VARIETIES.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XXI, Issue 1105, 5 February 1891, Page 4

VARIETIES.

The Germans regard it as aconsi-i derably more heinous offeuce to adul- i terate a man's food than to pick his ' pocket. In Germany offenders of this j character are sent, to prison, and their punishment is all the heavier because it \ involves a temporary suspension of j the '• biirgerliche Elire," or " civil j honor,' for which there is no exact equivalent in our legal or social institutions. A. trial in the harbour of Portsmouth, Eng., recently showed that a modern torpedo boat can mount any boom yet devised to.protect a roadstead or harbour. The structure tested it was supposed would instantly stop and hold fast any boat attempting to pass it, but the boat, driven at full speed, went over it without difficulty or damage. , The promoters of the Watkin Tower have under consideration a proposal which, though it is somewhat suggestive of Jules Verne, is submitted by a well known engineer, and is said to be quite practicable. The tower is to be not less than 1200 feet high—considerably loftier than its ' prototype in Paris. At this atmospheric level the air, even over London, is absolutely pure, and it is proposed that, by means of machinery specially devised for the purpose, a supply of fresh air shall be drawn to the street level, and thence distributed to houses and public buildings as water and gas now are. Dr. Humann, who has been engaged for some years in explorations in Asia' Minor, again reports his good fortune. In the neighborhood of Smyrna he has excavated five marble lions of gigantic size. His account of the population of Northern Syria is interesting. In one village he and his companion, Dr. Puchstein, were a little scandalised, , but much amused, at the hesitation of their hosts to believe that there was such a State as Prussia, or even as Germany, in Europe. Europe, in the popular geography of the villager, was divided into three nations: "Those of Moscow," the " Englis," and the " Eran-' cis." They had heard of the Crimean war, and of a later war between the " Francis" and the " Bismarklis." They did iiot know that the " Bismarklis " were neighbours both of Russia and France. The ben that produces well usually lays eggs that will hatch well, as the very fact that she is a good layer is proof that she is in excellent condition, the consequence being that the chicks will come out strong and vigorous, and a greater number of the eggs will be fertile. The ceremony of laying the last Stone of the spire of TJlm Cathedral took place a few months ago, amid the ringing of bells and general rejoicing. The official celebration of the event took place on June 28 and the three following days. The cathedral is now the highest in the world, having an altitude of 530 feet. Two fishermen have captured a royal sturgeon in the Dee. The fish—a m ignificent specimen of its kind—was over 43 inches in girth, and no less than seven feet in length. The fish was handed over to the Custom House officials, who have forwarded it on for presentation to the Queen at Balmoral. In the "Typographical Antiquities' of Ames and Herbert are to be found the names of 350 printers in England and Scotland, who flourished from the time of Caxton's press to the end of the sixteenth century—from 1474 to 1600—and these obviously include those whom we now distinguish as boo tellers. The celebrated tun at Konigstein is said to be the most capacious wine cask in the world—holding 1,869,236 pints. The top is railed in, affording room for 20 persons. A Latin inscription of the " Welcome Cups" invites the dr'nker to drink to the prosperity of the whole universe. This enormous tun was built by Frederick Agustus, Eang of Poland, in 1725, The widow of General Tom Tnumb has married again. She is 32 inches in height, and her husband is also a dwarf. A novel matrimonial event occurred at Galena, Illinois, a mother and daughter both being married at the same time, the grandmother of the junior bride a-ti.ig as bridesmaid. The death is reported of the " oldest Inhabitant" of the Austrian capital, and probably of the whole empire, a widow named Magdalena Panza, who is said to have been 114 years and two months old. A woman in Yonkers is perhaps the oldest person in the world. Her name is Mrs. Bominiski, and she asserts that she is 109 years old. She lives witli her daughter, her granddaughter, and her great-granddaughter. There is a talk in France of utili* sing water-courses as a railway motive power. It is proposed that the track shall be laid on an embankment jii the middle of the current, and ihat the locomotives shall have two paddle wheels dipping into the water and revolved by it. Here are some examples of the wages in South Germany : Machine snithsand (ilteis earn 3s per day of \) hours' work; joiners, locksmiths mid uph ilsterers, 3s for 11 hours' work; p.iint«-r>, carpenters, glaziers, 3s 2id £>r 11 h iu/s' work; builders and plasterers., 3s Gd for 11 hours' work ; cartwrights and farriers, 2s 9i fqr 12i jj.mre' woik..