All Sorts

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 4, 24 January 1907, Page 38

All Sorts

x the navigablC/riyers of, Russia, are connected by

Allcanals.-

A person clad" in the garments made from the hair of reindeer will not sink in" the water.' . ■

- © It is- estimated that 4000 persons, mafte a living >in London solely by begging and that the average income ~ of each is £1 10s a w"eek, making__a total of about £300,000 a year. .

1 s - j/ Cards were first invented in_- 1390, for the amusement of Charles ' ~ V1.., King of France. As stamping had not then been discovered, the cards had. their designs painted' upon them" by. hand, -and thus .were expensive/, - " _

In . the manufacture of , perfumery, it -is estimated that 1860 tons of orange" blossoms are used "every year, together with „ 930 tons 'of roses, 150 tons each, of jasmine and Violets, 75 tons- of . tuberoses, 30 tons, of cassia, and 15 tons of -jonquils. •" > Coal is comparatively a modern product. History shows that it' was first^ used in England during the ninth century. "In 1318 \he king prohibited its use' on the ground that it was injurious to healthy bait the high price of wood finally compelled the Londoners to use it again.", . - ' " An old .lady took " her little grandson to a museum, and. ..when they ' came to a -lion's cage the' boy- held back. --„... 1 Don't be afraid, Malcolm,' the lady -said ; that lion is -stuffed.' - " '.•''"' "'Yes,' ,sa»id Malcolm,- '.but maybe he isn't', stuffed so full that -he couldn't find room for a little boy like me.' - i -" : 'Willie,' said a fond mother earnestly, tyou should go to. bed early.. ." Early to bed and early- "to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and- wise," you know.r You should go to bed with the sun— the chickens go to*bed with the sun.' ' Yes, I know they" do, mamma ; but the old henshe always goes with 'em ! '

In mediaeval and modern Europe the prevailing practice down to the middle of the eighteenth century was to have three meals a day— that partaken of at midday, and not the evening one, being "the principal. In .those days all classes rose early, - 4 a.m. "being the usual hour, and; one- hquiju.later breakfast was eaten. Twelve o '.clock -, was the ' ef&ablisfaed dining hour. Sup-*-ser, ' a less abundant repet/Hioh of dinner, followed .in the evening.

Soap is not a modern invention. It is twice mentioned in the Bible, first in Jeremiah an<i again in Malchia. History tells us that more then _ 2000 years ago the Gauls manufactured .it by combining beech ashes with goats' fat. Some years ago- a soap boiler's shop was discovered in Pompeii, having been buried beneath the terrible rain of ashes that fell upon that city in 79 A.D. The soap found in the shop hatt not lost its efficacy, although it had been buried 1800 years'. At the time that Pompeii was destroyed the soapmaking was carried on in several of the Italian cities.

In the '-Reminiscences' of ' Sir- Henry. Hawkins there are some amusing stories of the - vagaries of jury 'decisions. One of these stories will bear repetition. ' The evidence — was irresisitible,' " says Sir Henry, ' and the case one Qf inexcusable brutality. The man had been- -tried for the "murder" of his. father and mother, and, as I- said, the evidence was too clear to leave a doubt as- -to his guilt. The. .jury retired _ to consider their - verdict, and they were away so long " that the judge sent for them and asked if there was any, point upon which" he could^. enlighten them. They answered no, and - thought they ' understood the case perfectly well. After a great deal -of ' further conversation they brought in' a" verdict " of. " Not -guilty."

The judge was. angry •■ at so' outrageous a violation of their plain duty, -and did what vhe 'ought no± to have done— namely, asWed the reason they brought in such a verdict when they " knew the culprit was giftlty and - ought to have been hanged.- "That's just it, my "ford," said the' foreman of ihat- distinguished body. V" I assure you we had, no -doubt about the prisoner's guilb, but we thought? there hsOd been deaths enough in the family, and so gave him the benefit ol^ the douht." '