INTERESTING GLEANINGS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 122, 25 May 1891, Page 4

INTERESTING GLEANINGS.

From Russia the United Kingdom h*d ttftrly teventy-pve million eggs list year. Tbjsrb are 931,000 horses kept In Great Britain solely for agriculture. Telephones are now being introduced On board foreign men-of-war. Crime is rarer in Finland than anywhere else in Europe, except in Iceland. The normal consumption of water in Manchester is about 21,000,000 gallons per day. Some New York mothers have organised a school at which their children are taught good manners. An American correspondent informs us that Wabash, Indiana, has a midget—" Mrs Sarah Store's girl babe"— six inches in height and weighing a pound and a half. The Hong Kong Legislature has passed a law against stowaways. Their object is to prevent the surreptitious emigration ol Chinese to Australia. Not less than 95,474 paupers were relieved in the metropolis in the second week of December, 36,073 outdoor, and 59,^01 indoor. The electric light is being very slowly introduced in Vienna. In Berlin it is to be found in almost every shop in the principal streets. The total estimate of expenditure for the Congo Free State for 1891 is 4,555,000 francs, of which one-half is for the maintenance of an armed force. Bonnets are growing visibly less in Paris, and broad brimmed hats are not much worn by married women, though still the fashionable headgear for girls. At Swaffham, in Norfolk, a miller named Goddard and his wife were found suffocated in bed. They had slept with a coke fire in their bedroom. The German Socialist leaders are about to nndertake a forward movement in the rural districts of the Empire. They declare that German peasants are serfs merely. We here have but a small conception of the terrible nature of the cholera which has afflicted Japan. Up to October 2nd, 33i863 persons were attacked, of whom 22,560 died. The frosty weather at Hor.ie told herr'iy on the accident a^surmcc compel ••. Cii'u company, whose headquarters arc in London, received intimation of no fewer than 226 cases of broken legs within seven days. It Is calculated that the yearly production ef paper in the world is a.000.000.0001b5. weight, and, according to an estimate which has been made, this emanates from 2,891 mills. Emperor William eats four meals a day —a substantial breakfast of meat, egtis, &c,, at 7.30 ; second breakfast at noun, consisting of soup, meat, and vegetables; a regular dinner at six o'clock, and a light supper about 9.30. Neither the Emperor of Russia, as Grand Duke oi Finland, nor the Senate (a permanent body, which acts as a kind of executive), can impose new taxes on the Fins without the consent of the Diet, which is chary of granting money. The United States Secretary of Agriculture has prohibited the importation in certain ports of cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, as well as swine from Canada. The new regulations are desired to secure, if possible, a removal of restrictions abroad, especially in England. Commander Barber, of the United States Navy, asserts the principal naval Powers will ownin 1894 the followingarmoured ships; — Great Britain, 76 heavy armoured ships, 90 light armoured ships ; France, 48 heavy, 14 light ; Germany, 40 heavy, 10 light ; Italy, 19 heavy, 17 light ; Russia, 27 heavy, 3 light, During their adventurous journey the pioneers of the East Africa Company came across a cream of tartar tree 97 feet in circumference. If the interior were taken out, it is said, leaving bark sufficient on either side to keep the tree standing, three waggons could pass abreast through the shell. Notwithstanding the many changes on the island of Heligoland, there is no interference with a law, passed in 18C6, enacting that no youthful person under 16 years of age shall be allowed to visit a public-house or dancing-room, or be permitted to enter a theatre. The New York belle has a new craze. She lias adopted the fashion of wearing a chain bracelet, formed of links of great thickness, , as a sign that she is betrothed. Gold is no i longer the current style, silver and iron being the metal in high favour. The ingenuity o f the leading jewellers is taxed to the utmost to produce new designs. The new " palace chicken car" is a recent invention by means of which live poultry ;tre conveyed in comfort and safety without the necessary deterioration resulting from being cramped together in a crate and left for a day or two more without food or water. The first of these was recently made in Chicago. An exciting scene was witnessed at Halebank railway station, near Liverpool. A large lioness was observed making its way along the platform, and a cry being raised, there was a general stampede from the premises. The stationmastc'r then locked the doors, and sent for two farmers with their guns. They wounded the animal, ; •which was afterwards killed by a blow on the head with a hammer. It is believed the lioness had escaped from a travelling menagerie. The stupendous undertaking of throwing a bridge across the English Channel has again received the attention of the French authorities. Having ascertained by sounding and dredging that the sea bottom is firm, the surveyors conclude that ninetytwo piers instead of one hundred and twelve would be sufficient. They have also found that considerable saving could be made in other directions. But intimation has been given that the British Government, as hitherto, will oppose the scheme, and while this is the case there is little chance of the proposal being carried out. I-ord Derby, speaking on behalf of sheltering homes and child emigration, atX,iver< pool, warned his audience not to let the good work now being done languish because some new and sensational plan seized on the popular imagination. England must be an emigrating country. We could not employ 40,000 more beings every year. Immigration was a palliative. To dispose in some way of the growing swarms of the poorest class was a question of public salety. Colonists might object to swarms of adult emigrants, but none objected to juvenile emigrants, who could readily adapt themselves to new conditions of life. Notwithstanding the premium per head offered by the Government for the destruction of wolves, there still exist many members of the wild family in France, official statistics showing that during the last year 515 were killed at a cost to the State of £1,430, the number being a dozen more than in the preceding twelve months. The rewards given for their slaughter vary from 30s. for a young wolf, to £4 for one .which has attacked or killed a human being. Formerly, the hunting of wolves was under the supervision of an officer of state, called the " Grand Louvetier de France," but this post was abolished at the Revolution, and the extirpation of these pests, or at least the payment of the sums per head for their des. truction, is now entrusted to the department of Woods and Fgresti.j^-*" — —- ~ * — -