Miscellaneous.

Lake County Press, Issue 2188, 26 September 1907, Page 7

Miscellaneous.

The Belgians arc the greatest po-tato-eaters in Uic \.orld, and the Irish come second.

A Russian is not of age until he if twenty six years old. Until that time, at least tour-fifths of his earnings go to his parents.

Nearly two-thirds of the letters carried by the world's postal services are wruten, sent to, and read by Eng-lish-speaking people.

In Arizona the cactus grows to aa immense size, and there is one specimen—doubtless the largest in the world—which is 232 ft. high.

An ocean liner during' her trip from Southampton to New \ ork consumes about 3,000 tons of coal, which costs on an average from X' 1,500 to J2,000.

The bamboo sometimes grows 2ft. in twenty-four hours. There are thirty varieties of this tree; the smallest is only 6in. in height and the largest 130 ft.

The most expensive portion of the Royal wardrobe is the uniforms and Royal robes; tilose which belonged to the King when Prince of Wales were said to be worth .£15,000.

Every time the Prince of Wales goes to the "play he pays the ordinary tanfr rates for the Royal box. Indeed, he and the Princess have always been most scrupulous not to accept any socalled favours of this kind.

In a churchyard at a Welsh village 'here are four huge yew trees, and a arge cavity in one of them, which 5 protected by a door, is used for storing the coal needed to heat the church during the winter months.

The Japanese language contains no fewer than eighteen synonyms for the personal pronoun "I," one for each class of people; andetiquette mases it unlawful tor a person belonging to one rank in society to make use of the pronoun pertaining to aiiuu.

Eggs by the Cartload. Round the coast of the British Isles there are places like Flamborough Head and the Bass Rock where seagulls in great numbers congregate together. They are, however, wise in their generation, and build their nests in almost inaccessible nooks and crannies on the cliffs. In the Pacific Ocean, however, the birds simply make their nests on the level. thousands of birds clustering so close y together that it is almost impossible to walk along without crushing eggs or young birds. . The albatross, made famous in Coleridge's "Ancient Manner, is a bird which loves the company of its own kind, and on the island of Lay 7 sau in the North Pacific, thousands nf these birds had a colony. ° Unfortunately for them traders have been attracted to the island to work the deposits of guano and their indiscriminate robbery of eggs threatens to exterminate the colony. • Unfortunately for them traders have been attracted to the island to work the deposits of guano and their indiscriminate robbery of eggs threatens to exterminate the colony.

The Police of the Coast. Now that thre is little or no smuggling, there is an impression that coastguards have very easy lives. During the summer months, when the nights are short, the sea smooth, and the wind soft and balmy, the seaside visitor is apt to remark, ' Oh, those men have a pleasant and easy lite, nothing- to do, and plenty of time to do lt Mr. Archibald S. Hurd shows that this is a very mistaken idea. In the winter who would envy the coastguardman his lonely patrol in the long, windv nights along the cliffs, battling with a lashing storm of rain, hail or snow. «.♦-,, There are 4,200 coastguards stationed round the shores of Great Britain and Ireland, and they form a fine and highly trained reserve force for our NaVy in case of war. When the ranks of our Jack Tars are thinned by the enemy's guns, in the next great naval war. it is the coastguards who will be called upon to fill their places. Every one of these men is a naval seaman of at least nine years standing, who knows pretty we 1 all that it is necessary for him to know about navigation, gunnery, and torpedoes, before he'has the option of settling down ashore with his wife and family. When a coastguard station is near a seaskle resort or a large village the men have not much to complain about. Sit when they are called upon to live in some of the stations in the West of Ireland their lot is not to be envied, i one station, overlooking Blacksod Biv thev are situated on a bog with an area'of about 50 miles-45 miles from the nearest railway station, 1/ miles from the nearest market town, church, and doctor, and 6 miles from a their better known duties thev have to assist in enforcing the fisherv laws, act as naval recruiting officers, drill the men of the.Royal Maval Reserve, stoo illicit dist'l * prevent in the introduction of arms or vnam te'into the country, protect the ends of marine telegraphs, act as signallers for Lloyd's, etc.

A Donkey in Trousers. Although in this country valuable horses, when out for exercise, sometime wear coats, and in the hot weather of midsummer we hfcvc grown accustomed to horses in straw bonnets vet we have not yet come to donkeys in trousers. , \ donke.v so attired may be seen in Guayaquil,' the. principal city of the Republic of Ecuador. This city is said to have the cheerful reputation of being the most insanitary city in the word, and it certainly appears to be trving hard to live up to its traditions' in this respect, for its street arc alike innocent of sewers or pavemConscqucntlv in the dry season they arc so filled with dust and insects that the donkevs and mules wear trousers or "pantalets," as they are locallv called, to keep the gadflies, mosquitoes and other pests from litetallv eating them up. The " waterworks in this large but backward town are simply holes sunk in the streets, from which a feverdealing liquid is drawn and distributed in barrels, strapped pannier-fash-ion on the backs of these trousered mules.