FOREIGN FACTS AND FANCIES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3527, 27 May 1905, Page 4

FOREIGN FACTS AND FANCIES.

Nearly the whole of the Central American indigo crop is gathered in flan Salvador. Brigandage is reported to be rampai*t within two hours’ ride of Vienna on the. Austro-Hungarian frontier. The prodnctlon of tea has been so great that 19 out of 45 companies in London could not pay a dividend this year. Large shipbuilding companies in Germany which had ordered the construction of a number of large freight vessels for ocean trade have countermanded the order* on account of business depression. India was in possession of a steel secret once, which is lost now. This was the inlaying with gold of steel blades in such a manner that the strength of the blade was not impaired nor its temper spoiled. The souvenir postcard boom has reached its height in Germany. The imperial post office instituted a check for a week and discovered that the daily average of these pictorial mementos of travel reached the enormous total of 1,446,938. The postage paid on theae cards average $17,250 per day. The latest English channel scheme is to run submarine boats on cables strung 50 feet below the surface of the channel between England and France. The speed would be 20 knots, there would be no vibration and perfect safety would be secured by an iron weight which on being dropped would allow the boat to rise to the surface. There would be salon compartments with electric lights and all conveniences.