MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2672, 31 May 1905, Page 62

MULTUM IN PARVO.

— The natives of certain parts of India

#re in the habit every year, in the summor, of digging the dry riverbanks for fish, which they dig out by hundreds, just as they would potatoes. The mud lumps are broken open, and the fish, perhaps Bin or •lOin long, will always be found alive, and often frisky, as if just Temoved from its supposed native element — the water.

— Out of every 100,000 girls and boys in England and Wales 6819 are called Mary and 6530 William.

—In Chinese cities htreets are never built straight, from a superstitious fear that processions of evil spirits might otherwise enter them and there remain.

—In France the oxen that work in the fields are regularly simg to as an encourage- . nient to exertion ; and no peasant has the slightest doubt that the animals, listen to , him with plea-sure. — Chester possesses one of the most curious schoolhouses in the country. Unable Ito find accommodation in the town, the Chester Education Committee got the race- ■ ociiTse authorities.: .to allow them the temporary use of a stand at a rentgl of £150 a 1 year. — PetrbTis invading the domain of steam to * very, considerable extent. A railway ' inspection petrol motor car has just been " constructed by a Midland firm of engineers." -The car, "which is fitted with light-flanged • wheels to fit th« rails, is provided with Bide handles to permit it being, if neces- ' wry, lifted off the metals. All the levers ' are brought within range of the back seat, thus enabling the inspector to sit in front, with nothing to do but inspect the track. It is stated that a speed of 30 miles per hour is readily attainable. —An inveterate cigarette smoker, who lives in tha little town of Cayes (Seine-et-Marne), declares that during- the last 30 years he has smoked so many cigarettes that if placed end to end they 'would cover 30 kilometres — nearly 23 miles. He reckons that" during that period he has consumed

800,000 cigarettes, or, roughly speaking.

per day. The strange thing is that this veteran smoker has recently given up tha !>abit in obedience to the doctors, and he finds himself none the worse for the change.

— For seven years the St. Lawrence River gradually decreases in depth. Then • for seven years it gradually increases in depth, the difference in le-vel being- about sft. Why it docs so no one has yet discovered. — A farmer near Sunderland has erected • a gateway, the front entrance- to his yard, which is composed of bones of various kinds, all of which belonged to favourite animals of his stock. His fondness for these relics is evidenced in other parts of his dwelling, i;he name on the front of the residential portion being marked out with knucklebones; pairs of white horus and silver-. ' mounted hoofs are the chief ornaments in the rooms. —Mr F. A. Mackenzie tells the story of the rise and progress of the V.M.C.A. It had its origin 60 years ago last June, when *" "under the shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral 1" 12 young men met together inspired with , » great purpose." Now the 12 have become over 700,000. The property alone Dwned by the association is now worth considerably over £6,000,000. In Chicago . the iome of the association is a fifteenBtoreyed skyscraper, valued at nearly

£♦00,000. — A school for dogs has been established in Paris. The object is to teach them politeness. The animals are trained to welcome visitors by jmping up, wagging the tail, and • giving a low bark. When the •visitor leaves, the" dog accompanies him to the door, constantly wagging his tail, and bows his farewell by tendiijj? his head to the floor. He is trained, likewise, to pick ■up a handkerohie£, glove, or fan that has been 'dropped, and return it to the owner. — The most~extraordinary forest in the world is one discovered by Dr Welwitsch. ' which occupies ' a tableland some six miles ' broad, at a height of 300 ft or 400 ft above, the sea, near the West Coast of Africa. The, trunks of the trees of this peculiar forest are 4ft in diameter, and yet they only attain a height of lft, giving the tree the appearance of a"" round table. There are never more than two leaves which attain a length of 6ft and a breadth of 2ft, the flowers forming crimson clusters. — Everyone who has been in a Continental city at carnival time has seen the - "confetti" which are thrown about in mimio - /warfare 3n • the" streets. The making and - selling of these, tiny paper pellets constitute an. industry of some little importance.

It is estimated . that the Parisians alone '■ spend £2+,000 sterling upon them every • year. The ; tolal v.weightv '.weight of confetti sold in, - Paris in a year has been estimated at more ■' than 1000 tons.

