FRAGMENTS OF FACT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1262, 7 May 1896, Page 11

FRAGMENTS OF FACT.

TIT-BITS OF INTERESTING AND USEFUL INFORMATION.

Our garrison at Gibraltar consists of 6000 men.

Queen Victoria owns £400,000 worth of china.

Lucifer matches were formerly retailed at four a penny. Every fifth boy in India is at school, but only every fiftieth girl. There is more real poverty in America than in England, says Mr Keir Hardio.

It is said that King Prempeh's Ambassadors in England spent ,£12,000 in eight months. Two million glass eyes are manufactured every year in Germany and Switzerland.

The Parisian doctors profess to have discovered that parrots are a fertile source of zymotic disease. The moan age of the men who married in 1894, so far as recorded, was 28 - <ll, of the womon 2G - 15.

One thousand tons of soot settle monthly within the one hundred and eighteen square miles of London. Some surprise is expressed in Conservative Parliamentary circles at the decline of Lord Charles Boresford's desiro to reenter Parliament. Lord Charles, however, privately believes there will shortly bo a big war on hand, in which England will play a part, and he means to be there. A correspondent, writing to the Morning from behind tho scones, gives what he describes as tho real circumstances attending tho selection of Lord llosebery as the leader of the Liberal party. Ho says Lord Rosebery was originally chosen leader of the Liberal party by the whole Cabinet. It was Sir 11. Campboll-Ban. nerman who led tho Opposition to Sir Wm. Harcourt's selection. Another member of tho band of Jameson's heroes has had to face the music for leaving his wife and bairns to the tender mercies of the British ratepayer about eight years ago. South Africa would almost appear to havo taken tho placo of tho French watering placo of which the poet sang:—

Beautiful Boulogne, I laud thao in song, Home of tho stranger who's done something' wrong.

A London correspondent states that a studio romance is at present providing discussion in society. The young gentleman is the son of a well-known R.A., and himself an artist of some promise. He has married his model. The young lady is surpassingly beautiful, and is also honoured in tho art world as a model of propriety, and an amiable exemplar of all the virtues.

At Preston, England, recently, Fanny Leo Collier (38), was charged with being drunk and incapable About eight months ago prisoner returned from Australia in possession of .£9OOO. Sho squandered most of the money in London, where she croated some sensation, and was now entirely destitute On promising to go to Liverpool, where sho said sho had friends, sho was discharged. There is a charming new photo, out of Princess Maud of Wales and her fiance, Prince Charles of Denmark. Princo Charles Is sitting on tho arm of Princess Maud's chair, with his arm placed round her shoulder. It is a portrait which should appeal to the people, on account of its lack of formality, representing merely (a ladies' paper says) a remarkably goodlooking, happy girl and her lover, who do not givo the idea of being very exalted personages.

There aro 600 women journalists, editors, and authors in England and Wales, according to tho last census reports. Tho Americans havo notoriously bad teeth. The amount of gold annually poured into the dental cavities figures out something like .£IOO,OOO sterling.

The famous Tortworth Court chestnut is tho largest tree in England, its girth being 52ft. The largest tree in Scotland for many years was the Finhaven chestnut in Forfarshire; its girtli was 42ft fc'Un, but it was cut down about twenty-five years ago. The latest thing in Spanish bull fights is to put the matador on a bicycle instead of a horse. Carlos Rodriguez, a wellknown cyclist, and Badila, the picador, both entered tho arena lately in Madrid mounted on cycles. Rodriguez soon ran away from the bull, but Badila, not being able to turn quick enough, was overtaken and machine and rider tossed high in tho air. By a miracle tho rider was not hurt, but the machine was wrecked.

The objectionable habit of biting the nails is not uncommon. A young girl died from a painful internal disease which baffled medical science. A post-mortem was held, and in a vital part there was discovered a large ball, formed entirely of morsels of nail, which were quite indigestible, and which had increased gradually. Tomatoes are a powerful aperient for the liver, a sovereign remedy for dyspepsia and for indigestion. Tomatoes are invaluable in all conditions of the system in which the uso of calomel is indicated.

The disposition of the typical young lady to have "a good cry" seems to have been found physiologically proper. Medical authorities now assert that crying is the best exorcise for young children. Ono hospital superintendent says that a healthy baby should cry three or four times a day at least, and from ten to fif two »iaut«s nt ft time, .

