MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1891, 17 February 1888, Page 6

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—The Catholic Church in the United States is going thoroughly and systematically into the matter of assisting in the amelioration of the labouring classes within its own pale, and to inaugurate a chain of organisations that will have for their objects die assistance of the working man. —The town of Montitan, Colima, situated 4000 ft above the level of the sea, produces an excellent quality of coffee. As this plant will only generally grow in warm climates, this exception is remarkable. — Princess Beatrice is to be created a duchess in her own right, so that her son by Prince P.attenherg will inherit a peerage and sit in the House of Lords, if such a thing as a House of Lords exists when he comes of age.

— The phenomenal collection of £1303 was recently made at Chapel Street Congregational Church, Blackburn, which was reopened after being closed six weeks for repairs. The deacons asked for £1300 to clear off the debt and pay for the renovation, and they have now £G3 in hand after paying everything. —Next summer there is to be held in London a Roman Catholic congress, at which all English-speaking communities will be represented. The three chief, topics to be

discussed are : " The Attitude of the Catholic Church Towards Education in General ; " " Greater Co-operation of the Laity in the Work of the Church," and "The Diffusion of Catholic Literature Among the Masses."

— A Kirnberley diamond was recently shown in London valued at £100,000. It weighed more than 400 carats in the rough, and is, we believe, now in tke possession of Streeter and Co,, the well-knonn jewellers. The finest diamond in quality ever found in South Africa was the " Porter Rhodes," discovered in the centre of Kimberley mine in 1880. It is a pure white octahedron, valued at £00,000. -r

— In connection with missionary enterprises in China there are now some 80 persons, nearly one-third women, who devote themselves chiefly to medical work, and they have now a medical journal published in their interest and contributed to by native as well as foreign physicians of high reputation.

— A Californian paper publishes the following unique reminder to delinquent subscribers: "There i§ a little matter that gome of our Subscribers have Seemingly forgotten entirely. Sot* 16 of them have made u$ many promiSeS, but have not kept them. To uS it i$ a very important matter, and it'S neceSSary in our busine!j>S. We are very modest and don't like to Speak about it."

— A London correspondent says that W. K. Vanderbilt had expressed his intention of purchasing one of the castles of the late King of Bavaria, and, on finding that it could not be sold, he is said to have rented it, furnished as it stands, for next summer.

— The English Catholics have made an important innovation in their service, whereby the Psalms are now allowed to be sung at evening service in English. Thus the reproach of using an unknown tongue begins to be removed. — The Roman Catholic Church in Edinburgh is about to try to put a stop to girls peddling newspapers on the streets. — The first society bearing the title of Band of Hope was formed in Leeds, England, in 1817. The juvenile temperance societies in England now have a membership of nearly 2,000,000.

— Itace antipathies have been pushed to such a ridiculous extent in Austria that the Moravian Fire Brigade has been divided into two sections — one German and the other Czech.

— In some parts of Germany perch are caught and carried alive to market, sometimes a distance of 40 or 50 miles, and if not sold, brought back to their tank or pond to await another occasion for sale.

— A new anecdote is now going the rounds about Moltke. It is related that the other day the old field-mavshal said : " I have a presentiment that my life will not, as I should wish, close in peace. In my youth it was foretold to me that I should take part in three great wars. Whatever may happen, let us all be ready to give our lives for the German fatherland."

—Walnuts yield half their weight in oil, the' flavour of which is thought equal to that of the finest Lucca oil. This very fruitful tree, which we see flourishing along the high

