MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3801, 18 January 1927, Page 62

MULTUM IN PARVO.

— Only 12ft long, the railway station at Blackwell Mill, Derbyshire, is claimed to be the 'smallest in England. There is only one train a- week, for the use of railway servants and their families, who pay no fares. — Wine exhibited-in a special museum at Speyer, on the Rhine, is 1600 years old. It is in an old Roman flask which was discovered during excavations. — Twice as many children live to grow up nowadays as compared with 50 years ago.

— Fog alone is stated to have no appre- - ciable effect on the death-rate from respiratory diseases. —lt is the female mosquito that bites. The male is a vegetarian, subsisting on plant juices and other liquid foods. — Running backwards, an American variety performer declares he can do 75 yards in 9 7-10 sec when in training. — Constant repairs are necessary to the Hammersmith suspension bridge, London, as the- vibrations of the traffic cut the bolts holding the steal girders in place. — For the benefit of blind listeners, the National Institute of the Blind in London reports that 158 wireless sets and 282 pairs of headphones have been presented to them. — Stamping out the outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in various parts of England during the last seven years has cost £5,000,000. — Ten cows which are kept in a shed near Tottenham Court road, London, and never see a blade of grass, yield a good supply of milk daily. — During the 50 years since the passing of the Public Health Act in Britain, devastating epidemics, such as cholera and typhoid fever, have disappeared. — Every officer and man in the British Navy ar I Royal Marines may now be ordered to make occasional flights in aircraft as part of his ordinary duties. —“Flapper bracket” was the quaint name upon a motor cycle carrier, wnen used by pillion-riders, by a Warwickshire (England) coroner recently. — Trout eggs from New Zealand have been imported to stock certain Scottish rivers (says an exchange). Out of about 15,000 eggs, only some 50 died on their long journey. — Among the flowers most suitable for growing in town gardens are the nemesias, . scabious, verbenas, penstemons, veronicas, and gladioli. — More herring were brought in 'as a recent day’s catch at North Shields. England, than during the whole of last \ season’s herring fishing. — A good • loaf should have a “nutty” flavour, should be a perfect cream in colour, and contain only the best ingredients,, thus ensuring it a sweet flavour. , —Poplar’s infantile death rate has fallen from 186 per 1000 in 1901 to 75 per 1000 in 1925, in spite of the fact that 37,000 families live in 23,000 dwellings. — There are only about 16,500 clergy concerned in the work of th? Church of England to-day. This is 4500 fewer than at the beginning of the century. — Highly sensitive women, who have been born blind, are said to have preferences for certain colours to handle. Usually they like blues, but don't care for reds.

Rainbow and brown trout were shipped from New Zealand in ice for a recent London banquet. Although this was an experiment, the fish arrived in excellent condition. ermanent turn-ups to the trousers are said to be losing favour among smart men, with the result that fancy socks are not selling in the West End so well as formerly. Clever is one of the common plants wu.eh ire said to foretell the weather, its leaves feel rough when a storm is approaching, and it contracts its leaves during rain. recent years there has been a saving in England of 37,000 infant lives per annum, largely as a result of the w, k of health visitors,” said Mrs Hilton I hilipson, M.P., recentlj’. — Makers of really high-class shoes for women, who pay upwards of £2 2s a pair for their footwear, are devising a scheme for hall-marking” their goods as a guarantee of their quality. Onuiibnses can pass through the new ommhus station at Victoria Station, London, at the rate of 220 an hour at the busy times. When the system of light sigils is completed even this number will he increased. “'Trophies won at borse-racinpr are often stored away in safe deposits, as d ° “2* care for the responsibility of having them in their houses. In eome families there are collections of as many as 100 pieces. Oranges which are too pale in colour are frequently subjected to.various “treatments by unscrupulous dealers to give them a darker and more saleable appear-

fIJw ,d f n eag,e ? % rc sti U t 0 be found in i ern a " d Cen tral Scottish Highlands, where the same nests, or evries tury I>een USBd regularl V for h alf a cen-

man ' ls oript of Charles Dickens’s first literary effort—a play written by the great novelist at the age of 16—has co?lecto V r purchased b y an English

Containing nearly 10,000,000 brass screws, each driven in by hand, a new giant aeroplane for the use of the British 1’ leet is now being tested at Felixstowe

-Amber, which contains electricity, is uy one expert to have a curative effect on certain diseases, and ajso to make the. skin of anyone wearing it whiter and more transparent.

recent test matches, according to England estimates, have brought in a revenue of £60,000, from which £lO,OOO is due for entertainment tax, while the - Australians received £15,000 as their share.

— Controlled by one man, a new ferryboat for use in the Royal Albert Docks, London, can move in any direction, either ahead oiv astern, at an angle or broadside, if required. — A regular, healthy life, avoiding excesses of all kinds, and taking as much outdoor exercise as possible, is recommended by Sir George Newman, the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health, Great Britain, as the best guard against influenza.