BRIEF MENTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9919, 6 August 1910, Page 1

BRIEF MENTION.

One German woman in about twenty seven works in a factory, i About twice as much power w quired to stop an express train, oa to start'one. ' • ■ \' • •• About fifty-four millions of the subjects of King George lire wJute, and 844 millions coloured. f . ■ The world's first savings bank ' started one hundred years ago in Ruthwell, Scotland, by the Rev H. Duncan* a Presbyterian minister. • ' ' The total cost to police authorities in England'and Wales, outside London, : t<| ; \ give policemen a day's rest per week* would be about £250,000 a year. I Switzerland has one post-office. for ' overy 852 inhabitants; Germany, for 1495; England, 1873; Belgium, 6119} Austria, 2965; France, 3008; Spain. 4143; and Turkey, 18,315, t , . , i There has been a steady increase ijl the price of meat in Canada for. tht past four years. The average price of, all animals intended for meat ..during 1909 was 77 per cent higher than, ftt 1906. Prices this yesu: show s continued increase. ; I The history of the hideous figures la the. Guildhall, called Gog and Magog, is uncertain. The Gog and Magog of fable were two giants who resjwa is the Caucasian mountains—the cradl* of the human race—and inflicted. all kinds of. calamities on mankind. "-( Mrs Hamilton, Townend, Kirkcudbright, _ who Tocently oelebraied: ]her 106 th birthday, has lived in the reigna of six British sovereigns. She was sixteen years of age when George 111. died, and since then GeprgeTv., William -IV., Queen Victoria, Edward [ VII., and George V. have occupied tha throne, i\•: . ■. , ■ ■ . v Of thirty-eight notices of death which i appeared in the London Times " ck June 1, twenty were thcise of person® i of sixty-nine; years and over \ the average being 78.5 years. One.'was 101 years old, three were between' ninety and 100, nine between eighty and ninety j' and seven between sixtynine; and eighty. - A pickpocket had an unpleasant surprise in Paris when he-opened a reticule which he snatched from a lady. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and ■ ! at the same time a heavy hand was laid on his collar and he was arrested. The reticule was the property of tha wife of a detective. She had been act- ; ing as a decoy for her husband.

A remarkable; long' wireless transmission ,was recently recorded by the steam- / er Tennesse, five days out from Honolulu, which succeeded in catching a.-, message from Table Bluff, on'the coast of California. The message was a [weather report, which was afterwards verified by the Navy Department. The distance of transmission was 4580 miles..' : .'"v i.'YPrince Henry third of the Kihg, >- has. started his school career at St . Peter's Court, Broa'dstaira,. and bas rapidly made companions among the ; other boya. He goes to the school, • which is- more than a mile from his home, York Gate House", each morn- - : ing, remains to luncheon, and returns in the afternoon. . The. school is-JB' * training-ground for Eton and Harrow., and a feature is made of. sports.: ¥•* In Birmingham, by the aid of what is ' called a model French.garden, an.attempt is being "made t-o show, townspeople how they raav grow vegetables ! on hotbeds behind their houses. 'This ' model garden covers. 1500-square feei," and contains strawberries, toihatoes,'' peas and melons growing- almost ready, for gathering, and abundant crops or cabbages, lettuce, cauliflowers, majv rows, radishes, spinach and' I Experiments in washing and ironing dollar notes by means of machinery i havo been successfully made by thtf United States Treasury, with the result that a laundry for that purpose has been established at ashington. Not alone will all genns be destroyed ' by the laundry, but the life o<F the- fiillj will bo doubled. This reform' war ' greatly wanted, because many of th? dollar notes circulating in the United ■ States , are repulsive to the idglit auo' dangerous to liandle. Very few people know that neither a turtle, a tortoise, nor a toad is provided with teeth., There is a general superstition that a,;turtle can .bite oS ■ ] a - man's finger, but- the turtle can dfi nothing of tie kind. Its. jaws are ver? strong, and the horny membrane thaY ! ■ round the jaw, where in other animals teeth are found, is so hard, and tough that the turtle can crush' the bones of the hand to pulp; but aa ' for .biting off even a finger, the feat is; to the turtle, _ an impossibility. The invention of envelopes is at- 1 tributed to 8. K. B rower, a stationei and bookseller,' who lived in Bright on (Eiigland). Ho sold small sheets of papei which, on account of their size, w«r< iuoonvenient. in addresses. In order to remedy the defect, he put the sheets together, and was surprised- t« find the result to be a small envelop®. Immediately he had metal plates mad# for cutting them to the and size, and since that event hundreds of fortunes have been founded on the envelope industry. In the colonial Parliaments, as at Westminster, it is a rule that the name of the Sovereign must hot be imported into debate. ' The latest Ottawa papers narrate ht>,v a Canadian M>P. . ingeniously surmounted the difficulty. He wished to quote some words of King Edward in reference to the evils of gambling. He cited the opinlcjfe and then added that it came from ilw "First Gentleman of Europe." Everybody present recognised the reference. , and thus the M.P. scored his point without being called to order., ' . An interesting discovery has been made at Tveedmouth Railway Station. Underneath a passenger carriage has been found a blackbird's nest, fully formed and _ intact, containing five '■ eggs. The bird has built its nest beside the Westinghouse brake. The brake was examined at Hull in June, 1909, so that the carriage must have travelled all over the system in the intervals, and it, is difficult to say where the eggs were laid. Despite the jolting that niust have been experienced, none of the eggs had suffered the slightest damage. A correspondent" writes in "The Times" suggesting that aB we have once more a King George on the throne the fine words of the National Anthem, as it was originally written and eung, should be restored during the present reign. He says:—" The effoct of ' God save great George, usS - King,' besides being far more impressive, is also more appropriate to the musical setting than the effect of God. save our gracious King.' The word gracious is hardly euphonic in any case, and when bisected by a long pause, lose? all claim to distinction o>r dignity."

King Edward had tx complete' first' aid outfit attached to each of his cars. The miniature surgery weighed about six pounds, and included an indiarubbei tourniquet to stop, bleeding, several pairs of Scissors and forceps, antiseptic swabs, gauze, bandages,, a variety of unguents and dressings, a selection of stimulative drugs, ana a bottle of brandy. The contents were arranged iu the order of their use in the eight different compartments of a silver box, which fitted into, a royal-blue moroccc case. On the lid of each case were detailed instructions, while on the front of each silver box was the inscription t " A Friend in Need is a Friend. Indeed®" " ' , • i" t «; / 111