THE WEALTHY CZAR.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 6 July 1916, Page 2

THE WEALTHY CZAR.

Most of the Czars wealth is derived from landed possessions, of which he has nearly 150,000,000 acres, three-quarters of which is rich timber and yielding big rentals. The other quarter is raininfr land. Siberia's mines are owned by the Czar, while his jewellery and art works are of fabulous worth. The Czar's State income is about £2,000,000, out of which however, he hds to provide for the ex- " penses of his household, which includes the upkeep of more than a hundred palaces, to say nothing of the Russian Court, with its 30,000 servants, 230 automibles, 5,000 thoroughbred horses, and an army of several thousand soldiers and detectives. It has been said that the Czar has so much money that nobody can count it. And it is a fact that the wealth that is his as controller of the Russian Church, and as ruler of all the Russians, including that of the members of his extremely wealthy family, would certainly be too great to count, including as it does all the wealth of Russia, which is estimated at £7,000,000,000. The Czar's personal worth, according to one statistical genius, works out at £110 000 jv a day, and should Russia get down to -'itiM last cent—or rather, kopek—in tjSPP Royal exchequer, Nicholas, single-handed could keep the entire Russian arafiyin the field for several weeks. \

" American visitors to New Zealand/^ said Professor Kirk at Wellington recently, "always express the greatest '■ surprise at the fact that we take absolutely no steps to keep flies out/of our homes, our restaurants, and our ' shops. If an American sees a fly in a shop window he will not buy from that shop, but we do not mind. There can be a hundred flies in a window and nobody will protest." There was no need, he continued, for people to be worried, as they are now, by flies in the home. It was a very simple matter.to ' provide a gauze door or a cover for the window. Even butter-cloth, which was • so inexpensive, would be very effective if stretched across the windows. When ' we built our hospitals we made no provision for protection against flies, yet it , was known that these insects carried "" all kinds of diseases. If everybody took the necessary precautions flies would very . : soon cease to be a pest. :