NEW, ODD, INTERESTING.

Thames Star, Volume LII, Issue 13847, 6 November 1918, Page 6

NEW, ODD, INTERESTING.

Owyfciwli Wong tow of tk eldest kaewa tjpM at dog. T* aftatm k tf» larjaflt of aea !*«• w*e «faitf~ cattle market of Balgnua. The great aak fcas been extiwst ainc* 1*44 Oftraltar is kw than two square miles in area. The first steamship crossed the Atlantic in 1883. Tho territory «f seven nations jei*s that of the German Empire. Ne eitgr produces newspapers in ea *»any «#e*»nt languages as New York, eale hare each to pay Is. Bd. • day fa taaoß. ' Ottnbridaje University admits twenty- «« new students a year. , A eoMc foot of oork weighs l&lba., the same amount of c* G3lbs. Type metal consists of 65 parts lead? SB parts antimony, and 10 parts tin. Ofeati, or fourpenny pieces, were last coined in Great Britain in 1856. Tk* Channel Tunnel scheme was first proposed by De Qrammond, a French' maa, m 1867. Potatoes, brought into Russia first in 1769, caused fearful riots, being called deril's^appies. Two hundred and seventy-fire thousand square miles of Europe are over 8000 ft. above the sea. King George «V. is related to nearly all the reigning houses of Europe, one exception being Austria-Hungary. Bank of England notes are issued for sums of £5, £10, £20, £50; also for £100, £200, £500, and £1000. British silver coins are made from an amalgam of 37 parts pure silver with 3 parts of copper. All our Victoria Crosses are manufactured from cannon taken from the Russians at Sebastbpol No fewer than forty-five towns m Great Britain have a population exceeding 100.000. European Russia possesses the highest birth-rate in the world; France the i lowest. There are eight orders of knighthood in the British Empire, of which .the' highest is the Order of the Garter. Since the reign of George 11. no abbreviations have been allowed in legal documents. . "The Marseillaise,*' the National Anthem of the French Republic, was written and composed in 1792. . Auction sales originated in ancient Rome, and were introduced to enable soldiers to dispose of spoils of war. In the human being the left lung is rather smaller than that on the right -aide.' ' ■ •■ "' . ■■•■'" '■''■•: ; The swallow has a larger mouth in proportion to its size than any other hud. - • ■-. . -;■■• ■;:■—. — Three hundred and eighteen statues of William the First of Germany have been erected in German towns. The forests of the Philippines afford the greatest variety of wood in the world. Some of the hard .woods are unexcelled for beauty and durability. • The Simplon Tunnel, connecting Switzerland and Italy, is the longest railway tunnel in the world, being 18 miles 458 yards in length. Floating mines, under various name*, have figured in naval warfare for nearly 350 years; hut they were first used with really deadly effect in the Rim Japanese War of 1904-5. The invention of bells is attributed to the Egyptians, who are credited with [ having made use of percussion instruments to announce the sacred fetes of Osiris. Only one civilian has a right to pass through marching' troops, namely,- a Court physician on his way t# a royal residence.., He can make even the Household Cavalry open their ranks to him. ' A maofline in the Bank of England far weighing sovereigns and half sore- i feign is so extremely sensitive that it «an denote a tenth of a grain difference 'm the weight of a coin. It automatically weighs twenty-six coins a minute. jlto earns of full weight it throws te jH» right, amd the ethers to the left. There are m pillows in Chinese beds. jlkuj have instead hollow square frames Uf rattan ec bamboo, or blocks of wood. fasbJened a* that they fit the nape el the neck, and euppcrt the head wbem IyJBC «■ tie side. People who We 'used these suWtitates for pillows say ttwy are much more comfortable tbaa. •oft, ho* feather off hair pillows, esf*. eiaftr in warn wnstfcr.