INTERESTING ITEMS.

Northland Age, Volume 3, Issue 7, 18 September 1906, Page 2

INTERESTING ITEMS.

The estimated population of the Chinese Empire is 303,212,000, whiJ.j that of Great Britain and her Colonies is estimated at 394,061,800. The Japanese rat more feh i ?;:«n any otlfcerVpeo|de ju the \v<el I • ' 'i them meat-eating iff a fon j•• • i . novation, confined to the i ■ i rather, to those rich peopl. who finfer it to the national dt t Cork,. although the most lmoyant substance, will not rise to the surface again if sunk 200 ft. deep in the ocean, owing to the (great pressure of the water. At any less depth it will gradually work its way back to light. The Stilly Isles flower industry supports nearly all the inhabitants of the islands. The flowers in what are called the Tresco gardens are a magnificent sight. Nowhere else in England are to he found such trees, shrubs, and flowers. ——»t* . .. Most of the Japanese houses are of one general shape and two stories high. They are put together by a curious method of mortizing, at which these people are adepts, not one nail being used through the construction of the whole building. * A Bill has been introduced in the Missouri Senate as a result of which any man will be liable to a fine if he flirts with certain members of the fair sex. For flirting with boardingschool girls, their principals, or their teaohers, tho fine is fi d at not less than £5 or ’jijoi-e t! f 1 11). vis x There is a revival of interest in the utilisation of peat as a materiel for paper-making, book board, etc. The failure of many previous undertakings, large and small, does not deter capitalists from investing in new plants, two of which have been operating for some time.

! A drenching rain, accompanied by ; a downfall of salt wativr crabs, was I experienced recently abroad. One crab weighing a pound and a quarter j was picked up. Several smaller ones ; were foqnd in an adjoining field. It is believed that the crabs were carj ried inland by the clouds as the result of a storm at sea. In the poor districts of London and the great manufacturing centres there are plenty of “sixpenny doctors,” us they are called, and even “I'ourpenny doctors” are to lie met with. These are fully qualified medical men, often of great skill, who set themselves up in a shop for a surgery, and give advice and attention to patients at fourpence or sixpence a time, as the case may be. —+ — According to physicians, person* suffering from lung complaints would benefit greatly by sitting on the front seat of a motor-car, and riding at least a hundred miles daily. High speed is not so essential, fifteen miles an hour being ample. On such a journey, the mouthfuls of fresh air inhaled by the patient would be very beneficial.

Kord Kelvin believes that in 334 years all human beings remaining in the world will be suffocated by the lack of oxygen to breathe. The great scientist baees his assertion on the grounds that, as every ton of coab burnt consumes three tons of oxygon the world’s supply of the latter must give out is the years mentioned. It is not very comforting to know that every, fire we light hastens the end of the world, but Lord Kelvin, after after many years of close study, ha* come to the conclusion that in three centuries the air will be so full of carbonic acid gas caused by the consumption of oxygen by fire, that it will be impossible for any living thine to sunnivs,