MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO.

— Two vixens while fighting at Fletcbing, Sussex, Tolled down a bank and were drowned in a tank of water. — The proposed establishment of Sunday musio in the Liverpool parks was on April 3 defeated at the City Council by 68 votes to 25. <—A fire raged for several hours recently in the New Forest near Reaulieu. Sixty acres of gorse were destroyed, and many rabbits were burned to death. — One of the chief grievances of the post office girls is the fact that the British Post-master-General will not employ them unless they undertake to remain single. — Th© ancient seal of the town of Win1 chelsea, which was struck in 1280, has just been restored to the corporation, after being out of its possession for more than a century. — "A" London «ian walked from the Marble Arch to the Martyr's Memorial/ Oxford, 54£ miles, in 8 hours and 51 minutes, on Good Friday, beating the record by one Lour and 'eight minutes. — Glow-worms are much more brilliant when a storm is coming than at other seasons. Like many other mysteries of Nature this curious circumstance has never been explained. — A man who was charged at the Willesden Police Court with intoxication and using bad language pleaded guilty to the first part of 'the charge, adding: "As to the language, I know nothing about that, for I am very deaf." — There 'have been some interesting trials at Windsor Great Park of a new steam fire engine which the King has ordered for the protection of the royal residence* in the park. The steamer has a pumping capacity of 400 gallons a minute. — A dog clothed in a. paper suit, upon which were the words in large type: "Vote for Kirk," was sent about the etreets of St. Austell, Cornwall, in support of his master's candidature- at the urban 1 council election. — Hull is to have* a. Garden City, with accommodation for at least 5000 inhabitants. Sir James Reckitt has purchased for the purpose the Holdernees House estate, valued at £100,00f>— a site a mile long and a quarter mile wide. — A party of peasants clearing away the snow from a nut on Mount Bresovits (Servia) heard a faint call from within. It came' from a boy who had taken' refuge there with his father 40 days previously 1 during a terrific storm. The father had died. — Many English Queens have chosen oak trees in Windsor Forest whereon their names, with the dates of their choice, have been commemorated by means of brass plates. In different parts of forest, with cents round them, are oaks bearing th» names of Queen Elizabeth, Queen Caroline, Queen Charlotte, and Queen "Victoria. — The most expensive piece of railway line in the world is that of the North British railway which runs over the Forth bridge. This portion of the line, including approaches, is about four miles long, and cost £800,000 per mile to construct. — Wives are still obtained by purchase in parts of Russian Europe, and in .certain districts this is practically the only way in which marriages are brought about. The price of a pretty girl from a well-to-do family ranges from £10 to £20, and in epec'nl cases a much higher sum is obtained. In the villages the lowest price is about £5. * — A doctor- says that persons who attain their thirtieth year without suffering from any serious disease are likely — all things being equal — to live till they are at least 73 years of age. —In Luxembourg the practice of planting fruit trees along the public roads is extensively carried out, the principal kind being apples, pears, plums, and cherries. It wa6 started in 1876, and there are now over 12,000 trees. Before the fruit is quite ripe it is sold by auction. — The Army Council has allowed a money allowance for the treatment by civil dentists of recruits of good physique who might be lost to the service through having detective teeth. The experiment has already been tried for a year in one of the Home commands, with the result that a large number of recruits haye been saved for the army who would otherwise have been rejected as unfit. — A Lancaster lady took her 16 pedigree dogs out for exercise in the King's highway, when a doctor and his wife passed by- The doctor with his stick "warded off" the dogs, which had frightened his wife, and one of them received fatal injuries. The owner sued the doctor for £25, the Talue of the animal, and the jury, finding that more force was- used than was necessary to drive the dogs away, awarded her 7g«w — The uniform of our drummers must be familiar enough- to every Briton, yet few know the significance of the spotted lace with which their tunics are decorated. _ The blue spot is the celebrated fleur-de-lis of France, which, being worn by the highest ranks in the French army, was, as a mark of our military superiority, bestowed by the Prince Regent upon the lowest rank in our own. — Singing in Japanese, in honour of Prince Fushimi, a number of boys from the Cuke of York's Military School surprised and delighted the Prince and hie suite at Ihe Guildhall. "Kimi ya go," the "Song to the Emperor," may be interpreted thus : "May your Majesty's reign last for thousands and thousands of generations, until small pebbles have become rocks ana mose has grown on them." m , . , — Liverpool can lay claim to being the strangest oity in the British Isles. It has more foreign dwellers than any other, bar London. The different nationalities form little colonies of their own. The Italians live in a certain quarter, as aleo do the Jews, Chinese, Germans, Welsh, and Irish. The Soots, of course, are scattered all over, bnfc the strangest and most interesting part of all is "Foreign Town," which lies close behind the fashionable Bold street, in Baily and Cummins streets. — The most charming little ring In the world is the property of Mr Temple, of London. This gentleman is a nephew of &jr Richard Temple, and the ring in question is a highly-prized old family heirloom. Inside of this tiny circle of gold are the works of a perfect little musical lx>x. Just touch a minute spring and hold the ring quite close to the ear, and you hear the sweetest, weirdest, tiniest little tune that could possibly be devised, which seems to pour forth like a voice from spirit

— The red coral which is used in jewellery, and which is known as precious coral, is mostly obtained in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast furnishing the dark red, Sardinia the yellow or salmon colour, and the coast of Italy the rose-pink. It is also found in the Red Sea. —It will take 25 tons of white lead to repaint the interior of the British Museum Reading Room and 200,000 leaves of beaten gold to regild the dome. Some 20 men will be kept busy for six months. To erect the scaffolding, 12,000 pole 3, scwt of naik, 5000 wedges, and 25.000 cords will be required. — The poTtrait-pipe is a fad with certain wealthy #oung men. One of the most beautiful is owned by a well-known peer, who was married 1 to an American beauty a few years ago. He wished to have a pipe made bearing the likeness of his wife, and left several photographs and a statuette of the lady with the carver. A month later he received the pipe and a bill for £160. A number of pieces of meerschaum had been tried, onty to prove defective, and the last piece, which measured Sin high, 7in broad, and 12in deep, was reduced to a pipe 3in high and 2£in at its widest part. When completed, the pipe had passed through the hands of 27 workmen. —It is often said that persons afflicted with certain forms of deafness can hear perfectly in the midst of a tumult. A locomotive engineer was found to be very deaf, and. although he protested that he could hear perfectly well while on his engine, he was suspended from duty. Some time afterwards he applied for reinstatement, again urging the fact of his perfect hearing while on duty. Finally, the physician rode with him upon a locomotive, and put him to every possible test. To the doctor's surprise he found the man able not only to hear ordinary sounds, but also to distinguish whispers and movements that jvere inaudible, to his companion.