Facts and Fancies.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 712, 14 October 1914, Page 7

Facts and Fancies.

&lass in Egypt.

Many of the principal houses in Pompeii and Herculaneum had Roman glass windows. The Egyptians made glass at least 3,000 years B.C. It is stated that in some of the tombs near ancient Thebes there are still to be seen pictures of workmen blowing glass) in much the same way in which it id •blown to-day. After Rome was destroyed by the barbarians, the art of fine glass-making wa3 nearly lost, and only churches and public buildings had glass windows.

To Dwarf the Eiffel Tower

Should Buenos Ayres carry out a project now under contemplation, the city will erect the highest tower in thei world, overtopping that of Eiffel by 189 feet. It is planned to put the steel structure up to a height of 1,173 feet, and a statue at the top will he surmounted with an electric light of 1,000,000 candle power. The tower, as plans have been drawn, will have facilities, for social gatherings, cafes, restaurants, library, billiard rooms, gymnasium, as well as a wireless telegraphio station and a meteorological observatory.

Weaving in Shadow. In one of the famous lace shops of Brussels there are certain rooms devoted to the weaving of the finest and most delicate laco patterns. These rooms are entirely darkened, save from the light from one email window falling directly upon the pattern. There is only one lace-maker in the room, and she sits where the narrow stream of light falls upon the thread she is weaving. "Thus," you are told by youT guide, "do we secure our choicest products. Lace is always more delicately woven, when the worker is in tho dark, and' only her pattern is in the light."

For the King's Use. No other race of animals can show' such a history as tho black oxen that draw the funeral cars of dead Japanese Emperors. They aro o? a special breed, and for centuries have been kept for the sole use of the Imperial family. The cream-colored Hanoverian horses, reserved for the .British Royal family, are nearly as famous, but some of fhese animals once wore tho yoke of an alien and an enemy. When Napoleon, occupied Hanover, in 1804, he seized all the cream-colored horses in the Royal stables, and took them to Paris. The state carriage at his coronation was drawn by eight of these animals. This insult, as he regarded it, made George 111.- so angry that he would not use the others of the breed that were stabled in London. Until the fall of Napoleon the state coach was always drawn by black horses when the King or his son, the Prince Regent, opened Parliament.

Origin, of the Menu. (The menu, so indispensable to the ordering of a satisfactory dinner today, had its origin in the twelfth century, the first person to use it being Prince Henry of Brunswick. At a large banquet he was seen to consult from time to time a long paper at his side, apparently attached to. the under side of the tablecloth, and rolled back. One inquisitive guest at length mado bold to inquire what study he might bo engaged in at that apparently unseasonable time, and Prince Henry explained that it was a paper on which he had noted down the details of his dinner, and that ho wanted to bo, sura that all his instructions had been carried out. The idea struck the fancy of 'the guests, and from that time the menu became the 1 fashion. In its primitive form it was of such dimensions as to resemble a wall map, and was given a position at each- end of the table, the guests at the banquet being permitted to consult it.

iThe Edible Rat of Uganda. The idea of eating rats is *feo repulsive to us that we cannot imagine such a thing tmless one were driven to it by starvation. The people of Uganda, however, eat rats not from necessity, but because they like them. The vat of Uganda, however, is very diffarant from the little creature that gnavys holes in our cupboards. This rat js much larger; it is more than a foot long, and is therefore quite a substantial animal, and as well worth rooking as a rabbit. The wonderful thing abo.-.t,this rah is that it has two mouths, one behvnd the other. The first mouth has a pointed rat-like nose, and is furnished with two rows of sharp white teeth, wii.h which it bites off its food and p.-ufts it on to the second mouth, which is placed just above the throat. '! his mouth also has two rows of toath, but one long slender tongue serves for Lorh sets of grinders. Rats are not only eaten in llcrntuln, but they are regarded as a delicacy. The King, among his many retainers, has one whose duty it is to furnish the Royal table with rats. A rak catcher is not an exalted person in this country, but in Uganda ho is looked upon with respect, 'and walks with an air of dignity. He goes out rat-hunt-ing daily, and generally finds his game among the young banana wees, or in any place where fallen fruit or berries may be found; for this is wheat the rat lives on. Blender shoots of bamboo or banana or fruit and leaves are his food. and this diet makes his flesh tender \ms wj&Meffie.