All Sorts

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 24, 18 June 1908, Page 38

All Sorts

They say a woman can't keep a secret. Ask one her age. 9 ■ - People always remember where they got a favorwhen they want another. * Laugh, and the world laughs with you,' isn't true, when you're laughing at your own jokes. 'I tell you, sir, there is danger in the higher education of women.' ' Yes— for the uneducated man.' If a man finds fault with his dinner, and his wife doesn t get angry, it's a sign they're dining away from home. Wheat seed will germinate in one day, but barley takes seven days, and peach kernels • require twelve months. — M The successful man not only takes advantage of the opportunities that come his way, but he manufactures a few for himself. xi // t.t .J vas stated recently in the House of Commons that the annual cost of a first-class British battleship in full commission was £231,500. A torpedo-boat deS o r nL er cost £17 ' 500 > and a first-class torpedo-boat £6000. ' Say ! ' asked the lad of ten who had A most inquiring mind, c Who is it loses all the fault That other people find ? ' 'Yes,' said the tramp, who was explaining his method, I always tell the lady of the house that I was injured on the field.' ' What field ? ' asked the inexperienced beginner. ' Well, if a young lady, I say football field, an' if it's an old lady 1 say battlefield.' 1 Your Honor,' said the lawyer, ' I ask the dismissal of my client on the ground that the warrant fails to state that he hit Bill Jones with malicious intent.' ' This court,' replied the country justice, • ain't a graduate of none of your technical schools. I don't care what he hit him with. The pint is, did he hit him ? Perceed.' The oldest house in America is in St. Augustine, Fla. In 1564 it was built by the monks of the Order of St. Francis, and the whole of the solid structure is composed of coq,uina, a combination of sea shells and mortar, which is almost totally indestructible. When Francis Drake sacked and burned the town this was the only house that escaped destruction. The vulture is a most useful bird to man ; feeding on carcases of dead animals and thereby removing a danger to the health of the people living in tropical countries, remarks the ' Weekly Telegraph.' When an animal falls dead or dying these birds are in attendance in remarkably short time, though none were perceptible on the whole horizon previous to the animal dropping. They possess, however, wonderful powers of vision in soaring to a tremendous height, and have therefore a large field of view. They can also tell by the movements of other vultures in the air. So by such means these birds are attracted to the same spot from an area of many miles. The natives of India before the advent of the rifle had many ingenious methods of fighting their animal enemies, remarks the ' Weekly Telegraph.' Luckily, most wild beasts are very greedy and obstinate, and taking advantage of these facts the natives were able sometimes successfully to cope with the tigers, bears, and snakes which annoyed them. According to A. S. Ghosh, who writes in .the ' Strand,' one of the methods used against the bears w*as as follows : ' A tree was selected with a strong horizontal bough some 12 ar 15 feet from the ground, and on this was placed some goat flesh or honey. Just above the bait, and about a foot nearer the trunk of the tree, they suspended a heavy stone by means of a stout rope, thus forming a pendulum. The bear, allured by the bait, climbs the tree, and walks along the bough. Noticing^ the obstacle, however, he pushes it aside with his paw. The weight -of course swings back and strikes him heavily. " With a growl at this unlooked-for assault, he pushes it away with greater force than before, only to receive a severer blow. And so the contest goes on, till the obstinate bear is knocked off the tree, and is probably so stunned that the natives can finish him off at their ease.