FRAGMENTS OF FACT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1261, 30 April 1896, Page 11

FRAGMENTS OF FACT.

TIT-Birs OF INTERESTING AND USEFUL INFORMATION.

The first Japanese newspaper appeared only twenty-five years ago, and it was published monthly by a druggist as an advertising medium. Now there are more than four hundred journals in the realm of the Mikado. In eomparison to its population New Zealand has more newspapers than any other country.

An eminent Austrian physician declares that rheumatism can bo cured by a plentiful diet of ripe fruit. Which reminds that hero is the place to say that if we New Zealanders ate less mutton and more fruit, dyspepsia would not be so common as it is.

“ Uncle Tom,' 1 the original of the hero of Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book, “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin," is still living. His real name is George Harris. Ho is eighty-five years old and is a resident of Lexington, Kentucky. It is said that for many years ho has been pitiably poor, and has been obliged to live on five cents a day. Poor “ Uncle Tom!" The publishers who have mado thousands of pounds out of Mrs Beecher Stowe’s famous book ought to grant him a substantial pension, In Russian Poland all trains must stop at every station until the police (or gondarmetie) captain of the place gives permission for its departure. Spanish bull-fighters get salaries as large as those of exceptionally great actors. “ First swords," liko Mazzantini or Guerrita, are among the richest men in Spain. Guerrita, who is not yet thirty, earns an income which is nover less than £‘Booo in one year, and owns naar Cadiz a villa and park, where in the winter months he entertains his friends with lavish hospitality. Mazzantini has .£BO,OOO invested, and it is a bad year for him when ho does not earn £IO,OOO. Tho world puts on its food each year £600,000 worth of black pepper.

Tho number of dogs in Belgium used for drawing loads is probably under 50,000. A five-minute telephonic communication within a radius of fifteen miles costs three-half-pence in France.

The brain of a woman is smaller than that of a man, but it is stated to be somewhat larger in proportion to the weight of the bodj.

In the ant hills of South Africa have boon found suspension bridges passing from one gallery to another and spanning a gulf more than six inches wide. An eminent medical authority declares that tho people least liable to take colds are those who keep their mouths closed, unless when they are talking, eating or drinking. A recent very young and much-indulged brido had twenty-six bridesmaids to attend her. Not all stood at the altar, ten occupying front pews. But the procession of young women preceded her entrance, and sixteen surrounded her throughout tho ceremony. Shakespeare mentions perfumes as being in common u?o in his time.

Bice paper is not made from rice, but from the membranes of the bread-fruit tree.

The average annual wages paid in Great Britain are estimated to be £39 for men and .£25 for women.

The smallest known bird is a upecies of West India and Central America humming bird, only an inch in length, and weighing but twenty grains. Quill pens are prepared for use by sorting, drying in hot sand, and scraping to remove tho outer skin. They are then hardened by being dipped in diluted nitric aoid.

It is said that the sweeping of the streets of Paris costs about £ 270,000 a year. The pay of a sweeper is about threepence an hour. The annual cost of watering the streets is said to be .£BO,OOO. A London restaurant URes an electrically heated p!ato to keep the food warm. So long as the current is turned on one can dine as leisurely as he likes. There is no danger of receiving a shock from touching the plate. Lawyers head the list of professions in Parliament with 131 members, followed by 105 land-owners. Thore are -11 sons or brothers of peers, 39 naval and military officers, 31 journalists, 11 doctors, 10 professors, 15 tenant farmers (nearly all Irish), and 12 representatives of labour.

It is said that Madame Patti has received in all 11,000,000 for her operatic work.

Tho English Houses of Parliament are partly lit by 40,000 electric lamps, a number which is being constantly increased. Several experienced electricians are employed to keep tho system in order. But there is still a very heavy gas bill every year. As an example of the fecundity of the late Alexandre Dumas's pen, it is said that between the years 1855 and 1870 ho wrote more than fifty plays for tho various Parisian theatres.

Army surgeons say that tho expression on tho faces of soldiers killed in battle reveals the cause of death. Those who perish from sword wounds have a look of repose, while there is an expression of pain on tho countenances of those slain by bullets,

The report of the Portuguese census of

shows that the population of the little kingdom then numbered 5,049,729 and discloses the most incredible fact that over three of these five millions in civilised Europe are unable to either read or write : only 938,165 can read and write, and 110,607 more can read a little. The reason for Portugal’s ignorance is that her education system is run by the church.

