Miscellaneous.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 505, 24 January 1906, Page 7

Miscellaneous.

THE finest-looking people in France are the Tziganes, or gipßies, of Hungary. Physically they are splendid specimens of men and women, and are rarely ill. So pare is their blood that their wounds quickly heal without the application of medioaments. ;

The whirling winds of Arabia sometimes excavate sand pits to the depth of 200 ft.. the rim usually being three times that length in diameter. A sand pit thus ruaae may be entirely obliterated in a few hours, and another exoavated within a short distance of it.

No Japanese ever sleeps with bis head to tho north. This i 3 beoause the dead in Japan are always buried with their heads in that position. In the sleeping rooms oi many of the private houses and hotels a diagram of the points of the compass is posted upon the oeiling for the convenience of guests.

A custom that has existed for some oenturies is still maintained in certain towns on the Lower Bbine. Early in the year- on-,auotion day—the town-orior or olerk calls all the young people together, and, having chosen attractive maidens sells to the highest bidders the privilege of daooing with them, and them only, during the entire year. The fees go into the publio poor box.

A new word has been introduced into the Flemish language. It is snelpaardelooszondeerspoorwegpetrolirijduig. The etymology is: 'Snel,' rapid; ' paardeloo3,' horseless; 'zoondeerspoorweg,' without tails; ' petrolirijtuig,' driven by petroleum. The whole word, as oan be easily seen, means motor-oar.

In Malay the natives keep & r«oord of time in the following way. Floating in a buoket filled with water they plaoe a ooooanufc. shell having a small perforation, through whioh by slow degrees the water finds its way inside. This opening is so proportioned that it takes just one hour for the shell to fill and sink. Then a watchman oalls out, the shell is emptied, and the prooeoss is bspun again, CATS AS FOOD, In Northern Italy the oat ia a favourite artiole of food, even though paopla are forbidden by law from-partakiug of the animal. Indeed, oats are fattened and grown for tke market with great oare, and the Italians believe that they far surpass rabbits in every good quality, l'he method of oooking the animal is to roast it in an oven until brown, with onions, garlio, parsley, bay leaf, red wine, and some fragrant herbs, other than those mentioned, smoking extraordinary; The Spaniards are the most expert smokers in the world. A Spaniard takes a heavy pull at his cigarette, inhales the smoke, takes up a wine skin or bottle, pours half a pint down his throat, holds the vessel a foot from his mouth without spilling a drop, and then with a sigh of satisfaction doses his eyes and exhales the smoke from his nosa and mouth in olouds. He will also inhale the smoke, converse for a few minutes in a natural manner, and then blow out the smoke. COURAGE IN THE ARAB HORSE. Arabian horses show remarkable oourage in battle. It is said that when a horse of this breed finds himself wounded, and knows instinctively that he will not be able to oarry his rider much longer, he quickly retires, bearing his master to a plaoe of safety while he has yet sufficient strength But if, on the other hand, the rider is wounded and falls to the ground, the faithful animal remains beside him, unmindful of danger, neighing until assistance is brought, THE BALANCE OF NATURE. An interesting story is told of the disturbance of the balance of nature in Jamaica. Snakes were at one time numerous in the island, but now there are none. Bats amounted almost to a plague. In order to keep both down the mongoose was imported from the Bast. This brave little beast soon made an end of the snakes, while tbe rats, in order to save themselves took to the trees, and became egg-eateis and bird destroyers, This reduoed tbe number of birds, and in turn the oattletioks increased, and beoame a nuisance. How the tioks are worrying the mongoose by getting into his ears, whence the intruders cannot easily be dislodged. THE FLEETS OF THE WORLD. The tables whioh Mr Brassey publishes in the new issue of' The Naval Annual' show that England is maintaining the comparative strength of its fleet. In order to avoid any over-counting, we eliminate the 19 third- olass oruissrs whioh are struok off the effective list in the Parliamentary return, but whioh Mr Brassey still includes. We find that the figures of effective fighting ships built and building, stand thus: AH ships. Battleships, Great Britain 178 65 Franoe 93 36 . United States 75 36 Germany 69 35 Russia 44 26

AH UP-TO-DATE SHOPKEEPER. One of the most useful employees in the great New York ' Stores ' is—or is said to be—the * mistake-olerk,' who might more correctly be desoribed as the ' soape-goat olerk.' Whenever a oustomer oomplains of anything, the manager invites iihem to oali, and in their pre&enoe sends for the soape-goat, who enters, pale-faced and trembling. The manager falls up an bim hip and thigh, and final y dismisses him without notioe. Thereupon, in nine oases out of ten, the oustomer relents, appeals that the oulprit be reinstated, and goeß away on exoellent terms with herself, and with the establishment where her complaints carry suoh instant weight, Tho soape-goat has no other duties, and ia well paid, his chief qualification being a lean and hungry, anxious' and desponding appearanoe.

THE STATIONS Of LONDON

London has no fewer than ten main systems of railway radiating from it. This number is exclusive of the eight looal. mes of the Metropolis. A recent return showed that there were 255 railway passenger stations within Bix miles of St. Paul's, and 391 within twelve miles, and these numbers have since been considerably added to by the opening of the * tube lines ' and by the growth of the suburbs. The Great Eastern Railway Company alone has about eighty passenger stations within the twelvemile radius, the Brighton Company coming next with about fifty. Many of the stations in London are used by the trains of more than one Company, and if eaoh station be given oredit for eaoh Company whose trains run into it the total is probably no less than 700 for the 458 square miles whioh lie within the twelve-mile radius of Charing Dross,