NEW, ODD, INTERESTING

King Country Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 1221, 7 June 1919, Page 3

NEW, ODD, INTERESTING

Goldfish la a giobe uatiaJly swim round to the rifbt There are more ducks in China than in all the rest of the world. Bamboo-trees do not blossom until ibex attain their thirtieth year. When a Parse? dies a dog Is brought in and made to look at the body. An Army baker has to be capable of making 4001b. of bread daily. A Sock of ooe hundred hens prodace In eggshells aboat 1371ba. of ebslk annually. Snails boiled in barley water used to be considered an excellent remedy for cooghs. The Romans coated their oysters with honey, and kept them until they were slightly putrid. Before the introduction of soap, clothes were cleaned by being trodden upon in water. Wearing was practised <n China more than a thousand years before It was known in Europe. Crinolines have frequently occasioned loss of life by coming in contact with fire and machinery.

Actors and actresses never act together in China. They play in separate companies of their own. Pointed chins are said by character readers to denote selfishness, white round chins denote love of pleasure. An official song-book is issued by the Lords of the Admiralty for the use of bluejackets. Tfeere is a law in Nebraska requiring hotel proprietors to furnish bed sheets 9ft. in length. Lord Tennyson, Darwin, Gladstone, and Oliver Wendell Holmes were all born in the same year. Blondes should avoid the lighter shades of blue, which give an ashy appearance to the complexion. According to tradition, the seven deadly sins are:—Anger, pride, gluttony, lost, avarice, envy and sloth. When flying a Union Jack, remember that the broad, white stripe should be on top in the upper corner next the flagstaff. George Washington died during the ;ast hour of the last day of the week in the last month of the last year of Jie century before last. Methodist ministers of Ohio have banished clocks from their churches on the ground that their presence tends to distract congregations. Great Britain is growing in size. During the last thirty-five years about 1,840 acres have been lost by coast erosion, while 4S/>OO acres have been reclaimed from the sea. Lloyd's derives its name from a man who kept a coffee house in which merchants used to congregate two hundred years ngo. It has been established that the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo never uttered the famous words, "Up, guards, and at them!*'

The appointing of Field Marshals ii he British Army Is entirely In the hands of the King, promotions being made from the lists of general officers. Polynesian mothers mould and flatten the noses of their daughters, and think that the long, thin noses of English women are the result of being polled oat in infancy. "Salary** comes from the Latin word "sal"—l.e., salt—Roman soldiers having received a daily portion of salt as part of their pay. Hence, the ex* mmkn, "not worth bis salt." Maxim guns fire so rapidly that they would become red-hot very quickly if they were not surrounded by waterjackets. The water in these has to 1m renewed after every 2000 rounds have been fired. In order to make our gunners the best in the world, the Admiralty has even gone so far as to use one of our battleships as a target. This was the Empress of India, which originally cost £900,009, and was sent to the bottom iu 1913. Around the foundations of most ot our forts are broad, circular galleries, well ventilated, and fitted with electric light. They are called "listening galleries,*- because, in times of siege, they are guarded by relays of expert listeners, who keep their ears pricked up for the pick and shovel of the enemy. According to Chinese history, the custom of small feet among the females of China originated several centuries back, when a large body of women rose against the Government, and tried to overthrow it. To prevent the recurrence of such an event the use of wooden shoes so small as to disable them from making any effeo tive use of their feet was enforced on all female infants