MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3555, 2 May 1922, Page 49

MULTUM IN PARVO.

The Laurentio, sunk off Lough Swilly in 1917, went doiyn with 20,000,000 dollars in gold bullion, about half of which has been recovered. She lies at a depth that makes diving operations extremely difficult, and a diver likens her appearance to that of a long street of houses which has collapsed in the middle. M hat is believed to be the largest fish ever by a woman is credited to Mrs JteithfepaW'ng, of the Tuana Club. Avalon California, who, fishing off Cape Vincent, caught a swordfish weighing 4261 b. ■ to be the second largest of a kind caught by an angler, the late Mr vv. O. Boechen having a fish of 4631 b to his credit. Although this catch is 371 b k?c7 r the world’s record taken in tal/, says the Catalina Islander, quoted by tne Angler s News, the sword on this latest capture is 4jin longer than that of the swordfish brought to gaff by Mr Boschjpn, and it measured more than lift in length, the sword accounting for 47in. Mrs Spalding used regulation tackle. She played the nsh in masterly manner in a thrilling conflict, and won after 80 minutes’ stern fighting. -From the picturesque old mill at Flat-ford-on-Stour, near Manningtree, Essex, where Constable, the painter, worked as a miller, comes the news that a Gainsborough has been discovered under romantic circumstances. Mr 11. P. Friswell, the ar j Sl ’n- las converted Constable’s mill into * , ™ ln ß'P' a(, 6 and studio. The picture is a half-length portrait of a Miss Tankerville, m blue evening dress, with a spray of foril?in her powdered hair and a goldfinch on her finger. It is the portrait ot a vivacious woiinan with a slight humorous curl at the corners of the mouth. It is without title and unsigned. Mr Friswell cleaned the portrait himself, the delicate orcu Py in fT him six or seven months. I have no doubt it is a genuine Gainsborough, said Mr Friswell to a Daily News correspondent. Mr Friswell declined to value the picture. It is hoped that the picture will shortly be exhibited in London.

M hat is the greatest height at which people live on the earth? There is. it seems, a shepherd living with him family in the Andes at a height of 17,100 ft, and this has been claimed to bo a record—that is, for permanent habitation. When it comes to a question of a temporary abode, however, this altitude, great as it is, is easily beaten, for on one of the Himalayan passes 18,400 ft high, a small band of liardy men live during the summer. The men numbering lass than half a dozen, are Tibetan. Custom House officers, and are socially selected for their powers of endurance, as one would expect them to be, in order to exist even for a few weeks in air which must contain so very much less oxygen than there is at sea-level. From such an elevated pass these men must have a magnificent view of the great Tibetan plateau, the inhabitants of which themselves seem to live comfortably at heights of 15,000 ft or more. It would be interesting to know at what height human beings could accustom themselves to live. There is no reason to suppose that 18,400 ft is the limit.

How do our great people spend their spare time? Fame is accumulating at the rate of 120 pages of “Who’s Who” every year, and one has only to turn to that invaluable red volume (writes a Daily Chronicle correspondent) to find the weak spots of all our famous people. Since Mr Bernard Shaw wrote his recreation down as “anything but sport,” quite a lot of others have become privileged to tell the public therir hobbies. Charlie Chaplin, for example, is keen on “motoring, horse-rid-ing, deep-sea fishing off the Southern Californian coast for tuna,” and he “reads a good deal.” There is a breadth of vision about the hobby of Mr Charles M‘Donald, who has been Speaker of the Australian Parliament. Motor-cycling over an electorate of 370,000 square miles” is how he puts it. Editors may take a tip from an Indian editor-in-chief. Mr Mulvi Mahbub Alam directs and controls several Indian publications in the Urdu language. “My recreation,” he writes, "is Indian club exercises in the morning.” Mr J. 11. Thomas is “interested in all out-door 4po>;ts.” Annie J. Curwen, the musician, says her hobby is “helping lame dogs over stiles.” There are some very odd recreations amongst the famous. Here is an assortment :—-Ecdesiology, mathematics, journalism. fungi, blindfold* chess, bookplate collecting. Whilst most literary people in the limelight seem fond of golf, learned pro fessors appear generally to be keen cyclists. Half \he people whose names are “Mac” somt'h ng or other state that their recreation i* gardening. Mr O. !\. W. Nevinson says his recreation is “flying, and the oafe Royal.”

One of the funniest statue stories concerns an effigy of Charles II which used to stand on the site of the present Mansion House, then an open space called the Stocks Market. r i he Lord Mayor wanted tc please the King, and thought of the plan of erecting a statue. He used for the purpose an immense statue which he had picked up cheap at Leghorn. It was a work in white marble supposed to represent John Sobieski. King of Poland, in the act of trampling on a Turk. He had this altered a little, until the Polish monarch became Charles 11. and the trampled Turk Oliver Cromwell. It was unveiled on th<» birthday of Charles in 1672. and stood for t>o years When the Mansion House was the statue was removed, and for more tl

lay in a lumber yard. It is not. known where it is now, but wherever it lies Oliver Cromwell will be found still wearing a Turk’s turban. The bust of the late Joseph Chamberlain in the Guildhall wearing an eyeglass reminds one of the statue in Paris of Francois Co nee with a marble cigarette. There are, too, several top-hatted statues in Britain. One stands in the Central Square in Glasgow, and represents James Oswald, M.P., holding his hat by the brim upside down. Street boys are expert in the art, 'of throwing stones into it, and it has to bo emptied annually. Another is the statue to Samuel Palmer, in the main street of Reading. The venerable and worthy biscuit-maker not only has the chimney-pot hat of the period, but an umbrella of Sairey Gampian ponderosity. The equestrian statue of William 111 in Dame street. Dublin, has had several adventures. The first attack upon it came from “Trinity

Boys.” who were furious because the King’s back was turned to their college! So they daubed it with mud and carried off the sword and truncheon. That was in 1710. In 1798 an attempt was made, to file off the King’s head.