road, and in the orchards of the peasants, is one of great utility to the German ; his furniture is made from it, the leaves dye a good black, and he feeds his 'cattle with the shells of the nuts that have supplied his oil. —Amsterdam is the city which is said to be built on herring bones, but the Dutch herring fishery, which was once of immense proportions, has in modern times been quite overshadowed by that of Scotland, which is now by far the largest in the world. About 1,000,000 barrels of herrings are cured every year in Scotland, while 100,003 persons and 12,000 boats are engaged in the fishery. —Mrs W. D. Foulke has established a free kindergarten in Richmond (Indiana), and, as a memorial to her son and daughter, who died some months ago, has also subscribed the first year's expenses, an amount equal to that which she would, had they lived, have expended on her children. In England, a great number of spurious sovereigns and. half-sovereigns are in circulation, and many of them very difficult of detection. Those made of "mystery gold," a compound of platinum, tin, and copper, stand the tests of the ordinary acids, and are of the weight of real gold. Some of the spurious sovereigns contain about 7s Gd worth of gold. — Let any English schoolboy, who to-day wishes to know how far his lot has improved upon that of his predecessors even at its best, compare Lord Beaconsfield's account, in " Henrietta Temple," of Ferdinand Armine's first, journey to London, and Mr Hughes' account of Tom Brown's first journey to Rugby, with his 'own recent experience on the Midland or the Great Western — Spectator. — A Morayshire farmer recently went to Forres to sell a goose. He got 7s 6d for the goose, bought two calves for 6s, and retcrned with Is 6d of a balance in favour of the goose. — Moray Express. —The small town of Pntzig, near Dantzic, containing, according to the last census, 1855 inhabitants, is the possessor of an independent fortune, estimated at upwards of 600,000 marks, originally the gift of an exiled King of Sweden, who lived several centuries ago. There are no communal taxes levied, and the surplus from the investment is annually added to the principal. —The sale of the late King of Bavaria's goods and chattels is astounding the world. A secretaire, which cost £35,000, was sold for £600. This is a specimen of the way in which his property has been sacrificed. No monument has been raised to his memory.

—Statistics show that blindness is increasing very rapidly in the United States. Between the years 1870 and 1880 the population increased 30 per cent, and blindness 1-10. The chief cause of the rapid increase is said to be contagion, assisted by immigration, which brings many infectious diseases of the eye into the country. —The difference between Bessemer steel and crucible steel is as follows : Bessemer, steel is made from pig-iron direct, while crucible steel is made from bar-iron, which is first cemented in charcoal, then broken up and melted in crucibles, then cast into ignots, which are afterward heated and rolled to

the size wanted. The cementation in charcoal is done to charge it with the proper amount of carbon.

—Progress is being made with the Manchester ship canal, and up to the present 800 men are employed ; in a short time it is expected chat 6000 labourers will be at work on this gigantic undertaking. — A Tennessee farmer says the most certain cure for old sores on stock is common wheat flower, sprinkled on till the sore is white. The flour, according to his statment, has most extraordinary healing properties, and will remove proud flesh at once. —The experiment of importing Africans as labourers upon the Panama Canal does not work. They are a hard set of men to manage, and a company of them have taken to the woods, stripped off their clothing, and are reported to be indulging in barbarities with true native zeal.

—The last record of the elephant Alice, suffocated in the fire which destroyed Barnum's menagerie, is that on the stomach of the huge creature being examined a very curious and miscellaneous collection of articles was found therein. Besides screws, bradawls, nails, and other like indigestible matter, not fewer than 300 copper coins, value one penny, were found in the capacious maw. The idea entertained on the subject is that the animal preferred a diet of copper to the buns which no doubt the bestowers of the pennies intended Alice should buy with them.

— Miss Mamie Mahon, of Haverhill, Mass., was the victim of a terrible outrage on Monday, November 28. She was called to the door of her residence and a lot of vitriol from a beer glass thrown into her face. Her eyes were eaten out and the flesh hangs in shreds. A reward of lOOOdol is offered for the arrest of the villain.

— French Governments may differ in many respects, but for a long time past they have had one thing in common : they have all been very trying to deal with — for English Ministers, at least. It would be a task of some difficulty to pick out a single instance in the last 10 years, to go no further back, in which any French Cabinet has shown the slightest wish— we do not say to consult the interest of England, which would not be their business — but to conduct affairs so as to remain on friendly terms with this country. — Saturday Review.

— Some very singular electrical phenomena were observed recently on two very dry days at a printing office in Mainz, Geimany, when the whole establishment seemed to be converted into a huge electric battery. Electric sparks could be drawn with the fingers from all parts of the printing machinery, just as may be done from a charged electric machine. In printing some strong paper a slight crackling was noticed, which finally developed into loud explosions.

Profit 1200dol.— "To sum it up, six long years of bed-ridden sickness, costing 200dol per year, total 1200dol. All of this expense was stopped by three bottles of Dr Soule's American Hop B'tters, taken by my wife. She has done her own housework for a year since, without the loss of a day, and I want everybody to know it, for their benefit!.— " JJ. K. Farmer.".