NEWS ITEMS.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 688, 29 November 1921, Page 5

NEWS ITEMS.

Holland has over 10,000 windmills, each of which drains ?bout 310 acres of land.

A child should be able speak perfectly at the age of three and a half years.

A bridge between England and France would, it is estimated, cost thirty-four million pounds.

Four and one-half tons of oak timber make a ton of charcoal, while of pine timber six tons are required.

Canada had 83,128 motor-cars, in use at the end of 1915 as compared with 61,000 at the end of 1914.

New York State has nearly ten million population, and more. than half live in the country’s metropolis.

Brittle nails are restored to normal flexibility by rubbing them nightly with mutton fat,- . !

The average life of a note of the' Bank of England is a little less than 70 days. Notes are never re-issued.

Losing his arms and being made' blind by an accident, an. Illinois man has learned to read raised type with his tongue.

Each stroke of a man’s heart occupies about half a second; but the heart rests after each stroke, so that it only makes seventy a minute. .

Among elephants both sexes of the' African species have ivory tusks, while in are generally restricted to the male.

A giraffe assumes a high position immediately after its birth. At that time he measures 6 ft. from his hoofs to the top of his head .

Turpentine, in small doses, frequently repeated, ip regarded as the best remedy there is for Bright’s disease. Such a variety of races are repre-i sented by the occupants of the Philippines that they speak thirty-one lan guages. The pain caused by the sting of a nettle is due not to the prick itself, but to a particle of poisonous fluid which is injected into the wound. Bread as a daily food is used by only about one-thiM of' the world’s' population. In many nations rice is the chief food. If an express train, moving at the 1 rate of 45 miles -an hour, were to stopinstantly, it would give, the passengers a shock equal to that of falling from a height of 40 ft. , -

One of the most costly buildings in Benares is a temple for. monkeys. The followers of Brahma hold thisi animal sacred and worship it as ai deity.

A perfectly-proportioned man should weigh 28 lb. for foot' of his height. If he is 5 ft. 10 in. ini height, his weight should be 163 lb.;j if 6 ft. in height, he should weigh 168 lb.

The wild horses of Arabia will not admit a tame horse among them, while the wild horses of South America endeavour to decoy domesticated horses from their masters, and seem eager to welcome them.

Among insects, the most intelligent are those of the ant tribe, while next to them rank wasps. Bees come some way lower down;. the scale] Beetles are hopelessly stupid, but even they are not as bad as butterflies and moths.

In the Argentine Republic if a man engaged to marry hesitates beyond a reasonable time in leading his fiancee * to the altar he is heavily-fined, and if & resident of the Republic should fail to marry he is. taxed until he reaches the age of eighty.

AH the men and most of the ladies in Japan smoke, the girls beginning when they are about ten years of age* The ladies have pipes with longer stems than the men, and if one of them wishes to show a gentleman a; special mark of favour she lights her pipe, takes a whiff, hands it to him, and allows him to smoke. ,

Bukowina has, like so many places in that region, had a varied history: The name means' “Beech-land," and more than half Hie surface at the country is covered with forest. Aus< tria, which annexed it from the Turks in 1775, has ruled it ever since as a Duchy and Crown land.

A new danger threatens us. W« have been told that the sun wouM surely one day day grow cold, ano the earth would freeze to death. Th« French astronomer Puiseux has dia covered that, instead of shrinking the sun is expanding more and more and that it may burst at any mo ment and blow the whole system U eseithereens.