NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9491, 21 April 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

London's one thatched cottage is to *l>6 demolished. > Lemons were looked upon in ancient Greece as poisonous. . I t The present is the nineteenth Parliament) of the Queen's reign. The Wesleyans are the strongest religious body in the Isle of Man. In St. Petersburg no outdoor musical performances are permitted. Whistling in the streets of Berlin is an offence punishable by a fine. In Bohemia 10,000 men are engaged in handling and finishing garnets. A large increase is reported in the number of pauper lunatics in Scotland. About 100 deaths occur every year in London from window-cleaning accidents. Crucifixion is the method of sacrifice adopted in the Bevin country on the west coast of Africa. «• The skins of 1000 Russian mice formed the coat worn by a Russian emigrant who lately landed in New York. There has been fearful weather in the Atlantic, and vessels have been arriving at New York resembling icebergs." v Astronomers representing 15 nations are uniting in the production of an extensive photographic map of the heavens. It is stated on good authority that the Pall Mall Gazette paid £250 for their famous item about Mr. Gladstone's resignation. A female pauper ab Biggleswade recently celebrated her 103 rd year, and s«\ng a song at an entertainment given in honour of the event. A Bill has' passed uniting New York, Brooklyn, and adjoining towns into one city, the population of which will be 3,000,000. In some of the ancient temples of Egypt perfectly sound timber of the tamarisk wood has been found which is known to be at least 4000 years old. A spot, supposed to have an area of 1,870,000,000 square miles has appeared on the sun, which is, however, much smaller than some previous spots. A rich American lady, who was once nearly buried alive, has made a gift of £20,000 to the French League against Precipitate Burial and Cremation. A portion of the ruins of Sandown Castle, built by Henry VIII., having become unsafe by the action of the sea, has been demolished by an explosive fired by electricity. A fossil reptile apparently intermediate between the crocodilians and the dinosaurs has been found in the Elgin sandstone of Scotland. It has been provisionally named Ornithosucus. While a priest was addressing a congregation at Nimes, the pulpit suddenly fell forward, crushing his legs, three persons in the front seats being injured by the falling stones. A scheme for using tne tidal rise and fall of the Mersey to light the whole of Liverpool by electricity is under consideration, as is also another for making a tunnel across to Birkenhead for vehicular traffic. Good coffee, by means of its marvellously stimulating influence on the brain, is the antidote of alcohol. At Rio Janiero, where the population numbers 350,000, drunkenness is almost unknown, and coffee is largely used. The Birmingham police are turning their attention to guessing competitions in public-houses. A bottle of whisky ia offered as a prize to customers who guess most nearly the number of grains of corn contained in a bottle. The " ornamental China cup out of which Napoleon drank his last drink at St. Helena" was put up at auction at the Hotel Drout in Paris recently and discovered, by an examination of the manafacturer's mark, to have been made in 1840. This is how music-halls pay. Th« gross receipts ab the Pavilion, London, last year amounted to £.59,841, and the outgoing to £40,922, including £155b as estimated depreciation of furniture, &c., the neb profit, therefore, Deing nearly £19,000. The surgical treatment of consumption has long been a dream of European surgeons. It is announced that, as the beginning of a series of experiments, the diseased apex of the lung of a patient suffering from tuberculosis has been successfully removed. Some flowers were recently forwarded to the Queen from Australia; the block of ice in which they were* preserved was placed on Her Majesty's dinner-table at Windsor. The ice gradually thawed, revealing the beauty and freshness of the flowers. Judging from the fact chat uuperb synagogue has jusb been dedicated ab St. Petersburg, it would appetr that the persecution of the Hebrews by the Czar is nob altogether so terrible as has been described. The synagogue is constructed .in ornate Oriental style. The Empress of China has no sympathy -with gay and flighty fashions. She celebrated her sixtieth birthday by issuing a proclamation enjoining a general restraint of extravagance. Her Majesty has even prohibited the customary gifts of silks and jewels by Ministers. Jupiter's lately discovered fifth satellite has been measured with the large Pulkowa refractor. The new Jovian moon appears to be fainter than Mimas, yet brighter than Hyperion, and the accuracy of measurement to be obtained would seem to be about equal to that of Mimas. Monksys' tails, in many parts of India, are made into walking-sticks. They are hung in the sun to dry and harden, and are afterwards fashioned into firm, darkcoloured sticks. In England they are looked upon as something uncommon and curious, and sell for half-a-guinea apiece. Safes are made fireproof by the use of. alum. It is extensively used as packing between the outer and inner casing of safes. It has great heat-resisting properties, and this explains, doubtless, bow, even when subjected to an intense heat, the. safe, when opened, reveals its contents marvellously uninjured. The old custom of " ringing the curfew'' has been re-established in the villages and towns of Canada; in accordance with an Act passed in the last session of Parliament. This new Act, though nob as strict as the old one, requires that all children under 17 shall be off the streets at 9 o'clock, the hour of ringing the curfew. An Italian archaeologist, who, notwithstanding the prohibition by. the Ottoman authorities of European travel in Tripoli, recently succeeded in making a journey to ; wards Khoms, was attacked, when a few miles from that city, by a band of Arabs, who fired upon him, though without hitting him, and robbed him of all lie possessed. The Danish fleet, which lias just undergone a general overhaul, now consists of 10 armour-plated warships, 10 gunboats, 9 corvette cruisers, 29 torpedo boats, 15 transports, 5 barrack ships, and 6 training vqpsels. There are in course of construction a powerful armour-plated floating battery, a torpedo gunboat, and two or three new torpedo boats. A man suddenly expired in a street it: Paris, and the body was identified by a woman as that of hei husband. It was conveyed to her house and placer! upon the bed, around which she lib candles. While praying over the body, she was thunderstruck at seeing her real husband walk into the room, the body turning out to be that of a stranger. As a train was leaving Stockport station a madman jumped into a carriage, the only other occupant of which was a lady. She had a most perilous journey all the way to Crewe. The man prevented her from pulling the communication cord, and terrified her by his extraordinary conduct. He was attested on the arrival of the train, and lias boon «ent to a lunatic asylum. Ttie Egyptians have no lack o. holidays. This year's calendar shows that there are 52 Sundays, 52 Hebrew Sabbaths, and 52 Moslem u Gummah." There are four " New Year's Days*"'—the new stylo the old style, the Jewish, and the Moslem ; two Christmas Days—new and old style; there are Turkish fasts, and Jewish, and the *'Carnival"—in all some 173 days outo of the 365 days. ' ■An Afghan being reduced from affluence fed penury, prayed to Mahomet, who was supposed to have appeared in the moon directing the devotee to a certain stone. The man took possession of the stone, which he is said to have regarded as of priceless value. He accordingly made the journey to London, arriving a few days ago, to be told by the authorities ab the British Museum that the supposed treasure was only a very ordinary pebble. v'~ •