All Sorts

New Zealand Tablet, 20 August 1908, Page 38

All Sorts

~ In Madagascar silk is the only fabric used in the manufacture of clothing. It ,is cheaper than linen in- Ireland. - A humorist is a man who is just silly- enough to "make ■ people laugh with him, while a fool is one who'is serious enough to make people laugh at him. ' Mistress :-' Didn't the ladies who called leave cards?' Maid : ' They wanted to, ma'am, but I told- them you had plenty of your own, and better, too.' ' ' . - 'Some novelists don't know what they're talking about. Here's one who speaks of a girl's " raven hair." ' ' What's wrong with it?' ' All wrong! Ravens don't wear hair; they wear feathers!' '_I like your choir,' said the visitor. ' Indeed?' said the gratified conductor of the Musical Society. „' Yes ; they have - grit. They think for themselves. They .do not allow their efforts to be diverted by the' mere mechanical accuracy of the | organ.' ' The climate here is salubrious, isn't it?' remarked the tourist. ' Say, friend,' replied the native, ' jest write that there word down, fur me, .will ~yer? I git tired o' swearinl. at this climate in the same old way.' That's a new one.' First Milkman : ' What is them bacteria they talk so much about?' Second ditto: 'Oh, that's a high-sounding name for them little anymiles ye see in cheese afore they're out of their teens. Ye see, these here insects is called parisites in France, germs in Germany, and mikerobes in Ireland.' ' The Cockney has been behaving offensively -at the Irish Village in the Franco-British Exhibition in London. He got th« worst of it, however. ' Where are the pigs,' said one brilliant Londoner on entering to one of the girls in charge. The reply came quickly : ' We have not been able to secure any yet ; — - could you stay?' Afghanistan may some day be one of the world's great mining districts. .It is known to have mines of rubies, topaz, lapis lazuli, marble and other stones ; iron, lead, copper, anti-_ . mony and other metallic ores ; sulphur and several of the earthly alkaline and metallic salts. Coal is also found, "and is believed to be extensive, near the iron mines. «-* An English paper notes with regret that the English people have ceased to be the best horsemen in Europe. At the recent exhibition of horsemanship in London the first prize went 10 an Italian officer, the second to a Belgian, and the third to an English Yeoman. The only grain of comfort which -the paper finds in the result is that the horses that took first and second places were bred in Ireland. There are said to be 10,000,000 migrator}' sheep in Spain, which travel on occasions as much as 200 miles from the plains to the mountains. They are known as transhumantes, and'their march,. resting places, and behavior are regulated by special regulations dating from the fourteenth century. At certain times no one may travel the same route as the sheep, which have "the right to graze on all open and common land on the way. Among all the popular games of to-day none perhaps is of greater antiquity than tennis, for it is said to have originated In the ball games of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the first place, the ball was struck by the hand, later on heavy gloves were worn or cords strapped round the palm, and the racket' was contrived during the fifteenth century in France,, where the game was very popular, and "thence introduced into England.^ ,_ ny - .It is not generally known- (says Bank Notes) that- the Ba"nk of England contains within its walls a graveyard. The Gordon Riots' in 1780, during" which the bank "was attacked " by a mob, called attention to the necessity for strengthening its ' defences. Competent authorities advised that an adjoining church, having the peculiar name of St. Christopher-le-Stocks, was, in a military sense,, a source of danger, and an Act of Parliament was passed to enable the directors to purchase the church and its appurtenances. . This, now tastefully laid out, is called the ' Bank Garden ',; in it is the largest lime tree in London. ' ' '