GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12016, 12 July 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

TUB SPANIARD. The Spaniard •is proud. We all in this countiy are apt to despise this pride, and to consider that the hidalgo with a. cloak and no shirt is a contemptible figure; bub lias the Spaniard 110 reason for his pride? Everyone admits that he has a great history behind him, that he nearly mastered Europe, that lie nearly quelled the vast movement forward which we call the Reformation, arid that from the Rio Grande to Terra del Fuego he planted his power, his ideals, and his civilisation so deeply into the two Americas that to this horn, so far as they are civilised, it is with the civilisation of Spain and no other. Wherever Spain trod she Hispaniolised the country. —Spectator. A COINCIDENCE. A remarkable coincidence is recorded in Notes and Queries. Some years , since a number of business friends who habitually lunched together in one of our large provincial cities, upon the casual proposition of one of their number, adjourned to a photographer's and were taken in a . group, their individual positions being determined by no design Not long afterwards one who had occupied an extreme end of the group died; and within a comparatively short timo the . whole of the persons who had been photographed died, without a single exception, in the exact order they had .there occupied. The last survivor died in 1900.- .. < FACTS -ABOUT LONDON. A child is born every three minutes, and a death > is registered every five minutes. The city contains - over seven hundred railway stations, nearly eight hundred miles of railway "line, and eleven railway bridges span the Thames. Daily a million persons travel on the underground - railways, and ••two. and a-half . millions in 5000 omnibuses, 7000 hansoms, 14,000 cabs, and 7000 tramcars. The total population is between six and seven millions. -Four thousand postmen deliver 10,000,000 letters weekly, walking ; a distance equal to twice the circumference of the globe. Sixty thousand letters are written a day, consuming : thirty gallons of ink. Ten thousand miles of overhead telegraph wires almost ■ shut out the smoky : canopy which .- spreads above the same London streets, and the number of telegraph messages received in London last year was over six millions. • Ninety million gallons of: water are consumed daily. now NATIONS BEST. Considering /that a. third of our whole lives is spent in bed, it is not surprising that much care, trouble, and money should be spent on our sleeping-places. In this country the unhealthy feather bed lias been almost entirely ousted by the more hygienic mattress, which also is the rule in America. French beds are remarkable for their hardness, and Germ ni beds are so short that the average foreigner often complains .that it demands a special education to fold oneself up to the right size for them. Many Norwegian beds are iiiade to pull out from recesses. In South and Central America the hammock reigns, and the Indians ;of Guiana plait the most beautiful hammocks of grass, which they dye charming colours. In /Japan the bed consists of the: mattingcovered floor, with a curious wooden neckrest ; a form of bolster that to a European would be a. simple instrument of torture. The Chinese use; low bedsteads, often elaborately carved, with mattress and coverings of matting. ;In winter they sleep in heavy garments wadded with cotton. > No one is more easily suited with sleeping accommodation than the negro; he, like a cat, can curl up and take his rest anywhere. SCOTLAND AND THE KING'S title. Ultra-patriotic Scotsmen have not yet reconciled themselves to King Edward styling himself the Seventh of Scotland, and they are taking active steps , to show their resentment , through the medium of, the Coronation medals. The corporation of Glasgow - have quietly dropped out the "VII." from the medals which they are ito I issue to the children of the city at the Coronation fete, and ■> that strenuous .. body the, Scottish Patriotic Association have, gone one better. They intend to use an aluminium. medal with the following inscription round • the King's head: " Edward I.not VII. —of Britain and the British Empire,", while on the reverse _ side the Royal Arms are given, with their .Scottish quartering:-;, and the inscription: "For the /rights and honour of Scotland." •

ROMANISM ON THE CONTINENT, Roman Catholicism is said to be on the decline some of its Continental strongholds. f. The Kolnische Zeitung has just published some interesting statistics on the subject, according ito : which : in Germany alone during , the : yearVlß9o : 3105 Germans -.- left the Church of Rome and became Protestants, while 554 Protestants went over to Rome. In 1899 no fewer than 5549 Catholics became Protestants, and 660 Protestants Catholics. In Austria also Protestantism is growing, and in 1899 Lutherauism added 6492 converts to its numbers, while 785 Lutherans turned Roman Catholics. - 'v / MARK TWAIN'S FINANCIAL STATUS. . Mark Twain has grown wise in his old age. He lias become financially very strong again, and has not only recovered his lost fortune but added thereto until he can correctly be: described as a. " rich: man." For this "happy condition he owes thanks to his friend and ardent admirer, Henry 11. Rogers, the Rockefeller understudy and Standard Oil and Copper multi-millionaire. He began; several years ago making Mr. Rogers the custodian of his surplus cash with a prayer that the multi. should invest it safely and -profitably: The great capita- : accepted the charge in the right spirit and put the humorist on. ■to sundry and divers good things, also not neglecting to I let him out at the. right time, . a. formality ' too often omitted in Wall-street. The ! Twain account was nursed from a ; small be- ; ginning into formidable proportions, and toI day stands a gratifying monument to the Oil King's unselfish regard for a friend. To such a degree is Mr. Rogers interested in the temporal welfare of the famous author arid lecturer, and so determined is he that no financial misfortune shall again overtake him, that lie exercises a close personal supervision over receipts and disbursements. He is 1 bent on making the sunset of the Twain life rosy and smooth. In this world's goods Samuel T. Clemens was never so well fixed as now. ■ - AN OCEAN GREYHOUND'S EYES. About three hundred and thirteen men compose the crew of a great liner while at sea. All are responsible, in a measure, for the safety of the ship, though the weight of it rests more heavily on some shoulders than others."* ; On the stem-head, in ordinaryweather, there are usually two men. When it is heavy weather, misty or hazy, ' three men are there. hi the " crow's-nest'' there are also two men. These men are practically the eyes of the ship. Usually a man can*see about fifteen miles at sea oil a clear day with the naked eye. Of course, the main point for sighting objects at sea is in the " crow's-nest," on the masthead. The "crow's-nest" men have to be pretty sharp. They must see things before the officer on the*bridge sights them. If an officer on deck makes out an object before the " crow's-nest" man detects it the latter gets a reprimand. At night lookout men have to be very much on the alert for sounds. Both the hearing and seeing of . these, men I are tested, and their eyes and ears must be well-nigh perfect. In a fog: the safety of the ship depends as much upon the hearing qualities of the lookout as upon anything else. Lookout men on the stem-head have a telephone close at hand, by means of which they may communicate with the officers oil the bridge. In fair weather two officers are always on duty on the •: bridge; in foul weather, three.

GOOD ADVICE. . Advice tendered in the handbook for travellers in the Soudan, recently issued by the Egyptian Government, drifts more than once into unconscious Innnoui. Referring to the currency it is quaintly observed that " in 'the more undressed parts of the country" beads and bracelets are current. In the section on shooting there is a pleasant reference to the sporting tourist, who is warned that only crocodiles may be shot at from steamers, and even this practice is deprecated as being " more dangerous to the riverain population than the crocodile."