The accuracy of " finger prints " as a test of personal identity is well shown by some recent photographs of Francis Galton. In a case of twins, their photographs and measurements wero closely alike, but the rninutkc of their finger prints were quite different. An enlarged photograph of the print of the hand of a child eighty-six days old shows the development of tho distinctive little ridges on the skin even at that early age.

As a means of showing how far tho world is from being overpopulatcd, economists assertthat the entire population of the United States could live comfortably in the single State of Texas. There arc 3424 known languages, or rather dialects, in the world. Of theso, 91-57 are Asiatic; 587 European; 27G African, and 1(324 American languages and dialects.

Little oak trees, an inch and a half high, aro grown by Chinese gardeners. They take root in thimbles. Professor Rontgen, Professor of Physics in the University of YVurzburg, and discoverar of tho new photography, is a singular looking man, 110 has a verylong face, made still longer in appearance by a lengthy beard. He wears his hair in the upright, imparted fashion, favoured by German University men. His big, bright eyes, bulging forehead, and somewhat large ears, help to form an unusually conspicuous face. Every soldier knows that a horse will not step on a man intentionally. It is a standing order in the British cavalry if a trooper becomes dismounted ho must lis still. If he does this tho whole squadron is likely to pass over him without doing him injury. Sir Isaac Pitman, in an interview, mentioned tho curious fact that in the early clays of his shorthand crusade the system was assailed on religious grounds, one cleric declaring in print that" Mesmerism, Phonography, Chartism and Socialism are the stalking horses behind which the most Satanic lies and the most absurd blasphemies are sent forth,"

The venerable Countess of Rothes had the right to perform a ceremony on any occasion when the Sovereign of Scotland visited the Kingdom of Fife which might havo given her tho titlo of " hereditary grand boot-jack." By an old feudal custom the head of tho Rothes family, when the King returned to Falkland Palace from the hunt, had to pull off tho royal boots and invest the royal feet in ease-giving slippers. Tho overage depth of the sea, in yards, is as follows :—Pacific, 4252 ; Atlantic, 4026; Indian, 3658; Antarctic, 3000; Arctic, 1600 ; Mediterranean, 1476 ; Irish, 240 ; English Channel, 110; Adriatic, 45 ; Baltic, 43. An evidence of the striking uniformity of size among the Japaneso is found in tho fact that recent measurements taken of an infantry regiment showed no variations exceeding two inches in height or twenty pounds in weight. The diatoms, single-colled plants of tho seaweed family, are fo small that three thousand of them laid end to end scarcely suffice to cover an inch of space on tho rule.

More than a hundred writers, male and female, have written the life of Mr Gladstone, and havo tho manuscript all ready, so that they can rush to a publishing house with it tho moment his death is announced.

Tho man'who patented the brass spring fingers one sees on lamps for holding tho chimney in placo received for many yeara a royalty amounting to X'lo,ooo.

Buenos Ay res will soon see tho completion of tho largest opera house in tho world. It will seat 5000 spectators, and the stage will hold 800 persons. Tho house is so constructed that boxholders can havo their carriage up to their tiers, and for tho occupants of tho galleries there aro lifts. The parquet seats can bo removed, and tho auditorium converted into a circus in three hours. It is calculated that if the children under the care of tho London School Board were to join hands they would reach from London to Carlisle, a distance of 300 miles.

About forty tons of letters pass daily through the British General Post Office.

At Dundee, a final dividend at tho rato of thirty-nine hundredths of a penny in tho pound was paid on tho estate (if a merchant who, two years ago, was convicted and sentenced to eight ycaia' penal servitude for a series of fraud, Tho first dividend was l|d per pound. Since a recent indisposition tho Empress of Austria has acquired an unutterable dislike, almost amounting to hatred, for music in every form—even the finest operas rendered by tho most proficient musicians.

