MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1825, 12 November 1886, Page 6

MULTUM IN PARVO.

„ :=torl Edward Judson of New York, recently toade an, appeal to the Baptist Sunday schools of the country* for 10c from each scholar to enable the .Baptist Missionary Union to send inisßionaries l into ! Northern Burmah, which has recently been made ' accessible by its annexation to Great ' Britain. He has already received abou* 30,OQGdol. .;. ~Paper doors in America cost about the same as wood, and are said to be much better because thaw is no shrinking, swelling, cracking or "warping. The paper door is composed of two Ihick paper boards stamped and moulded into panels and glared together with glue and potash, •and then rolled through heavy tollers. It is first covered with a waterproof coating and then with a .fireproof coating, and is painted and Tarnished and hung in the ordinary way. ■^-Military ballooning has now reached such a sttge'in' Germany that under officers are being trained in balloon-steering. Two sergents have just 'been awarded certificates attesting their 'efficiency in this art. ' — THe greatest number of executions took ■place in Henry VIIPs reign, during which, accordipg to Hume, 72,000 thieves and rogues (besides malefactors) were hanged or beheaded. This was at the rate of about 2000 a year. In one -year, no fewer than 300 beggars were executed for soliciting alms. <— A regard of £100 has been offered in Engiand for the proof of a case of drunkenness that has been cured without total abstinence. — It is stated that M. Goubet, a French engineer, has invented a new type of boat which is destined to revolutionise naval tactics. This bateauifoissan> as it is called, is designed to place torpedoes under the very keels of ships. — Baddhism in Japan has been virtually disestablished since 1874. While there were 393,087 Buddhist temples in 1714, there are now but 57»824. Few new temples are built, and many are going to ruin. -• — In the neighbourhood of large distilleries it "has been observed that cattle become utterly demoralised by feasting on the refuse from the etill?. In time they come to have the dull, stupid appearance characteristic of an opiumeater. It is hardly possible that the milk produced by/ animals permitted to feed on such abominable stuff can be either wholesome or agreeable. —The remains of the Abbe Liszt, by request of the Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, will be permanently laid beside those of Goethe and Schiller, and the duke will erect a costly tomb already designed. <. -iThesale of Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes' photographs in London has rivaled that of the likenesses of several noted professional beauties. , —Long-distance . telephoning is slowly but surely coming into extensive use. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company of New York has recently been organised for the purpose of establishing direct telephonic communication between the large cities of the country. The first line has been constructed between New York and Philadelphia, the length of the route adopted being about 100 miles. — Leaders of the many small Central American Republics are engaged in a 'scheme of consolidation, 'and it is believed in a very short time the "Central American Union " will be proclaimed. — It is estimated that there are about 700 millionaires in the world, divided among the clifferret countries as follow : — United Kingdom, 200; America, 100;' Germany, 100; France, 75; Russia, 50 ; -India, 50 ; other countries, 125. rr-Russian military men have been experiment- ; ingwith a new explosive intended to supplant the ordinary gunpowder. ' The substance, whose composition is as yet a secret, is said to have an explosive power greater than that of black dynamite, and to generate neither smoke nor heat. ;_--„- - '■- •■ . — A dwarf, three feet in height, wearing a Circassian general's uniform, and said to be a bright looking . little • fellow, was recently attracting attention .in Paris., .He was the imperial dwarf of the Shah of Persia, and formerly buffoon to the late sultan, Abdul Aziz. — It is announced that the Viceroy of Pitchili, China, has concluded a contract with agents of American manufacturers for the supply of tools for a large arsenal at Port Li. The contract calls for an outlay of over 2,500,000d01. — At a recent meeting of the Societe Medicale d'Amiens, M. Lessenne mentioned the following a»«-eign-qf -death:-— After pricking the skin with a needle the puncture remains open, just as when a piece of leather is pricked. On the living' body, even if the blood does not come to the surface, as would happen if the person were hysterical, the pin-prick closes at once, and does not leave the slightest trace. — -General Lew Wallace, recently United States Minister to Turkey, says that the Turks love their children, are afraid of woman, do not get drunk, are, the devoutest and politest of peoples, and always brave and heroic. For the ability and character of the present Sultan he has the highest esteem. — An^ordinary solution of gum camphor in whisky is said to be a permanent and excellent sympathetic ink. The writing must be done very rapidly, as the first letters of a word have disappeared by the time the last are written. Dipping 'the paper in water brings it out distinctly, and it becomes invisible again when the paperjs dried. It can be brought out repeatedly without "affecting its vividness. r _-~-Lord^ James Manning three years ago was one' of the best known men about town in New York. HeJs .the son of the best'-lcn'own mercantile'mehin London and of royal descent. Lord. Jamef came to this country possessed of a fortune that is -variously estimated at from £12,000 to £72,000. - In New York he fell in with a lot- of joHy companions, and the fortune soon- vanished. -Now he holds a menial position in the sheriff's office. — DroijjWich.- Churchy which is one of the oldest in .England, is to be, pulled down, as a resent subsidence, in the ground has.caused the building to become undermined.. , This is the £ffeot of the pumping, for, brine; which has so seriously depressed the soil in and about Droifcwich. 'The fine ( old tower of the church is of quite unknown age. It escaped the great fire of 1293, which destroyed most of the body of the structure. — The old residence of the Houghton line is another one of the English houses which enjoys the attention- of a well-accredited family ghost. This is the famous " Brown Lady of Houghton," who has- appeared to dozens of guests — some with fine imaginative powers and nerves and some without. Lord Beaconsfield encountered her in 1873, and she was the original of Sir Walter Scott's »• Lady in the Sacque." —It' has been discovered by a Chicago physician that suburban life is apowerf ul provocative of dyspepsia. ■ Men are like animals, and must out their meals quietly and leisurely to secure a perfect flow o£ the gastric juice. He who bolts bis breakfast with his mind on the time-table and his eyes on^he clock, and further outrages nature 1 by a sharp run to catch the train, amst-gooa ot Jat© expect to pay the panalty.

