MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3993, 23 September 1930, Page 63

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—Mr W. H. Ellicott, who is 75 “ killed ” 88 successive birds in the clay pigeon shooting championship meeting at Perivale, Ealing, England. —Motor cycle pillion riding by young women has been banned by the police at Nagykyros, Hungary, as “ unsightly' ” and “ immoral.”

—The famous organ of Szegev, South Hungary, which has 150 stops, is being enlarged, and will become The largest in the world. —An expedition which has left Leningrad is expected to attempt to reach Isolation Island, in the Kama Sea, a land which has been visited by men only once before.

—in reply to a question at the London County Council in regard to street accidents, it was stated that about 35 per cent, were due to the fault of pedestrians. —There are more than 800,000 insured workers in South-east England. Of these only 7 per cent, of the men and 5 per cent, of the women were unemployed on May 26. —The number of inmates of Dutch prisons during the last six years has decreased by’ about 20 per cent., and the Government has decided to close one of the principal- prisons. —The L.N.E. Railway Company has introduced a method of buying holiday tickets on the instalment"' plan. It is worked chiefly through the Yorkshire Penny Branch.

—The longest non-stop run made by a locomotive in Britain was from Euston to Glasgow, 4914 miles; but in the Argentine, a British-built engine was tried last year, and ran 800 miles without a stop.

—A modern railway engine of the best type costs between £6OOO a&d £7OOO, and a whole long-distance train, such as the “ Flying Scotsman,” is worth anything up to £40,000.

. —At a fete at Leighton Buzzard, England, four men took turns at blowing up a cycle ' tube, and 3153 strokes of the pump were needed before it burst.

—About 440 new books were added last year to the National Library for the Blind. The library circulates the volumes without charge among 10,000 sightless readers. ,—A metal found in South-West Africa, and known as zinc-blende, produces a bright light when struck or rubbed, even under water.

—Spinsters, as .well as bachelors, will pay a higher rate of income tax if the German Government has its way. The rate for unmarried taxpayers will be 15 per cent., which is 1 per cent, higher than married people will pay. —Britain’s largest and most luxurious public house has just been opened on the London County Council estate at Bownham. There is a large hall, with dance floor and concert platform, and lounges where customers are served by waiters.

—ln cases of felony and treason the prisoner or his counsel has the right to challenge the whole jury or individual members of it. When the charge is felony no reason need be given for his challenging, which is allowed up to 20 jurors. —Furs are being dyed practically any colour, so that fashionable women may row have a special fur to wear with every gown. —Oil fuel can be pumped into liners at the rate of 5000 tons in nine or ten hours at the great oil refinery on Southampton Water, England. —London will within the next few years need about 20 aerodromes on its outskirts, according to Sir Alan Cobham, the famous airman.

—A tall man can, according to one expert, stand more intoxicating drink than a short one.

—A shock of 50 volts has been known to kill an elderly person, whilst a boy who received a shock of 10,000 volts has recovered.

—Mr J. H. Thomas states that 40.000 tons of bituminous coal have just been shipped from England to Canada. This is the first time there has been such a shipment. —Canada has lost in 11 years through insect pests almost as much as she spent on war and demobilisation from 1915 to 1926.

—The pound sterling now has a purchasing power of 12s 2d as compared with July, 1914, according to the official cost of living index number in Great Britain.

—London’s trades now include cement manufacture, electric cable making, paint and varnish'making, motor body building, tobacco and cigarette making, the manufacture of furniture, gramophones, radio sets, leather goods, and bricks. —Unemployment figures for various European countries were recently given by Miss Margaret Bondfield, M.P. There were 372,263 unemployed in Italy and 2,786,912 in Germany at the end of April; 11,510 in France on May 17, and 1.235,600 on the registers of public employment exchanges in Russia. —Measures restricting the importation of silver are to be put into effect in an attempt to improve the Spanish financial position. —One hundred unknown fishes were collected by Professor Johannes Schmidt, who has returned to Copenhagen after a two years’ world tour.

—The Duke of Connaught presented the Albert Medal for 1930 to Professor Henry Armstrong. “ for his discoveries in chemistry and his services to education.” —Aunts, uncles, and other friends are more harmful to babies than beads, pins, buttons, tin-tacks. and other things commonly called “dangerous”; they work their evil by giving young mothers foolish advice—at least, so says an American research organisation. —Aeroplanes are being called in to help farmers in North and South America to sow corn over large areas, scattering insecticides over orchards, drop smoke clouds to protect crops from frost, and to bring herbs to commercial centres. —The world’s costliest book is said to be a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, which has been in a monastery in Carinthia for centuries. When the monies were asked a little w’hile ago to value it they gave the possible price at £55,000. —llliterate people form 40 per cent, of the population of Spain. Fifteen years ago the figure was 50 per cent.