OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Tobacco was legal tender in the American States when they were still colonies of j Great Britain. . The United States has 139,817 Sunday J schools, or more than half the number in | tho entire world. | The average weekly wages paid to female i labourers of all classes in Germany is a little over 9s each. The screw of an Atlantic liner revolves something like 630,000 times between Liverpool and New York. The Welsh National Eisteddfod is the biggest open-air concert in the world. At least 20,000 people attend it every year. The United States have 260,000 school buildings, in which 460,000 teachers are at work teaching nearly 18,000,000 children. It is stated that the healthiest trade in the world is. that of dye-making from coal tar. The average life of a tar worker is 86 vcars. The service of table plate made for the new liner Mauritania, at a cost of £4000, includes 3000 pieces of "hollow" ware, and nearly 16,000 spoons and forks. Most of the diamonds in the world are cut at Amsterdam ; and the trade, which is a very close one, descending from father to son requires great skill and practice. At a wedding in Yorkshire recently the names of the bride and bridegroom were Halfpenny and Penny respectively. In this case the wife was the lesser of the two. The best dogs, for training for purposes of circus tricks, etc., are mongrels. A dog- which has the blood of four or five different breeds generally performs better than a thoroughbred. Good work is being done at Papakura Valley by Mr J. Muir, jun., with an electric battery, which he utilises for blowing up the willows in the main stream which runs through the district. The King has sent to the British Museum a collection of "passwords" used for the Court and the oitv in 1812 and 1820, and signed by George IV. Passwords are still used in the Tower of London. One of the curiosities of the Bank off England is to be seen in the pnntingToom. A man sits at a desk, and every three seconds a machine delivers to bun two complete five-pound notes. The speed of a carrier pigeon, in calm weather, is 1200 yds a minute. W ith a brisk wind prevailing and blowing in the direction of it« flight, a pigeon has been known to make 1900 yds a minute. Socialism is said to be the one subjeot of dieoussion at the coal mining town of Blackball. One resident says they do not know much about it. but they are as happy talking about it as a child with a new toy. A London physicinn declares that a person in robust health walks with his toes pointed to the front, while one with his health on the wane gradually turns his toes to the side, and a band is perceptible in his i knees. . I Mr James Bradford". J.P.. of Buckingham place, Brighton, who began life as a j railwar porter at Helpston, near Peter- . borough, has iust presented hie native place with a block of almshouses, which he has endowed. . An American scientist thinks that he _is about to produce smokeless coal. Its in- j grodients will be 93 per cent, of coal dust and 7 per cent, of tar and caustic lime. Th© last-named article i 3 to prevent the generation of smoke. " TherP are more houses empty in Christchurch than there have been for a long time, and rents have a tendency to sfo down," was the opinion -pxprp-ssetl bv_ a business man before tho local Conciliation Board, says t^« Prea"? An unusually large number of orders of committal to the local mental hospitals have been made by the Wellington magistrates this month. No fewer than 18 were made during the first fortnight, and others have been signed since. A telegram from Rome announces that on hearing of the death at Catania of the mother of the Marquis di San Giuliano, Italian Ambassador to Great Britain, an old servant who had been in the family 40 years committed suicide. A noticeable increase in the imports of glass at Nagasaki, Japan, is reported. It is due to the growing use by the Japanese of. window glass for their houses. Most

of it is of fourth quality, and Belgium is the chief source of supply. In Santa Clara, California, there is a church, constructed from the wood of a single oak tree. Th© building is 30ft wide and 7Gft dcop, and yet when it was completed there still remained a considerable quantity of the tree unused. Experiments have been made at Juterbog, Germany, for the purpose of finding out at what heights balloons can be hit by skilled riflemen. From 600 "to 2000 yards only one in six shots was successful. At 3000 yards the balloons were quite safe. The Wellington Navy League proposes to expend £12 on the purchase of suitable books for presentation as prizes to city school-children. The schoolmasters of Wellington are to be consulted as to what form the competition for the books should take. Although land is reputed to have attained very high valuea in the Dominion, occassionally the sale of cheap properties is reported (cays the Western Star). The other day a farm situated on the banks of the Pcmrakino changed hands at 12s an acre. Federal Servce, the organ of the Commonwealth Public Service Association, is promoting a mammoth petition to both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament in favour of "the establishment of a safe, self-supporting, solvent superannuation scheme." Memory bells are toys given by the Japanese youths to their sweethearts. They are constructed of slips of glass so delicately poised that the least vibration sets them jingling, which serves to remind their owner of the giver; hence the pretty, fanciful name. Joseph Murphy, a commercial traveller, was charged at Dublin with bigamy and was sent to prison for four months. It was stated that an idea prevailed in several parts of Ireland that a marriage in a registry office ceased, to be binding after a lapse oi a certain time. Mr J. Cbrmack, of Moeraki, put. up a record for a c§tch of blue cod last week. He obtained about 7301b of this popular *fish. The previous highest record was about 6001b for a single man. The fi&hing returns for Moeraki, similar, to those at Oamaru, have been very poor lately. Two residents of Camper down, New South Wales— Arthur Aldous, aged' 25, married, coaohbuilder, and Ernest Wilson, aged 21— were drowned on February 9, the firstnamed while fishing off the rocks at the Gap. South Head, Sydney, and the other while bathing in the Woronora River. Probably the most curious Bible class in the West of England is that of deaf mutes which meets near Chalford, Gloucestershire. All the members are deprived of their senses of hearing and speech, and ha%'e to communicate and " talk " to each other by means of the deaf mute alphabet. An oak stake taken from the bed of the Thames" at Brentford, where it had formed part of the pali?ade erected by Cassivelfiunus to defend the ford against Julius Caesar, has been presented by Mr Montapu Sharpe, deputy chairman of the Middlesex Sessions, to the Baling Library. The ages of the various persons indicted a-t the Supremo Court. Wellington, during 1937. were as follow:— 15 to 20 years, 9; 20 to 25 3'ears. 11 (including two females) ; 25 to 30 years. 