New, Odd, Interesting.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 22 May 1912, Page 3

New, Odd, Interesting.

Cinnamon is a species of laurel that thrives in Ceylon.

There are 8,876,299 Jews in Europe and 1,880,579 in America.

The sand of the African deserts is from thirty to forty feet deep.

The term "reverend" was first used for ministers in the year 1657.

j Lions and camels live 40 years; a horse's average length of life is. J27

years*

In the reign of Henry VIII. s the poor were first helped out of public funds by law.

The colon (:) and .semi-colon (;) have been used in British literature since 1700.

A week's consumption of butter in Great Britain is from 90,000 cwt. to 110,000 cwt.

The receipts at American picture theatres are said to amount to £26,----000,000 a year.

In recent years the sea has given Great Britain back more land than it has eaten away.

Tea was cultivated in China two thousand seven hundred years hefore the Christian era.

The first submarine boat was invented and successfully tried in the Eighteenth Century.

A horse may live 27 years, but both lions and camels have been known to attain the age of 40.

Of 1000 children born in Russia, about one-half only stand a chance of reaching the age of five.

Lake Superior, the largest fresh-wat-er lake in the world, is equal in size to the whole area of Ireland.

Moslems under the protection of the King number over double the entire population of the British Isles.

In the last ten years tuberculosis has steadily decreased in England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany.

One American picture film-making firm has 7000 costumes of all countries in stock as against 171 in 1900.

Sugar cane, after the" juice has been crushed from it, has been found suitable for manufacturing- into paper. ...

The Imperial Canal of China has a total length of 2100 "miles, which exceeds that of any other in the world.

Paper towels, large size, are sold in New York at eight a penny, and small handkerchief size at 450 for fourteen

pence,

In France twenty-six gallons of wine per head of the population is consumed; in England only a quarter of a gallon.

Newspapers take the title "gazette" from a small Venetian coin of that name, the price of the first news sheet published.

In case there is no male heir, the King of the Belgians may, with the consent of the Chambers, nominate his successor.

During the fifteenth century the points of shoes reached such absurd lengths that their wearers had to tie them up to their knees.

Among birds the swan lives to be the oldest, in extreme cases reaching 300 years, and the falcon has been known to live for 162 years.

The famous rifle shot, Sergeant Ommundsen, has invented a sighting1 device for rifles and big- guns which, it is claimed, eliminates the necessity of ascertaining ranges.

A new and shorter alphabet, containing only seventeen characters, has been invented by Professor Newton Scott, of Michigan (U.S.A.) University.

At every Burmese marriage the couple, in the presence of a number of witnesses, are obliged to eat out of the same bowl; this is the only binding portion of the wedding ceremony.

There are 42 signatures to the registry of the marriage of King George and Queen Mary, including jimong them those of Queen Victoria, King Edward, W. E. Gladstone, and the present Prime Minister.

Grape stones yield an oil similar to those of the olive. They are used in Italy in the manufacture of soap and for lubricating .and lighting. France alone, it is estimated, could yield from eight to ten million^ gallons of this oil'per annum.

Berlin has. made the experiment of appointing: 30 feminine "policemen." .These guardians of the law will have children as their especial charge. Not only will homes be visited for the woman officer may walk into any house, at her own discretion, but schools and institutions where little people are boarded and educated will be entered and examined at will.