Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1910 — THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW [ARTICLE]

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

Ninety per cent of a cup of tea is water. „ . Bank notes, it is said, were first Issued In China 2697 B. C. The yards of many London schools are kept open after hoprs as playgrounds. Old silk hats are in demand in the east end of Londotf- as nosebags for donkeys. An Italian jeweler has carved a single pearl into the shape of a boat, which has a sail of beaten gold. The United States occupies second place in the list of the world's gold producers, South Africa standing first. China's ministry of the interior ha 9 decided ppon the period from the seventh to the sixteenth year as the age of minority and study, and has decreed that from 16 to 40 shall be the age of manhood for Chinese people.

In France they have an expressive phrase, “liquid money.” It means that part of the family income which is used for the necessities and luxuries of life. It is kept apart from the more serious, substantial partion of the income, which is that set- aside for saving.

Since the Czar gave out that his subjects might have liberty of conscience! about 250,000 are said to have gone over to the Roingn A Catholic church, 15,000 ha,ve become Lutherans, 50,000 were converted to Mohammedanism, 3,500 to Buddhism, 400 to Judaism and 150 Siberians have declared themselves pagans. * 'r The conservatism of Austria-Hun-gary ife a proverb, but Yankee invention and enterprise have been-able to break through the old lines to a surprising degree- In the great BohemiaMoravia machine works in Prague, of the 520 machine tools in service throughout the various ‘departments and*shops, 102 are of American origin.

fae World’s product of silver in 1907 was 185,000,000 ounces, against 160,000,000 ounces in 1897, and the coining value in 1907 being $239,000,000, against $207,000,000 in 1897. Stated in commercial values, however,- the figures are materially less, the commercial value of the silver produced in 1907 being $122,000,000 and that in 1897 $96,000,000. The waiter’s art Is a serious, clever, bright profession- in Germany and France—seHously studied with apprentice years spent in Paris. London, Rome and New York, in the great hotels in the world’s great resorts. This explains why so many of the successful managers of hotels and restaurants in London and New York are former German, French, Italian or Swiss waiters.

Americans living In Beirut can remember when there was not a window pane in the city. Twenty-five years ago there were no carriages, women making their social falls on the backs of donkeys. The city now has 600 licensed vehicles, with automobiles and electric street ears. There are complete postal and telegraphic services, newspapers, colleges and the palaces. In the Far East Japan leads the way, but the Levant is following the dure of civilization. —New York Press. One of the hardest things in the world to buy, in the opinion of a man who recently tried it, is a watch key. —The practical disappearance of the key-wound watch has made the key a rarity. Even the high-grade jewelry shops are apt to be with out them, while the department stores, which seem to keep everything in the world fail in this particular. It is the small shop in a cross street in Third, Sixth or Eighth avenue that it most likely to have watch keys.—New York Sun. The biggest brewer in England states that the consumption of beer has decreased in five years by more than 2,000,000 barrels, from thirty-two to twenty-six gallons a head of population. His manager says: “The government has made up its mind to damn brewers if possible. We have made up our minds to damn this government; it will be impossible for us ever to pay a dividend so long as we h?ve the legislation the present government wants to force upon us.”—New York Press.

The Rev. W. W. Wingfield, vicar of Gulval, will celebrate his ninety-sixth birthday this week. He has been vicar of the parish for seventy-one years and is still able- to preach and write, although with somewhat impaired vigor. Cornwall has been the home .of many clergymen who have lived to a ripe old age, the most remarkable instance being that of the Rev. W. Cole, vicar of Landewednack, who appears, by the parish register, to have been “above 120 years by far” when he died, in 1683.—London Standard. All members of Parliament did not ride to London from their constituencies in the old days. Mr. Barclay of Ury, who represented Kincardineshire in the eighteenth century, always walked the whole way, doing his fifty miles a day with ease. Marathon run'uers may note that his refreshment on the Journey was a bottle of port, poured into a bowl and drank off at a draught. George 111. took much interest In Mr. Barclay’s achievements said said; “I ought to be proud of my Scotch subjects, when my judges ride and my members of Parliament walk to the metropolis.” The former allusion was to Lord Monbod do, who always rode to town instead of driving; considering it unmanly “to sit on a box drawn by brutes."—London Chroa Ida.