MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1834, 14 January 1887, Page 6

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—The City Council of Oakland (U.S.) has J massed an ordinance making it a misdemeanour or boys under tbe age of 16 to smoke cigarettes m any public place; and second) in passing a v curfew M ordinance, requiring the city hall Dell to be rung at 9 o'clock every evening, after which hour every young person under the age of 16 must go directly home and keep within doors until morning. — The German War Office has decided that all Bub-offioers must learn telegraphy. One hundred ofßeers selected' from the Berlin garrison and 100 from the garrisons at Strasburg and Metz have accordingly begun a course of tuition.

—Physicians are now using aniline oil as a local anesthetic when simple operations, such as the opening of a felon, are to be performed. The finger, hi each case, is dipped for a short time in the oil, and although the flesh may ftabaequently he cut to the bone, it is said there is absolutely no pain. — Thirty persons have been found sleeping in a warm water drain in Pesth. They were entirely naked. —It is estimated that the United States prodaces enough lumber each year to load 1,428,581 railroad cars, each t averaging 7000 ft. This would make a train* 8500 miles long, or about one-third around the globe.

—The consumption of coffee in England continues to decline. So testify the Commissionors of Customs in their latest report. "We cannot but ascribe this," they say, "to the notorious adulteration which the pure berry undergoes in its manipulation into as convenient a form as tea for consumption by the mass of the people, who cannot afford the time or machinery obligatory for the preparation of coffee."

—American Shakers, who number about 4000, are worried over their own wealth, which is valued at about 12,000,000d01. The elders begin to feel like monopolists, and that the possession of ao much property is contrary to the Gospel scheme which they desire to follow.

— The Emperor of China's new throne at Shanghai is to have its foundation and pedestal made of gold bricks.

—Mr Gladstone is reported as in straitened circumstances, and to seriously feels the lack of his salary as Premier.

— Duke Ernst of Coburg recently shot his 1000 th stag in the Kalleuberg Forest.

—Professor Sir Monier Williams of Oxford, declares that Buddhism has entirely died out in India proper, the place of its origin, and is rapidly dying out in other Asiatic countries. He thinks the devotees of the religion do not number over 100,000,000 at the present time.

— Alexander of Bulgaria had an income of lOOOdol a year when he took his crown. He is now worth 350,000d01.

—The theory of the inhabitancy of the moon is plausibly argued in the affirmative by Dueberg of Berlin, who thinks that the farther side may offer none of the obstacles to .the conditions of life peculiar to the face presented to iha earth.

—The arsenals of Germany, England and Italy are directing all energies to the conversion of their small arms into magazine rifles. The Germans are sanguine that their new weapon will prove to be the most startling and effective manual implement of modern warfare, and will form the basis of future' experimenting in the science of close-range gunnery. —The apparatus for the light of Barthold's Statue of Liberty is to consist of one dynamo complete, 13 duplex arc lamps, and 14 50-cahdle power incandescent lights. The torch will contain fire lamps of 30,000-candle power, the light of which will be thrown heavenward. Four lights of 6000-candle power each will be placed at the foot of the statue to illuminate it. The diadem will contain incandescent lamps to give the effect of jewels.

—A novelty in bazaars was one held in October in, the form of an Indian palace. At the end of the room was a large painting of a scene on the Ganges. The stalls were called such names as " The morning Star," " The Bye of Day," " The Silver Dove," and " The Golden Gate," while the "Flowery Land" was fillled with boquets and pot-plants, and the "Land of Delight" with all sorts of tempting refreshments.

— A small boy in an American school surprised his teacher by asking her how far a procession of the Presidents of the United States would reach if they were placed in a row. On her expressing her ignorancce he calmly announced "From Washington to Cleveland."

