FACTS AND FANCIES.

Thames Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 14685, 27 November 1913, Page 7

FACTS AND FANCIES.

;?ow Cat-Gut is Made.

There may still bo some who, misled by the name, think the domestic cat is sacrificed for trie necessity of the fisherman and other users of

cat-gut. As a matter of fact, this substance, which combines in so remarkable a way the qualities of strength, lightness, and inconspicuousness, is made from the silkworm. The chief seat of its manufacture is the island of Procida, in the Bay of Naples. Most of the silkworms used are reared near Torre Annunziata, at the foot of Vesuvius. When the caterpillas are about to spin they are killed and the silk glands are removed. These are picked in some way, which is a trade secret, and drawn out into the familiar threads.

The Oldest See.

Which is the oldest see in the United Kingdom is very uncertain, since the names in the long lists of British Bishops of London and •»ther dioceses are of dubious historic accuracy, and not even traditional dates are given. Llandaff claims that it is the oldest see in the British Isles, with the exception of Sodor and Man. It is urged, however, that it has a strong claim to be regarded as the most ancient see of all, for whereas Sodor and Man dates from A.D. 447, when St. Patrick landed at Peel and consecrated one of his followers Bishop of the Island, there is a tradition that King Lucius built a church at Llandaff about the year A.D. 170, and that the Bishop Adelfius who was present at the Council of Aries "n A.D. 314 was of Caerleon-on-Usk.

Lifeiong Labor.

Life accustoms the Filipino woman to labour at an early age. As a tiny girl she is rarely seen without an appendage in the shape of a baby brother or sister perched on her hip. When she grows a few inches taller and a few degrees stronger she is pressed into service as a watercarrier, bearing heavy jars of water poised gracefully on her head from the river to her home. Then, too, she works in the fields, and a vivid bit of colour she makes in her shor'V kilted, scarlet skirt. When she becomes a woman, and she is a woman at fifteen or before, she may have a small shop to tend, and there is the rice to beat, and much other work to do. She tends the fields, cooks, and frequently has a stall in the market for several hours a day.

St. Bernard Dogs.

Although the tunnels which now connect Switzerland with Italy have greatly decreased the importance of the St. Bernard and other passes, especially during the eight months of snow, it is still deemed advisable to employ St. Bernard dogs. It is no longer customary, however, to send out the dogs alone, with baskets of food and drink; a man always accompanies them. These dogs are not really of the famous old St. Bernard breed- That orignated in the fourteenth century, through a cross between a shepherd dog from Wales and a Scandinavian dog whose parents were a Great Dane arid a Pyrenean mastiff. The last pure descendant of, this tribe was buried under an avalanche in v 86. Fortunately, there were found subsequently at Martigny and on the Simplon Pass, a few dogs, which, crossing \vith mates from Wales, yielded the modern St. Bernard dog ,which 1 is physically even stronger than his mediaeval namesake, and shares most of his traits.

The Mighty Drop

To allow drop after drop of water to fall upon his head for an hour is a mode of persuasion sometimes practised by John Chinaman when he wishes to force a confession from a criminal. The suffering which this entails is terrible. A student once laughed at his professor when he assured him that he would not be able to let a pint of water fall drop by drop upon his head. "Try me," said the student, with scorn. The measure was procured, and a hole drilled' in the bottom sufficient to let the water escape drop by drop. The experiment began. The student chatted gaily at first. The professor stood by and counted the drops as they fell At the two hundredth the sceptic became less jovial, then he became sober, and then an expression of pain crossed his face. At the three hundredth his head began to swell and grow red. The pain increased, and, at length became excruciating. Then the skin burst. Finally, at the four hundredth and twentieth drop the sufferer acknowledged his defeat.

What is the Mistral?

The mistral is a famous wind which blows cold and strong in South-Eastern France. In the district where it prevails the trees all lean towards the south-east, and the gardens have to be protected on the north-west side, from which the wind comes, by lofty walls. One winter in Marseilles a carriage in which a lady was driving was blown bodily into a canal by-the mistral, and both the lady and the horse were drowned. In consequence of this accident, and of other manifestations of the power of this destructive wind, the Mayor of Marseilles, issued an order that no carriage should be allowed to drive alongside the canals or the harbour while a mistral was blowing. 1