General News.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 8 January 1918, Page 1

General News.

The Postmaster-General has received advice that the rate of postage for letters from the United States of America to New Zealand has been increased from two to three cents per ounce or fraction thereof. The increase is the result of a similar raising of the United States' inland rates. Last year 1066 persons were killed and 5589 injured in railway accidcnts in Great Britain, being 403 and 26,151 fewer respectively as compared with the previous year. Private Hayhurst, who, although, only fifteen years old, enlisted at the outbreak of war, has been killed. IJjs brother, when fourteen, actually served in the trenches in France. The average length of life is greater in Norway than in any other country This is attributed to the fact that the temperature is cool and - uniform throughout the year. One of the longest bridges in the world, the railway bridge over the Amur River at Khabarovsk, Siberia, has just been completed. It took five j years to build and, is 7593 ft ldng. The total war expenditure of Aus- • tria-Hungr.ry for the first three years of the wf.r amounted to £1,162,000,000, while tht expenditure for' the fourth year of the war is estimated at £500,000,000.

It has been discovered that diseased noses and throats allow the germs of infantile paralysis tb enter the system; and a preventive is cleansing them with warm water, in which table-salt has been dissolved.

Statistic show that the food bill of an average workman's family in Christiana, which in 1910 amounted to 645 kroner, is now 1136 kroner. Christiana is the most expensive place to live in in Scandinavia.

On a brig plying between the Thames and the ports of Northern France a woman of fifty regularly sails with her husband, the captain, and acts as cook for the crew. She has already made dozens of voyages.

Chemists are learning much about the changes in rocks by making polished sections of them, mapping them under the reflecting microscope, treating -them with various chemical re-agents, and then studying them again.

The agreement between Dickens and Chapman for the publication of "Our Mutual Friend," dated November 21, 1863, signed in full, and three promissory notes for £3250, endorsed by Dickens, have been, sold in London for £52.

The faintest star known, one .of the tenth magnitude, only one-three-thousandth as bright as the sun, is very near the sun and moves more rapidly among the Stars than any other star yet measured, anmely, 10.3 in a year.

Henry Igjjonskv. a freak swimmer of New York ias performed the extraordinary feat of swimming, or rather rolling; through the water for a distance of seven miles securely tied to a chair. His legs and arms were bound, yet he covered the distance in good time.

The honor of being the youngest soldier and N.C.O. in the army now at the front belongs to a lad of eleven, who is attached to an A.S.C. unit. He was specially enlisted to act as interpreter, as ho speaks English and Fronch fluently. He was made a sergeant and is now regarded as a mascot.

Mr Murdoch, chairman of the Hawera County Council, referring to the toll gates, said that, for the first year of their existence the traffic was nearly all horse drawn, only a very few cars going through the gates. The car traffic has grown until now the records of last year showed that upwards of 6000 cars went through and only a few gigsThere were no by-laws to restrict traffic. They had to meet what conditions the traffic demanded. The rates were fair and less than in some counties. They had miles of tarred roaa, anj the latest mlachinery to save time and money, and they hoped to increase the saving in the Mature. The road problem has been solved in Taranaki, despite serious obstacles and the scarcity of metal. The arterial roads in that district are tarsealed, and the best in New Zealand.

The de Paris" says:—"Seven years ago an American squadron was anchored in certain roads of the English coast during a round of visits paid by the United States fleet to old Europe. In the course of a reception givien to the squadron in question Captain William Sims, commander of an American ironclad, made the declaration that 'if the time should over come when the integrity of the British Empire was menaced by a European coalition, England could rely on t&* last ship, the last dollar, the last man, and the last drop of blood from her cousin across the sea.' This high-flown promise created a great sensation at the time, and procured for its author a serious reprimand by the authorities at Washington. Today Vicc-Admiral Sims, commander of the American naval forces in European seas, is witnessing the fulfilment of his prediction, step by step, and, in recognition of his efforts to induce the United States to take part in the great struggle, the English have conferred on him the unique honour of temporary commandant of the Irish coast.''

"It looks very clear to us that until we succeed in developing our hydroelectric power resources," states the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald, Minister of Mines, "that we must do all we can to explore and develop our coal supplies. Hydro-electric power is a big thing, and will, take a long time to como into general operation, so that we must look to coal for some time yet. Early in the new year I will submit to Cabinet a report I am obtaining from Mr Morgan, Director of the Geological Survey, upon the Mokau coalfield in Northern Taranaki. The owners of the area have offered to the Government the mineral rights over about 60,000 or 70,000 acres, containing a large quantity of coal, much of which can be easily transported down the Mokau River. This waterway can be improved at small expense by straightening one portion. It might also be possible to use much of the land for the settlement of soldiers, ; and this is a matter apart from the mining question which the Government will consider at an early date."

The first verified/ death from an American bullet fired by a United States soldier in .trench warfare vas a '19-year-old German. He was the first prisoner taken by American soldiers in their first excursion over "No Man's Land," and he died in an American field hospital just behind the lines. Two American£<werc out "over the top" under cover of darkness.-and rain one night recently, when they sighted two moving figures. The shadowy figures fled. Both soldiers

fired. One Boche escaped, but ' the other fell. In two jumps the Americans were on him, finding the surprised Teuton nursing a badly-shattered arm. He was escorted back to the. trenches. An American ambulance stumbled along the treacherous and slippery road, under occasional shell fire, to the dressing station. There the German had been temporarily bound up. He was lifted aboard the ambulance by two soldiers— one from El Paso, the other from Oakland, California. The American ambulance slid and scurried back to the field hospital. There a Texas surgeon operated at once on the prisoner. For a time ho seemed to be progressing nicely, but the wound had been infected and gangrene developed. American surgeons did their utmost to save his life, but in vain. The prisoner said he was delivering mail to his comrades, and got mixed up in taking a short cut across "No Man's Land." He added: "The German soldiers in the ranks are tired of the war and want it to end, but the officers want it to continue, as they are well paid. Our food is good, but we know nothing of conditions in the interior of Germany. Sometimes no mail is permitted to reach us for eight weeks at a time." The American doctor who operated said that the prisoner was. very game, despite his painful wound. Advice has been received that Private G. C # L. Wilson, a well-known Canterbury and New Zealand representative cricketer, has been killed in action.

The inquest on Samuel Herbert Hunter, a discharged soldier, who was found dead in the town belt plantation at Rotorua, showed that death was caused by inflammation of the heart, due to a large clot of blood.

Mr Henry Ford, the well-known motor manufacturer, has been devoting himself to the production and improvement of the farm tractor, which, by facilitating cultivation, is to help England to defy the' submarines. This motor, according to Lord Northcliffe, is a remarkable machine. "It can be used either as a stationary engine, or to propel ploughs, mowing machines, reapers and binders. The 1917 pattern, which Mr Ford is building for England, is 25 horse-power. It is literally true that a boy or girl with neither mechanical nor agricultural knowledge can drive it. 1 mounted the tractor," says Lord Northcliffe, "and ploughed a half-mile furrow with ease and accuracy at a speed of between three and four miles an hour, and with no time lost at turning." In appearance the tractor resembles one of the early racing cars, with a very long bonnet. '' It is low, is steered by a wheel, and when pulling a set of disc harrows seems fairly to romp across the country.'' As might be expected, it is of light construction. Mr Ford, we are told, has no belief in heavy machinery, and he is making ".very successive model of the tractor lighter than its predecessor. But every machine is put through gruelling tests before being sent to England, so its lightness cannot be regarded as- an indication of weakness.