MISCELLANEOUS.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 7783, 22 November 1890, Page 1

MISCELLANEOUS.

It ia ontimatod that thoro are in Pans and tho .Department of the Soino 30,000 porsons — chioify womon— ongagod in tho varioua washing and ironing establishments which abound in that district* Tho conaua rcporta of roligioua bodies in tho United Statcß show tbat there are 134 soots, with 25,000,000 mombere. Tho Mothadißta number 5,000,000, the Baptists 1,000,000, tho Roman tathohca 4,000,000, tho Presbyterians 3,000,000, and tho EpiaooI palians 2,000.000, Some ono han discovorod that two persons playing dominoes ton hours a dny can continue 118,000,000 yoara without exhausting all poasiblo combinations. Tho names of the two persons who practically teated this problom, aro not given, but it is thought they aro dead now, Consumers _ of genuine champagne— for tho consumption of this wino ia immensoly in oxcesa of its production— will learn with dismay that the pkylloxora haa mado its appearauco in ono of tho districts in which tho wine ia grown, and that although its ravages are at present incon»idorable, thoy aro sufficiently alarming to call for tho adoption of prompt moaßursa for its reprossion by tho Minister of Agrloulturo, Theao havo already been takon, An English lady, Mra Watta Hughea, atrotohoa a mombrano over a receiver, spreads on it a aorfc of pvito, and makoa mußioal aounda writo their vibrations on preparod aurfaco. Is this tho parent of tho recording phonograph, or sound mado visiblo 1 It ia oaid that with all tho foveriah roat« lessneas and tho apparent instability of tho young Emperor of Germany ho is possessed of oqo iked idea, and that la tho maintonanco of tho aupremaoy of the empire in Europe. He wants tho twentieth century to bo known as tho German century, and ho is OBnucialiy anxious, it ia understood, to bring about vn alliance betwoen tho two nacions, Great Britain and Germany, which havo the same Teutonic origin, Mr and Mra Navarro havo boon making a tour in tho midlands of England, and havo spent BOtno timo at Nottingham. They wont thoro very quietly and unannouncod, bo that though tho featuroB of tho brido aro familiar enough to most peoplo, they happily escaped recognition ami tho inevitable mobbing of the curious which would have followed, 11 How like Mary Andoraon," aaid tho propriotor of a uhop whero thoy mado some purchases to a friend, and tho rcsotnbl'iuco was certainly striking. Somo ono tolls " Tho Chicago Nowa" of this remark, whioh Ralph Waldo Emerson is said to have made to a friend, apropos of tho poot Laureato of England : " If hip pootry was cither moro fominino or more masculine, Tennyson would bo a marvol* louoly great poot." The Salvation Army in Europo has or« ganiaed what it calls a "corps of cavalry" Cor work in the rural districts. 1 hia troop moves about in largo waggone, carrying kitchens, tonts, etc., and is preooeded by bicyclo messengers, announcing tho meetings in tho villages,