GENERAL INFORMATION.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2644, 4 September 1906, Page 7

GENERAL INFORMATION.

One-third of the lanrl surface of the earth is covered with forests. It takes an eyelash twenty weeks to reach a length of .129 inch, and then its life is from 100 to 150 days (iertnan engine-drivers are Riven a gold medal and a sum of money for every ten years' service without accident. * The stroke of u lion's paw is the third strongest force in the animall world. The first is the blow of a whale's tail, and the second is the kick of a giraffe. i A hell in a temple in North China j has been kept ringing for a century. ! A tax is levied in the district for ! paying relays of ringers to work incessant! v day and night. * The British Empire produces onethird of the world's coal, one-ninth of its copper, one-eighth of its iron, one lifth of its lead, one-ninth of its silver, and one-half of its gold. The Kaiser having been appointed a captain-general in the Spanish Army, there remains now 110 European force, military or naval, in which he does not hold honorary rank. He possesses at least 150 uniforms. * ; The tea used in the immediate j household of the Emperor of China !j H treated with the utmost care. It is raised in a garden surrounded by a wall, so that neither man nor i beast can get anywhere near the j plants. i + In Russia it is not considered pro- ! per for a girl to dance a whole waltz or polka with one partner. Three or four men dance a round or ■ two each with the same lady, re- | turning her to her original partner | at the end of the dance. J. ! Waterloo, a town in lowa, has a ; church for which one immense gla- ! cial boulder furnished practically all the material. The huge stone before I being blasted was 28ft. high, 30ft. j wide, and 20 ft. thick. It was pstiI mated to weigh 5,12"),0001b. 1 , A boy's hair grows one-half slower than a girl's. In boys the average rate of growth is 3ft. 3in. in six years, being an average of .018 inch per day. During the 21st and 24th years a man's hair grows quicker than at any other period. * Gambling in the British Navy, though illegal, is still carried 011 to a greater extent than is generally imagined. Nor is this surprising, when it is considered that Jack Tar has no means of spending his money while at sea. and thrift is certainly not his great virtue. Betting on games of chance is chiefly favoured, and a pack 01 cards I'ornts on.- of th«\ mosi cherished possessions of every ' salt. 1513.