OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2801, 20 November 1907, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Tight, unventilated hate arc 0110 of the chief causes of baldness. A caterpillar's eyes cannot «cc at a greater distance than two-fifths of an inch. jPrance derives nearly * quarter of a million pounds a year from the tax on bipycles. From a- cliff 1000 ft high .a person with glear vision could see a ship at a distance Jf 42 miles. A Bna'i brain attains to its majimum weight at the age of 20 yeaxs; that of a .woman at 17 yea.ro. Widows throughout the world are eatijnated to exceed wdowesra in the proportion of tnree to one. An oil lauijj is imt burning well .wuea tMS

flame is yellow in colour. Foul lamps are always liable to explode

The other night Mr Eddie, pf Ballanco, was gored by a bull. Several riba were broken and a Jej? ripped.

The, com;non slang word "mash" Is frpm, a. beautiful gipsy v»ord, "mafada,"' which mean? "to charm, by t]>o eye?-" The Bilyscbs of Sweden 'is, with the exception of the British Pmlianient, tlia oldest of existing legislative bodies. Such is the glut of rabbits— following har. yest operations^-at Darlingtou (England) tha,t they «re being sold for id each. At a betrothal ceremony in Paris 3, Cousin of the young lady attempted to Sqjmit dj&claJM^ that Urn lw>W

The Queen of Holland is a first-rate amateur actress, and, if not born to the purple, would have made a fortune on the stage. . The English sovereign was first coined in 1626. Previous to that date the noblo, value 15s, was the most valuable British coin. The notes of bird*, while corresponding with our musical scale, also include vibrations occupying the intervals between our notes.

Two fine lion cuts, about six months old, have been obtained from East Africa and forwarded to the Zoological Gardens, London. Fruit farms in full bearing are now selling at up to £1100 per acre in the Nelson district owing to pulp factories being established there.

The Zulus carry their wounded to the hills, and expose their wounds to the air, having found tibat that is the quickest way of ouring them. The Bay of Plenty Timeg reports that the potato blijrbt has made its appearance in several of the early potato crops in the Tauranga district.

Lava retains its hea,t longer than any other known substance. It has been known to remain ftt boiling-point a. foot below its surface /or 53 yea.l-9.

For wa»tonly disturbing a resident by pinging the door bell ax) InyercargilJ. boy wae brought up at the Juvenile Court and dispharged witji * ctutioQ,

At the celebration of the golden wedding of Mr and Mi's Hayward, at Tepterden, Sent. Mr Hnyward wor« the necktie which be had worn ou his wedding day. The number of beekeepers in the Dominion is given as 15,396, and the number of hives of all kinds at 74,34-1, an average of jiwt under five hives per keeper. Light and ITrutfr has forwarded the sum of £5 to the Treasury by way of conscience money in respeot to claims paid for lost goods by the Railway Department. Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, has the smallest ranpre of temperature of any place in the world. In summer the average is 78 degrees, and in winter 77i degrees.

Amongst the account? pas««d by the Wellington Charitable Aid Board last week was a 'Sum of £2 5s lOd to a lady in W»irarapa for moal- supplied to swaggers.

A train travelling at 60 miles an hour can be brought to a standstill in 400 yards : if travelling at 50. in 275 yard". At 30 miles it can be pulled up in 100 yards.

The crown worn by the Austrian Emp«ror, winch is regarded as one of the finest works of European goldsmiths coni.uns over £100,000 worih of gold and

English people are said to bear \ip better against intense cold than agambt intense heat, the principal reason bemp that the cold air is less tainted with the germs of disease. The employees in the German Emperor's household number about 1500, including 350 female servants, who are engaged io looking after the twenty-one Royal P*)lace3 and castlos that belong to the Crown. The Cro«a of St. Andrew, a Ru6sian order, lias « remarkable peculiarity attaching to it. All who possess it have the rltcht onoe to demand a pardon for & Russian subject condemned to death. The consumption of coal by the L.usitan*a on he? maiden voyage to New York was a. little less than 1000 tons a day. The coat of feeding the- furnaces during the five days' trip works out to about £6000. A coroner at Lincoln CEngUuidi turned an old hoys© tramcar into a oaroner's courthouse. There was a table in the middle, and the jury sat round the car> which stood in the grounds of a publj6house. A good many properties have been changing hapds lately iji Taranakl. One of the New Plymouth firms had 10 properties (three farine and seven town properties) passed through their hands last week. For shooting a. homing pigeon at Preston, 8. corporation barge employee named Maleham wae fined 10.3 and costs, and ordered to pay £2 to the owner of the pigeon.. The bird wnt tie winner of the Bath race. The Tuupcka Tirues says tlje luxuriant growth of grass to be found ajong the $treet3 of Lawrence will prove- a ,roG}© of wealth to the borough, a? it wiU yield * Crop Qf foes (rO.m, pullers pf yra.nrtfginv

