MULTUM IN PARVO.

Otago Witness, Issue 4069, 8 March 1932, Page 67

MULTUM IN PARVO.

—The Irish Free State last year bought more British-made motor cars than all the foreign countries in the world put together or all the other overseas dominions. —Street accidents caused the death of 1398 persons and injury to 55,961 in Greater London last year. Eighty-seven per cent, of these accidents were due to want of forethought and alertness. —Cans for preserving fruit, etc., are to be turned out at the rate of 1200 a minute, or 100,000.000 a year, at a new factory built in Worcestershire, one of the greatest fruit-producing centres in England. —Experiments made by an American doctor on prisoners who volunteered for the work seem to disprove the old theory that black coffee keeps one awake. All the subjects tested slept more restfully after drinking black coffee. -—Changes in dress fashions may be a source of danger in factories, where, it is said, long skirts will increase the number of accidents. —Periods of either excessively hot or dull weather are said to increase the number of cases of cruelty to children. These are not affected by bad trade. —ln Canada, where the cost of a wireless receiving license is 4s a year, it is estimated that one person out of every 19 owns a wireless set. —The average girl of to-day is taller, broader in shoulders, narrower in hips, and heavier than her mother was at the same age. —Britain’s biggest mountain is Ben Nevis, 4406 ft. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, is nearly seven times this height. —The sound of a gun fired at Woolwich, England, was recently heard at Cardiff, a distance of 150 miles, by means of a scientific instrument. —Flexible glass that can be rolled up without damaging it has been invented by two young American scientists. It is predicted that within a few years mirrors for dressing-tables, handbags, and other commercial and scientific uses will be made of this substance, which can be applied to almost any backing material. -—Small balloons, measuring about 4ft in diameter and carrying feather-weight instruments, are used for “ exploring '* the upper atmosphere. They show that the temperature remains nearly the same from a height of six miles to about 18 miles. Above that height is a band of very high temperature. —A swordfish weighing over a hundredweight was found entangled in the nets of the smack Our Margaret, fishing off . Brighton, England. —Two thousand pounds has been raised i in Shanghai for the relief of dependents . of victims of the disaster to the submarine Poseidon. • —Oil gushers are reported to have been discovered by prospectors in the Magallanes region in Chile. They have been temporarily capped. —Tattooing certain marks on the body I is regarded in Burma as a sure shield I against being killed in warfare. I —Early rising, or rather waking, is the I custom in most hospitals. Four London ; institutions rouse their patients between i 4 and 4.30, 40 between 5 and 5.15, 22 , between 5.30 and 5.45, eight between ’ 6.30 and 6.45, and only six at 7 a.m. ] —Artificial respiration in cases of gast poisoning, drowning, etc., can now be done by machinery. The patient lies in ’ an air-tight tank, with only his head pro--3 truding. The air is withdrawn and re- ? turned to the tank at regular intervals, thus inducing breathing. I —The microphone used by King George (. on July 18 was encased in gold and silver and engraved with the Royal Arms and 1 cypher.

—Britain expects her buildings to last too long, according to one expert, who holds that structures should have a maximum life of 50 years. —Ponies used in playing polo usually cost from 100 to 600 guineas each, the record price being £4200. —English waiters at their best lead the world, because they are more gentlemanly and better mannered than foreigners. —More than 1000 men are required to work the huge electric “ tote ” recently erected at Ascot (England) racecourse at a cost of £250,000.

—Owners of parks in some parts of Cheshire are being compelled to close them to the public owing to the damage done by “ litter louts.” —For the twenty-third year in succession 700 men and women sat down in the Great Assembly- Hall, Mile End road, London. E., to a Christmas tea provided by the King. —A former English soldier has sent to Frau Rutz, widow of the late Burgomaster of Oberrammergau, the Iron Cross her son had handed to him before he fell mortally wounded in the war.

—Air Frank S. Lahm, a veteran American balloonist (he made his first ascent in 1903) died at his Paris home recently; aged 85. —Every ton of coal disposable commercially raised in Great Britain during the quarter ended September 30, 1931, cost 14s, and was sold for 13s lOd, (according to a White Paper), 9s 4d a ton (a total of £21,203,106) going in wages and 6d a ton (or £1,172,008) in royalties. —London’s children are getting bigger. The boys have increased Ilin in height and Ist 121 b in weight, and the girls lin and 91b in the last 25 years. —Fully equipped as a surgery and a waiting room, and carrying a dentist and a nurse, a motor dental surgery ear is now visiting the 11,000 children in the 90 schools under the Isle of Ely County Council.

—A boat measuring 30ft by Sft, believed to belong to the same epoch as the galleys of the Roman Emperor Caligula, which were salved earlier last year from Lake Nemi, has been found weighted down to the bed of the lake by stones.