22 (including three females) : 30 to 40 year?. 28; 40 to 50 years, 12; 50 to 60 years, 3; over 60 years, 1 (aged 65 years). The Perth Morning Herald has tal*en a plebiscite of its readers to ascertain who in their opinion are the eleven greatest Australians. The list is hnaded 1 by Sir John Forest, followed by-Mr A. Dcakin, and Madame Melba. Wonderful to relate, neither Trumper nor Noble are in the first eleven. Children in Italy are not allowed to rub their eyes. When an infant burste into tears no effort is made to repress the emotion, but the youngster is allowed to have its cry out. It is asserted that this beautifies the eyea and makes them clear, while rubbing the eyes injures them in many ways. . The diabolo craze has spread to the Atlantic. On the giant White Star ships of the Adriatio and Baltic type the sticks and spools have become part of the marine games equipment, and on the recent homeward voyage of the Celtic the sun-deck—

that is, the top Jock -lias been renamed] the- " diabolo-deck. ! A Tunbridg© Wells man, summoned Fob keeping a dog which had bitten a maxr. excused himself by stating that the animal was in the habit of guarding his car<s during his absence. By mistake it took charge of a similar vehicle belonging to another man, and bit this man when he? attempted to mount his carr.. A widow woman in Milton lost £34 in notes at the latter end of last week, and i$ has been reported that the money wa9 taken from her purae, which was left rjingj on th© mantelpiece. Should the monej be found, however (says the MirxorK rS would be an act of kindness on the partt of tho finder to return same. Mr Martin Duncan, speaking at tha Society of Arts. London, said tfie ant was» particularly sensitive to the rays of lighfl used in obtaining the photographic imagd fotr cinematograph. Directly rays werd put on an ant he showed every sign of being sack and sorry for himself, and in a few( seconds he curled over and died. Whilst a priest named Travel was on hi* way to celebrate a marriage at Cantreglis©-, near Vesoul, he was stoned by a body oE , villagers In the scuffle which followed °£ c of fire assaailante was <&ot and killetf. When the bndo heard whit had happened! she refused to allow the priest to tie th 3 knot, and the marriage was performed before the registrar only. • The ~ d , i , recfcor of the CThriatohurch Tech* rueal College, Mr J. H. Howeli, in refer* ring to the wool-classing classes of tha college, said that it was to be hoped that the department would soan see its way to provide & room properly equipped for this most important work. The Mayor (M* G. Paling) supported this view, and also spoke of the importance of the industry. The roar of a lion can be heard farfheJl than the sound of any other living creature-.. Next comes the cry of the hyena, and theni the hoot of the owl. After these th« ipanther and the jackal. The donkey- cam bo heard 50 times farther than the horee, and the oat 10 times as far as a dog* Strange to say. the cry of a hare can bd heard farther than that of either tiie c*.ti or the dog. Despite all the efforts that are being made by philanthropic institutions and by private persons to alleviate the distress) which prevails .in New York, the reports l wrhici. come in from all parts of the oltjl show that each day the condition of affairs in the poorer quarters is growing 1 worse* The city will have to find 50,000 beds if it is to give Bhelter to the homeless wan* derers who are crying for assistance. About 90 people in deep mourning' gathered at the house of their relative! Mme. Goderoi, to whose funeral in Parisi they had been summoned by letter. To their astonishment, the supposed corpsa herself admitted theni to the house, and! i explained that she had been declared dead! on Thursday, and letter's had; "been eenfl out the same day. but that she had come tft life again after lying in a trance for 3S hours. The rough-and-ready methods adopted by some Natives in the healing of the siclt "were, it is stated, responsible for the death of a Native girl named Jessie Hake in a settlement north of Hukerenui on Tuesday last. While she was suffering from) inflammation of the lungs she was*,, accord-f ing to the report, dipped into a creek, with the result that she expired shortly afterwards A tangi was held, and the bodjl remained unburied until Saturday, when at warrant to bury was obtained by tho police. Excitement was caused in Sydney street^ Kilmore. on a recent Sunday night (sayst the Argus), by the appearance of a tlger» snake on the footpath as a number of! people were returning from ohurch. Thai snake disappeared under the bar door ol an hotel, and, despite the- provisions of thei Licensing Act, the licensee,' accompanied! by a? friend, entered the baT, and the snakd was killed. The previous Sunday nighti the same snake was seen in an *djoininej neighbour's place playing- with a baby, bul the reptile escaped. A departure in the management of tha canteen in military camps in New Zealand has been tried at the Hutt Park among the Cadets. Instead of cash f coupons only are accepted as tender for purchases in the canteen. A record of expenditure can thus be accurately kept, and as the coupons are only supplied by certain officers the system of accounts is) facilitated. Major Burlinson thinks that the plan might be adopted with advantage i in the larger Volunteer camps. It is ia | use in some Imperial regiments.