UNKNOWN

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 65

UNKNOWN

I ■**(- — Many persons use the phrase "in a ; trice" who have no conception of its meaning. A trice is the sixtieth part of a second of time. The hour is divided into 6C minutes, the minute into 60 seconds, and the seconds into 60 trices. — The great crested fly-catcher, and several other birds, wind into their nests "one of the old skins which have been -shed by snakes, so that these look like live snakes coiled about the nest. By this device other birds or lizards, intent on stealing the. eggs, are frightened away. — A novel weathercock is to be seen in the vicinity of Westerham (says the Motor Cycle). It depicts a motor car in the act of running over a pedestrian, while at the arrow end stands the avenger — a policeman with uplifted arm. — The curious fact that corn, potatoes, and other plants thrive better when placed in rows running north and soutk has now been proved. Planted thus, they obtain more uniform and regular light. ■ — Electric insects- have been reported. A noted hunter makes the statement that upon taking up a large caterpillar in the for&si.s of South America, he received so powerful a shock that his right arm and side were almost paralysed, and c\en his life jeopardised. ■f The following are among the high steel chimneys in the United States : — Nicol's Chemical Company. Brooklyn, 310 ft high, 35ft in diameter at the base. 12ft in diameter at top ; Pennsylvania Salt Company, Natrona, Pa., 225 ft high, 10ft flue diameter ; Maryland Steel Company, Sparrow's Point, Md., two chimneys, each 225 ft high and 13ft inside diameter. — A clock -which seems to be pre-emi-nently adapted for the sick room or hospitals \h the invention of Prof. Hirth, of Munich. It consists merely in the depression of a button, which outs in a small electric lamp placed under the dial of an electrically-illuminated clock, throwing the shadow of the Iface and its hands upon the ceiling in a highly magnified state. "Viewed from the bed of a reclining invalid, it obviates the irksome craning of the neck. — A Cashmere shawl weaver in Persia earns by the hardest labour about eighteenpence a day. —In Arizona th< cactus grows to an immense size, and there is one specimen — doubtless the largest in the world — which is 232 ft high. — jU.e natives of Porto Rico make soap for washing purposes out of the leaves and bulbs of plants, shaving--soap being- prepared from coccanut oil. j — Arrangements are being made for the installation of 30 submarine signal bells in ' the St. Lawrence River and off the coasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. These bells are submerged in the water to a depth of about 25ft below the bottom of a light ship, or from a buoy in proximity to a lighthouse. A large hammer, operated by compressed air trom the lighthouse or -aj }B u&q au;i e^tJ^s <y\ pe-sneo si 'drxjs-}u.°iT gular intervals during foggy weather. It is ecid that a distance of from four to eig-ht miles has been covered by this system of signalling under water. — Both sexes of the African elephant ha_ve ivory tusks, while in the Asiatic species they are g-enerallv restricted to the male. — Eel skins are now manufactured into various articles, being manipulated until they resemble, and would be easily taken \ for, leather, although of a more pliable nature. — A naturalist of eminence says that land birds make their journeys in the daytime, and the water birds by night. — The "elephant beetle" of Venezuela is the largest insect in the world. A fullgirown one weighs about half a pound. — The Imperial Canal in China is the longest in the world, and connects no fower than 41 cities in the course of its 800 miles. — The rate at which the Zplus can run upon an emergency is astonishing. Some , will cover as much as 50 miles in six hours. Eight miles in an hour is an ordinary feat. — A warehouse in Paris has been built with glass floors. The initial cost is considerably more than that of the ordinal y floor, but, in view of the fact that toughened glass is so much longer lived than wood, the experiment is likely to pro^e cheaper in the long' run. —In a Chinese thoroughfare the middle part is considerably hieiher than _ the pavement on either .side. In the rainy season if a vehicle should slip the occupants run considerable risk of being smothered in the mud and water which always accumulate on each tide at that period. — A naturalist found that some black , ants were devouring the skins of certain bird specimens which he had' on a table, so he mad* 1 tar circles on four pieces of paper, and put ono under each leg of the table. Ants will not cro^s tar. Shortly afterwards he found th-a ants busily at work a<;ain, and, looking at the tar circles, found each ono -was bridged by bits of sand 1 , which the clever ants had brought to the spot to enable them to cross.

