The morning call., 1892-05-23
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

According 10 the New I OTk State Board
| of Health there have been in that State S.
/ 1913 deaths within the past three months, and
| the present epidemic Of grippe has already
/ caused 10000 deaths.
In Brittany when a housewife begins to
knead dough she makes a cross with her
| right hand, the lett being placed in the
trough. II a cat enters the room it is be-
lieved the bread would not rise. II is sup
| posed that certain persons can cause the
dough to multiply Itself
An English firm has invented an ingpn-
| lOus device for turning on the currents for
! electric lamps al a certain hour. An Ordi-
| nary Clock Is so adjusted that at the desired
moment a spring Is released, permitting n
pair OF plYoted contacts 20 fall into mercury
cups, thus completing the circuit.
! The umbrella is, undoubtedly, of high
| antiquity, appearing in various forms upon
! the sCulptuTed monuments of Egypt Assy-
| ria, Greece and Rome, and in hot countries
| ii has been used since the dawn Of history
| as a sunSbade-a use siguified by its name
/ derived from the Latin ulDbTa, shade.
| New Workers travel more than ever. In
| 1880 they took on an average 10 journeys a
! year each on stTeetcars aud elevated rail
| rays, but now each inhabtant averages 243
/ Journeys. The total journeys made last
! year within the munIcI paiJy reached the
enormous number OF nearly 431, 100000.
One Of the vegetable euriositi5s of Cen
trail Park is maple tree standing Just west
Of the west side tennis lawn. The tree is
fully five feet In diameter at the base but
instead OF rising as one trunk it splits into
IL distinct trees, OF which Is ere alive and
several are at least 10 inches in diameter.
In Melbourne Sunday papers are per-
mitted, no hotels are allowed to open their
bar doors from midnight on Saturday until
Monday morning, and any one driving past
place Of worship at faster pace than a
walk while service IS in progress is liable 10
be stopped and summoned by the policeman
On duty.
Parisians may soon be able toi It outside
their cafes on the b0ulevards and drink
their absinthe blended with water straight
from a Swiss lake. This is quite on the
cards, since Swiss engineer has submitted
plan for supplying Paris with pure water
from the Lake of Neuichatel at cost Of
$780, 100000.
DR.. Griesbach of the Geological Survey of
India, VINO has returned to Rangoon from
a tour OF exploration to the north OF the
Bhamo, reports that near Myitkina, in a
district absolutely uninhabited, he has dis
covered most remarkable 8lluYIal gold de-
posts, stretching for great distance up the
course OF streams and no less than 10 miles
in width.
The Pyrus Americana is in some parts OF
| New Hampshire called witch wood, and is
| occasionally carried in the pocket to keep
| of witches. In Nova Scotia it is thought
| that 1t Is cause Of bad luck to keep in the
| house common LegOnia, called beefsteak
/ gelauium. In Salem and Boston 1t is
! thought unlucky TO Keep Wandering jew"
| Trsdescantia crassifolia, as a house plant.
Few people have any idea Of how much
money is spent by the municipality of Paris
| in planting and looking after the trees which
| line the principal bOueYards and avenues
| OF the French capital. The annual report
| OF the superintendent gives the total num-
| Der of trees PLANTED at 81 655 each of which
| represents an initial cost Of S35. The annual
| expenditure for maintenance is S50.S4O.
Eighty years ago boys in the United
| States under years of age worked IN fac
| tories, In some Instances IA hours a day; 90
| cents week was not uncommon rate OF
wages for women very capable woman
i could earn 90 cents day at trade which
! she must give six months Of unpaid service
/ TO learn; with calico at 30 cents p yard
/ woman's earnings for 10 weeks would only
suffice to buy the material for dress.
In view Of the increasing number Of acct
| dents to horses in the streets of London.
| the committee Of the Animals Institute
have decided TO attempt 10 cope with the
| difficulty by organizing system for aiding
horses by means of ambulance carts, to be
| placed in easily available positions, where
| they will be at hand in case of accidents TO
convey the horses TO establishments where
| their injuries can be Immediately attended
| to.
| A Swiss chemist has, 1t is said, not only
discovered how to dispose of ordinary coal
smoke, but how to turn IT into highly prof
| liable commodity. The statement is that by
| burning l25 tons Of coal at a cost of Sl55
and making full use of it for steam-raising
| purposes he can at the same time secure, by
a simple process he has invented, four tons
| ofsulphate OF ammonia from the smoke pro-
duced by the coal. The money value of this
| will be S240
The letters Of the alphabets Of the differ
| ent nations vary in number of letters from
FL to 202. The Sandwich Islanders have
the first named number, the Burmese 10.
! Italian 20, Bengalese q, Hebrew, Syrian,
Chaldean and Samaritan % each, Latin %.
Greek "a. German, Dutch and English %
each. Spanish and Slavonle q each, arabian
%, Persian and Coptie 30, Georgian 80. Ar
menian 3S Russian Al, old Museovite AZ,
and Sanscra and many other Oriental lan-
guages have 30 each. Ethiopian and Tar
/ tartan have 202 each.