— A -somewhat unique and interesting ceremony was witnessed the other day after a performance of "In Dahomey" at the Grand Theatre, Swansea, a real negro wedding taking place before a large audience

which had attended the evening performance. The contracting parties were William Garland, tenor vocalist, and Miss

Nellie Goff, trombone soloist, of the company. The ceremony was conducted by a negro minister from London, ■who attended specially for the auspicious occasion. The etage was turned into a drawing room scene. When the intention of the couple ■was made .known to the management they

arranged to supply a banquet and to defray all the expenses of the happy event. — Cats, large and small, make the most careful toilet of any class of animals, excepting some of the opossums. The lions and tigers wash themselves in exactly the same manner as the cat, wetting the dark, indiarubber-like ball of the forefoot and in Her toe, and passing it over the face and behind the ears. The foot is thus at the same time at face sponge and brush, and the rough tongue combs the rest of the body. Hares also use their feet to wash their faces, and the hare's foot is so suitable for a brush that it is used to apply the "paint" to the face for the stage. — Curious have been the matrimonial experiences of Mrs Elizabeth Buzzard, of Kentucky. She began life as Elizabeth Bird, of Harrison County, Kentucky. Her first venture outside the home nest was mad« when she married aMr Martin. When Mr Martin died she married Edward Crow, r farmer. At his death she mated with William Robin, and lived happily until the inevitable change. Then David Buzzard, j. widower, appeared, and Mrs Robin be;ame Mrs Buzzard. Into the Buzzard nest vie carried one little Martin, two little Drows, and one little Robin. One little Buzzard was already there to welcome theother birds.

— Tho small town of Werda, in the kingdom of Dahomey, is celebrated for its temple of serpents, a long building in which the priests kepp upwards of 1000 serpents of al' sizes. These they feed with birds and frogs brought to them as offerings by the natives.

— Among the Sioux Indians an amusing custom exists. When one family borrows a cooking kettle from another, it is expected that on the utensil being returned a portion of the food that has been cooked in it will be left in the bottom. Should this custom be disregarded by anyone, that person would never be able to borrow again, as the owner must always know what has been cooked in her utensil. A white woman on one occasion returned a scoured kettle, intending to teach a lesson in cleanliness, but her act became the talk of the camp as an example of the meanness of the whites. —An interesting and curious fact about some trees is that their branches and roots are so alike in nature that if a tree be uprooted and turned upside down, with th« branches underground, the roots will gradually bud, and in course of time will become veritable branches, while the buried branches will, on their part, take upon themselves the functions of roots. In » celebrated -Scottish birch wood a large fir, being blown, down in. a gale of -wind, fell across a gully, the branches straightwaytaking root on the opposite side, while the branches on the trunk , and isome upturned roots shot up in vigorous growth, presenting the unusual spectacle of 15 trees in- a row, with a common root of giant size spanning the gully. — Few, if any, menageries in the world can show a more remarkable record of lionrearing than that of the Dublin Zoo. From the old lion-house, which was recently replaced by a magnificent building, to which Lord Roberts has given his name, lions bred within its walls have been consigned to almost every quarter of the globe. Upwards of 200 cubs saw the light in the old lion-house, and a sum of nearly £5000 resulted from their sale to other menageries, both at Home and abroad. One lioness, whose career in the gardens extended over a period of 16 years, gave birth in her time to no fewer than 55 cubs, which realised the sum of £1400.

—Mr J. Floyd, the stationmaster at the Kent House Station, on the South-Eastern and Chatham railway, had the narrowest of escapes from a terrible death quite recently. He was crossing the meta-ls, when the Dover express* came rushing through. There was no time to turn back, and with great presence of mind he dashed for the down platform and flung himself headlong on it. He cleared the express all but the heels of his boots, which were struok !>y the engine and ripped away, the boots themselves being torn in two and pulled off and carried some yards by the train, being eventually found on the metals. Q*lie stationmaster was practically unhurt, though stunned by his fall on the platform, and with £ls- feet bruised and swollen and cut by the bootlaces as tht boots came -away. — Boxing matches are very popular with the Burmese. They liold public contests, *t w"hich prizes ai*e offered for competition, and to which people flock from all the country round. The form displayed would, howeverj scarcely meet with the approbation of British patrons of the noble art of self-defence. Every kind of hit is allowed in the ring, and the combatants attack one another with feet as well as hands. They wear no boots or shoes, so kicks on the shins do not help them much. They, therefore, -fedce immense pains to develop the knack of high-kicking, and deal one another terrifio blows in the face with their feet. The skill they show in this peculiar method of attack is really astonishing.