It was shown at an inquest at Westminster on Frederick Preedy, a valet, of Sutherland place, Westminster, that he died through a whitlow forming on his finger after he had pinched it severely in a bedstead. The Patea Electorate Licensed Victuallers' Association has decided to raise the minimum charge for board and lodging through the electorate to 6s per day, as from the Ist met. This is owing to the increased price of foodstuffs. The Weirarap* Times says that on Sunday week at Weraiti there was a tropical thunder ahower, lasting for fully half an hour, with heavy peals of thunder, apparently almost directly overhead, the downpour being entirely local. The Injtlewood Record publishes a paragraph to the effect that Mr Bowator, of the northern end of the electorate, and a follower of Mr Massey, is likely to contest the Taumarunui seat with Mr Jenninjia at the next general election. Margaret Lawa, wife of a miner at Benton, near Newcastle, was found lying dead across a live rail of the electric railway. The jury found that the woman had com- , mitted suicide while temporarily insane by throwing herself on the live rail. Nearly 8000 sohool gardens exist in Au«i tria, not including the sister kingdom of 1 Hungary.. They are connected with both private and publio schools, »nd are used for purposes of practical instruction in horticulture and tree-growing, and often contain botanical museums and bee-hives. • Recent statistics chow that fully 10 per ; cent, of tha Dominion wool production is now cold here instead of beinfr, as formerly, sent Home for sale. Buyers now pome to the spot, and in shipping direct to their firms a*ve a lot of London charges. " This was most important business, the King's business, and you had no right to go to any other engagement. Pay a fine of 20s, i or come tare on Saturday," said the ooro- , ncr at a Hackney inouest to a juror who, on arriving late, pleaded a business engagement. There is a factory iq Amsterdam which cuts aud pojlehes 400,000 diamonds annually. Most of the work is done by women, | A tourist agent put the number of American visitors to Europe this year at 100,000, - ! ami he estimates that they tpent £8.000,000. ! Over 600 single women were among tlie passengers on the White Star liner Cymric which sailed recently from England for 1 America. A great many are going out to be matrled, end others ara proceeding to friends or domestio service in America f»nd Canada- ] Mr C. Snelling, *!he manager of the Thetford Gasworks, Norfolk, while digging in hie garden, uncovered an anoient coffin of Anca«ter or Barnot stone. The lid was 6in thick, and 'bore a carred cross and the cjoffin contained the complete skeleton of a. i man 6ft 2in tall, # j ' From Manila to Australia a voyage is like going down a river, for the steamer ! is out of sight of land pnJy two days. 1 Twenty-one day* are occupied by the jourj ney, but the course 'is through South Sea Islands, which accounts for its resemblance to river navigation. | The Hawke'a Bay Herald says r— House- • holders who received a. visit from three little j?irls Jn masks, and were a«k«d for T< Something for Guy Fawke's Day, phase," i must ha-^e wondered Just now far wo.man's invasion of the male creature's rights ■was poiB? to extend. A minister speaking tut the Presbyterian Assembly. ooiqplajLned. thafc, in couneotion with the northern section of th« Churon, $. certain borne missionary's dwelling was described in a report as a " comfortal&A j cptrage manse." In reality it was a two* roomed gaivanlsed-lron hut. 'The fruit market *t Palmerstoi^ North fa praotjoallv in the hands 01 the Chinese, and tbe Standard U therefore advocating tuat the Palmereton Fruitgrowers' Association be resUsoitateo tub a.n early date and tljai active steps be taken to bring the industry j under the direct control of Europeans. ! TKo Education. Department Is about to ' invite tenders for the supply of 170,000 medals for distribution amongst the school children of the Dominion, to oommornorate the raising of New Zealand to a Dominion. The medals are to be of mognolium, a nvtai as light as a!uminiuiii v aucl equally.

