MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2642, 2 November 1904, Page 65

MULTUM IN PARVO.

- A singular illustration of the persistence with which the Japanese adhere to their iamily vocations is seen in an announcement in a Japanese newspaper that a celebrated dancing-master wa<= tc hold a servieo in honour cf the one thousandth anniversary of the- death ot his ancestor, who was the first of the family to take up the profession.

— A ustom that has existed for scmo centuries is still maintained in certain towns on the Lower Rhine. Early in tire year — on auction day — the town crier or cle*k calls -all the young people together, and, having chosen attractive maidens, sells to the highest bidders the privilege of dancing with them, and them only, during tho entire year. The fees go into the public poor-box.

—In America they have found a novel method of using a sewer. A Brooklyn women's club, lately on the. lookout for a new sensation, gave a sumptuous dinner in a new sewer sft underground. The guests did not appear in evening dress, but we.re arrayed in rubber cloaks, hoods, and gloves. — Heading having returned Mr Rufus Isaacs to Parliament, there are now 11 Jewish rnembors of the House of Commons, seven of whom are Unionists and four Liberals.

—In the City of Chicago a plot of land was purchased for £120, and after being held for 20 years, sold for £8000. It is now valued at £3,600,000. , — In the first annual angling competition for a challenge cup he'd at King's Lynn only one fish was might, says the Eastern Daily Press. The man who taught it won the cup.

— The total coal production of the world is now about 790,000.000 tons, of which the United Kingdom produces rather lees and the United States rather more than a thiid ; but a.3 compared with population, the pioduction of the United Kingdom still surpasses that in the United States, amounting to nearly five and a-half tons, as against a iittle less than four tons, per head.

— Another "largest automobile in the world" is a harvester in Southern California. The machine is 60ft long and 30ic wide. The motive power is furnished by oil. Eight men are requited to_ run it. As the machine starts off the grain begins falling in sacks on the opposite side from where it is cut, and the straw drops into a cart behind.

— France has just increased her territory on the European Continent by 16,491 square kilometres. Until the other day tho area of the country was officially 520,400 square kilometres. This figure was calculated afte 1 " the war. when French tea--rito.y was reduced by the loss of a great part of Alsace and Loriaine. The error then committed has only jtisi been discovered. The calculation" of 1871 was made on sheet? of ordnance maps, and the paper \rss in some cases slightly shrunk by variations of temperature. Measurements mace by the lu'er were thus incorrect.

— A novelty in - weddings i= reported from Bethune, where, on the same date, in one family a wedding, golden wedding, and a Silver wedding were celebrated, the whole party attending the parish church. The grandfather and grandmother of tho bridegroom, aged 88 and 86 respectively, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary "of their wedding; whilst the bridegroom's mother and father celebrated their twenty-fifth year of wedded life.

—In connection with the jubilee of theMelbourne Public Library, now the finest institution of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, it is recalled that at its inception a request for a donation of books was made to the Imperial Government without eliciting any response. A similar application to the United States Government brought 500 volumes.

— According to a recent writer, there is now in the Imperial Aquarium of St. Petersburg a pike that first saw the light at thei close of the fifteenth century. He still appears to be quite a young fellow, notwithstanding his centuries and his long captivity. The writer says that there is nothing very extraordinary in his case, and he mentions several other fishes in the same aquarium that are more than 150 years old. — The Japanese possess, it is said, a meteorological servica "highly organised and more centralised than is the case :n England." It produces a daily weather map, monthly and annual reports, and a ■monthly weather review, and issues weather forecasts and storm warnings. It also gives special attention to earthquake phenomena and magnetic observations. From timo to time expeditions are made to the Summits of high mountains to investigate what is go-ing on in the upper regions of the atmosphere.

— Some startling figures with regard to the leterioration of vision during school life- are published by Dr Sayer, assistant medical officer Board of Education, London County Council. An investigation of the condition of the eyesight of board school children showed that 10 per cent, of boys and 11 per cent, of girls on an a\ srage throughout school life were found to have serious defects of vision.

