MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2915, 26 January 1910, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—ln Russia it is th© custom, in order to prevent excessively cold feet, to sprinkle the bottom of the boot or shoe with ground allspice. A feature of the prize distribution to the children of th© Spanish and Portuguese Jews' schools was the awarding of a gift of £lO 10s to the most truthful boy and girl attending the schools. Mre Annie Gallagher, two of her sons, and one daughter, who live at Fanaghan, Co. Derry, are in receipt of old-age pensions, and within a year her third eon and ceoond daughter will also have qualified for pensions. All the sons and daughters live with their mother. The number of electors in England grew from 4,132,411 in 1885 to 5,716,305 in 1903. Taking inn for inn, bed for bed, meal for meal, dish for dish, bottle for. bottle, waiter for waiter, highway for highway, peasant for peasant, provincial Portugal is more comfortable to explore than provincial England.—Saturday Re- , view. —An amusing deal has taken place at Peterborough, a freehold cottage at Stilton, Hunts, having 'been sold for a set of harness and a sovereign. The purchaser offers to let it for Is a week! A world's coaling record was set up at Dover recently by the battleship Prince of Wales, the flagship of Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg, whicii took on board 915 tons at the rate of 336 tons an hour. A bulldog belonging to Mr EL. T. Creighton, of New York, is to be taken to Paris to undergo an operation by an eminent oculist. Mr Creighton and his wife will travel with the dog, and elaborate precautions will be taken for its comfort during the voyage. Getting up is one of the things we never become accustomed to. It does not seem to matter how long we do it or how conscientiously we set about it, it is a task which never becomes easy.—Daily Sketch. —As an example of the kind of "living" that can be- made out of the land in Australia, it is stated that Mr Frarnk Davis, a well-known farmer in the Cathcart district, has in the past year made £llOO clear out of 350 acres of land. About £6O of this was realised from sheep' and the remainder from potatoes. Thirty-seven clergymen hold music licenses, according to the list presented before the Middlesex Licensing Committee; nine hold stage-play licenses, and could, by presenting them at Somerset House, obtain liquor licenses; 37 more hold musio and dancing licenses, and six both musio and stage-play licenses. Many people think that because ihfy can hear through a telephone their hearing is good. Not always, for certain people can hear very little through the air, but they can hear very well over the telephone. Dull hearing, like poor sight, may last for years without giving much trouble. — Hygienic Gazette. The president of the Royal Statistical Society has propounded the doctrine that we are growing younger —not older. This paradox sounds strange in the home of statistics, but, like many another paradox, it is capable of proof. The truth is that lifo has become not only more certain of tenure, but also more complex in activity, and that the experience of years is often summoned to adjust the blunders of youth. —Mail. The use of rat skins An the manufacture of fancy articles is increasing. Last year the trade, in Great Britain alone amounted to £50,000, and supplies of brown rat skins are being sought in lots of from 100 to 10,000. It is proposed to start a business in Calcutta for securing and preparing the skins of the brown rat, to bo used, among a variety of purposes, in the binding of books and the making of purses, gloves,, and various articles for women's use and wear. A remarkable book find has just been made by a poor Jewish youth in Whitechapel. He bought for a halfpenny from a barrow in Mile End road a copy of Goethe's poems enriched with Thackeray's signature and crest, and a number of his thumbnail sketches scattered throughout the book. The covers were in bad condition, but the pages were clean. The youth had the shrewdlness to make the most of his find, and after many negotiations he has now sold th© volume for rbout £2O. The Sehorfheide, which probably holds the largest head of red' deer; in--Germany, is one of the Kaiser's. favourite shooting grounds. His hunting seat, Hubertusstock, lies about a dozen miles north of Ebcrswaeder, and here his Majesty is always- sure of good sport. During his October 1 shooting here the Kaiser killed 18 stags—an uneven 16-pointer, six 14-pointers, six uneven 14-pointers, four 12-pointers, and one eightpointer. The heads were not up to the average of former years, and this result is attributed to the hara winter of 1903-9. The incorporation of chemical preservatives with foodstuffs is an ever-increas-ing evil, a nefarious and 'fraudulent practice requiring on the part of hygienists the greatest vigilance, and calling for the strictest action on the part of our Legislature. Public infcerosS in this very imix>rtan.t matter must not only be aroused l , but energetically maintained: for quite needlessly, as well as unwHtinjij, wo are all exposed and subjected to the oernicious influecoes of these toxio agents; insidiously and- stealthily, derangement of every function of our bodies may thus he inducedDr James Oliver, in the Hospital. Norway is the most democratic, of countries. While, like th© United States, it boasts of the equality of its citizens,, th© spirit of democracy prevails to an even greater extent than in America. One reason for this is to be found in the fact that there ar© fewer sharp contrasts of wealth and poverty. In many instances the income of the workman is nearly equal to that of his employer. The servants who wait upon you have none of the servility 0 f those in other lands, nor are they at all influenced in the services they render by the expectation of a gratuity. This is not to say that an attendant will not take a "tip" if it is offered, but whether the amount is large or small he will show his (and, incidentally, his sense' of eq.iv , ''- v ' fry cordially shaking hands with the porc-on who presents itl Tho tradesman regards himself as in no way inferior to his wealthiest customer, r,nd as for the hotelkeeper. he has the air of an arisfcoyt&tio host in private lif*