A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 82, 31 December 1934, Page 5

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Kagan ovitch Lazare Moesseeviteh Kaganovitch. wilt) is watching the trial in Moscow of those accused of the murder of Kirov, is Secretary-General of the Communist Party in Russia. He is the son of a shoemaker, and about 40 years old. A wide reader, he is a militant Bolshevik, and was a member of the party long before the revolution of 1917. In the quarrel between Stalin and Trotsky he ranged himself on the side of Stalin. He took an active part in the development and execution of the first Five Year Plan. It was he who, in spite of all obstacles, undertook to direct —and still does direct —the difficult work of socialising agricultural production. Today he is Stalin’s right-hand man. Even his adversaries recognise in him a man of exceptional intelligence and depth, who seizes upon a new idea with striking swiftness? His capacity for work is legendary even in the central administration of the Soviet • Government, where they work very hard. For 16 and even 18 hours a day he goes from conference to conference, listning to reports,giving orders, solving complicated administrative and economic problems, never hesitating over anything that is submitted to him for discussion. Like Stalin, he speaks no foreign language and has never left Russia. He always wears -workman’s eloth.es. British Railways. British railway companies are to spend £16,000,000 on development in 1935. The year 1934 has seen a remarkable peeding up of British trains and Continental trains. The Great Western Railway inaugurated the first long-distance fast raii-car service seen in Britain. - The tyne of car is streamlined and driven by two 130 b.h.p. Diesel engines, of the same type as the engines fitted to the London buses. The car is divided into two saloons, with a buffet at one end, and seats 40 passengers. The journey of 117 miles between Birmingham Cardiff is done in 2hr. 20min. Diesel rail-car services have also been introduced by the London and North-Eastern Railway in the Leeds, Harrogate. York, Hull and Selby areas. The ’ Cheltenham Flyer” on April 26, 1934, made its fivehundredth run on the present schedule of 65 minutes for 77.3 miles, an average speed of 71.4 miles per hour. This is still the fastest daily scheduled steam-operated start-to-stop run in the world. British railways, whose speed supremacy was for so long unchallenged in Europe except by the Northern Railway Company of France, have now fallen behind French and German railways in respect of mileage operated at the higher rates of speed, which may be taken to mean 60 miles per hour and over. British mileage is 2609 i miles; French, 6501; German, 3043. Frozen Meat Trade. Chilled meat is arriving in England from Australia and New Zealand in a condition so satisfactory that the •wholesale value is little below the best Argentine beef. All refrigerated meat undergoes certain changes. . The water which composes more than one-half of the muscle substances shrinks in volume until cooled to about 39 degrees Fahrenheit, and then expands again while being cooled down to freezing point. In its expansion it filters through the membranes of the muscle cells, and fills the interstices between the layers of cells. And there it freezes when the meat is placed in the freezing room, with the result that crystals of ice fill out the interstices and squeeze the cells out of shape. In this condition the ordinary processes of decay and decomposition are arrested. It is true that the germs are often alive and present, but they are quiescent. They are hibernating, as it were. It is practically impossible to kill the germs by any practical method of producing cold. But it is sufficient that they cannot at cold storage temperatures do in several months the damage they could do in a single day on meat kept at an ordinary temperature. A possible source of trouble in frozen meat, fish and poultry is the ice that is formed in the carcases. The problem is to reduce this ice to its original watery condition, and make it return through the membranes of the muscle cells. This is now done by carrying on the thawing process slowly and carefully. The crystals of ice then gradually, melt into water, and this water filters back into the cells, which resume much of their normal shape, so that the meat looks and tastes like fresh meat Road Accidents. Efforts are being made throughout. Great Britain to bring about a reduction in the number of road accidents. Figures given for the Christmas week accidents do not show any marked diminution. In Great Britain during 1933 7202 persons were killed, an average of nearly 20 a day. The number ; injured was 216,325, or nearly 10,000 more than in 1932. The total casualties, 223,325, were a record. The number of accidents also increased from 184,000 to 191,752. Once again private cars caused the greatest havoc. They were responsible for 2167 deaths. Motor-vans and lorries came next with 1435, and .motor-cycles without pillion passengers followed with 940 deaths. The number of pedestrians killed was 3504. By far the greatest number of casualties occurred in the London metropolitan area, the number killed being 1441 and the injured 52,447. Distressed Areas. Provision next year for more camps for the unemployed from distressed areas in the United Kingdom is understood to be receiving serious consideration. Depression still persists in certain areas, including Scotland, the North-east Coast, South Wales and parts of Lancashire. The Government ' has set up four commissions to inquire into ways and means of alleviation and to recommend measures for dealing with the situation. They are the districts where shipbuilding, engineering, and the heavy industries generally bare been wont to be carried on. Sandringham. Sandringham, where as is customary their Majesties spent Christmas, was bought for his Majesty’s father, the late King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales. By the direction of tlie Prince Consort £220,000, part of the accumulated revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, were set aside in 1861 for the purchase of some 7000 acres at Sandringham, in Norfolk, with an estimated rental of some £7OOO a year. The house was little more than a shooting box, but tlie estate, despite long neglect, abounded in varied game. Additional to the purchase price, the sum of £OO,OOO was spent in putting the property into good order under the personal supervision of the Prince of,. Wales. Subsequently, an additional 4000 acres were purchased, and the house itself was rebuilt on a commodious scale.