. .-tHerr Schmidt, the German horticulturist, who was sent to Gtssfc Africa some time ago to introduce the cultivation of corn, potatoes, and othefc garden vegetables, reports that after repeated trials the experiment has completely failed. — The discoveries of natural gas in the United States are proving of great commercial value in many ways. Until recently all mirrors manufactured there were made from imported glass. The quality of the glass to retain the silvering and give a perfect production of the 'object must be, of the best. This quality Pittsburg had never been able to produce until natural gas came into use. Now by its aid the fineness of the glass produced rivals that of the imported article. The entire absence of impurity, the perfect fusing of the ingredients, the rapidity of the melting, and the pure, intense flame for reheating or working are the principal advantages.

— How mauy people have any idea of the enormous capital invested in British railways ? The railway returns just issued show that there was open for traffic at the end of last year 19,169 miles of railway, that the capital authorised in railway stock is £927,750,000 and the capital actually paid up £815,858,955. The total receipts from traffic were £66,644,967.

— An entirely new vegetable is being introduced by a great French firm which is exciting some interest. It is called choro-gi, and is a native of Northern Africa. It belongs to the mint family (botanical name Stachys afflnin). Its fleshy roots or tubers only are eaten, dressed like string beans or fried like fritters, and are said also to make an excellent pickle.

— The experiment is now being tried in a Pittsburg mill of making pig iron by the use of natural gas. The result is awaited with intense interest by many, as it is claimed that if the experiment is successful it will decrease the cost of making pig iron at least one-half, thus of course affecting the iron trade euormously. It would also, it is claimed, virtually ruin the coke tradein the vicinity of Pittsburg. — One of the banners displayed at Mr Gladstone's reception in Edinburgh bore the following couplet : — Great is thy power and great thy fame ; Far kenn'd and noted is thy name. The motto had been slyly furnished by a Tory, and it had been hanging up all day before it was found that it was the opening couplet of Burns' "Address to the Devil."

