BBIEF MENTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9092, 23 November 1907, Page 3

BBIEF MENTION.

Don't wear out your welcome. Ite hard to get another. _.__e first cotton cloth mad© in England was produced in 1783. Paperhangers are about the only men who succeed in business by going to the wall. The first street to be lighted by gas was Pall Mall. This was in January, 1807.

Mohammedans use the lunar year, which is 10 days 20 hours 14 2-5 seconds shorter than ours.

Europe spends £7 on armies for every £1 thaj the whole of Americar— North and South — spends. Hyginus, Bishop of Borne in A.D. 139, is said to have been the first Pontiff to a_sume the title of Pope. The floods of the Nile are so regular in their coming that for hundreds of years they have not vjaried ten days in the date of their arrival.

As the i_n_ge is brought out of th© block by the chisel in the hands of the sculptor, so man's true character is developed *by the stern hand of ad-/ versity. The Khedive is a splendid linguist. At his receptions in Cairo it is nothing unusual for him to converse alternately in German, French, English, Arabic, and Turkish.

The Spaniards imported to work on the Queensland oanefields complain of the hard work, their food, and their beds. Some aro said to be anxious to return to their own*; country. A lawyer defending a prisoner who had been asked whether he had been previously convicted, observed, "If every man's sins wore written on his forehead we should all wear our hats very low." The Vatican is about to embark on a £200,000 building scheme. The programme includes the construction of a residence for the Vatican officials, and' a new building to contain the^, Vatican printing press. ' Among the many tablets found in Chaldea is what has been termed " the oldest dressmaker's bill." It dates from 2800 8.C., and is an itemised list of garments given by the King to th© priests and priestesses of one of the temples. ' . _ The earliest standing army in Europe was that of Macedonia, established about 358 8.C., by Philip,, father of Alexander the Great. It was the second in the world's history, having been preceded only by that of Sesostris Pharaoh of Egypt, who organised a military j caste about 1600 B.C. m , J An ostrich egg -weighs about three and a half pounds. The flavour of the egg is less delicate than that of hens' eggs, but they are perfectly eatable. It is a curious fact that they will keep fresh for two or three months. The flesh of the. ostrich itself is edible, being not unlike veal in flavour. Our domestic poultry are believed to have originated from the qungle oock of Northern India. Domestic fowls are not mentioned in the Old Testament, but they were known in Babylon 7UU 8.C.. end Julius C_sar found them in England nearly 2000 years ago. The Chinese kept poultry m 1400 B.C. In a oonsulaT report issued by the Washington Bureau of Manufacturers, it is stated that last year Germany produced 22,000 automobiles, the United States 58,000, France 55,000, England 27,000, Italy 18,000 and , Belgium 12,000. In 1902 the United States produced only 314 machines, as against 24,000 by France. The /' strenuous life" is. causing a startling increase in the de_th-rate\ among Chicago men, says the London " Tribune's " correspondent. A health commissioner reports that 12,000 men have died in seven months, as .against 8000 women. He mentions quick lunches, exposure, and over-work as the prime causes of this high mortality. From New York the death is announced of Dr Seneca Powell, professor of chemistry. His death was due to an experiment which he made in the presence of hia medical school class. He swallowed some carbolio acid and then took some alcohol to prove its virtue as an antidote. He had made the same experiment before without harmful results. - \ It is a common experience among mountain climbers to find butterflies lying f rozen on the snow, and so brittle that they break unless they are very carefully handled. Such frozen butterflies, on being taken to a warmer climate, recover and fly away. Six species of butterflies have been found within a few hundred miles of the North Pole. . A Renter's despatch from Pans quotes th© " Journal " to the effect that the recent trials of the German j military dirigible balloon wer© not as | satisfactory as was stated, and in October Germany is going to construct a new dirigible balloon of greater volume carrying a device to ensure stability which the first balloon did notJhave,, and a more powerful motor. People are' beginning to come back with holiday experiences. Here is one, says a Sheffield paper:— A well-known resident has been visjLting the South ot England. One day he found himself at Weymouth, and went to what appeared to be a substantial hotel for lunch. The meal was all right, and so was the bill. But th© extras interested him. Among them was—" Knife and fork, ld. It has been declared by a well-known statistician that in Yorkshire andLancashire alone no less than three millions sterling is every year saved up by working people in connection with clothing and other clubs, all this money going in complete new outfits fof hus-, band! wife, boys and girls. The pay-ing-out begins previous to Easter, and it generally reaches its height jnst before Whitsuntide. H? -npered by poor soil, by impure air, by inability to give attention, except in intervals snatched from almost incessant labour, the London gardener fights under terrible disadvantages. But he works with the patient devotion of a tenacious race. There are two great impulses within him— the love of beauty and the love of victory. Animated by these, he emerges triumphant from a trying struggle. Under the prohibition law, which becomes operative in Georgia on January 1 next, it is made unlawful to administer wine in the celebration of the Holy Communion. Ac the law is at present ! interpreted, every minister or deacon who hands sacramental wine to tbe members of his church makes himself ■ liable to indictment. Many protests j have been made, and grand juries all | over tho State have passed resolutions ] petitioning the Legislature to amend j tho law.

The cottage in the Long Island village at Easthampton which Inspired John Howard Payne to' write " Home, Sweet Home." has been saved from destruction. There was a danger of the small, simple dwelling, v , which is two centuries old. being torn down to make way for an "improvement," but it has been rescued from such a fate by a purchaser who, out of regard for the world-wide sentiment attaching to it, intends to preserve its exterior just as it has remained since Payne lived there as a boy. To be literally baked to death was the fate of a . smith named Menzel whilst executing^ repairs in a baker's oven on the Konigdamt, Berlin. He and a boy assistant named Felmer entered the oven, which was still warm from use overnight. A violent gust of wind caused the door, which fastened from the outside, to slam to directly they entered. Cries were vain. Both feverishly plied their tools, and succeeded in making an opening in the side towards the furnace, which, though damped down, emitted a terrific heat. The boy scrambled through at the expense >of terrible burns, reached and opened, the door, and then fell exhausted in a dying condition. When assistance arrived Menzel was found in tho oven dead with the flesh dried on his bones.