NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 September 1923, Page 3

NEWS BY MAIL.

WATERCRESS DEMAND, LONDON, July 28 Watercress was in great demand from all greengrocers yesterday following the testimonial given to d by Dr Harold Setirlield at the British .Medical Association Congress at Portsmouth on Thursday. Many people munched its green leaves and -talks at afternoon tea. vi!h the agreeable feeling that they vere eating something which contained all the essential vilamines, and which at the same time was far from being dull and high-brow, like nut steak- or bean cutlets. It is likelv that the medical support given to watercress will make more widelv known a plant which has a most intriguing flavour anti is a splendid accompaniment to bread and butter and tea, especially on a lawn.

PREMIER’S CLOTHES

LONDON', July 28

The appearance of Air Baldwin, the Prime Minister, in a blue lounge suit, primrose-coloured waistcoat, and •' '• ‘rather shabby” ftwy soft fclt hilt . n . fc the Eton v. Harrow cricket match which ended at .Lord's last Saturday, Ims ruffled the “Tailor and Cutter. |„ tins show (it says) where almost eccrv man was a tine flower of fashion, there was, alas! a sartorial weed; it was the Prime Minister. He has a top-hat and morning-coat; but these were left at home. lie wore a blue, lounge suit. I lie jacket buttoned three, and had an outside ticket pocket with flap. His waistcoat was primrose coloured, and his .doves .too large and not properly put Tin) were of the same hue shirt uas striped with blue and the tie was dark blue-the latter a little awry. Lastly, the hut was a grey solt felt with black hand and rather shabby. Thcv • his chillies) had neither smfti tm.ss nor distinction, but were merely humdrum. . Mr Baldwin, an old Harrovian, by delving convention in this way at least raße, anew the question of how much is .rood taste and how much convention j„ Tress at an Eton v. Harrow gatherWORLD SHIPPING. LONDON. July 12 The 1023-24 edition of Lloyd s Register of Shipping, just issued, contains a record of 33,507 steamers, mo-tor-vessels, and sailing vessels, of a total tonnage of 6=3,160,288, as compared with 64,370,786 tons in June 1922.

The countries with the largest increases are Germany, with .02,665 tons out of the total of 795,452, and Italy, with 167,407 tons. The largestdecreases occurred in the I nited States .sea-going tannage (141.471), and France (108,548). In 1914 thp United Kingdom owned nearly 44A per. cent of the world’s seagoing steel and iron steam tonnage, the present percentage being just under 33. The United States now occupy second place with 12.416,000 tons, equal to 21.4 per cent. The number of steam and motorvessels of 4.000 tons and more has increased from 3,60 S in 1914 to 5,6.16. Great development in the use of steam turbine engines and of internal combustion engines is shown. Less than 69 per, cent of the tonnage of the .Merchant Marine now depends entirely upon coal, while in 1914 the pencil tacg .was nearly 89. BIGGEST AIR BOAIB. LONDON, July 14. Details of construction and of recent tests are now available concerning what is claimed to be the biggest type of bomb yet built for use by. an aeroplane, writes an air, correspondent. - - It was developed by the Aircraft Ordnance Department -of the United States Armv. weighs about two. tops,

and is 13)ft long. Behind its steel nose it carries a load of nearly a ton of high explosive. A big twin-engined bomber recently dropped one of these “demolition bombs unon a wide open space of sandy soil, and its explosion threw up a column of earth I,oooft, The hole made was 64ft in diameter and 20ft deep. Although the aeroplane was at a height of 4,000 ft the air “hump” resulting from the explosion tossed it 20ft upward, hut the pilot immediately regained control.