MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3994, 30 September 1930, Page 71

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—lt is estimated that 70 per cent, of industrial accidents could be avoided if more care were taken in factories. —There are now over 13,000 women students in German universities—oneninth of .the whole membership. —lf Rumania’s new marriage ' laws come into force, husbands or wives who leave home will be liable to a fine and imprisonment with hard labour. —Politeness classes to teach behaviour towards the travelling public have been opened by the German railway company for conductors on express trains. —Kissing has now been banned in Russia by the Soviet authorities, even postal packages containing a warning against this habit. —Among the semi-precious stones to be found on the shores of the British -Isles are cornelians, rock crystals, amethyst matrix, jet. onyx, and aquamarines. —Dwellings erected by the London County Council provide homes for over 189,000 persons. There were 44.889 dwellings in use at the end of March. —The congregation of a village church in Germany are dismissing their pastor on the score of economy. His place is being taken by a wireless set, tuned in to receive broadcast services. —Salt was used on some London hard tennis courts during a tournament in order to collect moisture from the air, as watering the courts was forbidden because of the shortage.

—The popularity of flying is at present greatest among Americans, closely followed by English, Germans, and then Japanese. Italians, though such brilliant engineers, are not keen as a nation on using planes for travel.

—Britain’s annual cigarette consumption works out at 912 per head of the population—men, women, and children. America’s figure for the same period is 1000. Tobacco licenses bring in a revenue of £117,017.

—The ivy-covered cottage at Thornton' near Bradford, in which four members of the Bronte family—Charlotte, Patrick, Emily, and Anne —were born, is for sale. —London’s force of policewomen is to be doubled in strength. In 1925 the number was raised from 24 to 50; now it ie to become 100.

—Of the women of the Irish Free State between the ages of 30 and 35, over 40 per cent, are unmarried.

—The old Tudor House in High street, Rochester, immortalised by Charles Dickens as Mr Sapsea’s house in “ Edwin Drood,’’ has been purchased by the Rochester Corporation. The house also answers to the description of Mr Pumblcchook’s residence in “ Great Expectations.”

—The library which has been left to the University of London by the late Lady Durning-Lawrence contains first editions of “Robinson Crusoe,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and a copy of Coverdale’s Bible printed in Zurich in 1535.

—London is to spend £13,293.428 on education during the coming financial year; this is an increase of £212.532 above the figure for the present year. -—Bread sold in America must not contain more than 38 per cent, of moisture. —A church, built of beaver board, cardboard. and paper on the boundary of an estate at Benor.i, about 20 miles from Johannesburg (South Africa) is to be moved as it stands to another site. —Nearly £2,000.000 has been received in income tax in Britain during the past year from taxpayers who have voluntarily confessed to frauds against the Inland Revenue Department. —A Nottingham man recently registered the birth of his thirtieth child, 15 of whom are still living. —Children between the ages of nine and thirteen, says an English coroner, make some of the very best witnesses. —The sea coast of Great Britain measures 2755 miles. - This exceeds -the coast line of Italy by about 300 miles. -—Great Britain has paid out altogether £845,000,000 in war pensions up to March 31 last; but the actual year’s expenditure showed a decrease of £3,059,247 on the previous year.

—-Brompton Oratory, one of London’s most famous churches, is to be entirely covered inside with mosaic decorations in all colours. It is estimated that the work will take about 10 years to complete. —The earliest directory for London was published in 1677 and contained 1790 names on 44 pages about the size of an .ordinary prayer book. The present Post Office Directory contains nearly 4000 pages. —Classes for such practical subjects as carpentry and masonry are now being held in Dartmoor Prison (England), the inmates of which are also allowed, in certain circumstances, to take lessons by correspondence in other subjects. —Farmers on Prince Edward Island, Canada, made £700,000 from breeding black foxes last season. The average price for pelts is £2O each. ° —One penny put on the rates of Westminster brings in a return of £40.000, over £5OOO more than it would yield in the City of London. J

—During his year of office the Lord Mayor of London may have to attend anything up to 400 banquets, putting in an appearance at two in one evening. —Sark, one of the Channel Islands,' has many curious local taxes, one being paid in fowls by each house - according to the number of chimneys it possesses. -—Women of Great Britain spend, it' is estimated, something like £65.000,000 oh the care of their hair and other beauty preparations. Bungum ” is the local name for the river mud at Tilbury, on the Thames, where a new dock has just been opened which puts this place among the big ports of the world. —lndian girls under the age of 16 who are married total up to 25,000,000. Of this number 218,000 are under the age of five years. There are also 396,556 widows of less than 15 years of age. —The original manuscript of “Deutschland über Alles,”' the famous German national hymn, was recently sold for £3 13s. It was written by Hoffmann von Fallersleben, in 1841, while staying on’ Heligoland, then a British possession. ’ .—Nine hours’ sleep, tour hours off duty every, day, and special inspectors for food and: sleeping accommodation will be compulsory for German domestic servants if a Bill to go before the German Parliament becomes law.