Miscellaneous.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 695, 29 September 1909, Page 7

Miscellaneous.

Roller-skates were invented by Plympton, in 1863.

. Church bells were made by Paudinrus to drive away demons, about 400

The daguerreotype was invented by Daguerre and the first miniatures were produced in 1838.

Copper-plate engraving was first done in 1511, wood engraving in 1709, etching on metal with acid in 1512.

A certain Chinese sect teaches that women who become vegetarians will be transformed into men in the great hereafter.

The Caspian Sea is the largest inclosed body of water in the world. Its extreme length is 400 miles, and extreme breadth 200 miles.

The wings of the owl are lined with soft down that enables the bird to fly Without making the slightest sound, a very important matter to a nocturnal bird of prey.

In Holland the peasant girls who are swainless at fair time hire yourag men for the occasion. A handsome man who is a good dancer has a high value, so much so that sometimes three girls have to club together to hire one swain.

A "size" in a coat is an inch ; in underwear, two inches; in shoes, onesixth of an inch; in trousers, one inch ; in gloves, one-fourth of an inch ; and in hats, one-eighth of an inch.

Excavations at the Mexican village of Ixtapalapa have brought to light *he remains of a man who must have been nearly 15 ft. high.

The orange and the lemon are both said to be fatal to the cholera bacillus. Placed in -contact with the cut surface of the fruit, the bacteria survive but a few hours.

It is generally agreed among naturalists that the tortoise is the longestlived of all animals. There are many instances of their attaining the extraordinary age of 250 years, while one is actually mentioned as reaching the unparalleled age of 405 years. Notwithstanding these examples, which, of course, are exceptionally rare, the ordinary tortoise only five on an average, from 100 to 150 years.

NO ALCOHOL IN ICELAND. A Bill prohibiting all import and sale of intoxicants in any shape or form, even in cakes, sweets or chocolates, has been introduced in the Icelandic Parliament. The Bill further ordains that ships arriving in Iceland shall have their stock of spirits and other alcoholic beverages under seal whilst in Icelandic waters, and that those seals may only be released by the authorities when the ship leaves. For manufacturing and medicinal pwposes alcohol will be imported and sold by the Government in denaturalised state. It is said that the Bill has every prospect of becoming law, as. a vote of the people, which preceded its introduction, is in favour of absolute prohibition of any kind of alcohol.

"WIRELESS" ON RAILWAYS. That wireless telegraphy as a means of communication between moving trains and dispatching offices is possible has been proved. Messages have been received in Cleveland from the Marconi operator aboard a train of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company. Cleveland first came into communication with the train when the latter was eighty miles away, and running at seventy miles an hour. Cleveland was equipped only with a receiving instrument, the test, because of this, being incomplete. That a thorough test of the wireless is to be made by the Lake Shore was the declaration of the general pass.enger agent. He is enthusiastic in his praise of the results obtained in the test. Chicag-o officers of the road also are quoted as praising the wireless as a means of communicating with trains. It is declared that the test's success means that accidents can be eliminated in a large degree.

The opinion is expressed that railroads all over the world will at once investigate the use of wireless, with the probability that dispatching would soon be accomplished by this means, keeping trains in constant communication with dispatching offices, so that not the slightest chance of accident preventable by warning shall remain.

TERRIBLE POWER OF THE DREADNOUGHTS. With a speed of 21.85 knots per hour it is possible for a vessel of the Dreadnought type stationed at the mouth of the Thames to strike a blow within twenty-four hours on the southern coasts of Norway, or at any point thence along the seaboards of Germany, Holland, Belgium, or Northern France, and even a considerable disance south of Cape Ushant on the Bay of Biscay. The great factor in the fighting value of the Dreadnought, though her range of action'is important is, of course (writes a correspondent of the "Daily News") her armour and her ■hit'ge guns. No fewer than ten breechloading 12 in. guns are mounted in her armoured turrets formed of 12 in. thick steel plates. Imagination almost boggles at the death-dealing capacity of a Dreadnought gun. Weighing almost as much as two express passenger trains, these successors of the "Woolwich Infant" fire a projectile weighing 850 lb., or nearly 7f cwt. .The cordite charge weights a further 225 lb. —just over 2 cwt. The shot leaves the gun at the rate of 2900 feet per second, and to so great perfection has the automatic loading of the guns been brought that two rounds per minute can be fired from each gun. As each shot fired costs in round figures .£l5O, to work her guns at top speed would cost £SOOO per minute. It is sometimes questioned whether in a young Navy like that of Germany che training of the men can have been kept abreast of the- perfection of the machine. What is certain is that our own ships, and especially our own guns, are efficiently handled. One of the Dreadnoughts, while steaming at 14 knots an hour, and firing at an object 8000 yards distant, moving at an unknown speed, and in an unknown direction, struck the target thirteen times out of the fifteen shots fired.