Page 6 Advertisements Column 1

Dunstan Times, Issue 2675, 21 July 1913, Page 6

"TAKES THE CAKE." • / "Takes the cake, 1 ’ which many consider a vulgarism, originated in the negro “oak/, walks." common in the Southern States o) America. At balls given by coloured people, couples, drawn by lot, will sometimes walk round a cake specially prepared for the occasion, and the umpires award the prize to the pair who, in their opinion, walk round most gracefully, and are attired with the greatest taste. Hence they nosaid to “take the cake," an expression which has attained wide currency in receni years. “ PUTTING YOUR FOOT IN IT.” " Potting your foot in it,” seems a term of legitimate origin According to ihe " Asiatic Researches,” a very curious mode of trying the title to land is practised in Hindustan. Two holes are dug'in the disputed spot, in one of which the lawyer or. either side puts one of his legs, and there they remain until one of them is tired, ot till he complains of being stung by insects , 5n which case his client is defeated, in this country it is generally the client, and not the lawyer, who “ puls his foot in it.” SIZING THE PIGS. An American police report of a case o! disputed title in pigs which had been sullercd to run wild gives the following examination (if a deaf witness with regard to them : Lawyer—" Do you know plaintiff’s pigs?" Witness "Eh?” (very loud). Lawyei (raising his voice) —“ Do— you —know plaintiff's pigs ? Witness —“\es.“ Lawyer—"How long have you known them ?” Witness •—“Eh?” Lawyer (louder still) — How long have you known them?" Witness—- '■ Fed email last spring." Lawyer—” Were they all about the same size ?” Witness •< Eh?” Lawyer(risingon his feet petulantly and shakinghis fore-finger,at the conclusion of each word, at the witness) —“Were—they —ail —of—a-—size ?” Witness—“ Some ov 'em wor, and some cv 'em worn’t 1" THE BAGPIPE. > The bagpipe is almost universal through but Asia/though at present not so much in use as it seems to have been in lormcr ages, it is used among the Chinese musicians, and is met with in Persia, where it appears to have been more general in former ages than at present. Ihere is also a Hindoo bagpipe, and in Egypt it was used to some extent, but is t.ow rarely met with. In Italy it is common. It is said that the Italian peasant believes that it is the best beloved music of the Virgin Mary, also that it is the instrument upon which the shepherds expressed their joy when they visited the baviour. When the Italian peasant visits Rome on the anniversary <> the birth of our Saviour he always carries las jagpipes with him, Jhe Romans are s.i-u to be have been acquainted with this instrn ment, and most likely the Greeks were aE>> In Scotland it is the national instrument Bagpipes arc known also in Gorman Spain, and North .Africa. GERMAN BLOOD AMONG EURO ’ PHAN SOVEREIGNS. There are, indeed, very few reignin, families in Europe which are not more 1 1; (css German. Thus, the Prince of WaT had a German parent, the Queen-Regent Spain is of the House of Hapsbuvg, the Queen and the Crown Princess of Sweden are German princesses, the Queen of IfollaiQ was a princess of Waldeck, the King and Queen of Konmania arc of German descent, as is the Prince of Bulgaria. The Royal Family of Portugal, the Imperial Family ol Brazil, and the Royal Family of Belgium are descended from the house oi Coburg . their members even bear the titles ol dukes and duchesses of Saxe, The Queen ol It alyls the daughter of the Duchess of Genoa, a Princess of Saxony. The Orleans family have German blood in their veins, the mother of the Count of Paris having been a princess ol Mecklenburg The Greek and Danish families are, strictly speaking, o! German origin. 1 fence all but the Servian and Montenegrin princes have a German consanguinity. THE LARGEST ENGINE. At the Friedcnsville (Pennsylvania) zinc mines there Is in operation the largest stationary engine in the world During the last few months it has pumped dry by underground drainage- nearly every ore pit, spring and small stream, within a radius ol five miles. The engine is known as the “ Presi dent" , it is of 5,000 horse power, and is inn by sixteen boilers. At cadi revolution of its ponderous wheels a small stream is thrown Dn, the number ol gallons raised every minute being 17,500. The driving wheels are thirty five feet in diameter, and weigh 40 tons each. The sweep rod is 40 feel long. The cylinder is no inches in diameter, while the piston rod is 18 inches in diameter, and makes a ten foot stroke. The engine has a ballast box capable of holding sixty tons, and to feed the boilers twenty-eight ,ons ot coal are required daily. On the engine Is the largest mil in the world. If is hexagonal in shape, and weighs J,doo lbs !fo lighten or lower the tint twenty men ate (eqaired, while tin,; wrench that fits It ia twenty feet long. Front die Did oi {he walking beam of the- engine to Ihe boUstt of the shaft the distance is 300 fool. Tho masonry on which the engine rests is fat * deep, some t-f the fdimdatiofi fdos&a weighing five tons. MAKING billiard balls. THE process of manufacture is very simple, says an Eastern expert, bui it requires great skill. The block of ivory is placed on an iron chuck, and one-half the ball is turned Then the cuiting is reversed. After tin second half Iris been turned the ball is hung Up for a few months 111 a net to dry. Ihe ball is kept free from any draught, as ivory cracks when exposed to cither a hot or a cold climate. When thoroughly ‘ic.r.oned the balls arc turned so ns to po-dtsen a perfect sphere, and here is where Ihe skill comes in. N ,v Dfie mar) In a hundred who has been laugh-, this tißa-’r-'S:) for vent’s -.’.tu turn a lulnard 1 • >l accural dy A tier enfib bail has t’vcii tehee for size and weight, the Hitjhirlg b done This Is simply a w.mh of whiting and water applied vigorously 1 hoh.rl that Is properly H’.i-’jc always retains its poT.li A. ball will hot rtfin.-Hii peidecily Bug however much li is : -ea;>oiu-ifi because of the continual concussion, u inert causes the cells .j-.a-a; ft a ball is very imtch played with, especially in warm rooms, It is very jjable to crack and become untrue. "I hive imowrl," says the c-qtcrq "a ball to run lint rue in a match of 1.000 points They efjii, c-i course, be re.iJuisled, and this is one Cl Ihe r-rir-c-pai branches of the business We never lake oft more than otut-t ... V 1 jj-.-u 1;:! 1 , the balks arc very bid 1)0 ol no use .or a match after <t, but ior ordinal y play they arc a . ; yooii. pETiiap.-; better, because they .: I . consolidated.” to nneu, that depends upon the: quality f ;.< li;;,. Lory. its density and straightness of s;-.,, core besides the'perfection of shape, wereht. In making balls tor a //,!,■ id „),ly three or four perfects sets may bt gn t out of 300 1 hat accounts for the seemingiv extravagant twice which U charged to? ff «{i«ci hUliiud ha/s-