Items.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 7491, 14 April 1899, Page 4

Items.

It is said that Princeas Ena of Battenberg, who was born ia 1887, is the only Royal child boru in Scotland for nearly 000 years—that is, since the birth of Charles 1., in 1600.

According to the N.Z. Times the damp season has resulted in the phenomenal growth of mushrooms in some parts of the Wairarapa. Along the railway line near Featheratone some of the paddocks are thickly covered with white rings characteristic of this form of vegetable life. Five members of a survey party in the King Country invested LI in one of Tattersali's sweeps drawn last month, and have secured the first prize of L4OOO.

Daring last week there was a great dearth of sacks, the farmers, it is reported, having found more difficulty in getting sacks for their grain than they have experienced in the last 15 years. The Fiji authorities have recently issued an ordinance relative to gambling in the colony, aimed especially afc suppressing gambling dens amongst the Indians who have emigrated there who appear to, be born gamblers, and the fertile ground is availed of by a host of Indian fakirs to improve the occasion to the detriment of the community generally. The local Press declare that " the Fijians as a whole are not acquainted with gambling." Rather a novel thing on the part of wild birds was witnessed, or rather heard, on the Hamilton road recently, says the Kapunda Herald (South Australia) of 17 th March. Two Kapunda residents were proceeding along the road, when they heard quite a number of voices calling <' Pretty cocky." On looking up they saw a flock of cockatoos passing over their heads, each one muttering the words mentioned. It is supposed that a domesticated bird had escaped from his captivity, and had passed his time in teaching his companions to talk. The largest theatre is the new Operahouse in Paris. The largeso suspension b-idge is that between New York City and Brooklyn. The longest span of wire is used for a telegraph in India over the river Kistnah. The longest tunnel is that of St. Gothard, between Lucerne and Milan. The largest library is the Bibliotheque in Paris. The greatest .pyramid is that of Cheops, one of the Memphis group. The largest monolith is the obelisk at Karnak. The largest bell in the world is the;great bell at Moscow, at the foot of the Kremlin. The greatest fortress, >from a strategical point of view, is that of Gibraltar. The loftiest active volcano is the smoking mountain of Mexico. The largest cavern is the Mammoth' Cave of Kentucky The largest trees are mammoth trees of California. The largest desert is that of Sahara. The largest Inland sea is the : Caspian, and the largest body of freshwater on the surface of the globe is LakeSuperior. A serious landslip has occu; red on "Kirk-; caldy Beach above 'the right-of-way to; Desart. Great blocks of roeks, carrying; with them hundreds of tons of earth,'fell; to the fornhore. i The historic church of St, John's South-end-on-Sea, was damaged by a fire which broke out under the organ loft during a confirmation class, through the overheating of the flues.