MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 62

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—A League of Nations wireless station is to be erected at Geneva- — The British Prime Minister receives 800 letters by every morning’s post. More than a, thousand Boy Scouts have been enrolled at Doncaster, Eng—A prize-winner at a Southwark whist drive was named Lucky. -— The wholesale price of elephant tusks in London is about £2OOO a ton. — The American people consume, on an average, half a ton of ice per head annually. , . — Fifty new chapels were opened by the Wesleyan Church in Great Britain in 1920. — Dartmoor Prison was recently described by Sir William Joynson-Hicks, the Home Secretary, as “ the cesspool of English humanity.” — The London Zoo receives £lOOO a week in gate money. —lt is said that evidence has been found of the existence of cotton in India 5000 yeays ago. ... , , — Submarines are growing bigger and more deadly all the time. America, is building one that ean drop 60 mines while she is cruising. — There was one divorce for every six marriages in the United States during 1926. _ — The chief speaker at a lieadim(England) temperance meeting was Rev. T. Caddy. — The City Corporation provides the Mansion House with £lO,OOO a year to maintain it for London’s Lord Mayor. — There are now more sheep in Yorkshire than for many years. — Prohibition is proving a great success in Finland, the only European country in which it exists. -—Scholars entering most of England’s public Schools have to take sheets, pillowcases, and a rug with them. —A microscope capable of magnifying an object twelve million times is being used in the detection of disease germs. — The world’s largest spider is found in Sumatra. Its body is 9in in circumference, and its legs spread 17in. — The life of a railway line is just over 21 years.

— In Germany only photographs of historical characters may be published without permission. — Thanks to the League of Nations, the employment of children under 14 has almost disappeared in Japan. • —H.M.S. Nelson and Rodney, which each cost £7,500,000 to build, call for £433,000 apiece in annual maintenance. — The fastest flowing river is the Sutlej, in India, which rises 15,200 ft above sea level, and falls 12,000 ft in 180 miles. — Over 1000 building societies in Great Britain, with more than 1,250,000 members, advanced £51,000,000 on mortgages during 1926.

— The George Inn, at Norton St. Phillip, Somerset, is said to be the oldest village inn in the country. Its license dates from 1397. . — Only one-ninth of an iceberg is visible. For every cubic foot above the water line there must be eight feet below to balance it.

— The membership of trade unions in Great Britain and Northern Ireland fell in 1926 from 5.496.62? to 5,208,398 —a reduction of 5.2 pet cent.

— Barrels made of wood for packing and shipping fruit and similar commodities are being superseded by barrels made of compressed paper, the cost of which is one third of the cost of a wooden one.

— Oil paintings, woodwork miniatures, a model engine, illuminated addresses, and picture frames, all the work of a railway porter at Paddington Station, London, were among the exhibits at a recent exhibition held at that station. — Special bags for use in the investigation of serious crimes, such as murder, are now provided for Scotland Yard’s chiefs. They contain such articles as rubber gloves, large and small forceps, disinfectants, test tubes, apparatus for taking finger-prints, etc. — Fish leather as a substitute for leather from hides is being used in the United States and Japan for army equipment and harness. The leather* which is stated to be as serviceable as hide leather, is also cheaper. It is made principally from the skins of sharks, porpoises, and dog-fish. — The eyes of a chameleon work within tneir socks upon the cup-and-ball principle, *na each one can be moved independently, »o that the creature has the power to Jfc.-A in front and behind, or above and fcfcw itself, at the same time. — The Malay bridegroom must remain rder the roof and eye of his mother-in-law for two years. Afterwards he may remove to a house of his own. and it is only then that he is considered actually married.

Quince marmalade, so much prized as a dainty in Victorian days, is rarely tound nowadays. Quince trees are now used mainly for grafting. Pears grafted on quince stocks yield better crop's, and sooner than those on pear stocks. Insulin, the specific in that dread disease diabetes, is now being obtained £ r J? n ?. >e r an K^ r fish. The angler, or fishing frog, tempts its prey bv means ot a tong spine proceeding from the top 0 . V s .'T,- a nd baited, like a fishing rod, Fir top ° f ,nPaty mattel " dangling at

Agar-agar is the name of a gelatinous substance obtained from Ceylon moss and similar seaweeds. The name is of Malay origin. Agar-agar is used in soups and jellies, and in the artificial cultivation ot bacteria. It is also used in the Orient as a glue, and to render silk and paper transparent.

in New Zealand that can catch him. I’d back Mark against any horse in the country and most of those in New South Wales. In a tight moment Nark would win out against any man, beast, or native this side of the Line.” “He won the Settlers’ Steeplechase, didn’t he, captain?” asked Mrs Wilson. “ Yes, he did, and what is more, he didn’t back his own horse for much, which got him into the good books of jny senior and a good many more.” “Of course, Miss Caversham, Mr Garden is quite a gentleman, even though we don’t know much about his past, and many of us have grave doubts about, his present,” said Mrs Wilson, gravely. “He docs not seem to care much about anything now but that 20,000 acres of his at Pakarae and his horses—and Winnie Manuel. Pity!” Captain Clark smiled more than ever, and waved his eyeglass with animation. Well, I suppose we had better be up and doing,” said Anne, as they bestowed Mrs Wilson and the child in a place of safety, and attended to their comfort. She thought with a certain scorn and disappointment of Garden. She judged that his mysterious past had not been to his credit, and that his certain present was even less so. His attachment to a Native girl was not for a moment to be tolerated. It was intolerably an outrage. That wild servant of his had been simply wonderful. His looks and gestures were heroic, and the way in which he had risen to the occasion and saved the missionary band was little short of amazing. Rough he was, but splendid. His great shaggy head, redbearded, stood a foot above his fellows, and his great arms swayed like the arms of a windmill. Anne decide to go back to him. “ Charlie,” she said, " come up to the house and we will look after you.” “ Thank you kindly, miss, but the boys here will all be waiting for me down at the pub. As long as I can see to my horse, I’ll be all right. Don’t you worry about me, miss. Mr Garden will be coming along soon. He’s a powerful fine man, he is. And we’ll need to be getting the settlers in, miss; but I’ll see my pals and get to business.” “Very well, Charlie,” said Ann°, and returned to the house. (To be continued.)