MULTUM IN PARVO

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 47

MULTUM IN PARVO

Men who cannot deceive others are very often successful in deceiving themselves. New Orleans has a nunnery, all the inmates of which are coloured. The standard yard, which is preserved with the greatest care among the standards, was made in 1760. It is a brass rod, with, pins of gold marking the measure. _ Tho Liver clock is the largest electric clock in the world. There are four dials, each 25ft in diameter. The diameter of the dial of "Big Ben" is 22ft 6in. For stealing two swedes, valued at 6d, from an allotment a labourer named Whapsholb was lined £2 at High Wycombe. "Accidentally hanged while at play" was tho verdict at a Stoke Newington inquest on John Herbert Meredith, 15, who read "dreadfuls," and was found hanging in a stable. "The earth is a magnet," said Professor J. A. Fleming in the course of a recent lecture, "and every piece of iron that has stood in a vertical position for any length of time is magnetised by the earth. You can try it on your garden railings." The Walker Irust £IOO prize for an essay on prayer, for which there were 1700 entries, has been won by the Rev. S. M'Comb, Baltimore, U.S.A., and honoraria of £2O have been awarded to W. L. Hair (London), B. J. Hawkins (Exeter), and the late Rev. Forbes Phillips (Gorleston, Suffolk). Finding that tho Rev. Joshua Brough, 61, vicar of St. John Baptist, Toxteth, Liverpool, did not appear at church on Sunday, inquiries were made at hie flat, where he was found lying dead in a.room with an unlighted gas stove turned full on. It was suggested at the inquest that tho gas, left burning when he fell asleep, had *' jumped but."-. One can imagine the quiet smile of Charlotte Bronte on hearing that her letters respecting her first book had fetched £IOB at Sotheby's, even in war time (eays a I writer in the Daily News and Leader). She could enjoy the irony of it, for that first book, a collection of poems by Emily, Agnes, and herself, was refused by several publishers, and finally printed at her own expense. A year after publication the sale . totalled two copies ! Two deatns following on over-confi-dence in their swimming powers are chronicled in Australian papers. After shooting a wild swan on tho water at one of the South Richmond (Victoria) quarry holes, Henry Cousins swam in the water to recover it. He secured the bird, but, becoming exhausted, sank. His body was recovered later. At Port Augusta, S.A., Isaac J. Bailey, from Broken Hill, lost his hat, which blew oft" just as he rose from the pier. " I'm not going to lose my hat," he said, and he disrobed and swam out to his hat, which he secured. Halfway back to the jetty he threw up his hands, and, calling out "I'm done," rolled over and sank. Among the changes brought about by the new canon law of the Roman Catholic Church is that marriages are no longer forbidden during Lent and Advent. Tne new law fays: "Marriage may be contracted at any time of the year." However, the blessing of marriage at "Nuptial Mass" is forbidden from Ash Wednesday till Easter Sunday, inclusively, and from tho first Sunday of Advent to Christmas Day, likewise inclusively; but the archbishop or bishop of a diocese " can permit the solemn nuptial blessing even within these periods if there bo a just cause and the liturgy permit, and the married parties be reminded to abstain from excessive- display in wedding festivities in a time of penance." Cardinal Gibbons's appeal >to coal miners to work during the Christmas-New Year week getting out coal for the suffering nation was described by the New York World as good patriotism and good religion. Not easily could the venerable prelate have rendered a greater service to the country, and particularly to tho poor. While in London Major-general Pershing, commander of the American forces in Europe, had occasion to reprove a woman driver of a taxi-cab for delay in responding to a call. "You're three minutes late," said General Pershing, as the story runs. Promptly came the response, "You're 'three years late." Over 50 kinds of bark are now used to manufacture paper, besides banana skins bean stalks, pea vines, cocoanut fibre clover and hay, straw, fresh-water weeds, tea weeds, and over 150 kinds of grasses. Also hair, fur, wool, asbestos, hop plants, weeds, husks, and stems of Indian corn, all kinds of moss, sawdust, shavings, thistle, thistledown, and tobacco stocks. 'Tuberculosis mortality in the Central Empires shows a terrible increase during the war, according to official statistics. In Prussia the increase over 1913 has been 77 per cent., in Bavaria 40, in Saxony 56, in YVurternberg 40, in Baden 48, in Hesse 159, in Alsace-Lorraine 44, and in other States 50. Figures for Vienna show an increase of 98 per cent., for Prague 72, and for Budapest 100. In London the increase is 17 per cent. The police matron at Orange, New Jersey, is to act as the official chaperon for girls at public dances. Chief of Police John D. Abel has issued an announcement that any girls who wish to attend public dances and be "perfectly proper" may call upon Mrs Cecilia Bauer, the police matron, and she will accompany them as chaperon. There are public dances for the factory girls nearly every night, and parents have objected to their daughters attending without supervision. —An old lady from Eccles (says the Manchester Guardian) inspected the tank with keen interest. She conducted a deliberate, comprehensive scrutiny, and then, her mission concluded, she said to the crowd: "I'm glad I camo to 3ee ; it. It was a long way to get on a day like this, but I don't regret it." After a pause she .added, with immense satisfaction, as one might chant a Nunc Dimittis: "And now I've seen Kitchener, Sir Daniel M'Cabe — and the tank?" She then got on a tram and went homo. —ln the recent miniature picture campaign held in Melbourne in aid of St. Vincent's Hospital the prize of £IOOO, offered by Mr John Wren, was won by Miss Dorothy Handcock, 81 Park road, Auckland. Tho money was handed over to the manager of tho Bank of Now Zealand. What is described as "the world's largest apartment house" is_ just completed. It is situated on Madison avenue, New York city, and covers two entire city blocks. There are 1536 living rooms, comprising 105 apartment suites. These suites rent "at from 7000dol to 17,C00d0l each. The cost of this great structure was about 800,000,000d01, exclusive of the land.