GENERAL INFORMATION.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2008, 1 October 1906, Page 7

GENERAL INFORMATION.

One-third of the land surface of the earth is covered with forests. * i- It takes an eyelash twenty weeks r to reach a length of .429 inch, and - then its life is from 100 to 150 days n German engine-drivers are given a gold medal and a sum of money for e every ten years' service without ac- - cident. 1 The stroke of a lion's paw is the t third strongest force in the animall i world. The fust is the blow oi a 3 whale's tail, and tho second is the t kick of a giraffe. ) A bell in a tciuple in North China - has been kept ringing for a century, j A tax is levied in the district for - paying relays of ringers to work ins cessantly day, and night. The British Empire produces oivo- - third of the world's coal, one-ninth ' of its copper, one-eighth of its iron, • one fifth of its lead, onoJiinth of its silver, and one-half of its gold. The Kaiser having been appointed a captain-general in the Spanish Army, there remains now no European force, military or naval, in which he does not hold honorary rank. He possesses at least 150 uniforms. * The tea used in the immediate household of the Emperor of China is treated with the utmost care. It is raised in a garden surrounded by a wall, so that neither man nor beast, can get anywhere near the plants. * In Russia it is not considered proper for a girl to dance a whole waltz or polka with one partner. Three or four men dance a round or two each with the same lady, returning her to her original partner at the end of the dance. i * Waterloo, a town in lowa, has a church for which one immense glacial boulder furnished practically all the material. The huge stone before being blasted was 28ft. high, 30ft. wide, and 20 ft. thick. It was estimated to weigh 5.125.0001b. A boy's hair grows one-half slower than a girl's. In boys the average rate of growth is 3ft. 3in. in six years, being an average of .018inch per day. During the 21st and 24th years a man's hair grows quicker than at any other period. + Gambling in the British Navy, though illegal, is still carried on to a greater extent than is generally imagined. Nor ie this surprising, when it is considered that Jack Tar has no means of spend+ng his money while at sea, and thrift is certainly not his great virtue. Betting on games of chance is chiefly favoured, and a pack itt cards form* one of the ujlokl cherished pusfceßsiuiib oi every ««*t. 1513.