FRAGMENTS OF FACT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1507, 17 January 1901, Page 11

FRAGMENTS OF FACT.

Now Zealand, unlike its sis sister colonies, has no currency of its own. There is 1 a racecourse in Australia, both at Epsom and Sandov.ni Park. High angle fire is that fired 1 from guns at an elevation exceeding fifteen degrees. Thirteen bandmasters in the army hoM warrant rank dated so far back as 1881. . . . The naval vessels nearing completion are the Hyacinth, Brito mart, Bramble, Severn and Oarysfort. The naval Commander-in-Obief of a British colony is entitled to the prefix of “bis Exceilency.' ’ The Royal Army Clothing Factory has only two commissioned officers, a director and a doctor. When shrapnel bursts the bullets go forward, in common shell the fragments fly in all directions. “ Apples and several other Australian fruits are exported packed in the shredded bark of the tea tree. It is now generally admitted that scenting was greatly neglected in the Salisbury Plain manoeuvres. There are about ICR,OOO Indians in the Dominion of Canada located upon reserves in different districts. Only one coloured soldier wears the Victoria Cross —Lance-Sergeant Gordon, of the West Indian Regiment'.

A hundred and twenty blacks are professional kangaroo hunters in Western Australia, oL whom twenty-seven are females. Six hundred “cow-punchers’' (cowboys), of Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado were included in Canada’s 1 volunteers for the front.

Men, who though slight yet reach the chest standard, are preferred as recruits to those that are stout, the former being considered to possess the better frame.

The British soldier has not always worn a --scarlet uniform. White was the prevailing colour under Henry VIIL,

and dark green or russet in the tune of Elizabeth.

Ja the United Kingdom two pounds of beef are consumed to one of mutton. Some of the paper made in Corea is so strong and dense that it is used to cover umbrellas.

A somewhat imperfect copy of the first folio edition of Shakespeare’s works, dated 1323, was recently sold in London fca* £252.

Tlie finger-nails of the higher classes in Chinn, arc allowed to grow until they are .six inches long, and are protected by bamboo and silver cubes generally worn over the third finger.

The United States now sends to other countries every year more than two hundred million bushels of Indian corn. That is probably the largest item in the whole world's international provisions trade. Documents inscribed on plates cf baked clay have been found which are undoubtedly wills drawn in legal form dealing with the transfer and bequeathing of property, and which date back to oMHJ B.C. ‘ The opium war, which was declared against China, by Great Britain in 1839. was responsible for the opening of that, nation to the world’s commerce by means of the treaty ports which were afterwards established. There are good reasons for believing . that France will always possess a large silk industry, and that it will centre m Lyons. No matter hew the progress of invention may lower the cost of production, the French peasantry can always ma k e sil k. The outside speed for Atlantic cablegrams is forty-five words a- minute. Tlie Afghans rarely leave their homes without having an arsenal of weapons in their belts. Arms are their adornments. In Hebrew marriages the bride stands to the right of her partner. In all other marriages the bride’s place is to the left of the groom. Chinese iron is becoming a serious rival in Japan to the American and English product, and is now sold at about £1 per ton cheaper that that which is imported from Great Britain. Twenty-five thousand camels are owned by the British Government. Several thousands are used in India to carry * stores and equipment when the regiments are changing quarters. Attention has been called to the fact that the glare of electric lights on board war vessels is so intensely brilliant trust the sailors sometimes suffer from weakness of the eyes. In a few cases total blindness has resulted. The Imperial library at Pekin contains 92,242 books. In 1409 A.D. an Imoerial commission compiled a dissertation from the encyclopaedia, and it was embodied in 22.937 books. A later supplemental work has 10.000 illustrated volumes. It takes -5000 bees to weigh a pound ; but when the insects come in from the fields and flowers, freighted with honey, they weigh nearly thrice as much. Lake Morat, in Switzerland, has tue curious property of turning red every ten years, owin' to the presence of certain aquatic plants which are not known in any other lake in the world. The Sultan of Johore has adopted a new and very modern method of tiger- - hunting. Some time back he shot a tiger which was driven out of the jungle by the aid of cyclist trackers. An authority has estimated that, without the. assistance of birds, many even of the Northern States of the American Union would be carpeted with insects, one to each square inch of ground, at the end of twelve years. A number of the original standard weights of Rome have been uneartneu at the Forum. They are of green marble, with bronzed handles. From these it will bo possible to learn the value of the primitive Homan weights. The natives of Persia have an odd way cf testing a carpet to see if it is a. true Persian product. A piece of reel-hot charcoal is dropped upon it, which leaves a round singed spot. If the carpet is of the first- quality, the singed wool can be "brushed off with the hand, without leaving a trace of the burn discernible. It drifted back again.—During the volcanic. eruption in the Hawaiian Islands last year the smoke rose to a height of five or six miles, and then drifted away to the north-east. At a distance of 600 miles from Hawaii it settled upon the surface of the sea, and was then carried back by the north-east wind to its place of origin, where it arrived a fortnight after its first departure, and covered the entire group of islands witn its heavy pall. Titles in China, instead of being hereditary, are- conferred on the parents of distinguished per so ns. Something new in the way of a hospital has been inaugurated in Paris, on the banks of the Seine. Trees which grow weL-k along the boulevard are conveyed there to recover. Electricity is employed cn several . dairy farms in feeding cattle. An automatic mechanism, set for a desired time, delivers the proper quantity of feed from the hoppers over the stalls. Until 1627 the Chinese wore their hair long and coiled on the top cf the head, where it was fastened with an ornamental pin. The Manehu edict, making the pigtail a sign of loyalty, changed this stylo. On the Ist of July last tlie Dominion of Canada, entered tlie thirty-third year of its existence. It started witn four scattered provinces in the east ; now it is almost half the northern continent, stretching from shore to shore, from east to west. A scientist, after years of has succeeded in colouring the plumage of birds by the administration of food mixed with aniline, dyes. In this way he has, it is stated, produced red and blue pigeons, and lias imparted to canaries all the tints of the rainbow. The Russian mode of brewing tea is to make a strong essence.by infusing a large quantity of tea in a small supply of water, and a little is put into a glass, which is then filled with hot or cold water, as desired. The true Russian never puts sugar into his tea. He often, however, • bites a niece as he sips his tea.