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Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11778, 28 September 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

In Paris cabmeD are not allowed to smoke while driving.

Few women, even of the wealthy classes, wear bonnets in Mexico. The hide of the hippopotamus, in some parts, is fully two inches thick.

Seven miles an hour is the camel's limit, noi can it maintain tlm rate over two 'tours. Its usual speed is five miles an hour.

The web of the common spider is so fine that twenty -five thousand miles of it enough to encircle the world — would weigh only a pound.

A quick and easy way to change the atmosphere in an invalid's room is to pour some cologne into a soup plate and set fire to it. The spirit will make a pretty flamo, and impart a delightfully refreshing odor to the air. Several colonies of stingless bees have been discovered in the island of Monserrat, in the West Indies. Efforts are being made to introduce them into America, as their honey-producing qualities are fully equal to tho3e of the common variety of b?e.

The Japanese Emperor has an allowance of 2,000,000 dollars a year, to maintain the dignity of his office and have a good time. This is equal to L9OO a day. At the close of the Japa-nese-Cninese War Parliament awarded him 20,000,000 yen (L 4,000,000) in gratitude for the able manner in which he directed military and naval operations.

Perhaps the most valuable frame ever made for a picture is that which incloses '-The Virgin and Child" in the Catbedial of Milan. Its size is 8 feet by 6 feet, and it is of massive hammered gold, with an inner moulding of lapis lazuli. The corners have hearts designed in large pearls, and precious ston« s are inlaid around it. It is said to have been the gift of a rich uunnery, and its estimated value is 125,000 dollars. Ono of the pictures in the Vatican at Rome is inclosed in a frame studded with jewels, so that the value of the frame nearly equals that of the picture. Many of the churches on the Continent of Europe have pictures with similarly ornamented frames of great