NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9991, 30 November 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Japan has a written history extending over 2500 years. A bicycle lawn mowor is being brought out in England. There are eight white men to one white woman in India. A tandem hansom is tho latest vehicular absurdity in London. Golden eagles are rapidly increasing in tho Scottish Highlands. In Switzerland a society has been formed for the preservation of wild flowers. One of the celebrated wine vaults of the London Docks is nearly 17 acres in extent. In the district of Tacoma, Washington, there are several trees over 700 feet, in height. _ , The western section of the Siberian railway has now been completed as far as the River Ob. The perfume of the nutmeg flower is said by some naturalists to have an intoxicating effect on small birds. Ib is said thab Gustav Jovanovibch, a cattle king in Russia, lias 35,000 shepherd dogs to look after 1,500,000 sheep. Statistics indicate that in the ten years from 1881 to 1891 the number of foreigners in tho United Kingdom increased by 83,883. Within the brief period of thirty years 152,000 miles of cable havo been laid on the beds of ocean and sea, at a cosb of about £40,000,000. It is assorted that at least GOOO slaves are imported yearly into Zanzibar ■ and Pemba from the mainland of Africa, for labour oil those islands. Ib would take a line of cradles extending entirely round the globe to accommodate (the 37,000,000 babies that are born into this world every year. In Wales thero are poor people given to superstition who still believe that if anyone kills a wron he will fall down and fracture a bone within a year. 1 A recruit obtained in Edinburgh for tin Scots Guards is said to bo one ot the tallest men in the army. He is Gft S.Jin in hciglib, and may yet exceed this. A new astronomical observatory is now being built in connection with the University of Pennsylvania, which is mainly intended for original research. Some 16,000 British soldiers and sailors are annually sent.back into civil lifo, and how to find employment for as many of them as possible is the problem which faces each successive Government. The Emperor of Germany probably travels more than any other non-profes-sional traveller in tho world. Between September 3, 1894, and September 2 last he spent no loss than 195 days en mile. Tho Rochester Town Council have decided to have the south-western turret of the Castle repaired. The north turreb has already been restored. Other work found to be necessary for the preservation of this historical relic will bo undertaken. A curious pneumatic ball tyre for bicycles has recently been patented, substituting for the continuous tubular tyre a series of rubber balls, set iii cups ab the outer ends of tho spokes. The balls are so arranged that they may be simultaneously inflated. The Dutch have a delightfully original way of collecting their taxes. If, after due notico has been given, tho money is nob sent, the authorities placo one or two hungry militiamen in tho house, bo be lodged and maintained ab bho expotise of the defaulter until the amount of the tux is paid. Tho municipality of Geneva now claim that they havo the largest fountain in the world. This fountain has been erected at the poet's entrance of that city. Ib is no less than 300 feet in height, and may. be seen from a great distance, looking like a great, white sail flapping through tho I effecb of the wind.

Protection runs to strange extremes in Canada. Enormous quantities of natural gas from the wells of Niagara, in Ontario, are being sold in New York State, chiefly in tho city of Buffalo, and the Customs Department is being urged to impose an export duty upon this commodity in order tolimib the output. - " In some parts of the country in England there are malicious persons who throw tacks in the roadway to annoy bicycle riders by perforating the pneumatic tyres. To meet this difficulty it has been proposed to attach a magnet in front of the forward wheel, with the object of picking up the tacks as the machine rolls along.

The leaves and stems of the " burning tree" of India are covered with stinging hairs after the manner of the common nettle, bub of a far more virulent nature. When touched, tho sensation felt is as of being burnt with red-hot iron, the pain extending over other parts of the body, and lasting several days, A recently compiled census of "Blue Stockings" shows thab during the past 15 to 20 years, out of 1486 of ox-students ah Girton and elsewhere, 680 are engaged in teaching, 208 have married, 11 aro pursuing medicine, 2 are nurses, 8 or 9 are in Government employ, 1 is a bookbinder, 1 a market gardener, and 1 a lawyer. Oil is no longer to be poured on troubled water. It is to be fired like a shell from a gun. As a wave approaches, a bomb filled with oil is to be precipitated in its direction. The bladder will be perforated with small holes, so that the oil will run oub slowly and continue its work for a greater length ol time than would otherwise be the case.

A novel feat was performed at an ice company's works in ' Newport, Rhode Island. A piece of ice was stood on edge just as ib was taken out of the tank, and behind this half a dozen persons took their positions, while on the other side a photographer posed his camera. The features could be seen distinctly through the ice.

The town of Rostov, on tho Don, is frequently visited, says a local paper, by a gram merchant, a Cossack named Ardei Avloukpow, who is 124 years old. He has eight sons and three daughters living. A ninth son, the eldest, died three years ago at the age of 96. The number of tho centenarian's grandchildren and greab grandchildren is 26. There was a trial of Gorman war dogs ab Dresden recently, in which the dogs came off creditably as military aids. They kept up rapid and regular communication between the troops and outposts a mile away, carrying the despatches to and fro. They also served ammunition, passing from man to man, the number of ball cartridges they carried being 250 and blank 350. Laws have been enacted in Belgium prohibiting the hunting of frogs. The Belgium hunters have found ib easy to continue thoir occupation in the neighbouring country of Holland. Recently, in ono day, these hunters sent as many, as 20,000 frogs' legs to Paris. As these delicacies bring from 4 to 5 cents apieco, the calling is a paying one to some of the hunters. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge havo jusb received very valuable gifts. Oxford is the recipient of £4000 from the widow of the late Bishop of Manchester for tho purpose of endowing a scholarship at Oriel College, while Cambridge has received the entire collection of plants, the property of the late Prof. Babington, and also his botanicai library at tho museum. There is no European country in which women clerks are more employed than ir France. Indeed, it iB rare to enter a French shop and find a man serving as. at accountant. Bookkeepers are paid from £40.t0 £120 a year, and accountants much the same! In tho commercial houses, whero women clerks aro also employed, they often have an interest in the business. . A lady in America has succeeded in making quite a pet of a hummingbird. The little creature has becomo perfectly domesticated, and has been allowed to fly in and out of tho house at pleasure by a window bhat has purposely been left open forib. Ib is a household pet. By night) it perches on a piece of clothes line strung in tho kitchen, and on rainy days flutters about among the plants and flowers in the house.

There is a scheme of uniting Ceylon with India by a railway across Palk's Straits. Ib will necessitate a bridge of proportions hitherto undreamb .since ib will have to be forty-one miles in length. < The engineering difficulties are nob so formidable as would ab first sight' appear, for although the map shows a formidable breadth of sea \ botween the mainland and Ceylon, the rail--way can be made to traverse ib on a series .: of stepping-stones formed by the rocks and', shoals known «a Adam's Bridge.' v'