OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2612, 6 April 1904, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Absurdly high wages are being asked in London»by maidservants, who want £12 per month.

The Isle of Man rejoices in a prisoner who — is so comfortable in gaol that he refuses to come out.

George Moore, the novelist, says Tolstoi's mind "is a mountain waste, where nothing^ flourishes but theory."

Statements of the length of thread in a silkworm's cocoon have varied from a few hundred yards up to 11 miles.

An Italian called Benedetti has invented a bullet-proof cloth which will- render the wearers -utterly immune in battle. The. Westport Coal Company's output last' week, was "53,553 tons 16cwt, making the total" for th© quarter ending March J.f+,251 tons scwt.

The chairman of the Hastings School Committee has reseived a telegram from the Premier- stating that a district high school will be constituted there.

Included among several congratulatory messages received by Mr G. Laurenson, M.H.K., in reference to the Ashburton meeting on the land question, is the following from Mr A. W. Hogg, M.H.R. :—" Hearty congratulations. The resolution adopted at Ashburton is one of the best blows the land monopolist has yet received. A few such knocks will stiffen the greedy monster." The Bruce Herald states that an outcrop of a good seam of coal, equal to the best Kaitangata, has been discovered in the of Mount Misery, near Milton. A bore is to be put down to test the extent of the seam.

A permit to employ eight men and three boys in and about the New Inkerman battery,. Merrijigs, in the Inangahua district, on Sundays has been refused by the Inspector of Mines.

At Rangiora Court on Tuesday a boy of 13, wlio could not write, made "his mark" when signing the depositions. The boy lived outside the compulsory school area, and had not been to school for five years. The chairman of the Wellington Education Board, in till© course- of his annual report, mentions that out of 187 candidates for thr. scholarships of the Ward laet year 126 failed in English and arithmetic.

The Pahiatua Mounted Rifles have (according to the Woodville Examiner) ordered from England new -uniforms of dark green cloth, with busbies, "it being found too costly to purchase these in the colony." x Goldfish that swim in globes ■ of water aro very sensible to changes in the weather, and an observant person may learn to rely on them to foretell the coming of a storm. At such times the fish are restless, and dart about from place to place. The death is announced of Leouidos Hubbard, jun., the leader of an exploring expedition into the interior of Labrador, organised by an American magazine with th© view of securing- interesting " copy " for its readers. He died from starvation.

There are 41JI- million people in the British Isles, which approximately contain 56,000.000 acres of land. Fifty-five out of the 56 millions, Mr Laurenson, M.H.R., said at Tuesday evening's meeting at Ashburton, were owned by 30,000 people, the other 4-li odd millions owning the remaining million acres. Mr T. P. Taylor, M.H.R., afc Ashburton on Wednesday night, said that certain sections of the public press had declared that it was impossible to make people sober by aofc of Parliament, but Ashburton, if it bad not actual!* done this, had made it as hard *s .!&«&£&• £ar a inaffi become druuk^

- A Christchurch suburban storekeeper, who was prevented from departing by the j last San Francisco steamer, has now made' arrangements with his creditors. j Time, trouble, and money (says an exj change) would have been saved if these | arrangements had been made beforehand. ' A Dunedin cyclist, who rode to Outram recently, left his bicycle in "the yard of ' one of the hotels, and on returning to it

found that the- tyro had been delib&rately hacked about. Another visitor to Outram (says the Advocate) rede to Outram one night, and left his horse outside a hotel, and when he returned he found his steed

minus its tail.

The Mataura Ensign asserts that the spK&re of activity for m«n in New Zealand is becoming more and more restricted owing lo th© invasion by women, into industrial employments not previously open to them, and. hints at the "possibility of th© colony drifting into the position of "an Adamless Eden" as a~ consequence of its young men being compelled ' to emigrate _ elsewhere to find an outlet for their energies. Sir William Ramsay, the famous chemist, not only plays* the piano, but th& violin, the study of which he took up on three different occasions. Had he not elected to

: devote his. life to chemistry lie would have j ; been ablo- to wima reputation as a musician. Even now (the World mentions) he improvises with' a good deal of skill, while he not infrequently writes the words of songs to | ' sing at his annual students' dinner. j 5-r- Th© new issue of postage stamps for Hong- > kong, on which King Edward's head' is to replace thafc of* Queen Victoria, will leave to Russia- tho proud position of possessing the only unchanged issue- of stamps in the world.Tho first stamps of the design now to be. superseded were issued in Hongkong in 1859; The Russian issue with the double eagle

and shield of St. ""George, which first appeared in 1864-5, will now tako its place at the. head of the list. A new illuminating material" has be-e-n discovered by Herr Bl'au, the Bavarian chemist. It is made from oil gas. By a procecs of rectification the methane and.' hydrogen contained in it are separated from the gas, and, by a pressure oorf r 40 atmospheres, are reduced toi the liquid fofcm, in eteei receivers. This new compound can bo used in v the -plaoe of petroleum; alcohol, . and acetylene, and. it- is said to give c light of a beautiful colour; preferable to that of the

electiric _ lightr J^ Many." places' haye v curious* names (says theSt. James's" Budget), bub apparently there* is only one- place- wh'iehr has a< name without any vowels. Thafa place is- the > little hamlet

of Ws, near Paris. Ws being an unpronounceable name, the inhabitants of the hamlet have transferred it into " d'Us," but this change has not been sanctioned legally, and on all the official records the

