All Sorts

New Zealand Tablet, Volume 12, 12 November 1908, Page 38

All Sorts

As a rule a man's' hair turns grey five years sooner that! a woman's. . _ «, ' Customer : '. When i was ' thi9~ chicken killed?' . Waiter : 'We don't furnish dates with chicken, sir. Only bread.' ' Has he much Will-power?' ' I -should say so. He will leave about a million when he dies/ Smith : 'Do you think that seeing is believing?' Mrs. Smith : ' No, I see some people every day I could never believe/ The average amount of sickness in human life is -nine dajs out of one year. The coal consumption ,per head is greater in England than any other country. «*> It requires fifty pounds of candle to produce as much light as one thousand cubic feet of gas. One theory is that America was peopled by migration from north-west Europe, and noy north-eastern" Asia, t>y land in the stone age. The poeticaKGreek name for cradle is the same as the name of the winnowing fan or- basket, the traditional cradle of ' the infant Bacchus. Do not judge men by their raiment .or by their speech. Flattery is a* cheap and belittling thing, and many a shabby man has a noble soul. forever prating about *\ghat his conscience tells him. What does his conscience tell him, anyway?' '.Apparently it usually tells him what awful sinners hr? neighbors are.' • ' Did you hear that the daughter of that rich man in the next street had been driven from home?' INo ! When did it happen • ' Just after she got Into the carriage.' Little Molly sat down to write a letter to her father, who had been absent three months, and this is what she finally sent : ' Dear father — We are all well and happy. The baby has grown ever so much and has a great deal more sense than he used to have. Hoping the same of you, I remain, your daughter, Molly.' Mr. Blank entered a well-known restaurant and ordered two fried eggs. When xfne order was served he was yexed to find a dead fly lying in the middle of one of the eggs. But Mr. Blank was no ordinary mortal, and instead of flying • into a rage and calling the manager of the restaurant, he turned to the waiter and blandly said : ' You have forgotten something. ' . Where is my other fly ?' % There is great variance as to length of life among animals. Some insects live but a few hours, while some fish, elephants, and „ turtles are frequently centenarians. Usually a toad lives to the age of fifteen years, geese from twelve to fifteen, dogs from ten to fifteen, though occasionally they live to a great age; parrots live to an extreme age. These birds have been known to- pass, the age of 200 years. Turtles, storks, and elephants are said to frequently reach the age of 300 years. Drums are probably an eastern idea introduced by the Cru^ saders into Europe. They are frequently mentioned in the accounts of the first crusade. When Edward 111. of England and his queen made their triumphal entry into Calais in 1347, 'tambours' or- drums' were among the instruments which were played in their honor. Another of .these" was called a ' nacaire,' cr' kettledrum, taken, • together with its name, from the Arabs. The poet Chaucer also mentions this instrument in his description of the tournament in 'The Knight's Tale.' The king generally kept a troupe of these landsmen or minstrels in his employ,, and w.e read that Edward if., on one occasion, gave a sum of V ' 60 shillings to ORoger, the trumpeter,) 'jafiino, the' nakerer, and ■ others -fdr their performances. Another .minstrel was called the- ' cheveretter, ' or player on the" bagpipe. 1 . . ' 'j