CURRENT TOPICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4572, 17 February 1893, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

•» . . I The World Btates that the faqade of the palace of Sfc Cloud haa been pnrchased by Princess' Clementine d'Orllans, and dispatched packed in thirty huge caßes from Paris to Sofia, in a special train. The Dae de Ne"mours, who was married in the chapel of the palace, bought all the remaining statuary, which, it is understood, he intends to send over to Bushey Park, where his wife died in 1857. The Duke also purchased some of the friezes and baa-reliefs, which are to be placed at Eu. The wrought-iron balcony of the palace has j been Bold to Count Pozfco di Borgo, and it j is to form part of the chateau, in imitation of the Tuileries, which he is building on hiß estate in Corsica. New ideas in paving have lately attracted attention. Among these is the paving of a bridge by a German engineer with indiarubber, the result having been so satisfactory as to indnce its application on a much larger scale, a point in its favour being that it is much more durable than asphalt, and not slippery. In London (Bays Siftings) a section of roadway under the gate leading to the departure platform of the St Pancras terminus haa for some time past been paved with this material, with the effect of deadening the sound made when being passed over on wheels, besides the comfortable elasticity afforded to foot passengers. Another material which is being satisfactorily introduced, for this purpose is granulated cork and bitumen pressed into blocks, which are laid like bricka or wood. paving, the special advantage secured in this case being that of elasticity.

A Scotch boat-builder is constructing a j yacht which he claims is unsinkable, and cannot be capsized. It is built of an aluminum alloy. The metal is as white as silver, and possesses a breaking strain of twenty-four tons to the square inch. It is unaffected by water. The yacht— which, instead of being painted, will be polished —will be about thirty-two feet long and eight feet broad, and will be provided with a roomy cabin, panelled in oak, and a commodious forecastle. The deck fittings, as well as a centreboard dingey which will accompany the yacht, will be made of the game white metal. If this experiment i should turn out successfully, a new departure in yacht construction and fitting may be expected. ■.

Although the United States could boast in 1890 of 163,597 miles out of the total length of 370,281 miles of railway in the world, yet it does not take the first rank as the country possessing the largest railway mileage in proportion either to population or to area. It haa been pointed oat that five of the British Colonies— Canada, West and South Australia,. Queensland and New Zealand have precedence of it in the ratio of miles of line for each 10,000 inhabitants. That of the Australian continent is 29-09 miles, of British North America 30-35 miles, of New Zealand 27*28 miles, as compared with 25*90 miles per 10,000 of population in the Stateß.

Sable Island, near Nova Scotia, was overran with rats, and the lonely islanders, whose chief duty is the relief of shipwrecked mariners, imported a cargo of cats from the Canadian mainland. The cats did their work of slaughter so well .that they Goon had to fall upon the rabbits for food, and themselves became so plentiful that an importation of foxes had to be made to keep them in check. The foxes, like the cats, did their work too well. They, not only exterminated the cats, but killed all the young birds and destroyed thousands of eggs. Tired of the warfare, the islanders are now appealing to the Government to exterminate the foxes. When so much is being done to improve the firearms served out to the army, military men (says the London correspondent of the Scotsman) will learn with interest that some interesting experiments have taken place at Julundur with a jointed lance invented by Colonel E. Eardley Wilmot, 14th Bengal Lancers. The lance is in two pieces, joining with a bayonet slot in a brass socket. It is strong, light and handy, and has this advantage, that when the trooper is required to dismount for fire action on foot, instead of the present slow and dangerous method of disposing of his mounted, weapon, by a turn of the wrist he divides it in two and drops the pieces into the bucket from which. he. has taken his carbine. It waa, tried during the squadron training of the inventor's regiment, and reports which have reached London show that the new lance met with much favour. When the men dismounted on the off side they were ready for action in less than half the time it took men who had to fasten a lance to the wallet by a strap Mounting was also done from the off side. It is to be hoped that tliis. useful and practical invention may receive the attention from the authorities it certainly deserves.