MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 64, 18 July 1874, Page 13

MISCELLANEOUS.

A Budget of Interesting- Facts. — The sixteenth annual report of the Registrar-General of births, deaths, and marriage* in Scotland contains the following interesting facts noticed by the registrars : — "During the year, a giant Irishman died at Hawick, who was 7ft. Bin. in height, measured 58 inches round the chest, and weighed 22 stone. From the imperfect manner in which the old registers were kept, it is often impossible to procure satisfactory evidence of the ages of those who die at extreme old ages. Zt is, however, one of the peculiarities of the Scottish race, that they use every effort to ascertain the exact age of the deceased, so that, a* a general rule, .the age of death may be relied on as being correct. During the .year 1870 there were 9 males and 17 females whose ages were entered on the register as being above 100 yearn of age at death. Of the 9 males, 2 had completed 100 years, 1 was 101 years, 2 were 162 years, I was 103 years, 1 was 104 years, 1 was 108 years, and one survived to Lis 110 th year. Of the 17 females -wijo died above 160 years, 9 had completed their 100 th year, 2 were 101 years of age, 7 was 102 years, 2 were 103 years, 1 was 104 years, 1 was 107 years, 1 was 108 years, I was 110 years, and 1 was reported to be her 116 th year of life. — • Lancet ' Government Consumption*©* Pens — In the financial year just «oding, 11,890 gross of steel pens, at a cost of £1588, and 479,620 quill p<ms,-at a cost of £733, were supplied to the Government departments. In the year 1868-9 the total number of steel pens used was 14,942 gross, costing £1900, arid quilla 843,733, costing £1816. It will be seen that a saving of thirty per cent, has been effected, and that, as many of our readers know by experience, the quills have, been reduced ia quality as well as quantity. — ' Civilian.' The German Military Law. — In the military conference between the German Emperor, Count Moltke, Von Kameke, Albedyll, and Voigts-Rhetz, it is reported to have been decided (days the 'Cologne Gazette' of Thursday, March 26), formally to maintain the demand for 401,000 men, but in addition to admft of a minimum figure of 384,000, so calculated that the average reckoning for each day for the year would give such an effective force, so that at certain times more, and at other times fewer, soldiers than this average figure, according to the requirmeiits of the service, might stand under arms. a. Seobet of the Sea.— The Portsmouth (New Hampshire) ■* Chronicle' states that on the sth of April one of the navy-yard watchmen found on the beach of an island in that harbor a tightly- corked bottle completely overgrown with barnacles and seaweed. When broken it was found to contain a slip of paper apparently taken from a ship's logbook. All the writing upon it that cculd be made out was as follows :•— " December, 14, 1861.— Ship, Jane, Arctic Ocean. — I write this knowing that I shall never see land again, hoping that some one will pick it up. Yesterday the captain died, which ... I would write more if I could, but lam starving to death.'' The ink is very pale and the paper somewhat discolored. The writing, though indistinct, was easily read by the aid of a magnifying glass. Run Ovbb.— ln 1873, for the first time, the Registrar-General's returns show the year's tramway accidents in London, and it will surprise many to learn that seventeen persons were killed by tramway cars in the streets of the metropolis ; the omnibuses killed only twelve persons. There were twenty -eight deaths caused by cabs, ten by carriages, seventy-five by vans or waggons, four by drays, fifty-six by carts, two by other vehicles and thirteen by horses not drawing. The total number of persons thus killed in the streets of London increases ; the number was 192 in 1869, 198 in 1870, 208 in 1871, 213 in 1872 and 217 in 1873. One Marie Verdun, a young girl residing in Paris, is said to be affected with an infirmity known as nyotalope, that is to say, sho loses the faculty of sight during the day and recovers it in darkness. Although her eyes do not present any special morbid character, she is forced to keep her eyelids closed daring the day, and covers her head with a thick veil. On the other hand, when the shutters of a room are hermetically fastened she reads and writes perfectly in the deepest darkness. Death of a Singotab Man.— -James Lucas, who for twenty-five years has led a singular and solitary life in bia place in Redcoats Green, between Stevenage and Hitchin, died recently. Since the death of his mother, deceased, who was a gentleman of fortune, excluded