name'Ws still appears. So far as is known, there is only one person in Europe- whos© name is without vowels. This is M. Srb, the Mayor of Prague. There is in the French Parliament an old deputy of Brittany, universally regarded as a harmless crank, _ whose speeches always arouse storms of laughter-. T-hey consist (says the Century ' Magazine) merely ,in passionate outbursts' of abuse againtet the Republic, and in eries -of "Vive le-roi!" thai 1 President dismissing tliem generally with a. shrug of the shoulders, while the Chamber receives vjith; ironical applause. In spite of the foolish „and>' useless role he plays the Count Battdry d'Asson has been for nearly 30 years regularly elected. .' The change offered; bjf a 'London bookingclerk to-. a passenger included ,a_ sixpence with a- hole in it. The passenger would not take , it, though the> booking-clerk said it was " alii right," and, an argument ensued, during which .persons waiting for tickets

grew impatient. Someone behind the offended traveller said. "Take the coin, and I'll give you another sixpence for it." This was done. "Now," said the new man, " Give me a single to ." And he jput down as part of his fare the disputed Sixpence, which the booking-clerk had to take.

A singular discovery has been made in connection with the Suez Canal. Tho company has found that- the fringe of reeds which grow here and' there on. th© African side of the canal below Ismalia forms a better protection for the banks than the courses of expensive sunburned brick or sandstone in use elsewhere.. An attempt has be&n mad© to grow them, but the difficulty has be&n found that the reetts, though they will afterwards adapt themselves and flourish in salt water, must be originally grown in fresb water, and of that there is none on the Asian shore of the cutting from end to end. The Kaiser has a collection of sticks which is peirhaps unequalled. It includes a yellow cane said to b& 3000 years old, and worth at least £2000. The Emperor of Austria collects menu cards. The choicest specimen is the menu of the dinner given by the Czar to President Faure at the Russian Embassy in Paris. The cardf— if card it can be called — is a block of the rarest black marble, beautifully painted by a famous French artist. The King of Denmark once accumulated a collection of birds' eggs, which was sold some years ago in aid of Danish charities, and is said to havefetched some £15,000. While children are still in their teens

they can actually increase, not only their physical proportions, but their height, by gymnastics, prope/ly conducted and regularly taken day after day. "Dr Be3"cr, in a communication made to a German scientific" society," says a well-known contemporary. " described one of the methods by means of which the influence of systematic gymnastic or of other forms of exercise might be ascertained, and presented the results of some investigations in this direction. For example, as to height, his figures g-ave strong evidence that height is dec ; dcc(3y increased by exercise taken within physiological limits, and during the period of growth." An Auckland doctor, giving evidence at an inquest, explained that blood-vessels in tha brain were more liable to ba burst than those in other parts of the body because of the softness of the substance surrounding them. In the other parts of the body more or less support was afforded by the flesh surrounding th© vessels. A fit of coughing or vomiting or any other violent action which sent tho blood powerfully to rho head w-->s very liable to cause the rupture of bloodvessels in the brain, e^pcelaily of those' on the surface of the brain. Tho danger increased with ags.

On the estate of Stora Stenby, on Adelso, an island in Lake Malar. SweJen, there siands an old fir tree stump which is coneiclcrcd by fcho natives to b© a spirit tree-* Small coins and trinkets are always to be found in a hole in the stump, and for years no one has been known to find the hole empty. A writer in the Wide World Magazino has been there three times, and has fcund a few coins oaoh time. The tree stands far from any dwelling, and there is no village on the island. Snow lies d-cep round {Jie tree, all winter, and no footmarks are to be &cen in it, and yet one finds the coins theo-e, apparently without human agency. No one on the island can explain tho mystery.

" 1 [Dr Gordon Stables] havo bec-n asked tho safest place and position when thunder roared and lightning flashed. Mind, it is not the thunder that hurts, terrifying though that may be, but tho electric fluid, and I guess "that if you were struck you- would never know what hit you. By lying down in bed if at home and covering yourself with a. down quilt will ensure safety. There is no earthly good in covering up lookingglasses and polished metal surfaces. Do not (stand against a wall unless an iron one, especially if you be wet. If you aro nervous during tlio storm and are near to no housa it- will bo best to lie flat down, but never get under a tree. A lady I knew who was terribly afraid of lightning was singled out by the eiectrie fluid and killed in a crowd from which she was trying in vain to escape."

At the Gore S.M. Court Mr G. Cruicksliank, S.M.. gave judgment in a case in which W. Alexander sued Josenh Snail for

£20. fot; pigs sold. The claim arose- out. of., the Wcndon assault case, and defendant counter-claimed #100, damages sustained and costs incurred through an assault committed by plaintiff on John M*Auliffe, &• servant in defendant's employ. In giving" judgment, the S.iJ. remarked that the casewas an unusual one, as it involved the right of a master to recover damages through, haying to expend money -in procuring medical' aid for a wounded servant, and also damages through the loss of his servant's services. The origin 'of the law on which the claim was based was that in< old times the servant had a .status in the family, and the master stood to him in the riatuT© of a parent. But in our modern times the relation of master and servant arises by contract and' not from .status. . . The question resolved itself into this : Was the master bound by law from the relation-ship-between himself and his s&rvant to-fur-nish medical care and attention for the servant? At common law a master was on'.y under obligation to provide medical attendance and medicines in the case of apprentices. If a servant was not able to pay- for niedioal attendance and comforts -he must go to. the public hospital or- similar .institution, but the master was not bound to- pay Any doctor's bill. Alexander, by assaultingfcthe servant, did a grievous wrong, for' which he was now undergoing a wolldeserved' sentence, and for which, also, the> servant has a civil remedy against him. As to the claim for loss of services, that was a claim that oould be enforced, and judgment on that head would be for £3 and costs.

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