Varieties.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, 17 September 1903, Page 7

Varieties.

CHANCES OP MULTIPLE BIRTHS. SWKjOUNG persons on the verge of matrimony are interested in &&&. statistics with reference to multiple b»rths. They will be comforted in knowing that the chances of what is called eb attack of 'twinsy' are as cne in 80 bir.hs. Of triplets there is only one instance in 6400, which justifies a claim en the 'King's bounty'; and quadruplets are as one to 512,000; while the chances of a quintette are even more remote, the ratio being one in 40 980,000 births. The figures are grateful and comforting, although a case is mentioned in which a woman presented he; husband with S6ven successive triplets. CLEKGTMEN AND BEAEDS. In Central Europe there is at present a movement on foot among Roman Catholic clergymen to induce their spiritual superiors to dispense tbem from the obligation of shaving. Among the grounds they advance in support of their petition is the disadvantage to which they are constantly exposed of being mistaken for actors—against whose allurements it is their business to warn their flocks. In the next place there is the discomfort of shaving, and the sorry appearance of a man whose razor gefs a fortnight's holiday. 'ltis an established fact,' says the journal quoted, 'that the obligation of shaving inflicts exquisite suffering and horrible torture upon many of us especially upon those who have an abundant growth of hair on the chin.' How the matter will end it is impossible to say, but in several individual cases dispensations have been obtained to wear the beard. ■ REMARKABLE DINNER. Several flourishing American societies are composed of sufferers from various diseases who meet to discuss their ailments and endeavour to discover the best means of cute. The Hay Fever Association, one of the largest of these societies, has several thousand members.

A remarkable meeting of this kind occurred recently at San Francisco, where Miss Emily Rosenstein, a wealthy woman, gave a dinner to a large number of people who had undergone surgical operations for appendicitis. Not until they had assembled for dinner did the guests realise the particular tie which made them akin. The table was decorated with a miniature operating table, on which lay a large wax doll, surrounded by miniature replicas of the surgical instruments used in performing the operation for appendicitis. Another doll dressed as a hospital surgeon stood by the operating table. Miniature bandages, hot water bags and other appliances were also displayed. Theeo were surrounded by exquisite floral decorations emblematic of rejoicing. When the recent victim 3of appendicitis were seated there was great merriment, and they heartily congratulated each other. ROYAL RESIDENCES DESTROYED. By a strange coincidence the three residences of the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie have all been destroyed by fire since the fall of the Empire. First the Chateau de Sb. Cloud was burnt daring the siege of Paris, whether by the French or German shells has never been known; then the Palace of the Tuileries was set on fire by the Communists, and now the ' Villa Eugenie,' as it is always called, has been burnt at Biarritz. The Empress Eugenie had, as a girl, spent several summers at Biarritz, then only a fishing yillagei and when she married Napoleon 111. she induced him to build his villa, where the Imperial Court always spent the autumn. After the fall of the Empire the Villa, which was in reality an extensive mansion was sold by the Empress, and 'run' as a casino before being converted into the Hotel du Palais. It was here that Lord and Lady Dudley spent a fortnight in the beginning of January, and among the - guests actually in the hotel at the time of the fire were Lord Avebury and Lord and Lady Brassey, while the Marquis and Marchioness of Linlithgow were on their way to the hotel. This is the third great fire that has occurred at Biarritz of late years, for the British Club, which faces the Hotel du Palais, and the old Caßino were both burnt to the ground.

Tommy: «I say, Mr Yabsley, siater Laura said at the table this morning that she thought you had the prettiest "moustache she ever saw.' Tabsley: ' You oughtn't to teil things you hear at the table, Tommy.* Tommy: ' But she is going to give me b peony for telling you.'