Miscellaneous.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 829, 19 June 1912, Page 7

Miscellaneous.

• Common brown paper may be made to act as a magnet. -At Bornou,. narrow strips of cloths are used instead of coin. The first book printed from unrnovable.metal: types was the Latin Bible in the year 1455. . : , ~ '.-./: /, —-*— n— -,'' i\ c - The record price paid for a racehorse is 37,500 guineas, given by M. E. Blanc for Flying Fox. Ants have brains larger in proportion to the size of their bodies than any Other living creature. On an average, the number of murders' committed in England and Wales every year is about 156. ,

TELEGRAM THAT SAVED INDIA. In connection with the Durbar a museum of Mogul relics has been arranged, which contains, among other objects, the telegram which illustrates Montgomery's great saying "The electric. telegraph saved India." This is the famous telegram dispatched by Brendish on May 11th, 1857, which gave the news of the rebellion to the north of India.,and enabled Lawrence and Edwardes and Nicholson to take steps for the disarmament of regiments on the verge of revolt, and to make those brilliant arrangements for the relief of Delhi by which —and probably by which alone —the Mutiny was crushed out, and Delhi once more returned to her British allegiance.

THE LAST OF THE MAINE. The battleship Maine, whose destruction in Havana Harbour caused the Spanish-American hostilities in 1898, is to receive burial at sea, with full naval honors. The wreck of the vessel has been raised from Hhe bottom,of Havana Harbour,bv the Unit ed; States Government, and preparations are being made to tow the hulk to the depths of the. Atlantic and there sink her. The mainmast is to be erected in the Arlington National Cemetery, at Washington, where the bodies of the dead recovered from the wreck are to be buried. The second mast probably will be given to the Cuban Republic, which has asked for it, for erection as a monnument in Havana. Several other souvenirs will be distributed to historical, naval, and patriotic societies, and a few favoured individuals will receive pieces of thc armament and shells. All the rest will be buried at sea.-

A HUNDRED YEARS' WORK. Cherokee Bill, a halfrbreed Indian negro, who is recognised by the United States census- as being 114 years old, announces that he is going to retire, having been at work for one hundred vears. Cherokee lives at Grand Junction. Colorado, where he is a famous lo'cal character. "I've been working since I was fourteen," he says, "and I think that with one hundred years of work to my credit I am entitled to retire. I did not want to give up until I had 100,000 dollars (twenty thousand pounds), but I am getting so old, and have abandoned the attempt. I.have only 16,000, but that is enough to keep me, I think, until I have no need of money." Cherokee Bill's life storv is an example of the efficacy of existence.*■ All his money came to him within the past fifteen years. Previous to that he made just enough to live as a gold miner, but his luck turned when he was approaching his hundredth birthday. He began to make good finds around Leadville, Cripple Creek ,and the Grand River, and wa? able to put up considerable sums ever< year. Cherokee Bill as no faith in banks, and all his gold is hidden away in secret places about his cabin -shack in the vicinity of Grand Junction. PHOTOGRAPHING THE STOM-, ACH. "An improved apparatus has been made by Dr. Fritz Lang, of Munich, by- which the inside of the stomach can be clearly photographed. The camera is actually swallowed by the patient, and-ho sooner, does it reach his stomach than the walls thereof are illuminated by a small electric lamp attached .to the apparatus. At the bottom of the camera is wound a photograph film 20 in long, and a quarter t»f an inch. wide. All the surgeon has to da is to pull 'the cord and thus run the film past the lens. The electric sensitive film has been impressed with the image the current is turned off and another section of the film is brought into play, until the requisite number of pictures have been obtain ed. When this'is done the entire ap-? paratus is withdrawn from the stomach. ' : CATCHING A TIGER WITH BIRDI LIME. To catch an active and strong .animal- like the tiger, with bird-lime, seems an impossible feat, but an Indian writer informs us that this has

been, done on. mofi^thah.one occasion by the natives. • A/'tree :l whosjji'nrst branch 1* a.jout 12 feet from We ground is chosen near the haunt of the tiger./ Qn this; branch is securely fastened a temptingpiece of meat. A number, of leaves covered/with sticky substance like bird-lime, made / from the sap of a tree, are scattered thickly on the ground for some distance round the tree bearing the -meat, . The; tiger ;6h his prowl, scents the meat, and makes a spring for it. It is so' placed that it is just beyond the; l<sap>Qf I an average tiger, and nefmisses /it, and cpmfes down on the /sticky leaves. He probably makes one of two more attempts, and then notices that his paws are being clogged with leaves. In his attempts to get rid of them, he wipes his paws on the ground, thus making matters worse. He probably then tried to clean his feet on his body arid head, and gets the paste m his eyes, causing him excruciating pain. In his agony and anger he rolls on the ground, getting absolutely cover-' ed with the leaves, so that. his eyes are blinded ,and the watching.natives can approach and kill him with safety- : : v'■ -V. . , •*»« COLORED DIAMONDS; The mention of the word "dia-. mond'": immediately brings to mind the picture of a translucent, white gem. Not all diamand's, however, are white. The most beautiful of all precious stones is said to be the red diamond. This surpasses the ruby in beauty, and is exceedingly rare. "A few specimens are known to exist, one of ..which weighing ten carats, now .in , possession* of the Emperor of Russia, was bought by Emperor Paul for ,£20,000, ' ", Dark blue diamonds are handsome gems. Besides the Bismark and Hope diamonds, there are only two known specimens in the world that can properly be called blue diamonds. Black and rose colored diamonds are also rare; while the green varieties are not so uncommon* The grass green is. scarce, and when it does occur, it is more brilliant than the finest emerald. - •--..' . •There are several varieties of greentinted diamonds at the Museum of Natural History at Paris: but the best known specimen is at Dresden, which is considered one of the five paragons of its kind.