—London has a population of 15,000 to the Square mile. Canton, China, has 35,000 inhabitants within the same area. New York, leaving out the uninhabited portion, has a population of 85,000 to the square mile. In the Sixth Ward there is a population of 149,000 to the square mile; In the Tenth Ward, 27G.000. —In a new dictionary of biography, containing 40,000 names, all the Rothschilds and Astors put together receive only as many lines as are recorded to Harriet Beecher Stowe. Cornelius Vanderbilt receives less attention than Paganini, and A. T. Stewart no more than Daniel Lambert, the fat man. Even the three rich benefactors — Girard, George Peabody, and Sir Moses Montefiore — united take less room than John Welsey or Nathaniel Hawthorne.

—Judging from the number of its physicians, Russia is the healthiest country in Europe. The average is one doctor to 6226 people. In France and Great Britain there is one physician to 1400 inhabitants; Switzerland, one to 1500; Austria, Germany, and Norway, one to 300.

—At the Alameda (California) Co. salt works, out of 20 different firms only three Are employing white labour. About 350 Chinese are employed and only 25 white men. The Chinamen receive Idol a day and board themselves, while white men are paid 25d0l a month with board. The largest number of white men employed by a single proprietor is 15, while 100 Chinamen are at work for the largest employer of Chinese.

—Chile proposes to augment her present powerful navjjr with a "protected" crusier of 4soo tons, ' with a speed of 19 miles. The armament will consist of two 25-ton 10-inch guns, one 14-ton 8-inch, two 6-inch, four 6poundeis, eight mitrailleuses, and eight tubes for firing Whitehead torpedoes. The cost of the vessel will be from 1,200,000d0l to 1,500,000d0l in gold. —Fifteen years ago the buffalo ranges of Kansas and Colorado were covered with thousands of animals. The other day a party went out from Denver, and after a week's bunting managed to kill three from a herd of 29 that they found in Lost Park. It is said that there are not more than 2000 buffaloes now in «xistemce. Systematic slaughter has produced ibis shameful result.

— A correspondent writes that in a gambling saloon in Moscow the walls and ceiling were covered with paper on which stars were stamped. Among the stars in the ceiling holes were cut, and a man lying on the floor in the room above caw the hands of those playing cards and telegraphed them, by means of wires oonneoted with his shoet, *© fab confederate.

— The Viceroy of India having notified his intention of visiting Pondicherry at the end of November, the New Governor, M. Manes, has received full instructions as to his reception with due honors. No such visit has been paid to Pondicherry since 1815, when, after 22 years' possession, England restored it to France.

— Ex- King Theebaw, of Burmah, is discontented with his place of exile, Kutnanerry. He complains of dreariness and dullness, and that it is infested with snakes' and scorpions. . He asks to be restored to his throne on the ground that he was removed from Mandaly ou the understanding that he was to'meet the Viceroy, and that he was to be, sent -back in three months

, — Seldom has geography been more successfully handled by a woman (says the Queen) than by Miss Peaise (Cornwall), who has just brought out a -map of our Empire' with the British possessions marked in red. A key accompanies the map, showing imports and exports and the time different countries take to double their population. In Europe our nation accomplishes this every 55 years, and in the colonies every 25. Germany requires 100 years, and France 140. —-Hannah Sands, an aged maiden lady at Rye, N. V., who was supposed to be very poor, died last fall. A search among her effects brought to light 400,000d0l in money and bonds sewed up in an old skirt! Her only living relatives are four nephews, all of whom were poor, and the money has been divided between them. — An artificial drum for the ear, of soft, flexible indiarubber, has been devised by an American inventor. The rubber membrane is stretched on a spring loop, which expands and holds it in position within the ear. A concealed cord is attached to the drum,' whereby it can be removed at will by the person using it. A small hook also serves the same purpose. The invention thus appears to be a remarkably convenient one, since if the user desires to be hard of hearing in any particular case, it is only necessary for him to undo his drum:

