INTERESTING ITEMS.

Lake County Press, Issue 2134, 6 September 1906, Page 6

INTERESTING ITEMS.

Out of every 100,000 girls and boys in England and Wales, 6,819 arc called Mary and G,5()0 William. The price of the ordinary Shanghai newspaper is four cash, or about one-tenth of a penny. *r The average birth rate of Europe shows that for every 100 girls 106 boys are barn. v A stone house is not so durable as one of brick. A brick house, well constructed, will outlast one built of granite. "Fullers Earth," said the Coroner at Stepney, recently "was nowknown to be most dangerous, and should not be used to children." He (Mr. Wynne E. Baxter) had held an inquest on an eight days' old child who died from tetanus, or lockjaw, the result of Fuller's earth having been used to the deceased after washing. 4* Employing elephants to generate electricity is a novel idea which is receiving attention in Indian circles and the utilization of elephants for working .dynamos is likely to become an accomplished fact. Jt is proposed to employ the elephants six hours a day generating .electricity which will be stored iji batteries and used at night for lighting streets. 4* Professor William Stirling, in an address on "Food and Nutrition," has dealt with air, water, and salt. Air was really a food, for it contained ozygen ; and oxygen though the word meant acid-producer, was as a matter of fact a life producer. The business of the corpuscle* was to take the oxygen from the blood to the tissues. Water as a food was necessary. 4* A singular maple tree on the left bank of the Oder, in Germany, is at least a century old. and has been twisted and cut into a kind of circular house of two stories. A firm, leafy floor has been formed by causing the branches to become gradually woven together. Above this is a smaller second floor, similarly formed and the ends of the brandies have been woven into solid walls, in which eight windows on each story have been cut. :*—- The plant from which the wellknown perfume patchouli is obtained is a native of India and of China. Jt is also grown in Ceylon, Paraguay and the French island of Reunion. it first became generally known in j Europe about 1850. At that time India shawls commanded immense prices, and dealers were accustomed to identify the genuine articles by their odour, as they were perfumed with patchouli. French manufacturers, acting upon this hint, imported the patchouli plant for the purpose of perfuming their imitation India shawls. Afterwards perfumers took up the cultivation of the plant on their own account. *i* Birds sometimes build their nests in curious places. Oftentimes the nooks and crannies of majestic buildings in towns have furnished the feathered folk a residence. Recently, in the. great plaster decoration of a large building, an elephant's head, surmounting the high proscenium arch, two doves built their nest. A couple of birds in the tropics far from flie unfriendly northern weather and removed from our fogs and chills shaped their little nest in a bunch of bananas. The fruit was shipped to London, and the nest, almost intact, was found in the fruit when delivered. A new tyre device for the prevention of side-slip consists of a series of narrow steel plates which are stamped out and united at either end to eyelets or links of the same metal riveted to two light belts of chrome leather, specially dressed to resist damp and wear. This fitting does not tend to heat the pneumatic tyre to which it is attached ; it can be rolled up and stowed away in small compass, and can be put on or removed in a very few minutes. In order to adjust it to tin: tyre, it must be laid out flat on the ground and the tyro must be rolled steadily on to it. Then the two ends must be drawn together and attached by means of the eyed hooks which permit of adjustment. The whole opperation takes four minutes. According to statistics just made public, 77,700 men have been killed or maimed in the Allegheny steel mills of Pennsylvania during the last year. Similar conditions have prevailed for several years, according to statements. The list of men injured during the last year is greater than the casual t\ list in some of the world's luu iles. It is understood an effort lias been made to suppress reini"!'- or details of accidents in hundreds of cases. Not until the slalislii:; appeal<-d. therefore, did the exuel condition ol tdluirs become known. - 1011.