It is tho Queen's privilege to own more chimneys than any other individual in the world. Each of these chimneys is numbered, and Her Majosty has in her possession a complete chart of these uninteresting belongings. According to one of the London correspondents, up to tho present time Mr Justin McCarthy has received something liko .£20,000 as his share of tho proceeds of tho sale of his " History of Our Own Time." It is said that nearly tho whole of this i;20,000 profit has been devoted to the cause of Ireland,

The Queen of Sweden is one of the richest women in the world. Her brothers owned the gambling tables at Wiesbaden, and from them and that source sho inherited her wealth. All her money will go to tho Crown Prince and his bouryeoise wife, of whom tho aristocrat that ehg is, ia still Y e *7 W

There are but two European potentates I who manage to get along without change of residence. These are the Pope of Rome and the Sultan of Turkey. The Sultan has never left Constantinople since he ascended the throne under such tragic circumstances nineteen years ago; and His Holiness ha 3 remained within the precincts of the Vatican since tho triple tiara was placed upon his head. A telegraphic instrument has been recently invented that will deliver a message at tho rato of 2000 words a minute. The principle of tho new chemical telegraph, as it is called, is the recording of tho message in the Morse code on a long strip of sensitised paper of the same size and shape as that seen in the familiar stock ticker. At the present time 150 or 200 words is the highest speed that can be obtained, and by Lhe introduction of this new system the cost of telegraphy to tho public ought to be considerably reduced.

An inhabitant of Berlin is responsible for the invention of fireproof paper. A considerable quantity of asbestos fibre of tho best quality, with several other ingredients, is mixed with the ordinary wood pulp, and then tho entiro mass is placed in the box, with the addition of some lime-water and borax. Paper thus produced will resist tho direct influence of a llamo, and can be placed even in a white heat with impunity. It is well known to jewellers that aluminum will mark a glass or "paste" diamond, but not the true gem, provided the surface is wet. This fact has now been applied in the production of a mechanical tester, which consists of a small disc of aluminum, rapidly revolved by an electric motor. Tho stone to bo tested is wetted, and held against the edge of the disc by means of a spring clamp. When metallic marks are found on the stone after this treatment, it is rejected a 3 false.

Mrs Gladstone is a very fine organist, and still plays occasionally. Herr Krupp is tho largest income-tax payer on earth. His annual cheque to the Government is equal to ..'.'40,000, The Queen of Portugal is addicted to masculine pursuits. She is passionately fond of hunting, and has been seen to herself thrust tho knife into tho throat of a dying stag. Her love for a bull fight is notorious.

Alphonse Daudet comes from the South of France, and feels tho cold of Paris so much that ho keeps a fire burning in his room all the year round, and whenever at work is always found sitting close by tho side of it. The foot of Ouida is perfect, Summer and winter alike, it is encased in open, buckled shoes, which prevent it from becoming contorted by unnatural pressure on the bones. Her hand, too, is faultless in shapo and proportions.

It is a somewhat remarkable fact that three young men destined to high distinction in different spheres—Lord Salisbury tho statesman, Sir John Millais tho painter, and Thomas Woollier the sculptor —wero simultaneously in Victoria at tho height of the gold fever in tho early fifties. Tho wifo of President Kruger is not a society lady. In common with her husband, she is the reverse of handsome, but she enjoys a reputation for her excellent manner of housekeeping, bread-baking and hospitable entertainment. Liko most Butch women, she is tremendously obstinate and hard upon those with whom she does not agree. In London alone, 4-1,000 letters have, on tho average, to be "returned" every week.

Pierre Loti, the French novelist, is said to spend more time before tho camera than anyone else in Europe, with the possible exceptions of tho Kaiser and tho Prince of Wales. He has been photographed in various attitudes and in almost every kind of attire, for he possesses a mania for dressing in fancy costumes.

It is said that Lord Rosebery is at work on a novel dealing with the life of a diplomat. He has always had literary talent, and has at times written verse of more or less merit. Not long after his health began to improve, upon his retirement from office, ho took up work on a novel that had been already wull-nigh finished. He is a very careful workman, and is re-writing the story for the third time.

Wrought steel chimneys aro now displacing tho old brick chimneys in tho United States. Theso stacks have been built to a height of seventy-six feet. Besides this, sixty-four feet of their total length are embedded in a brick base. But as steel expands when it is heated far moro than brick, it was found impossible to have the shells resting directly against this base, an obstacle which was overcome by allowing the stack to rest against heavy iron rollers, which allowed tho shell to expand or contract without disarranging any part of tho construction. Sarah Grand's opinion of " The Woman Who Did" is severe. When asked the question, " What do you think of " The Woman Who Did?'" sho replied, "It seems to mo that Mr Grant Allen want 1 ; us to return to the customs of tho poultry yard." The Ameer of Afghanistan has built a cinder-path at Cabul for cycling purposes. Sir Salter Pyne, when at Coventry a few days ago, gave an order for sevoral machines to be sent to Cabul at once. An order for many ladies' machines, for the members of the Ameer'e harem, is to follow* 1