— A "Jubilee Ode" to the Queen, composed for the St. Cecilia Society, England, and to be performed at their concert in June 1887, promises to offer sone novel arrangements. The English people are.tobe symbolised by "strings," the Scotch by pipes, and the Welsh and Irish by the harps peculiar to those nationalties. Let us hope that by the date named it will no longer be necessary for the completeness of the representation that one of the instruments should be played " out of tune." —In a small town in Saxony a citizen caught a rat, tied a small bell about his neck and let it go, sq._ that the rodents might be scared out of his house. He was soon clear of the plague, but a few nights later his neighbuor's family were frightened by hearing the mysterious sound of a bell in various parts of the house. They believed the house was haunted until a servant learned what had beecf done, and they have sued the cute citizen for creating a nuisance. — At Georgia paper prints a remarkable obtiuary notice of an old negro who died near Lumkin recently. It said : This old man was a former slave of J. .A. B. W,ard, and lived with the Ward family nearjy 50 years. -He was never heard to swear' an oath; was never accused of lying or theft, never had a disptte cr quarrel with his wife, never had a whipping during slavery, nor was he ever known to take a drink of whisky. He was always faithful and obedient, peaceful, and reliable. He and his wife had 16 children, and they lived to see 120 descendants, who are now living.

— Mr James Russell is said to have expressed himself as follows on the .Home Rule question during his. conversation with, Mr, Julian Hawthorn .— '? Tfie;lri^'viU''h^eU^M t ßnte t n think, but it may nofcj'fulfilVallst'fieir'-aniicipai tions. For one' 1 thing, * -'their., own" meny/will govern them much more strictly than they have ever been governed by England. It will be an iron rule. Another possibility is that there will be a quarrel between the Irish in: Ireland and the Irish here. The American-Irish .have paid the piper, and they will think they have a right to lead the dance. " But the people at Home won't want that, and there will be a difference."

— The statement which is now made that the French Government was not represented at the Bartholdi Statue ceremonies by a single official, that the charge d' Affairs at Washington did not attend, and that the only French ship-of-war in New York Harbour put to sea two or three days ago, indicates that there is a hitch somewhere, if not an actual coolness between our colossal lady of freedom and the French Government. — Chicago Tribune.

— M. Gounod's kindness of heart is proverbial. But what will the biblio-maniacs and the curiohunters in days yet to come say to his latest expression of sympathy ? Not long since, during his recent stay in Normandy, a little friend on a summer's night incited the composer to make him a kite. M. Gounodset to work and made a monster. Midnight saw the task completed. Just as the new day was creeping in, the maestro took up his pen and, as a finishing touch, inscribed on the face of the toy a brief sonata. Rumour describes it as one of the most expuisite gems that the composer of " Mors et Vita " has ever written.

—The Methodist Church has made astonishing progress in Canada. It now contains 1700 ministers and nearly 200,000 members, with probably not less than 900,000 adherents, or about one-fifth of the entire population of the Dominion. Its growth has even been more rapid than the growth in population. The missionaryincome has also increased nearlylOO per cent., and though now approaching 200,000d01, is still inadequate to the demand made upon the treasury.

. — There is a six-storied tenemented house known as the Big Flat, in Elizabeth, New York, which is occupied by 1500 persons. The Big Flat was originally intended for a working girls' home, but, this not proving a success, it was changed into a house for coloured people. At present, although almost every race on the globe lives there, not one coloured person can be found on the building. A list of the different nationalities that tenant the building comprises Irish, Germans, Spaniards, Cubans, Swedes, Italians Russians, Huns, Poles, Japanese, Chinese, and Turks. No other tenement in the country contains such a diversity of races, nor probably any other in the world.

— Jean Ingelowhas a clever characterisation of national humour in her last work. She says : — "Of all wit and humour written in English we remember that of the Scotchman longest and laugh at it least. He has most wisdom and most malice. The Irishman's is most perfect and the best shaded with pathos. It is the least recorded, for it belongs in general to the nature of repartee, and needs for setting the occasion that called it forth. The American's is the most various, and he is always unexpected. He takes the victim into his confidence, and with sauve audacity gets the better of him over and over again. He is good at contrast, but his forte is the impossible." Miss Ingelow thinks that the greatest humorists who have written in English have all been of English birth. >