— The population of Berlin increases with a rapidity far exceeding that of other great cities, such as Vienna, St. Petersburg, or Paris. It contains at present 1,350,000 inhabitants, and it is not unlikely that in 15 years it may have outstripped Paris in size and number of its population. New buildings are rising rapidly on the banks of the Spree. Still rents remain at a vury high figure, the demand is greater than the supply. St. Petersburg has not yet 1,000,000 inhabitants, "Vienna has 750,000 (not reckoning the suburbs), and Constantinople, as far as we are able to judge, cannot have more than 725,000.

— The commission appointed by the French Academy of Medicine to make au investigation and report on the danger to the well-being of the population from the increased use of alcohol have adopted a series of resolutions on the subject. The Government is requested to take the most stringent measures to prevent the entry into France of artificially alcoholized wines. It is also asked that the number of taverns and wine shops shall be largely reduced, and that the laws for the repression of drunkenness shall be strictly enforced. — The reason of our language being called "The Queen's English "is not quite certain. It seems to point to a time when there was no real literary language in England, but only a number of dialects side by side. The particular dialect in which the king's proclamation, &c. were written came to be known, by contrast with others, as " King's English."

— The following story of Carlyle will be readily believed by those who are acquainted with the , writings and character of the modern Diogenes. William Black was once calling on the late philosopher, and after some conversation Carlyle remarked: "You know Scotland vary well, I see. I've read your novels with pleasure. They're vary amusing, vary. But when are ye goin' to do some work — when are ye goin' to write some real books, maun ?"

— The Krupp factory, situated at Essen, near Cologne, is one of the greatest in the world: Operatives, 15,000; steam, horse-power, 18,500; iron consumed, 26,000 ; steel, 130,000. About 500 tons of steel or iron are daily converted into artillery or railway bars. There are ,32 6team hammers, the heaviest weighing 50 tons.

—Slaves were openly bought and sold in England up to the year 1772. The Stamford Mercury of November 30, 1771, records that "at the late sale of a gentleman's '.effects at Richmond, a negro boy was put up and sold fof £32," and adds, " a shockiug instance in a free country." This was, so far as has been ascertained, the last sale of the kind in this country. In 1772 a judgment of the Court of Queen's Bench decided that slavery could not exist in England. — It is related of a celebrated London surgeon — Sir Astley Cooper, if we mistake not — on entering his class-room at hospital one day and surveying tho crowd of eager faces on its benches, his thoughts of his future of his students found vent in the expression, "God help you, gentlemen ! What is to become of you all ?" The inquiry might be repeated with ten-fold force to-day. The answer to the question, What becomes of medical students? is probably as difficult to find as the reply to the query, What becomes of all the pins ?

— It was the Seminary for Foreign Missions in Paris (Roman Catholic) which furnished the majority of the priests who were slain in the persecution of the Christians in China, and which also furnished the recruits to fill the lines broken thereby. This missionary seminary, the largest in the whole Catholic Church, labours also in Burmah, Siam, and the islands around Eastern Asia, and at present controls 800 Europea missionaries in those countries, chiefly Frenchmen.

— During thg half-year ending in December last the revenue from third-class travellers on British railways more than trebled that from first and second combined. To put it in another way, the number of third-class passengers oame within a fraction oE 266,000,000, or about the entire population of China. The second-class did not quite reach 24,000,000— far short of the population of the British Isles. The first class was a trifle under 13,500,000 — less than. London four times told. The receipts were of course not exactly in direct proportion, but in all probability they were just as startling in the difference between ontlay and return.

— Spontaneous combustion is alleged in con' nection with a new and plausible explanation of the destructive fires occuring in pine forests. The pine resin exuding from the trees is oft«n of lens shape, and before it thoroughly harden! frequently of crystalled clearness. It is surmised that while in that condition a resin lens may focus the sun's rays upon some, light twig or resinous point, and so start a blaze that quickly eats up a forest.