MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 8, Issue 28, 5 April 1907, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

I • • I "Heart shakes" arc splits which radiate from the center to the circumfer- [ enco of a tree. Last year there were 192,705 milei of telegraphic lines and 993,153 mileß 'of wire in the United States. The 31 beet sugar factories in this country now yield more than a third of our domestic sugar product. Henry 111. of Germany had a complexion so dark that he might easily have been mistaken for a negro. There is a considerable demand for bicycles in Japan, and some automobiles have been recently imported. The first machines for the manufacture of gold pens are said to have been made by John Rendill, of New York. The Persiano have three kinds of guitars—the sitar, the tar and bus—all played either with the fingers or with a plectrum. The United States navy is now ahead of Germany by 3,000 tons, and fourth in the world's navies. Oilcloth should be washed over occasionally with skimmed milk; this treatment improve* its appearance and helps l to preserve it. Many chronological authorities date from the foundation of the world, but the widest possible diversity exists as to when this event occurred. „ - King Edward VII. has a violent dislike of poor English. His own words come slowly, but are alwa;fs well chosen, and he frequently corrects bad grammar that cornea to his ears. One place in the Vatican gardens to which the pope invariably bends his steps on his daily walks is the little menagerie, where he rewards the loyal parrot's cry: "Viva il. papa!" with a double ration of sugar. Formerly most opals cam© from Hungary, and more recently from Mexico. In 1889 an Australian hunter, while pursuing a wounded kangaroo, found an opal. Sine© that time Australia has yielded nearly $8,000,000 worth of opals. ■v- i