News Items

Hastings Standard, Volume X, Issue 5345, 5 November 1906, Page 4

News Items

1 In Spain there is a species of small black ant which is officered by mounted "generals." Among the working troops monster ants move at regular intervals, and on each of these large insects sits or rides one of the small ants, evidents in command. Home little time ago a boy discovered on the Petone beach a packet of letters bearing thu address, "E. vV. Hirst, "rabbitei, Ohorohanga." Enquiries made by the police show that a person of that name left Ohorohanga a year or so ago, since when his movements cannot be traced. j During recent years there has I sprung up a craze amongst a certain class of Americans to have their trunks plentifully decorated with I labels, indicating their owners to be j much-travelled people. To meet this | fad a business has now been started in Brooklyn, where for a few dollars one's trunk can be so pasted up as to make it seem to have gone through two grand tours of the world. Some American trunks are very big and wonderful contrivances, which can be converted into chests of drawers, dressing stands, and there is room for hundreds of labels upon them. It would appear from the British Registrar-General's latsst report on the births, marriages, and deaths for last year that Ireland is a land where centenarians rlouiish. As many as 152 of the recorded deaths were those of men and women over 100, while 613 had attained or passed the age of 95. The other fact is that tuberculosis is the most fatal scourge of the population. L. ;■„„ year, 11,882 persons died of d,eases of this class, which claims more victims even than " old age." While this terrible malady has been manifestly on the decline since 1870 in both England and Scotland, it has been increasing in Ireland. The fatal stage is moat often reached between 25 and 32.