France, with a population of 39,000,000, has a fighting force of 2,000,000 men, able to appear in the field at very short notice.

The Dowager Empress of Russia has a great weakness for the black rvo broad eaten by Danish soldiers. "When visiting Donmerk she has this kind of bread served to her every day, and when at home she has some sent to her every week.

The difference between “ tartan " and “plaid" is that the one is tho pattern and design, and the other the article of costume.

According to Sir Benjamin "Ward Richardson, tho normal period of human life is about 110 years, and seven out of ten average people, if they took proper care of themselves, ought to attain that

age. President Faure has a fad : ho collects autographs. He began the collection some years ago, and has added greatly to its value since he became President, having obtained specimens of the handwriting of almost every king, queen and emperor on earth. Ilis exhibit of the signatures of prominent authors and inventors is very valuable. The Japanese evidently mean to profit by their understanding of Western civilisation. In Kobo and Osaka rare postage stamps are now couterfeited to perfection and readily disposed of to unsuspecting Europeans. A slight change in the inscription saves the forgeis from conflict with the law. Every morning Prince Bismarck, when he leaves his bed, weighs himself in a pair of scales, and outers his weight in a special diary. In 1879 he turned the scale at 242 pounds, but he has now reduced himself to about 200 pounds. The numbering of the heavenly bodies, whether planets, satellites or stars of tho smallest size, has been commenced with a view to the publication of an international catalogue. The idea was formed at tho Astronomical Congress in 1887, and already 189 photographs have been taken. Some only contain a dozen stars, but others are crowded, even to tho number of 1500. Altogether the catalogue is expected to enumerate about 3,000,000 stars. The “ life tree " of Jamaica is harder to kill than any other species of woody growth known to arboriculturists. It continues to grow and thrive for months after it has been uprooted and exposed to the sun. The Duke of Marlborough’s father used to say, in regard to tho enormous expenso of keeping up Blenheim Palace, that it cost some hundreds a year to keep the placo in putty alone. It is said that the largest diamond in the world was found a short time ago in the mines of Bahia do Pernagus, Brazil.

The gem is reported to weigh 3100 carat*; which is 2129 carats heavier than the previous largest existing diamond. Mrs Oliphant, the authoress, who is in her sixty-eighth year, has written upwards of sixty books since she was twenty-one years old. London can boa3t of more parks and open spaces than any city in the world, and their number is beirg constantly augmented. Ono of Edison’s hobbies is raising fancy breeds of poultry, and he has now many very valuable fowls. Eighty four members of tho London Stock Exchange, who died within the past 6even or eight years, were worth, on an average, no less than £95,685 apiece. The pneumatic principle has been applied to boots. The air-tubes lie between the upper and lower soles, and give a springy movement to the foot, which is calculated to reduce friction with the ground and to alleviate fatigue. During the most peaceful yea. s there are in the world t>,700 000 men who are withdrawn from pro'iucuve occupations to act as soldiers. The pay, equipments, food and clothing of these men cost tho world's taxpayers a sum amounting to nearly .£1,600,000 a day. In discussing the claims of various foods that will appease hunger at once quickly and satisfactorily, fjir Henry Thompson gives the first place to milk. A recent writer says that many young English barristers do not make £SO a year. Only a few of the oldest and bestknown members of the bar earn very large sums of money. To call a man a German spy is in France a sure way of securing his arrest, and it is said to be the only form of calumny for which there is no legal redress. There are 109 women to every 100 men in the world. Tumblers of nearly the same shape and dimensions as those employed to-day have been found in great numbers in Pompeii. They were made of gold, silver, glass, agate, marble, and other semi-precious stones. j The Empress of Japan is described as “ a little woman, who almost disappears from view in the long-trained Worth dresses she wears at Court ceremonies." But she atones in dignity for her lack of height. She is philanthropic, and many asylums and hospitals owe their existence to her.

