL The -royal -reeommendaton to the Dean and Chapter costs £9 3s od, and the Petty Bag Office must be "gratified" to tie «xteni of £46 19s 6d. - Later on bh& mMibrible department demands a further £48 26 6d. A fiat from IJaimibetfh PaiSace coats £21. The Vioar-genenal's Office vwtoops down with a demand for £31 ; & claim for £20 proceeds from Doctors' Commons Library, and £10 is fche price of the installation mandate. - — The statuary in tha Burns oxausoleuta »t Allowe-y, representing the poet at ime plough, has for some time been snowimg sign* o! discollora-taion and decay. A good many years ago the structure was enclosed ■with" glass, with tlie object of preserving the marble from the action of the weather; but an eminen* sculptor has advised the committee of the Burns Cflub, who are oubtodLans of the mausoh?um, that the exclusion of air is likely to have been the occasion of the mischief, and also to have given ri*e to damp, which has been a cause of trouble. Steps will therefore be taken to secure" a free current by the removal of at least a portion of the glass screen, and the statuary will, on the advice- of the gentleman referred to. be treated with a jeleaneing and-preservative solution. —.Six columns of the Times were aocupied by the judgment o£ the -Court of Appeal in a matrimonial case where a Frenchman had married an Englishwoman in Enffland, and Afterwards had a decree of nullity of marriage declared in France at the instance of his father, whose consent had hot been obtained to the marriage. It was held by the Court of Appeal that although She Englishwoman's marriage was null and ♦oid in France owing to the French court's Hecieion, it was perfectly valid in England. JBhe was therefore "wife and no wife." The imfortunafce thing was that she had married again, and her second husband now wished fo get the marriage annulled— which was none, so that she has twice contracted an i* valid marriaia.

— Working men afraid to apply for small holdings in districts where one all-powerful landlord holds sway have been invited by the Board of AgniouAtuie to send their applications confidentially to the secretary of the Small Holdings Coanmissrikyners, statin® their' difficulties. In due course an official will investigate the circumertiances and act ac an intermediary betweeai flhe local authority and the landowner concerned.