All Sorts

New Zealand Tablet, 2 August 1906, Page 38

All Sorts

v "- The highest tide in the world is in the Bay of Furwly, between Nova Scotia ami New Brunswick. The tide there sometimes rises to the height of 71ft, and the increase is occasionally as much as a foot every five minutes. • - The statistics of pauperism show that 778,012 persons in England and Wales, "*wer.e in receipt of relief at the end of October, representing 22.8 per 1000 of the population, and an increase of 15,495 over the number at the same dale the previous yearThe bugle which sounded the charge at Balaclava was offered for sale by auct'on in London, but was withdrawn, the highest bid being £1050, and the reserve price £1500. Two Dalacla\a bugles, previously sold, realised respectively 750 guineas ami £100. ♦It is curious to note that Belgium is the only maritime country in Europe that is without a navy of any description, -\\hi'e the little principality of Liechtenstein, which is situated between Austria and Switzerland, is the only country m Europe without any semblance of an army. The BMiish Navy is largely manned by young men. Over half the crews are mere youngsters. Here are the official figures . Aged fifteen to twenty-five, 03,790 sailors (or 57.6!) per cent. 1 ) ; aged twenty-five to thirty-five, 36,160 (or :i2.7 i-e" cent ) , aged thirty-live to forty-five, 9350 (or B 'ls per cent.) ; a^cd forty-five and over, 1270 (or 1.11 per cent.). Ji'dge Adams, i n delivering judgment at the Limerick Quarter Sessions the other day in a case of cruelty to horses, said it was a mista' c to sup, osc that the movement in favor of better treatment, for dumb animals only began in the nneteenth century. St. Francis of Assisi in the fouiteinih century had shown a love for dumb animals, and sj.Ove of ' My brothers the ass and the horse.' The armies of Continental countries are. the first branch of the Service. The total cost of the French army amounts to £27,00 0,000 per annum Germany is enabled to put into the field a vast, well-equipped army at a cost of £32,000,000 a ye a r. The Russian army, another tremendous aimed body, costs £40,000,000 a year ; while, including India, we are ourselves paying £53,000,000 a year for the armed forces of the Empire. The sunflower crop is one of the most profitable harvested m Russia. A good cron is worth as it stands in the field, £5 r.n acre. The seeds are sold by the fanne- for from -Is to fls a lb ; then the marchants salt them, and retail them for 12s a lb. At every street crossing in Russian provincial cities are stands and pedlars with baskets, selling to the passersby the salted product of the sunflower, which forms a favontcyfcwl. The last annual report of the United States Commissioner of Pensions showed that the high-water mark of the pension-roll was reached on July 31, 1902, when it included 1,001,494 names .N. N After that the number gradually shrank, but Last year it went up again, for the returns mst published for 1905 show that on January 21 of that year there were 1, 001,196 namesn a mcs on the roll, the greatest number yet recorded. Kach year it is predicted that the pension tax will diminish, but the shrinkage is always in the future. In connection with (he report that some of our legislaiors were not pleased wrth the artistic style of the gold railway passes supplied to them, it is interesting t 0 note that the intrinsic value of the Victoria Cross, the most highly-prized decoration in our army and navy, is about lid It was instituted by Royal Warrant on January 29, 185-K, as a revv a rd of gallantry of all ranks, and the first presentation (of sixty-two crosses) was made by the late Queen Victoria in person on Friday, June 36 1857. It is in the shape of a Maltese cross, and is made to this day out of mefal from old Russian cannon captured at Sebastopol. Some of the institutions on Japanese railways aie peculiar to that country. One of these is a smear of paint across the windows of third-class carriages. This is made necessary because thousands of native travelless in Japan, accustomed to only paper walls for letting m iight, have no knowledge "of glass. Its utter transparency leads st hem to believe that the window is simply a hole in the side of the car. _With' painful results many native passengers have stupidly attempted to stick tiieir heads through the glass. For -a lone; time ambulances from receiving hospitals had -to. meet nearly every train arriving in Japanese cities, and hence the streak of paint is a warning to the Oriental farmer v from the back country tha.t there is something more than atmosphere in the window.