MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—More than a hundred clubs and schools are now affiliated to the Women’s Cricket Association in England, and several “ county ” matches are already arranged for this season. —One spot in the Pacific Ocean, 40 miles cast of the Philippine Islands, is the deepest yet sounded. The depth recorded there was about 5900 fathoms, or seven miles. The deepest spot in the Atlantic is off Porto Rico, where 5228 fathoms were registered. —Stainless steel as used for cutlery is difficult to work, and cannot be used for making other domestic articles. Now, it is said, another form of stainless steel has been discovered which can be used iu the place of brass, copper, and chromiumplated metals for such articles as bathroom and door fittings. —Of the five largest vessels built during 1930, three were built in Great Britain : the Empress of Britain, 42,000 tons; Warwick Castle, 21,000 tons; and Reina del Pacifico, 17,300 tons. —-So that it should not be crowded out by its own seedlings, the creosote bush of America drops its seeds and then spreads a poison on them which slows up germination. —Railway stations on closed branch lines in different parts of England are now being used as dance halls, public houses, shops, offices, garages, sports clubs, and lodging houses. —Water to the amount of 835,200 gallons and 1615 tons of potatoes were part of the cargo of a vessel which recently sailed from Cardiff to the Antarctic, where she will serve as provision ship for the whaling fleet. —The Canadian Pacific Railway, which celebrated its jubilee recently, is claimed to be the world’s greatest travel system under one management. It controls and operates 21,000 miles of railway track, 500,000 tons.of shipping, 130,000 miles of telegraph wires,- a chain of hotels, and large land, mining, and industrial interests. Its assets total over £268,000,000. —About £10,000,000 a year is spent on fox-hunting in England, most of this going in wages, etc. England breeds her own horses and hounds, and all the equipment and foodstuffs used are British. —Round the coast of Britain there are about 290 life-saving apparatus stations and 4000 volunteers and members of lifesaving brigades, in addition to the regular lifeboat services.

—Twelve members of the Metropolitan Police, London, were dismissed and 25 required to resign last year. These are the lowest figures on record. —Short hair is retaining its popularity among American girls, 75 per cent, of whom use lipstick, while 80 per cent, have their eyebrows plucked. —January is always the best month for recruiting in England, while February is bad. Then each month gets better until August is very good again. —The total population of the world is now estimated at 1,550,000,000. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the estimate was 600,000,000.

—“Apt adulteration’s artful aid ” has often been commented on, but it seems to be going a little too far when you find fish in the milk jug. This was the complaint made by some of the customers of a French milk purveyor. She was discovered to be diluting her milk with water from a river, and was prosecuted and sentenced to a fine and imprisonment. Some strange discoveries about food have been made in England by the analysts of the Ministry of Health. For instance, samples of gorgonzola cheese have been found recently with an outer covering of plaster, which accounted for about a tenth part of the cheese. There are occasions, however, when the consumer gets a better bargain than he possibly expects. Among samples of “non-alcoholic” wine analysed lately was one of ginger wine, which was found to contain 24 per cent, of proof spirit. -

—To most people quicksands are of largely academic interest, but the subject seemed to come nearer home in England the other day. Two small boys, running along in front of their mother and nurse at the foot of the cliffs between Dover and Folkestone, suddenly began to sink in what appeared to be quicksand. They were rescued, but not before they had sunk up to their waists. From the reports, they had run on to a bed of gault—a soft bluish clay, which is used in the manufacture of bricks and tiles. Quicksands are composed of small particles and water, and resemble a fluid rather than a solid in some respects. Some authorities think that, if a human being caught in one did not struggle he would not sink completely. —Why are there no great women billiards players ? Women are constantly challenging men in so many forms of sport—and in more serious things as well—that it seems rather astonishing that they are so much behind men players in this game. But the fact remains that they are. In the recent women’s amateur billiards championship contest the highest break made by* the winner of the title was 28, and breaks of 12 and 13 were considered good. Compare these twofigure breaks with the four-figure ones attained by players like Lindrum and Reece. Or, comparing amateur with amateur, we have J. Earlam’s 435 at Liverpool in 1926 (the highest break made by an amateur) and L. Steeples’s 354 last March, the highest under the new rules.

—A battleship’s bell will, in days to come, be one of the chief sights of that favourite London rendezvous, the Crystal Palace. It will commemorate the days when the Crystal Palace was part of the Royal Navy, and the main terrace, on which the trophy will be placed, was a quarterdeck. This was during the war. The Crystal Palace as Royal Naval Depot was then officially known as H.M.S. Victory VI. The bell, which is to be mounted and displayed in a manner worthy of its associations, is “ a commemoration trophy) not a war memorial, but a perpetual remembrance of all who served in every section of The R.N.V.R.” Subscriptions are being asked from officers and men of the R.N.V.R. and others interested. Any surplus is to go to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Benevolent Fund.