All Sorts

New Zealand Tablet, 5 November 1908, Page 38

All Sorts

For r every ton of golds in circulation- there are fifteen tons of silver. Hyde Park contains -400 acres; Phoenix Park, Dublin, 1760 • acres; Central Park, .New, Y0rk,. 862 acres; Yellowstone National Park — the largest in the world — is 2,288,000 acres in extent. Seafish and shellfish are hatched artificially on an enormous scale in Norway and North America, the .Newfoundland hatchery turning out in one year 15,000,000 of cod fry and 400,000,000 of young lobsters. 'As swift as the flight of a swallow ' is no idle phrase. Indeed, the little swallow is said to be the swiftest of all birds. .It easily accomplishes two hundred and ten feet a second, and has been known to attain the tremendous speed of two hundred and ninety feet in the same short time. A lady on one of the ocean liners who seemed very much afraid of- icebergs asked the captain what would happen in case of a collision. The captain replied : ' The iceberg would move right along, madam, just as if nothing happened,' and *he old lady seemed greatly relieved. '.I'm going to tell my daddy of you,' said little Willie, as the blacksmith was paring some shavings from the horse's hoof. *"Why, what have I done?' asked the blacksmith. ' You haven't got any shoes to fit Dobbin, an' you're cutting his feet small to suit those you have got.' China took its name from Tsin, an emperor who founded a dynasty 300 years before the Christian era. He was the monarch who built the great wall and accomplished many other works of utility to the empire. It is also called the ' Celestial Empire,' because most of its early rulers claimed to be of heavenly descent.- ' And have you any brothers and sisters, my little man? ' asked the kind old lady. ' Yes'm,' replied the little man; 'I've got one sister and one and a-half brothers!' ' What? ' 'Yes, ma'am; two half-sisters and three- half-brothers.' The oldest man in the world, as far as we can discover, is a Russian persant, Michael Boudnikoff by name. He is now one hundred and twenty-eight years old. He entered the Russian army in 1797, was married ninety-six years ago, and has been a widower for the last sixty years. His health is excellent and his mind perfectly clear, and he still smokes his pipe. Recently a certain candidate for political honors was addressing the electors of the district, and was engaged in pulling to pieces the claims to election put forward by his opponent. 'To sum up,' he remarked, ' my opponent has not a leg to stand upon.' From the back of the hall came an answering voice, ' The more reason that he should have a seat.' Upon moving into a new neighborhood, the small boy of the family was cautioned not to fight with his new acquaintances. One day Willie came home with a black eye and very much bespattered with mud. ' Why, Willie,' said Mamma, ' I thought I told you to count a hundred before you fought ! ' ' 1 did, mamma,' answered Willie, ' and this is what Tommy -Smith did while I was counting.' . When King Willliam of Normandy invaded England and. conquered the people, he made some very strict laws, and deprived _ them of many things they had enjoyed before. Every night, all over the kingdom, he caused bells to be rung at exactly eight o'clock, as a signal for all fires to be put out and all lights ._ extinguished. The curfew-bell at eight o'clock came from the Norman French couvre and feu — ' to cover the fire,'— because "at that time the embers on the heartKstbne had to be covered with ashes. . J