GRAINS OF KNOWLEDGE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18833, 23 March 1931, Page 6

GRAINS OF KNOWLEDGE.

The average depth of the English Channel is 180 ft. Bank of England notes are never issued a second time. A “piece” of wallpaper is 12 yards long by 21 inches wide. The last man publicly executed in England was Michael Barrett, on May 26th, 1868. There are four branches of the Royal Mint —at Melbourne, Perth (Western Australia), Ottawa, and Pretoria. Captain Kidd was a daring pirate of the 17th century. He was recommenced and sent to suppress piracy on ,1m Eastern seas. The London Law Courts clock has a 41cwt weight which drops 75ft. The London Royal Exchange clock has a weight of 151 b which drops 12in! The greatest number of bridges built by one man was by Telford, the engineer, who erected 1200 bridges in Scotland between the years 1800 and 1820. The sense of hearing of tortoises is not very strong, but they are frightened by noise and can distinguish the sounds of their tiny piping voices. The swallow is one of the fastest birds in flight. It will travel at the rate of 65 miles per hour. A pigeon will fly 50 miles in the same time, a pheasant 38, and a crow 25. No liquid can flow uphill of its own accord, but water must find its own level, so water in pipes or in enclosed channels in strata is forced upward by water at higher levels. The record run for a London theatrical production was created by “Chu Chin Chow,” which ran for 2238 performances. “The Co-optimists” have had an even longer run. The man responsible for the colonisation of Western Australia, over a century ago, was Thomas Peel, cousin of the famous Prime Minister of Great Britain. He died a hermit and a poor man. The Japanese regard the cherry blossom as the symbol of the army and navy. They say that just as the cherry trees burst into bloom almost as a single flower so do the people answer the call to arms. The first oishop to abandon the wig was Richard Bagot, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who made the innovation between 1825 and 1831. Bishop Blomfield and Archibishop Sumner, however, wore wigs as late as February 26, 1860. When vaccination “takes” well, protection should last for seven or nine years. Anyone who may be exposed to infection, however, is usually advised to be re-vaccinated if the previous vaccination dates back more than five years. Cigars originally had bands in order to protect the fingers of the young Spaniards who, in Cuba, smoked their cigars, semi-moist. Later the manufacturers saw the advantage of decorating the band with their name and trademark. “Public school” is an elastic term. It is usually employed to describe one of the larger endowed boarding school.?, preparing pupils for the universities or public services, and often maintaining its discipline with the aid of the pupils themselves. The term half-watt is commonly applied to electric light bulbs filled with inert gases—as ■ argon or nitrogen—which double the brightness of the light. It simply means that for every candle-power of light half a watt of electricity is used. The expression: “Once in a Blue Moon” is found as far back as 1528. The moon is said on rare occasions to assume a more or less bluish hue, no doubt due to the atmospheric conditions. The rarity of the occurrence led to the expression being used as a simile of something which seldom occurs. The Dog License Act was passed in 1796. The primary reason for the Act was to raise revenue, but it also serves the double purpose of keeping too many curs from running the streets and ensuring that people who keep dogs can care for them properly, otherwise they would not pay a tax to keep them. The Feast of the Ass used to be celebrated on January 14th, to commemorate the Flight into Egypt. A procession led by a beautiful girl, holding a child, and mounted on an ass, moved to the church. There the ass and its burden were placed before the high altar. During the service the congregation, instead of making the’usual responses, brayed like donkeys! The saying, "Whom the gods destroy they first make mad,” is from “Antigone,” a tragedy of Sophocles (496-405 8.C.). It was evidently a well-known saying in his time. It is rendered thus in Johnson’s edition: “Quern Jupiter vult perdere, dementat primus” (whom Jupiter would destroy he first drives mad). The saying also occurs in many other writers. The first paper money was used in 1483, It was invented by a Count ie Tendilla, while beseiged in Alhama, Granda. He had no gold or silver with which to pay his troops, and give them pieces of paper on which he inscribed various sums, signing each with his hand and name. The soldiers were thus able to purchase necessaries from the people of the town, and the Count ultimately redeemed the paper money. In mediaeval times the Jews were held in the greatest contempt. Yet they were indispensable, since they were the bankers of the world, holding between them all the known world’s gold. Any king or baron desiring gold usually resorted to torture to extort money from the unfortunate Jew. One mehod gave rise to the saying. “To call, or haul, over the coals” The man was dragged slowly over a fire of live coals. There is a mention of the practice in Scott’s “Ivanhoe.” The hands are believed to be one of the best guides to a girl’s temperament and abilities. A hand broad in the palm, with strong, rather short fingers, and a thick-set thumb indicate the best domestic hand. The girl with such hands will be a good housewife and a level-headed companion. Narrow palm and thin tapering fingers evidence an artistic ability and temperament. The plump hand displays a warm, affectionate disposition, but it is not usually the hand of a girl skilled in either art or domestic duties The mace was originally a heavy club used in close combat. It was used to “keep order,” which explains why, in the House of Commons, it became the Speaker’s symbol of authority. It precedes the Speaker into the House and is placed on the table when he leaves the chair, the House rises, or a sitting is suspended—a constant reminder of the privileges and customs of Parliament. In it is bound up all the traditions of the “Commons.” The Lords do not posses a mace because the procedure of the Higher House is different. The Lords are led by the Lord Chancellor sitting on his Woolsack.