NEW, ODD, INTERESTING.

Waipa Post, Volume VII, Issue 322, 12 June 1914, Page 1

NEW, ODD, INTERESTING.

The people on the Pacific coast ol America are learning to eat the eggs of seagulls.

Jive and a half ounces of grapes Ace required to make a single glassful of port.

Frequent cutting of the hair increas-* es the thickness of the individual hairs, but not their number.

Italy has more theatres in proportion to population than any other country.

The ancient Homans considered it effeminate to wear beards. .All their busts, representing the famous men of olden times, are without beards.

The longest horse railway in the world' is in the Argentine Republic. It runs between Buenos Aires and San Martin, a distance of fifty miles. '

At Quito, the only city in the world' on the line of the Equator, the sun! sets and rises at six o’clock all the! year round.

Artificial legs and arms were in use m Egypt 'as early as 700 8.0. They were made by the priests, , who were' the physicians of that early time.

Vultures cannot discover a carcass by the sense of smell; they rely entirely upon their sight when in quest of food. i

It is stated that the residents ol islands and small peninsulas live longer than persons who dwell on the mainland.

According to a German scientist women can talk more than men with less fatigue, because their throats are smaller and they tax their lungs and vocal chords less.

To ascertain if a soil contains lime, dry some soil in an oven, place it in. a tumbler, and pour some dilute hydrol hydrochloric acid over it. If lime be present the acid will 'cause effervescence to take place.

The American Iloy Scouts claim to have in their ranks the biggest Boy Scout in the world. His name ; is Cook, of Philadelphia, and although he is only 15 -,ears old he stands 6ft. 7in, in his stockings, and weighs 13 stone. His boots are No. 12 and his hats 7J.

In Arizona there has existed for centuries a petrified forest, covering an area of one hundred square miles. Thousands of petrified logs strew the ground, and are coloured in beautiful shades. One of the stone trees spans a gulf of forty feet wide.

By a new process pineapple leaves, which were formerly waste, can be made into paper fibre at a profit. The fibre is a tough substance that can be used for insulating purposes, and seventy pounds of fibre can be manufactured from a ton of pineapple leaves.

All Brazilian vessels engaged in the coasting trade. and carrying passengers, either casually or regularly, and making voyages of more than seventytwo hours between the place of departure and port of destination, must have on board a Brazilian' doctor nominated by the Minister of the Interior.

The telephone is being put to many strange uses as a labour-saver and an emergency aid. In the cost-keep-ing systems in many factories the workmen do not keep their own time records, but telephone to the bookkeeper whenever they start or finish a job, so that he can make the entry. Automatic telephone temperaturerecorders are used in orchards to save fruit crops from frost; when the temperature falls the central operator ia notified, so that she can arouse the farm hands and send them out with smudge-pots.