All Sorts

New Zealand Tablet, 16 July 1908, Page 38

All Sorts

In China a mile is anything from a quarter of a mile to a mile and three-quarters, according to the province in which it may happen to be. .

The. highest active volcano is Popocatepetl, near Pueblo, Mexico. It is 17,550 ft above sea level, and has a crater 2000 ft wide.

The largest theatre in the world is the Opera House in Paris. It covers*three acres of ground, and it cost nearly five millions ' Sterling.

Teacher: 'What are the .three personal pronouns?' Pupil: ' He, she, and it. 1 Teacher: 'Give an example of their use.' Pupil: 'Husband, wife, and baby.'

Teacher : ' Can you tell me the difference between caution and cowardice? Bright Boy: 'Yes, ma'am. When you are afraid yourself, that's caution; when the other fellow's afraid, that's cowardice.'

' At last,' said the ambitious young novelist, ' I have written something that I -think will be accepted by the first magazine it is sent to.' 'What is it?' his friend asked. 'A cheque for a year's subscription.' Bobby: ' Mamma, am I a lad?' Mamma : ' Yes, Bobby. ' Bobby: 'And is my new papa my step-fathev?' Mamma : ' Yes. '

Bobby : ' Then I am his step-ladder. '

Gibraltar, from a strategical point of view, is the greatest fortress in the world. It occupies a rock peninsula three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, which juts abruptly into the sea. Us highest point is -1439 ft above sea level, and its northern face is almost perpendicular, while its east side is full of steep, impassable precipices. It is considered impregnable. A noted physician called on an exceedingly cranky patient, and was surprised to find hardly any improvement from the previous day. 'Why,' said he, 'what's the matter? Did you follow my prescription?' ' Not I,' replied the man. 'If I had I would have probably broken my neck, for I threw your old prescription out of the window.'

Kind Lady : ' How many are there in the family besides yourself?' Little Amy : ' Four— mamma, papa, sister, and a distant relative. ' Kind Lady : ' That is only three. The distant relative is not a relative of the family. ' Little Amy : ' Oh, yes, he is. He is my brother.' Kind Lady: 'Your brother? Then he isn 't a distant relative. ' Little Amy : ' Yes, ma'am • he's in South Africa.' '

Recent statistics show that the number of horses in the Argentine is greater than in any other country. It is estimated that there are 4,762,340 horses, or about 112 for every 1000 persons. Siberia follows with 85 per 1000 persons. Next comes the United States, with the proportion of 62. In England it is 13, in France 7, and in Germany 5. For some time it has been a matter of concern for France that the best races of horses are deteriorating through the purchases by foreign countries.

The Chinese school children have instilled into them at an early age habits of hard, steady study. At the age of five the boy begins his schooling. At daylight he arises, and, after dressing as quickly as possible, he starts breakfastless to school. He is given a task, and after it is completed he is allowed an hour for luncheon, but he is at his study nearly twelve hours a day, seven days a week. - All his time, when he is' not reciting his lessons, he is studying aloud at the top of his voice. He is under the eyes of his master both in school and on his way to and from school". The lad is taught rudimentary physics and natural history, but greater stress is put upon writing and his literary subjects. ' A Thousand Letters,' a poem, is the study that -forms the backbone of his literary education. In it are taught the duties of children to parents and all such matters Whatever the study may be, history, classics, or science, every lesson is learnt and repeated word for word.