GENERAL NEWS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2278, 15 September 1899, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS.

Paris contains 10,000 individuals who live by begging. The population nf India increases at the rate of 3,000,000 annually. A Laplander will often skate 150 miles in a day. In Austria 14 is the legal age for marriage for both men and women. One-fifth of the students in Swiss universities are women.

Nearly all skin diseases are supposed to be caused by microscopic insects. Mexican farm labourers get one shilling a day. There is now a small steamer on the Red Sea.

The organ of sight is more highly developed in birds than in any other animal.

Algeria is the only country in the world where the horses outnumber the human beings, Canada exports to England 90 per cent, of all the cheese manufactured there.

Recruits for the Chinese army are not accepted unless they can jump a ditch 6ft. wide.

Nearly a quarter of the wheat raised in the world is grown in the United States.

Special postage stamps are to be used in Cuba while the island is under American military rule. Oyßters are such nervous creatures that a sudden shock, such as a loud thunderclap, will kill a whole boatload. A good Arabian horse will canter in the desert for 24 hours in summer and 48 in winter without drinking. By mixing a harmless powder, subnitrate of bismuth, with the food, the movements of the stomach may be seen by means of the Rontgen rays. Grey horses are usually the longest lived. Creams are decidedly delicate and are seriously affected by very warm weather.

Young women who attend the high schools, universities, musical academies, and art schools of Russia are not permitted to wear corsets.

In Japan what we call " after-dinner speeches " are made before dinner, thus injuring brevity and furnishing topics for conversation during the meal itself.

The most active volcano in the world is Mount Sangay, 17,190 ft. high, situated on the eastern chain of the Andes, South America. It has been in constant eruption since 1728. Two years ago, in Colorado, life imprisonment, was made the penalty for murder. Lately this crime lias so increased that the people are clamouring for the restoration of capital punishment.

In modern Greece the language of flowers is developed with much detail, and is so generally undeistood that a lover and his sweetheart sometimes carry on an ideal correspondence by means of clusters of loose blossoms.

Nails are so cheap that it is said if a carpenter drops one it is cheaper for him to let it lie than to waste his time in picking it up. One keg out of every five sold is never used, but simply goes to waste.

A curious watch has been brought out in France. The dial is transparent, but there are no works behind it, and the hands appear to move by magic. The secret lies in concealing the works at the edge of the case, and communicating the motion to the hands by means of a glass disc.

The absence of a child from school in Switzerland, unless in case of illness, is punishable by a fine, the amount of which is daily increased. If it is suspected that the child's illness is shammed, a doctor is sent by the school authorities, and when he is convinced that the suspicion is correct, the parents have to pay his fee.

An Ante-Nuptial Understanding.— ' There is one question I want to ask you, dearest,' said the beautiful girl as she toyed with the diamond ring on her third finger. ' When we are married will you expect me to bake my own bread V

' You can do as you like about it, my darling,' he replied; 'but I certainly shall insist apon your not baking mine.'

Enough to Kill Him.—Manners : ' Do you think Flammer will get over his illness V

Radley : ' I hardly think so. He has three doctors.'

Aunt Jane : ' It's so pleasant to have a baby in the house.' Walker: ' How can it be pleasant when there is a continual squall V

There are two things in the world that I can't understand. One is that you catch a cold without trying ; that if you let it run on it stays with you, and if you stop it it goes away.

Angry Customer : 'Hullo! you waiter, where is that ox-tail soup ?' Waiter; 'Coming, sir—about half a minute.'

Customer: 'Confonnd you! How slow you are !' Waiter: 'Fault of the soup, sir. Ox tail is always behind.'

'That young Ilidgeford hasn't a bit of business sense.' ' How do you know ?' ' Why, he tried to borrow money off papa before he proposed to me.'

Husband : ' Will you remind me that I have to write a letter this evening T Wife; 'Yes, dear, and will you remind me of something . Husband; 'Of course, dear. What is it V Wife : ' Remind me that 1 have to remind you.'

At a temperance meeting held recently in one of our neighbouring towns, the lecturer, after describing the evil effects of drunkenness, cried out: ' What can we do to prevent the sale of this accursed drink V

' Give it away, guv'nor," cried a voice from the back of the hall.

Sub-Editor: ' A correspondent sends us a full account of a cock with photographs of the steel spurs uced, the ciick-pit, spectators, birds in battle, «fcc., with every round described.'

<! rent Editor : 'Olorioua! Get it all

Sub Editor (doubtfully) ' But this is a m iral Sunday paper.'

(Jreat Editor: 'Yes—l know. Head it, 1 A Brutal Sport—Where were the Police V

1 This is the most pleasant trip I've ever had !' remarked a man, aa he stumbled over a bulky purse that Borne one had dropped.