MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2318, 4 August 1898, Page 40

MULTUM IN PARVO.

• Firearms can bo discharged more accu- j fra.tely by a new arm-rest, which has straps passing over the shoulders and round tho ( body to cany a hoiizontal support, on which the right arm re^ts when sighting and firing the gun. — Tho title of colonel comes from a word j almost the same in several languages, signi- , lying a column. The colonel was so called because he led, or commanded, a column. The largest puu dial in the world is on Havou lloroo, a largo promontory, extending' 3000 ft above the iKgean Sex. _ As tho sun swings round the shadow of this mounlaiu it touches, one by one, a circle of islands, which act as hour mark's. j

— The finest-looking people of Europe are , tho Tziganes, or gipsies of Hungary. Thysi- J cally Ihoy are splendid specimens of men and c women, and aie rarely ill. So puia i.- thenblood thai their wounds quickly heal without the application of medicaments. i Tincan boys, like most others, delight in flying kites, but custom does not. permit, them to do so except during Lent. If they flow in the face of this custom, their kites would bo lorn up by the other boys. j — E ery ton of Atlantic water when eva- I porated yields 811I> of salt ; a ton of Pacific ' v/atei 79!b ; Arctic and Antarctic water? yield 851b to the ton ; and Dead Sea water ' 1871b. I — Jn each wing of the ostrich 26 long white .plumes grow to maturity in eight months. In the male these aro pure white, while those of , the female shade to ecru or grey. ! — In the stone quarries of St. Triphon, m ' the Rhone Volley, the stone is sawn by means of continuously-running eteel wire cable*, kept moist with wet sand. — Tho most ancient name of China is Tien I-lia, which signifies " beneath the sky." Since the present, ruling house took control of the Empire in 1644, the name of Ta Tsing Kwoh : has been applied to tho kingdom as a whole , and Chung Kwoh to that portion known to us as ihe " Middle Kingdom." — Denmark is properly " Danmark "— - that . is, the territory comprised within the mark or boundary established by Dan, a Scandinavian chieftain. — Cold air conducts sound better than warm. — More than £700,000 worth of gold is used yearly in Birmingham for the manufacture of jewellery. ! —It is calculated that 1,000,000. acres of j forest land are used up every year in Europe to supply the railways with sleepers. — The gems in the crown of Portugal are worth £1,600,000. Those in the royal diadem j of England are valued at £360,000. | — At the Austrian Court it is contrary to j custom for perishable articles to appear twice ( on the Imperial table. The result is large J perquisites for the attendants. To one man j fall all the uncorked bottles, to another^ the wine left in the glasses, to another the joints, and to another the game or the sweets. j — A huge advertising sign may be seen on _ the hillside of an islet off the Grand Canary, i It is several hundred feet above the level of j the sea, and is written in letters each 15ft ; wide nnd 30ft high, each bar of the letters being 3ft Sin broad. The sign is 750 ft long, j — One of the strangest streams in the world ib in East Africa. It flows in the direction of the sea, but never reaches it. Just north of , the equator, and when only a few miles from the Indian Ocean, it flows into a desert, where ( it suddenly and completely disappears. 1 — Out of 609 samples of food, drink, and 'drugs analysed at Marylcbone during last year, only five were adulterated. — The most wonderful bridge in the world is one of solid agate in Arizona. It is a pet- j rified treo, from 3ft to 4ft in diameter, span- j ning a shasm 40ft wide. More than 100 ft of its length is in sight, both ends being embedded in the sandstone of the canyon.

— The only soap which the Hindoos of the orthodox type employ is made entirely of .vegetable products. But soap is little used In India, being almost an unknown luxury with the natives.

— The cruiser Comus, which has jusfc returned to Kngland after a two and a-half 'years' commission, hns travelled altogether 63,000 miles during that time— l6,ooo under .sail and 4-7,000 under steam. She has consumed £15,000 worth of coal — 7300 tons.

— A proverb found in one form or another ,in eery European or Asiatic language having a literature is " Familiarity breeds contempt." Its earliest form is believed to be of the Sanskrit. — Electric tramways and launches have been instollofl in fhe Paris sewers. Twice a month, on two Wednesdays, visitors are admitted to the number of about 1200, although the applications are nearly always far more numerous.

— Tha Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Hiver, in America, with it« magnificent and gorgeous colouring, is from 1200 ft to 1500 ft deep.

— Tho total number of men employed at the fi\o great Government dockyards, Portsmouth, Devonporfe, Chatham, Sheerness, and Pembroke, is about 22.000.

—In Austria the public executioner wears a pair of new white gloves every time ho is called upon to carry out a capital sentence.

—Tt is believed that polo was firot introduced into the British army in 1869 by the 10th Hufsnrs. The <rame was played in Persia Ioas; before the Christian era.

— Caged lions and tigers take no notice of ih'! mon and women pnpsing in front of them ; but if a dog be brought anywhere near the cage they show their savage nature at once.

— Specimens of American war songs: " Hanpr out the flag my mother madp," and " A pplinter from my sweetheart's wooden leg." — TJif, Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Ir colonel of 13 British regiments, the Duke of Connaupjht of eight, the Duke of York of three, and the Duke of Cambridge of eight. Thpcp. of course, include regulars, volunteers, nnd yeomanry regiments, and Ihe positions are n.o'-tly honorary.

