ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1189, 12 September 1874, Page 3

ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

A novel watch has been invented by a Swiss watchmaker at Aaragan. The motive power is compressed air. Louis, the youngest son of the Duke de Montpensier, has died at Raudon. He was seven years of age. The Duke has now one son left and three daughters, the eldest of whom is the Comtesse de Paris.

The Emperor of China has ordered a collection to be made of Chinese poetry from the earliest times downwards. This collection will be published in 200 volumes. It is also stated that the Emperor has in his possession a library numbering above 400,000 volumes.

Government returns show that Ireland produced in 1873 2,683,060 tons of potatoes. The acreage under this crop has been decreasing for the last two years ; but the produce of 1873 showed a large increase over that of 1872.

The Times has now a special telegraph wire to Paris, worked from nine in the evening, till three in the morning, and gathering up the latest Continental news. For the use of this wire they will have to pay £3000 a year. The Canadian House of Gommons has passed a resolution that no intoxicating liquors shall be sold within the precincts of the House, and the Pastoral Times says:— "lf New South Wales and Victoria would do the same, we should see the duties of members of Parliament more satisfactorily performed." This is probably true, as also that some public money would be annually saved from disbursement upon Parliamentary grogscores.

An unappreciative American fashioncrit&. describes the new bonnets of this season as the old ones sat down upon for half an hour or so.

The " lapi Oaye," (word carrier) is the name of a Dakota Indian monthly newspaper, which has just reached its third • volume. It is supported by no fewer than 500 bondjßdeßed Indian subscribers. Ax authentic centenarian is still living in the person of Lady Smith, the widow of the late Sir Edward Smith, who was knighted by George 111. in 1814. The Ashantee War is the subject of a grand lyrical drama to which Monsieur Herv6* is composing the music. It will shortly be produced in London. Parisian ballet girls will shortly be celebrating the bi-centenary of their first appearance on the stage of the capital. Up to 1681 the women's part in ballets were invariably filled by men with masks, with the exception of Court ballets, where the Princesses danced themselves. On the 11th May in that year, however, the first professional danseuses made their appearance at the opera in a ballet called " La Triomphe de I' Amour." Entomologists may be glad to hear of a new method of rapidly killing and preserving for a considerable time without harm specimens collected in expeditions. A few drops of bitter almonds should be placed in some sawdust, which should be enclosed in a flask and hermetically sealed. M. Anzoux, the Lancet tells us, has received from Ceylon specimens thus preserved, which were so flexible as to permit of their being prepared and mounted. Two curious manuscripts have recently been added to the Library of the British Museum. One is a portion of a treatise by King Edward VI., on "The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ," written in French in the King's own hand, with corrections by his tutors ; the other, brought from the Pekin Summer Palace, is an account of the Chinese conquest of Nepaul in a.d. 1790, written in verse by thajßmperor of China, the text being embroidered in red silk on a blue ground by the ladies of the Imperial family, and bound in quaintly carved wooden covers. The Queen's health and spirits (remarks the London correspondent of the Age) are reviving, and the popularity of her sons and daughters is increasing. A Scotch provincial paper says that her Majesty danced a reel on the night of her arrival at Balmoral. Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught, has always been first favourite with loyal Londoners, and when he goes to Ireland (some say as Lord Lieutenant), no doubt he will make friends, not only of those he comes in contact with, but of the whole people. Poor Prince Leopold has been for a long time ailing at Oxford. Of course, he is well cared for, but nobody hears of his being visited by anybody, and in these days of royal junketings it is impossible to avoid feeling some pity for the youngest of the family, sick and apart, as if he were stowed away in a turret. A new air machine has been constructed in the House of Commons. By 'means of this apparatus a constant supply of air, cooled to any required degree even in the warmest weather, can be supplied at the rate of from 60,000 to 90,000 gallons per minute. The house contains about 900,000 gallons of air, so that when the apparatus is working at its maximum, it is possible to renew the air without Bensible draught every six minutes. Previously when the windows were opened the air used to rush in and escape in part through the roof, without providing a proper supply for the occupants of the chamber. The temperature then rose, and the result was directly the reverse of what was expected. The improved mode of ventilation is quite independent of open windows and of the fans (formerly in use) •which were objectionable on account of draughts and dust. It is hoped that from experiments that have been made with the • use of cotton wool it will be possible to supply comparatively pure air during the prevalence of the densest fog. The ingenious invention of Peaucillet has been applied to produce perfect rectilinear

movement of the piston. The whole of the apparatus has been constructed in the workshops of the Houses of Parliament.

Although a ring is absolutely necessary in a Church of England marriage, it may be of any metal and of any size. Some years since, a ring of brass was used at Worcester at a wedding before the registrar, who was threatened with proceedings for not compelling a gold one to be used. A story is told of the wedding of two paupers who came to the church and requested to be married with the church key, as the parochial authorities had not furnished them with a ring. The clerk, feeling some delicacy about using the key, fetched an old curtain ring from his own house, and with that article the marriage was celebrated. The church key was used in lieu of a wedding-ring at a church near Colchester early in the present century, and that was not a solitary instance within the past one hundred years in this country. The Duke of Hamilton was married at May Fair with a bed-curtain ring. Notes and Queries for October, 1860, relates that a ring of leather, cut transversely from a finger of the bridegroom's glove, was used as a substitute for the wedding-ring on one occasion. A clergyman unjustifiably stopped a wedding in India because the bridegroom offered a diamond ring instead of one generally in use. In Ireland, the use of a gold ring is superstitiously required.