— When Frau Clara Hahn, the wife of a prominent Berlin gentleman, from whom phe was separated, committed suicide, she left instructions in her will that everything she possessed should be burned on a funeral pile. The police carried out these orders to the letter, burning 1 no fewer than 11 chests filled with dresses, some packages of linen, 10 boxes containing hats, three dozen veils, and hundz-e-ds of love-letters.

— A hundred and fifty years ago tailors in the- City of London were paid 2s per day of 13 hours. In 1768 the rate of pay was raised to 2s 7^d. Then an. act was passed which made any master paying more than that sum to a journeyman liable to U days' imprisonment. In 1801 the rate was advanced by the Quarter Sessions to 27s per we-ek. In 1807 another advance was made, which brought the pay to 30s per week. The day's wage recognised at the present time is 7s 6d a day. — Cases are met with from time to time v. here tho loss of a limb neither dc&tro3"s the pleasure derivab'e from golf nor the ability to play it really well. The Kingrecalls that there u*ed to be two on»-avm golfers at Levcn. in Fiie, each of »\hom could p>ay a really excellent sciatoh game. Another instance o-t genuine enthusiasm combined with adai^tability occurred the other day at St. Andrews, where, in a competition for prizes among the staff employed afc the railway station. Thomas Anderson, a one-arm player, won the first priza wifcb. tb.3 excellent scoie of 90.

I — There i? probably no licenced hou-A ! in London that hru the record estabi shed ! by the Whiuktr family, proprietor- cf Ye ' Old Blue La-s:e, Doraot street, Fktfc street, London. The late Mr James Whitaker, at the time of las death, had held, a continuous lice-nso for 45 year^, and hi? soa, Mr Frank Whitaker, has ju=t succeeded in reaching tho half-century. The house ia over 200 years old.

— Although a marked prefoicnce for flowery Christian names has been sr-'tni ly tho working 'lasses of recent ye-iis, 't ij gratifying to Itarn from th-c^'Jafest i^iurns that the plain names of oin fiitlie-rs and mothers are- still the most popular. Tho two Christian names that head the list in order of frequency are William and Mary. Then .omos John ; Elizabeth, Thomas, George, Sarah, and James are well up. But Ann and Jane have somewhat declined, though there is said to be one parish in the Midlands wheie every girl is called Jane.

— Piolably the highest sum e\ er pa.d for a sei'mon goes each year to a-lud'cy German preacher, who receives £720 for his eft'o.t. In 1690 a wealthy French Baron named Favait, who lived in Elberfeld, died and bequeathed his money to tre Protestant Church th&re, with the proviso that it should be invested and the intere-t given annually to some clergyman, chosen haphazard from ihosc holding the poorest livings in the see, on condition that he preach a short sermon extolling the good deeds of rhe dead barcn. It is generally delivered on the fiist Sunday in June, after tho regular morning service, and, being of only half an, hour's duration, h paid for at tho rate of £24- a minute.

— A Turkish Ministerial portfolio is a sort of goldmine tc the holder. It is not the Vizier, however, who jvolds tht richest? claim, though Irs salary ot £13.280 a year, which is also that of tho War Minister, looks princely to Western eyes. The "plum" of 'Turkish offices is the Admiralty, which is worth £16,800 a year, and tho present holder is stated to have amassed a fortune of £2,400,000. The Mini=ter of Foreign Affairs has £3SOO, and Finn nee comes next with a thousand lower. The lowest salary is that of the Minister of Mines, though it is rather higher than that of the Premier of England. The sum ia £5560.

— Wooden shoes in France are produced to the extent cf about 4-,000 : O30 pairs yearly. They are made in Alsace and Barriers by machinery, and in Lose'.e by "hand. In the last-named province 1730 persons are engaged in this manufacture-, and the yearly product is more than half a million pa:rs. The best aie made of maple. Tn the provinces nearly every lady possesses a pair of the finer sabots, for wearing out in damp weather. These have monograms and other designs carved on the- vamps, and they are kept on the foot by ornamented leather pieces over the instep. The manufacture of the pieces of leather is a regular business in France.