Items.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7214, 19 May 1898, Page 4

Items.

Seventy thousand vehicles enter and leave London in the coarse of a day. There are several jockeys in Newmarket, England, earning L3OOO a year. In Spain the phonograph is used as a receiver for telephonic messages. One advantage of this arrangement is the facility ib offers for repeating messages, since the operator at the transmit ting station can hear the message spoken fcy the phonograph at the same time the operator at the receiving end takes it: down. Also, messages may be transmitted as fast as desired, and the operator at the receiving station can reproduce them at any time and at lower speed, so that the message can be readily taken down. Ocean waves have often dashed over the tops of lighthouses 150 ft high. The French are about to make a law fining railway companies for late trains. _ Only 116 divorces have been granted in Canada during the last 20 years. In 12 marriages out of every 100 one of the parties have been married before. More than 55 per cent, of American freight is exported and imported on British ships. Taking it year in and year out, the coldest hour of each 24 is five o'clock in the morning. It has been stated by an eminent scientist that the foam of the sea is caused 'by the seaweed. . The " manganese " drying oils are those in which compounds of manganese take the place of the lead driers usually added in the boiling of linseed oil. These drying oils are prepared by heating linseed oil In a steam-jacketed pan'to a temperature of about 210 degrees Fahr. The manganese compound is then added, and a current of air i lown through the oil until it' has "arrived at the desired consistency. The compounds of-manganese usually added are the borate of manganese or the oleate or linoleat'e, "dissolved in twice - their weight of turpentine and the amount of the drier required to produce c an ' active drying oil is only very • small. The " manganese" drying oils differ from the ordinary boiled oils by being much paler,!in fact their . ;cplor is but .iittle darker than that of raw Unseed oil. They do not darken like the ordinary boiled" oils contained in. lead-, driers,— From Building World for December. . / As a specimen of caligraphy the written, statement of William Joe Gett, China"

man, a Weliington bankrupt, is good ; as a study in English it: is . amusing (remarks the New Zealand! Times). Getb was schooled down Bouthy :where 'he :f olio wed multifarious occupatipns, including thab of mining agent, having for clients "Mr Saddon and other lawyeis." L He had only •33Lwhen he landed tin Wellington, 'which is a trifle more than the much-vaunted half-crown, the alleged original capital of most- men now wealthy!' Out of this 3s he indulged in an eighteenpenny cab ride, and had to borrow 5s from a cousin, whom he describes as a counter-jumper in a local Chinese establishment. He saved enough to get into a business in Blenheim. This town was "lively then, says Getb, doing a " bonser" trade. His partner left him, however, and he had to pay all his debts, iv fact which had a somewhat deDressing effectroii his spirits. Starting in Wellington again he did fair business, bub luck wenb against him latterly, and he received so many letters from creditors daily that he was sorry he ever learnt English. " Such unprintable word they wrote, and they come arid use threatening languages at me. I see my trouble endless to come, I am helpless. Daring the last three years over bhirty-six creditors support my business; during last two months nob one let me have penny on tick. Fish never can live in a dry pond without water. Engine can't well move along without well support of coal. Boy can't fly kite without tall on it. Housekeeper pour all tea to the cup, no refilled, how she give you more tea yon require all empty % That just the way with my business."