— \ Mc,otti"h artist has discovered that a pippfnt of preat beauty of colour can he mole from Iho frriut of the oat, the colour foein;' n (loop, riob amber shade. — Ti) Hungary Minrc are thousand? of villager, mvl hundreds of pmall towns without a doctor within ten miles.

— i he most common nam« for a plnce in Englmvi is Newton, which occurs no fewer than 17. timeq.

— Court chaplains, when they preach beforf> thp f-iprm-in Kmperor, mml condense lha sermons so that I hoy can be deliverer! in 15 minnlcs. T/ong sermons, he says, make him weary.

—Tt is against the rules to carry matches on board a modern man-of-war.

— War correspondents were at It a« far back as tho time of Edward 11. Scribes, specially commissioned, were sent tip with the English army which invaded Scotland at that time. Incredible as it may seem, no! one of the London newspapers was specially represented at the battle of Waterloo.

—In a naval battle the woodwork and all articles of wocd are either stowed below or thrown ovcrboa '1, lest the men be injured by splmlers. — The number of wild birds in London is increasing. The most noticeable addition is to the starlings. — A six monil ' cruise will decrease the speed of a ship 15 per cent. This is owing to the barnacles that form on a ship's hull. — Fifteen thousand people are employed in making violin? in Germany. — According to Profe»sor Galton, a few persons sec mentally in print every word they hear uttered.

— The Roman bride, when being dressed for (lie wedding, invariably had her hair parted with the point of a spear. — Eighteen tons of steel disappear daily on the London and North Western railway through wear and rust. — Now that sound can bo stored, somebody (suggests a writer in a Homo paper) should obtain a phonographic record of a lengthy sentence as it is spoken by a nathe of eery county in England. The difference*- of dialect and tone in the oral EnglLh of to-day would astoiii&h posterity.

— From a quarry of soft redslone in Southern Mimip-ci-. the only stono probably of its kind in He \.< rid, the Indians for centuries obtained . -.'rials for their pipes, winch were p< - ' •■>■"•! ides of commerce, as they are for. 1 ' '. >a.i gicnc^. from the Mexican Gu!l !' '- ■ ta.

— The ncpiv h i; m of tl.o Fulled Slates furnishr-'s t • ■ »; f !.v.0:i13 uf infantry and two of cavalry to tl.e regular army of that country. The commissioned officers, however," aro all white.

— The Atlantic Ocean is crossed monthly hv 1000 .shins.

— Glowworms are much more Imlliant v.htM a storm is coming than at other seasons. Like many other mysteries of nature, this ciirio.is circumstance has never been explained. • — Strong liquors are of riodern invention, for the ancients knew nothing more powerful t' 1 n lightly fermented wh ?s. Alcohol was r'ii Jkeovered until the seventh century, and the di-tillation of spirits from wine was unknown until the twelfth century.

■ — It is estimated that one English person in every twenty-four lias auburn hair. — A polyglot magazine, printed in twelve langungcs, is to be published in Sb Louis, U.S.A.

— There is no other work in the world of which so many copies are printed annually as of the Chinese almanac. The number is estimated at se-veral millions. This almanac is printed at Pokin, and is a monopoly of the Emperor. It not only predicts the weather, but notes the days that are reckoned lucky or unlucky for beginning any undertaking, for taking medicine, for marrying or lor burying.

— Great Britain lias 294 torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers. America has only eight torpedo boats. — Projectiles thrown by naval guns are shaped much as the bullets shot by the ordinary rifle. — 'lie force of the wind in the United Kingdom is strongest on the Grampians, and on more than one occasion a train, while crossing this t'idge, has been brought to a complete standstill by the tremendous force ot the wind.

— A battleship has on board an electric plant capable of lighting a town of 5000 inhabitants.

— Horse racing without jockeys is indulged in in Rome. The horsos are started by a gun, which is discharged behind them. They carry little spiked balls on cords which swing round their bodies, and those act as spurs.

— There are more than 2000 German waiters in the hotels and restaurants of London.

— The largest farmer in England, curiously enough, bears the name of Farmer. He is the neighbour of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. His residence is at Little Bodwyn, neor Hungerford, in Wiltshire, and he occupies the If.nd for miles and miles, the entire amount of hia holdings exceeding 15,000 acres. He milks at least 1000 cows, and has a stock of upwards of 5000 sheep. — The oldest iron vessel in the world is the Michigan, built in liM. — The United States had an army of only 12,000 strong when the war of 1860 broke out. In the following year it had been increased to 186,000, and in 1862 to 637.000. Tho numbers were swollen to 918,000 in 1563, and before the war was over had reached more than 1,000,000.

— Behind the heavy armour of a battleship there is a pau^wig of either corn-pitch or cocoa husks.

— Naval bandsmen enjoy the distinction of being tho only men in the service whose ranks may be recruited from foreigners, excepting officers' servants. If they perform the duty of barber or tailor to the ship's company they receive twopence a day extra. — The Duke of Wellington declared that the people of England liked a big butcher's bill, and he was not far from the truth, we expect. This does not moan, of course, that the people of this country now, or at any other time, actually want to hear of their friends or their enemies being destroyed. It merely means that they like the excitement of war on the great, scale, and that therefore a bloodless or comparatively bloodless action seems to them a tame an-, dull affair, and so not worth troubling about. — Spectator. — Every year the Dukes of Wellington and Marlborough have to present to the Queen a small flag as a sort of annual rental for the estates they hold, which were presented to their illustrious ancestors for their war services. There are quite a number of these flags in tho Guardroom at Windsor.