himself from the world. H» never wore anything beyond a blanket euveloped in which he used to appear at his windows, and he totally ignored soap and water. He would allow nothing in the house to be touched, and consequently the pictures and furniture presented a dilapidated and decaying appearance. Bats were in the house and the premises generally were in a ruinous state; He detested the rich, but gave money and spirits to his poorer visitors. A Parliamentary paper, farming the first instalment of the list of owners of land and heritages in Great Britain, together with the rental and the extent of the holdings, has just been issued. It relates to Scotland, in which it appears there are 132,230 land-owners, with possessions of the gross annual value of £18,698,804. Seventy-five proprietors have estates of upward* of 40.0G0 acres. There are considerably more than 74 estates of that area, but several landlords " possess more than one such. The total area in the hands of these 75 proprietors is at least 9,100,000 acres, or not far off the whole acreage of Scotland. Amongst the principal land-owners are the following :—: — Duke of Sutherland, acreage 1,176,574, valuation £57,147 ; Earl of Bveadalbane and Trustees, acreage 458,358, valuation £58,292 ; Duke of Buccleuch, acreage 432,347, valuation £184,142 ; Earl of Seafield, acreage 305,981, valuation £71,884; Duke of Richmond, acreage 269,268, valuation £60,387 j Earl of Fife, acreage 252,815, valuation £72,312 ; Duke of Athole, acreage 194,975, valuation £40,758 ; Duke of Argyll, acreage 175,114, valuation £50,842 ; Duches3 of Sutherland, acreage 149,879, valuation £11,792 j Earl of Dalhousie, acreage 131,021, valuation £59,051 ; Duke of Montrose, acreage 103,760, valuation £23,099 i Marquis of Bute, acreage 93,270, valuation £47,772 ; Duke •of Portland, acreage 105,456, valuatiou £41,527 i Duke of Hamilton, acreage 147,941, valuation £114,063. In Aberdeenshire there are five estates of over 40,000 acres ; Argyllshire, 12 ; Ayrshire, 2 ; Banff, 3 ; Caithness, 3 ; Dumbartonshire, 1 ; Dumfrieshice, 2 ; Elgin, 2 ; Forfar, 3 ; Inverness, 20 ; Kincardine, 1 ; Kirkcudbright, 3 ; Lanark, 2 ; Nairn, 1 ; Orkney, 1 ; Peebles, 1 ; Perth, 5 ; Ross, 10 j Roxburgh, 2 ; Selkirk, I ; Stirling, 1 ; Sutherland, 2 ; Wigton, 1. In Berwick, Clackmannan, Cromarty, Edinburgh, Fife, Haddington, Kinross, Linlitbgow, Renfrew, and Zetland there are no estates over 40,000 acres in extent. The Queen's Balmoral estate is set down at 25,350 acres, of the gross annual value of £2392 16s. The Prince of Wales has an estate at Ballater, containing 6810 acres of the annual value of £816 12s, and the Secretary of State for "War two holdings — one of an acre ia extent, value £160, md the other of two acres, £500. A siNCHTiiAB case of a man being instantaneously striken dumb is recorded by Dr J. H. Webb, of Powlett-street, East Melbourne. That gentleman writes to the ' Medical and Surgical Review,' as follows : — " A young man, aged twenty-four, a clerk in one of our principle firms, entered an hotel late one evening, after an unusually hard day's work and seating himself in one of the rooms, wi(h a glass of brandy and water before him, commenced a conversation with the landlady, who made some ironical remark to him ; in the act of rising from his seat to reply, his foot slipped, and he fell, striking his head against the bar of a child's chair, with force sufficient to break th» rail ; and on regaining his feet, he attempted to laugh, but discovered to his dismay, that he could not emit the usual sounds of ha! ha! He next essayed to speak, but found that the power of articulation hud entirely left him ; whereupon he. took up a slate and wrote the words *I am dumb.' When called in next day after another practitioner (Dr. Iffla, of Emerald Hill) had seen him, I found my patient a healthy person with every faculty perfect, excepting that of speech and without numbness in either hand, or paralysis of any description, facial or otherwise. I came to the conclusion that this peculiar affliction was the result of a sudden palsy of the * recurrent laryngeal,' analogous to what we sometimes see occurs in temporary and imrae.diate paralysis of the branches of the fifth. In this diagnosis I" was supported next day by the opinion of a third practitioner, who was called in consultation, and verified by the happy termination of the case, and gradual but entire restoration of speech after a lapse of^s nearly a fortnight." " Sligtly singed " — A writer in the ' Melbourne Weekly Times? thus comments on a certain class of trade advertisements, which are by no means peculiar to Victorian shopkeepers: — " Off to New Zealand ! " was a standing cry during several years, and after that •' Dreadfnl Sacrifices through the Panic ! " Where that pan»c took place it might not be easy to tell ; but it is to be hoped that fewer persons were gulled by it than was anticipated by the clever inventor. Even up to the present day the outbreak of a fire is looked upon as a real godsend by all traders in the neighbourhood. Not one of them but has damaged goods to Bell for three months afterwards ; and, of course, at a ruinous loss. This is sometimes carried a little too fa». It is said that not very long ago a fire broke out next door to a draper in one of our up-country cities ; and, though it was never found out that the conflagration made its way into his place of business, he sold " Blankets Slightly Singed by Fire " during fully six months afterwards. Towards the end of the period referred to, a lady asked to see some of the singed goods, and a youi-h (who will never be a good Victorian man of business) said, "We have none in the shop at present mam ; but they are singeing some in the back-yard." A contempobam remarks : — The poetry of life is rapidly disappearing in the progress of civilisation, and the most hallowed spots on the -earth are being stripped of their sanctity. The Lome paper state that a telegraph office, for the despatch of messages in Turkish and foreign languages, has now been opened at Bethlehem, in Palestine. We suppose that it is only right that the inhabitants of Bethlehem should enjoy the benefits of telegraphy $ but somehow 6r another we would rather they had been left to the old fashioned Eastern modes of communication. Tki following figures, compiled by a competent authority, show the income and expenditure of the ' Melbourne Argus ' :*— Daily circulation, 7,676 espies; income derived therefrom daily, £58 17s ; daily income derived from advertisements, £237 4a. The entire methanical and literary staff numbers 89 ; the annual income of the office is £92,367 j and the working expenses, £34,800—361 yearly income, £57,567. ,