MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3714, 19 May 1925, Page 52

MULTUM IN PARVO.

The term “fan,’ used freely nowadays to denote an enmusiast, was derived iraui the word lunatic.” During me last two years Great Britain hua spent £74,3sj,<XX> out of rates in the relief ot poverty and unemplaymciit. Bats are mosf curiously constructed, the heart's action being aided by the rhythmic contractions ot the veins of the wing*. , f borne of the foxes reared oil the tox farm on Prince Edward Island, in the Gulf of Newfoundland, sell for as much as £'/<KiO a pair. . Ureat Britain s smallest cathedral is situated on an island in the birth of Clyde. It is able to accommodate only 100 worshippers. , , , Wallpaper can now bo hung by machinery. The device consists of a rod on which a roll of paper is placed, and a paste reservoir with a feeder. A wireless concert picked up from Pittsburgh, L.S.A., and re-broadcasted from London, was heard in South Africa, ■the music having travelled 8500 miles. The first screw collier, the John Bowes, which was built 70 years ago, is still in use in England. better under town conditions than do their . fair haired brethren. The honour of being London s chiof magistrate costs each Lord Mayor something like £15,000 out of his own money. Eskimo mothers caress their babies by touching noses. The people of that race make very good and affectionate parents. —Mr John Walter Cross, the husband of George Eliot, died the other day at 84, and lias been buried near the novelist at Highgate. Native girls of New Guinea are as « fond of decking themselves with brightcoloured stones and other ornaments as their European sisters. Douglas Fairbanks, the famous acrobatic film star, attributes much of his success to keeping his circulation and digestion in- good order. Claret, once the most popular of wines, is now almost a thing of the past. Experts say it has been supplanted by whisky and soda. —“Draughts are not the actual cause o‘. colds,” says a well-known physician. “If a person is not perspiring, a draught will cause no harm whatever.” Complexion creams are being increas.ingly used by men, mostly middle-aged or elderly. Skilfully applied, they make a man both look and feel younger. The greatest force known to science is that produced by the contraction and expansion of inetals, resulting from the action of heat and cold. The Black Watch were granted the distinction of wearing the red hackle in their bonnets in recognition of their gallantry at Guiluermaison in 1755. The biggest building stones ever used are those which have been found at Baalbek, in Syria. They measure 60ft. long and 20ft square. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers are the “Nanny Goats,’’ because from time immemorial the corps has possessed one of these animals as a regimental pet. Siamese cats, the fashion of the moment, are bred in the Royal Palace of Siam, and are attended by Buddhist priests. In England they fetch from 5 to 50 guineas each. The eagle first appeared on the seal of the United States in a design submitted to Congress by William Barton, of Philadelphia, in 1752. The device was adopted in June 20 of that year. Water thrown upon ice in the Arctic » regions will shiver it just as boiling water breaks glass. This is because the ice is so much colder than the water. Male house servants are less exacting and more attentive and polite than women, according to the experience of an ex-naval officer’s wife, who employs men only. After a study of “haunted houses,” Flammarion, the eminent French astronomer, has expressed his belief in them. He has particulars of 5600 well-authenticated cases. -—lncome tax payable in the United States will begin on incomes of £2OO for bachelors, and £4OO for married men, plus £BO for each child under 18, if the Bill before Congress becomes law. The dress of Japanese ladies is regulated by their age and condition. You can tell at a glance, if you know the rules, whether any lady you meet is married or single, and how old she is. The paper used ia printing Bank of England notes is manufactured at a special mill in Hampshire, where no worker is allowed to enter any part of the building other than the room where he is employed. At one point in England 3,000,000 tons of traffic pass annually both ways over a roadway only 15ft wide. This is in Warrington, on the main road between Liverpool and Manchester. —ln aid of a Fulham church, the women of the congregation have an Odd Jobs Society; they go out working on behalf of the church funds, doing everything in the way of housework and repairing. After remaining dumb and feigning madness for a year, a French criminal was recently sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour. Tie promptly broke his silence with a confession. _ For the first time in 29 years, 10 sisters had a family reunion recently at Margate, England. The eldest is now 78. Five live nt Margate, and the others at Beckenham, Biockley, 'Westcliff, Deal, and Torquay. Cabinets are. being installed in shops and hotels, which “answer questions.” Customers in search of any department, ■r- press a button and ask for information, which comes immediately from a telephone operator. One of the largest works of man’s hands is the artificial l.tke, or reservoir, In Tndia, at Rajputanu. This reservoir, said to he the largest in the world, known m the great tank of Dhebav, and used for Irrigating purposes, covers an area of 21 square miles. A seaweed of the South Pacific often grows to he 30in to 40in in diameter and 1500 ft to 2000 ft in length. It has no root In the proper sense, the nourishment being absorbed from the water. Lizards and other victims aro fascinated by a South American snake by moans of its tongue, which is parti-coloured to match the reptile’s forehead, cheeks, and Jinder jaw. When the tongue is shot out denly elongated Into a wriggling point.