NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10014, 28 December 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Artificial ivory is made from condecsod skim-milk. There aro two solid silver tea-tables all Windsor Castle. There are nine kilted battalions altogether in the British Army. Of the earth's surface 1,500,000 acres aril devoted to tobacco culture. £100,000 worth of so-called old violins aro exported from Germany yearly. The old City of London churchyards contain over 36,000 tons of human remains. Franco still possesses four Waterloo veterans, threoof them being ceo'enariang. Brandy was first used medicinally, and miraculous cures were ascribed to its employ* ment. The price now demanded for whalebone is at the rato of £2500 per ton, which is tho highest ever known. ' Full of cnterpriso, tho Liverpool Workhouse Committee has just ordered a £5 incubator for babies.

It is stated on good authority that 75 pel cent, of the Punch accepted jokes from outsiders coma from Scotland. British rule extends over an area of 8,557,058 square miles, or more than onosixth of tho world's land surface. The income of the industrial population of Great Britain has grown in fifty yoars three times faster than tho population itself. It is estimated that upwards of 200,000 persona aro employed in Franco in connection with tho sale, manufacture, and cultivation of tobacco. The primo of lifo in a man of regular habits and sound constitution is from 30 to 55 years of ago; of a woman, from '24 or 25 to about 40 years of age. At an inquest in Hackney tho other day a single woman was stated to have died without seeing a doctor because sho " hated the eight of men." The beagle is a little sporting dog that is coming back into favour. The collection at) the last Kennel Club show at tho Palace, was a decidedly good one. The amount of gold in circulation in Great Britain and Ireland is estimated m varying, according to circumstances, frotc £155,000,0 0 to £110,000,000 sterling. On property ilong tho Ohio Rivot millions of bushels of fruit have this yeat been wasted, for the low water of tho rivot has made shipments well nigh itapossiblo. Compound locomotives have gained much favour with the directors of the Prussian State railways. The compounds are not to bo usod for suburban services, but only for freight and express servico. A citizen of Franco, impressed for short) military servico at) Lyons, recently begged for a reprieve on account) of bis wife's serious illness. Tho petition was refused, and thereupon man and vvifo committed suicide.

Tlio longest time during which a note lias remained outsidn of the Bunk of England is 111 years. It was for £25, and ib is computed that (ho compound interest during tint long period amounted to no less than £0000.

There has been a decline in tho consumption of beer in England during the past half-year. In Scotland and Ireland there has, on tho other hand) been an increase. The net result, however, is a loss to tha Exchequer of £38,761. Ono of the most interesting things to bo seen ab Atlanta, Georgia, outside of tha Exhibition, is a house said to be constructed entirely of paper, from foundation to chimney. Georgians say this is tho only house ot tho kind in tho world.

A building now in course of demolition in Newton-street, Holborn, London, murks the spot where persons condemned to execution were allowed to halt on their way to Tyburn, in order that tlioir friends might present them with flowers and ale.

Some experiments having been carried out with success in steering Gorman warships by electricity, tho new method is expected to bo shortly adopted in tho Imperial navy. The ordinary steering gear will bo retained for use in case of accident.

Every soldier knows that a horso will nob stop on a man intentionally. It is a standing order in the British cavalry if a trooper becomes dismounted ho must lie still. If he does this the wholo squadron will pass ore him without doing him injury. Tlio salaries paid to many French cooks by nobility for merely superintending the gastronomic arrangements of Mioir establishment are preposterous; five or six hundred pounds a year is very common, and froquently a thousand pounds is given. A merchant) of Cassopolis, Michigan, recently offored a handsome dress to any woman who would consent to be married in his show window. Tho dress was secured by a coloured girl, and a giggling crowd witnessed the marriage ceremony from the pavement outside. In Hyde Park the dogs' burial-ground all tho north end has been closed by the Duke of Cambridge, as ranger of Hyde Park. For nearly forty years persons have boon allowed to bury their pot dogs there, and put up little tombstones over them.- Mow the cemetery is full. Among the products which pcienco has put to valuable service is tho nettle, a weed which Is now being cultivated in some parts of Europe, its fibre being useful for a variety of textile fabrics. In Dresden a thread is produced from ib so fine that) 8 length of GO miles weighs only 2£ib. Though music has no charm for tho lion and tiger, it has been discovered by a naturalist who has boon conducting experiments in tho London Zoological Gardens that thes9 animals are powerfully affected by smell of lavender Under ita influenco tlioy become as docilo as lambs. Of tho recruits entering the English Array in 1894, 92 in 10,000 of tho population came from England and Wales, 79 in 10,000 from Scotland, and only 73 in 10,000 from Ireland. Tho actual figures were: England and Wales, 26,763; Scotland, 3232; Ireland, 3446. Total, 33,441.

Fashions change in wine as in everything else. For a long time sherry was in abeyance, but it is now rising in favour, 25,495 more gallons having been imported into the United Kingdom during the first half of this year than In the corresponding period of 1894. On the other hand, champagne and port have been somewhat " off." A gold medal has been awarded to a German savant as a reward for his success in introducing tropical birds into German forests. With the exception of canaries and African parrots, all the birds imported from tropical regions have been acclimatised, and evon the young of tho' formsi have survived the sevority of lasb winter. Tho new bird colony is situated in Southern Saxony. _ _ The mail of tho Fimporor of Japan is more than ten times as great 89 ib was beforo the war with China began. Thero is not a city in the civilised world from which he does nob recoivo letters in these days. Many of his correspondents eeom to think that through him they can gain an entrance to the Japanose market. The number oi inventions of all kinds offered him for salo is enormous. Cyclists will bo treated with an attention ab the Berlin Exhibition next year the; have never meb with before all similar undertakings. At every gata of tho exhibition sheds will lie provided here they can store their cycles while they visit tho grounds. Those not possessed of wheels will be convoyed to the exhibition by moans of fchreo now electrical railways from tho centre of the city. In Detroit city nearly 70,000 bushels of potatoes hare been raised by the unemployed and very poor this year on vncanb building land. The mayor has obtained permission from tho property owners to cultivate such waste land, and all out-of-works, sons of widows, and tho like, aro allotted plots, given seed and tools, and started to work tor themselves. By this means the sting is being taken out of poverty in Detroit.

No one but a soldier can tell what soldiers endure in time of war. Among the Sopoys who received the Order of Merit for the relief of Chitral is one who had no fewer than 31 wounds. Anothor man, a Sikh,, furnished a splendid example of pluck and endurance. He was shot in the side at) the Koragh Defile, whon Ross' party were cub up. He could feel tho bullet in his body,. so worked away at ib with both hands, gradually pushing it outwards until he had extracted it. Then he shouldered his rifle again, and did his march of 20 miles or eo, , in spite of loss of blood. He ! is alive and well, with the Order of Mgrit) as his ro*. ward,