— Russian railways are the most dangerous in the world. On an average 30 in every million passengers are either killed oi hurt". — Then- arc morn women m British Indian than there aie men, women, and children in Great Britain. France, and Germany put together with the population oi several minor European States cast in as well. — Twenty millionaires, Im person? ting farmers, have held a curknis dinner in a hotel in Philadelphia. A miniature cornfield had been installed in the dining hall, and roosters ate wheat from the floor. The guests u-ed toy pitchforks, rakes, and hoes, irstea,d of knives and forks. A stuffed bull stood behind a rail fence, and two live pig? feasted in a sty. Farming utensils hung en the walls, and the electric lights were in pumpkins and melons. When the company fel<" thirs+y they went to a cider press, and f aimers' waggons took them home. — There has recently been discovered in the Far East a species of acacia called the* angry tree, which is entitled to be classed as one of the wonders of plant life. It crows to a height of about Bft. and when full grown closes its lea\es together in coils each day at sunset and curls its twigs to the shape of p;gtail-;. After the tree has settled itself thus for a night's sleep, if touched the whole thing will fiutter as if agitated or impatient at being disturbed. The oftener the foliage is molested the more violent becomes the shaking of the branches, and at length the tree emits a nauseating odour, which if inhaled for a few moments causes a violent headache. — The peach is commonly =upnosed to havo the mvst^rious power of iri\ing away pv 1 spirits or keeping them at a distance. In Chinese as well as in Japanfp= folklore arrows made of peach tree wood arc frequently used" for the purpose of piercing the otherwise invulnerable hearts of devils. Chinese doctors sometimes use the extract of the peach leaves or kernels for medicinal purposes.. — Religious superstition asserts itself in Chinese architecture, and the universal sacredness of Hie numerals three and nine is shown in tho arrangement of temple doors. There ;« a triple gateway to each. of the halls of the imperial palace, and the tame order prevails at the royal tombs, v>*hile the sacred person of the Emperor can only he approached even by the highest officials after three times thrc prostrations have been g-iven. — The ordinary length of the hair on the head ranges between 20in and about a yard and a-quarter — the latter being considered unusually long. When, however, hair is kept closely shaved it becomes persistent, and at the same time grows in strength oud bulk. It has been calculated that <he hair of the beard grows at the «ite of =ix and a-hnlf inches a year. From a man 30 years of aae. something like 27ffc of beard may have fallen before the edge of the razor. — Trees and plants have their regular time« for going to sleep. They need to rest from the work of growing, and to repair and oil the machinery of life. Some plants do all their sleeping in the winter, while the ground is frozen and the limba of trees are hare. In tropical countries, where the snow never falls, and it is always arowinpr weather, the trees repose during the rainy season or during the periods cf drought. They always choose the most unfavourable working time foi doing their sleep, just as man chooses the> nighl. when he cannot see to work. -— Dates, which rank with grapes a:, high-class foodstuffs, are the fruit of the date palm, which in its native land supplies food to millions of people. from Morocco to Persia and to their dogs, horses, and cornels as well. The date contains a very large quantity of saccharine matter — according to some authorities as much as 58 per cent of sugar, besides other soluble substances and water. So valuable is the date- palm to the inhabitants, of the countries throughout which it flourishes thai it ;s their chief source- of wealth, and furnishes material to supply nearly every re quirement for their comfort and daily necessities. —Existing- Economic Conditions in America. — Ten million persons in the United States in povertj . One out of o\ery ten persons who die ill New York city buried in Potter?" Field. Fourteen per cent of the families living in borough of Manhattan e-v ictcd every, year. Between 60. G00 and 70,000 children go to school so hungry as to .unfit them to lea.m. Two million wage earners in the United States out of employment from four to six months a year. , One million seven hundred thousand small children in United States forced to become wase earners. Five million women have to toil, of whom 2.000,000 are employed in mills and factories. One million workers killed or injured each year while- doing their work. Ten million persons now living, if present ratio is maintained, will die of tuberculosis — a preventable disease.