Mrs Isabella Bird Bishop is regarded as one of tho most valuable members of the Royal Geographical Society. Being skilled both as a photographer and a descriptive writer, she has sent home to England from tho Orient much novel and interesting material from remote regions of China, Thibet and Persia. She was one of the first women to see the Coreans face to face, and several times narrowly escaped death among Asian tribes. Of 400 patents taken out by women during a recent period, 160 were for articles of wearing apparel and 100 for cooking utensils.

Tin is one of the oldest known metals. The Chinese have used it in tho fabrication of their brasses and bronzes from time immemorial.

Bicycles have appeared upon the stage in variety shows and in exhibitions of fancy riding, but it has been reserved for a popular comedian on the Continent to arrange a monologue to be recited as ho wheels about the stage. He makes his entrance and his exit upon a “ machine," and varies his recitation by ringing his bell, and other appropriate “ business." In Bulgaria the proprietor of a drug who announces it as certain to cure a specified disease is liable to be imprisoned if it fails to accomplish what he promised. A Hungarian couple, whose combined age is 233, celebrated the centenary of their marriage the other dav.

In Paris each day about ten persons hang, drown, or stillo themselves with the fumes of charcoal, or blew out their brains.

It has been proved that man cannot kill himself by holding his breath. At the worst, the result of tho physical discomfort so produced would be a state of coma. When this state was reached nature would reassert herself, and the breathing functions would again resume full activity, preventing a fatal issue in spite of their owner’s desire. A rich old Viennese bachelor who recently died was a confirmed misogynist. In his will lie directed his executors to bury him where no woman could be interred near him, and if necessary to purchaso two extra graves, one on each side of his own, and leave them empty, so that even in death lie could escape proximity to tho other sex. The l’rinco of Wales is very fond of modern English poetry. Sir Edwin Arnold and Algernon Charles Swinburne are his especial favourites. The distinction of being the largest picture ever painted is claimed for a panorama of the Mississippi, executed by an American artist name Banvard, who died some four years ago. This gigantic canvas was twenty-two feet wide and nearly two miles long, and gave a detailed representation of two thousand miles of the course of the “ Father of the Waters."

Norway is small, and tho sayings and doings of its people do not get into newspaper typo very often, but tho Norwegians, nevertheless, have a claim upon celebrity owing to the fact that tho average length of life is greater in their country than in any other European one. Recent statistics show that for males the average is 48 years and three months, and for females it is 51 years and 3 months. It is a valuable commentary on this that the mortality in Norway is 17 per cent, less than in the centro or west of Europe. Pope Leo XIII. is a most liberalminded man, and is said to combine a fine sense of humour with his learning and judgment. Researches of all sorts are in order in Italy just now. Among other treasures of ancient lore, the Vatican libraiy is being thoroughly overhauled, and its multitudinous records investigated. Dom Gasquet, the librarian, is reported ns saying that his Holiness had given the order to “ publish anything of interest, whether it tends to the credit or discredit of the ecclesiastical authorities.

Mr Stanley J. Weyman’s life has not been wholly destitute of stirring incident. In IPB6, while journeying through tho Pyrenees with a friend, he was apprehended on suspicion of being a Belgian spy. Iteinonstrances were of no avail, and the two Englishmen were marched under bayonets and revolvers along the high roads to the neighbouring town. Here, of course, they were released, but not till they had spent a night in a cell, and Mr Wevnian had learned how it feels to be entangled in one of the complications such as ho afterwards made famous in his books.

It has long been a matter for wonder how Queen Victoria managed to keep in touch with all the royal birthdays and marriage anniversaries, as Her Majesty is always most prompt in remembering these events and sending suitable gifts. At last tho secret is out. A secretary attends to all such matters. He has a collection of books, divided into different chapters. Each chapter deals with a different family into which some member of tho Queen’s family has married, and when a birthday that the Queen is in the habit of recognising is at hand the secretary informs her.

Mrs Chamberlain’s favourite flower is tho carnation. To gratify his wife’s tastes in this respect the Colonial Secretary has recently extended the glass houses at Highbury, his Birmingham residence, which, in time, may bo almost as famous lor its carnations as it now is for its orchids. Photographs of all tho most interesting orchids at Highbury, by the way, have been preserved by Mrs Chamberlain, who is very skilful in the art of the camera.