MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO.

ta-Ee who is feared by many fears many. —To be intellectual is good, but to be intelligent is better. — Only the survivors believe in the survival of the fittest. — Enthusiasm sets the pace, but comnioneense wins in a walk. . — A woman can look pleased when she is not, but a man. can't do it. — Perseverance works wonders, but it cant convert bad eggs into chickens. —An old woman resident at a Brixton almshouse has applied for admission to the local workhouse on the ground that she likes "society." The first ostrich chicken to be hatched in England made its appearance at the ostrich farm at the Crystal Palace. The bird is perfectly strong and healthy. — The largest lightning conductor in the •world is on the Lugspite Weather Station, in Bavaria. It runs down the mountain side for three and a-half miles to a lake. . — Band-box is really an abbreviation of riband-box. — Judge Lumley Smith has decided that if a bootmaker sells as "all leather" boots which are not entirely made of leather, and the purchaser catches cold by wearing them, the purchaser -is entitled to damages, not only on account of the boot 3, but also on account of the cold. l, . — The corporation of Maldon, Essex, has from, Maldon, Massachusetts, a history of that place, in "memdry of Joseph . Hilis. who left Maldon and founded Maldon in 1663. The New England Maldon. has outgrown its mother, having 80,000 inhabitant? to Maldon's 5558.

; — A speck of gold weighing the millionth "part of a -grain may be easily -seen by the naked eye. ' —An agitation has been started in East Ai'glia to remove growing ivy from churches, on the ground that it not only bides rrx-ch beautiful architecture, but endangers the stability of the structure. — A terrier which made a dash for a bird on tbe edge of the high cliff at Hunstanton the other day fell over and descended on a lady who was sitting on the rocks 50 f t below. The lady's forearm was sprained, /and .she was considerably bruised. The dog was uninjured.. _ , — Miss Lydia-Akiens, the 15-year-old .Leicester girl steeplejack*, claims that she is not only the youngest but the champion ■steeplejack of the world. ' No replies have been received to a challenge which was recently issued on her behalf for a chimney or church-climbing competition. — The umbrella and parasol were used by the Eastern nations many centuries be- . fore the Christian era. The oldest chinaware shows pictures of ladies and mandarns rheded by parasols of patterns similar to those now in use.

— Lions are .plentiful in Portuguese East Africa, and that region is a paradise for hunters of. big game. In some sections the authorities offer s a reward for each lion's head brought in, and they permit the hunter to keep .the skin. — Many old houses in Holland have a special door which is never opened save for two occasions — when there is a marriage or a death v in the family. The bride and bridegroom enter by this door; and it is then nailed or Barred up until a death occurs, when it is opened, and the body ia removed by this exit. — A London policeman found a' young womAn clad only in a nightgown asleep on one of the seats on Wandsworth Oom-

mon. He awakened her after considerable trouble. It was {hen learned that she had Been walking in her sleep. She knew nothing of how she has got on the common. She *cas employed as a housemaid in a house

three-quarters of a mile away, — A gigantic tray of solid silver, weighting more than 10,000oz, has iust been made by a firm in London for an Oriental potentate. The tray ie 7ffc in diameter, and is mid to be the largest ever executed; it lias been in the hands of the workmen for over a year. The tray is intended to ■tand upon a solid silver table of the same size. The weight of the table complete •will amount to about a ton. I —An extraordinary instance of the s confiding nature of & patridge in the breeding season has recently come to light at Long 01*wson, in Leicestershire, where a pair of birds had their nest, containing 18 eggs, ■within 6ft of the station platform. The nest and incubating bird were a source of considerable interest to passengers coming and going by train, and thanks to the protection afforded by Mr Flanagan, the siation-inaster, 17 of the egffs were successfully batched off. — The only railway station in England that can boast of being- really old is that ' at Bourn, Linoonshire. which is an ancient Elizabethan mansion. When 'the Great Northern and Midland Railways came through this district a memorial was sent from the inhabitants of Bourn asking that, instead of pulling the old landmark down, it might b» converted into a railway station, for .which purpose itr answers admirably now. — Habitual truants from New Yorfc schools are taught to appreciate the ' ad-., vantages of education. They axe placed :n: n « cell over night, and 1 after a breakfast in the morning at the city's expense are conducted by a constable to school. At noon the policeman reconducta them to prison and prison fare, and takes them back to the pleaeures of the afternoon study, returning once again at the end of school hours for his charges, who are kept behind the bars till morning. _ .- — Neglect to place a wreath on a certain tomb once a year would mean a loss to the rates of Byker township of £340 annually. The wreath is consequently punctual in its apearance, and on a recent Saturday the simple ceremony was carried out by local Guardians. Contingent on this annual observance — the decoration of his father's tomb — the late Mr Lewis Thompson,' of Newcastle; 'some years ago bequeathed JBIS,OOO, -tjhe interest to te <levoie<t to ii» reduction of the poor rate. — A blazing motor-car fell over the cliffs at Bexhill to the beaoh 40ft below. It ■was being tested on Earl de la Warr'« priyate track wheji it burst into flames, and is occupants had barejy time to jump out, leaving It to run by itself. It* petrol tank exploded when it struck the beach, and the machine, valued at £800, was reduced to imp iron. A clock on the dashboard was afterwards found not to have stopped for twenty minutes after the flames were first — The crime of child desertion is stated to be increasing in London. In Wansworth 67 miesing fathers are being advertised for by the Guardians. For the whole of London it is estimated that quite 1500 children have been deserted by their mole parents. Each such deserted child ftpsfo the ratejtaxea £322,

— A very fine swim -was made recently off Dover by Miss Lily Smith, the eighteen-year-old daughter of the superintendent of the Clerkenwell fire brigade- She was swimming throughout the afternoon in broken sea against the tide for the great portion of the time with a view to crossings the Channel next season. On landing in the evening she was quite fresh. — A very rare and valuable addition to' antiquarian possessions (says the Dundee Courier} has just been made at Arbroath Abbey ruins. It is nothing less than the long-lost sacred banner of Saint Columba. The banner was found lying covered with the mist and dust of 1310 years behind the entrance door to the chapter-house or sacristy, upon a small deal table, unknown and un cared for The banner is bordered- with a red and white ribbon, and it is in a wonderful state of preservation when its great age is considered- It measures 6ft by sft-, — Some workmen who were doing repairs at a house in Uxbridge road. West Ealing, found in a cupboard the other afternoon a box,, which was securely sealed up They suspected -it, and took it. tc the police station; wheie it was opened by the divisional surgeon, who pronounced the contents to be the cremated remains of human bones. The police instituted inquiries, and found that the box belonged to a former tenant, who had overlooked it when he moved. It contained the ashes of his first, wife. He convinced the police that everything was in order by producing a certificate of <leath and cremation.

— Amonjr curiosities of human invention are the small gondola-shaped floats called caballito? (little horses) employed by fishermen on the coast of Peru. They are made of canes* firmly bound together with a high turned-Tip prow. The Tider restsr on his knees and guides his water-pony with a padd'e. He goes over the roughest waves, and penetrate the surf and breakers without fear Occasionally he is dismounted, but immediately resraina his seat. His little raft is unsinkable and defies the stormiest sea, although, of course he never goes far from land. *