The skin of the men and women of sonia nations is much thicker than that of others, particularly in hot countries. The Central African negro has a skin about half as thick again as that of a European. That of a negro is thickest over the head and back — doubtless to serve as a protection from the sun. A draught horso should weigh 16001b and upwards. Weight is absolutely necessary for the hauling of heavy loads. It enables the horse to derive full benefit from the strength of his muscles and tendons, adds to the effect of his levera in motion, and gives him a firm grip upon the ground. The high price ruling for cheesa (eaya the Pahiatua Herald) has had a bad effect ia regard to the New Zealand Dairy Union s creamery at Mangatainoka. whicb\ it is understood, is to be dosed shortly. The cheese factory proprietary operating; in the district is giving la per lb for butter-fat. When steol is- exposed to the action at sea water and the weather it is said to corrode at the rate of an inch in 83 i years ; an inch of iron under the same conditions corrode* in 189 years. When -exposed to fresh vr&fcr and the weather bh« periods are 170 years for steel and 5 633 years for ironMr Morgan Carkeek is at present engaged on a survey for the Government ol D'Urville Island, whioh is about to 5e subdivided. There are certain portions of the island which aro quite inaccessible except! by eea, and Mr Carkeek ia provided with. a steam launch to enable him to carry out the work minutely. At the marriage of Lfeutenanfc John W. M'Cowen, R.N., to Gwendoline, daughter of the late Admiral Sir R. MoreMolyneux, at St. Petard, Eaton square, London, the four bridesmaids wore whito drill naval costumes and sailor hate, with the ribbon of H.M.S. Prince George, tho bridegroom's ship. The work on the Waikak* railway is) almost at a standstill at present (says the> Ensign), and a number p( the navvies have been put off for a while; but ac soon! as it is decided where the terminus is to 'be the work will be again pushed on. Tho formation is mostly completed up to about a mile past Qleniti. A poll was taken at Temuka on Wednesday on the question of borrowing £1800 for draining a portion of the town. Out of 150 entitled to vote only 50 recorded their votes. There voted for the proposal 24, and the same number against it. Two were informal. As & majority was required, the proposal was lost. Emulous, no doubt, of the examplo of Lord and Lady Plunket, who carried soil up a high hill to make a reservoir in which Mother Mary Aubert ie interested, others are following the example. The Superintendent of the Wellington tramways took out 100 men last Saturday afternoon, and the ohief of the overhead staff another 100. Tho export of coal from Newcastle to places beyond the Commonwealth during the month of October totalled 449,574 tone» being an increase of 112.835 tone on tha quantity sent away in the corresponding month of lout year. There we sent to Commonwealth and New Zealand porta 214,021 tons, and to foreign ports 235,553 tons. "I was in a queue outside a theatre," •aya a London correspondent, waiting for the doors to open, when a postman appeared and called the name 'Miss — — .' A young lady in the line admitted her identity. 'Thia is for you,' said the postman, and hand«d her a picture post-card! addressed ' Pit queue, outside — — Theatre, , W. 1 " I The average weight of new oornsacka of standard size, is from 2^lb to 231b. while an average price over a series of years for the bags is os fid per dozen. By weighing the sacks in with the grain • the producer, when wheat, for example, is 3s per bushel 1 , reoeives only I§<l for what he paid s£d for. He therefore loses 3 5-6 don each bag. -^Phormium tenax is said to be successfully growing in parts of Argentina. It may noti be generally known that the plants, which were distributed from the Botanical Gardens of Buenos Aires wero nropagated from plants obtained from the South of Ireland, and are therefore direot descendants froni the seed procured in New Zealand by Captain Cook. Th© practice of exchanging old loaves ofi bread for new is now illegal, and a. baker or carter who acquiesces is liable to a heavy fine. Round Eltham the practice continues, it is stated, but the baker* have determined to put a stop to it, a task tTTat should be' an eaay one if householders realise the danger they must cause to neighbours by- asking for an exchange. Some people seem to have "money to burn" «tt Onehunga and Mangere, At the Mangere Road Board meeting recently it was decided! to issue a new cheque for £6 18s to Mr P. M'Aleer, he having burnt a £6 note by accident, together with a cheque for £6 18«, drawn by the board. At Onehunga Mrs Holton in chasing a cat set fire to a couch and accidentally burnt a £5 note one night last week. An old woman in Napier is content to spend all the day* of her life in gaol. Sh« ie a very old offender, and she is no sooner out of gaol on one charge than »h« is committed on another. The other day th* Magistrate sentenced her to two months* imprisonment, with hard labour. He said that if she wanted to livo in faol, it m evidently the beat place for er. An old W«sfc Coaster named Mr Thomas Fitzgerald, who was known as "Seddon'a schoolmaster" (says the Kumara Time* died at the Kumara Hospital recently. Deceased was 68 years of age, and had Seen in New Zealand over 40 years. In Doe early days he worked in a store foe the late Mr Seddon, and being well read! and a very intelligent man he "coached" Mr Ceddoa. . , . Owing to the inoreaeed prjee of fodder there has been some tplk in New Plymouth during tha past few days as to tha probability of 'bus and cab fares being {noreaaeq, Tho matter was brought befora th« By-Iftw* Committee of the Borough Council on Friday night, It was- decided) that no action should be taken la amending charges until receipt of formal application from persona interested. Members of Parliament Trhetr travelling to nncT from the sittings at the beginning and end of the session receive travelling allowances at the rate of J.Os per day* Tills is fess than many senior pivii ser* vants get. Tho Prime Minister intimatecß to the Leader of the Opposition in thql House that he would be plwed to go «**« the matter with members with a yieir to raising the rale to 16s per d&x*