MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3775, 20 July 1926, Page 62

MULTUM IN PARVO.

The last duel fought in Great Britain occurred in 1829 when the Duke of Wellington met the young Earl of Winchilsea in Battersea There are over ICO gold mines in the immediate neighbourhood of Johannesburg, stretching out on all side* of the city. The best maple syrup comes from the north side of the tree; but the flow is not so large as when the tree is tapped on the south side. After falling 50ft a young labourer at work on a Birmingham building went on with his job. He had escaped injury, except for bruises. The soot discharged into the atmosphere in Great Britain each year represents three days’ coal output of all the mines of the country. Canada has the largest forest lii the world. It is in the Labrador and Hudson Bay district, and is, roughly, 1000 miles by 1700 miles. When artists are permitted to make copies of pictures in a public picture gallery, they are allowed to sell the copies for their own benefit. The old Regent street, London, which has now been practically rebuilt from end to end, cost £1,500,000 when it was built between 1813 and 1823. The condor is the world's largest bird, and is also the highest flier. It has been known to fly at 20,000 ft, whereas the average bird reaches only 300 ft. A model of the human hctfft, working as in life, arid pumping blood through artificial arteries, is the work of a Continental physician. While moat Government Departments are costing more in England, the Royal Mint has reduced its estimate for this year tt> £1,500,000, a saving of £350,000 on last year. High above the River Thames, in one of the arches of the Tower Bridge, there is a cosy flat of four rooms, occupied by a bridge official, who has to climb 86 6teps to go home. Oranges have many claim# made for them, including those of improving the complexion, easing sore throats, soothing the nerves, helping to cure influenza, and curing insomnia. The city of Westminster has 28 per cent, of its area made up of open Saces. It contains Hyde Park, part of ensington Gardens, Green Park, St. James’B Park, and the Thames Embankment and Gardens. London telephone users are responsible for nearly half the total average number of daily calls in the whole of the United Kingdom. There are five rivers in the world which drain over a million square miles. They are the Amazon, La Plata, Obi, Congo, and Mississippi. Paid city managers, already installed on the Continent and in America, are said to be proving very effective in their saving of the ratepayers' money. London’s Lord Mayor f receives £IO,OOO a year. At the other end of the scale is the Mayor of Great Torriegton, Devonshire, whose annual official income is £5. “There is no such thing as a ‘plain girl,' ” says the head of a big London store. “The old maid type of girl disappeared with the war.” The largest warehouse in the world is in Liverpool. It would easily hold the total population of that city, which is over three-quarters of a million. Bodies of cats, which are painlessly destroyed to the number of 50,000 annually in Great Britain by the R.S.P.C.A., are handed over to a dealer in return for a fixed sum. The question of spontaneous combustion of hay has been investigated by one of the officials of the United States Weather Bureau, who states that fermentation within moist bay may raise the temperature to 374 deg Fahr., at which temperature clover wiß ignite. Although he is only two years and four months old, John Newey has t’ veiled over 30,000 miles. He was born in Uganda, and has travelled three times between East Africa and England. His mother and he are on holiday in England before going out to Singapore. Elephants have only eight teeth—two below and two above on each side. All an elephant’s baby teeth fall out •when the elephant is about 14 years old, and a new set grows. Great Britain has three general classes of colonies. Those controlled entirely by the Home Government are Crown colonies. In the second class the Crown retains the veto power and controls the public office. Those of the third class have responsible government. A gramophone record has been made in Westminster Abbey by a new electrical method. My means of a microphone the massed effect. of the Westminster Abbey special choir was adjusted in a special control room, from which it was transferred by line to a recording studio some distance away. A recently-invented kettle has a removable disc upon feet a short distance above the bottom and preferably perforated or made of gauze, the object being to prevent air*from passing out of the kettle spout with the water. Women are said to be more generous in tipping the barber than are men. In one big hotel the hairdresser frequently receives tips of 10s from his lady clients. 7- What is known *s Shetland Wool is said to come principally from Hucknall, Notts, England, where there are six factories, employing nearly 1000 people engaged in this industry. The motor vehicles of Great Britain have increased by 140,394 in the last year, without counting trams and trade licenses. Motor cycles account for 50,000 of the increase.

the price in England of a reel of cotton, which was 3d in 1914, rose as high as lOd in February, 1920. In October, 1921, the price had fallen to 6d, and by a recent reduction it now stands at 51d. When the annual census of the homeless in London was taken during a recent night, only three persons (all women) were found sheltering under arches or on staircases, while 70 men and 24 women were found wandering in the streets. Leather is a very perishable commodity. Old-made boots and shoes Generally crack and fall to pieces soon after they are put to wear. A creaking boo% is a boot of this sort; the leather has grown dry and hard and lost its elasticity, A