NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1754, 20 November 1917, Page 1

NEWS IN BRIEF.

‘ 'Edison, the inventor, has never earned a watch in his life. Egypt has 3,450,000 date palms, producing 300,000 tons of fruit. At present each 1,100,000 tons_of coal raised costs one human life. Cuba has a scented climbing plant whose leaves are as hard as wood. Pawnbrokers in England are not allowed to take wine and spir'ds in pawn. The leaves of (be hawthorn are an excellent substitute for Chinese tea. The average depth of the Irish Sea is 240 ft., of the English Channel 110 ft, Before the days of coined money the Greeks used copper nails as currency. London paupers now number 75,768, a reduction of 23,003 on the pre-war total. You can take out a patent in Belgium for £5, in France for .CIO, in Russia for £lO. Swarms of wasps get intoxicated on the fermented juices of rotting fruit on the trees. The French Legion of Honour is the biggest order of merit. It numbers 75,000 members. It is said that pansy leaves, spread among furs and woollens, will protect them from moths. The Greek Church employs two rings in the marriage ceremonyone of gold, the other of silver. M. Gutchkoff, Russia’s ex-Minis-ter for War, has joined the army and volunteered for the front. More women arc employed in Government positions in England than anywhere else in the world. Everybody would save considerably in doctor's bills if they wore to eat more fruit and loss meat. The llrst exhibition of the Royal Academy took place at Somerset House, London, in May, 1780. The spectroscope, by the aid of which we are able to. tell what the sun is made of, was invented in 1859. Sir Isaac Newton, on being asked his opinion of poetry, replied that it was a kind of ingenious nonsense. The Crimean War cost about £70,000,000. Already our expenditure in the present war has reached £5,292,000,000. Italy is building the largest and most powerful aeroplanes, some capable of carrying from thirty to forty persons. Hungary is confiscating all tablecloths and serviettes in the country to provide cloth for 150,000 new army uniforms. During recent years the exports of Canadian apples to the United Kingdom have totalled about .1,50(1,000 barrels per annum. The negro skull and skeleton are heaviest and hardest. A Greek skull averages 271 ozs. Negroes vary from 280z5.; Chinese, 2310z5. The cost of -working the Tower Bridge, London, last year was £15,276. The bascules were lifted for (he passage of vessels on 3,354 occasions. Flowers are more fragrant when the sun is not shining on them, according to a French scientist, because the oils that produce the perfume are forced out by the water pressure in the plant cells, and this is diminished by sunlight. A starving German officer recently dressed in mufti, and crossed the Dutch frontier at Coevorden to get a good meal. Owing to his intense hunger he ate too quickly, and choked himself. Despite the attendance of a doctor, he died. In Italy no newspaper may publish more than four pages, and special editions must contain only two. No letter paper of moi’e than one sheet may be manufactured, magazines must reduce their bulk by onequarter, and less paper is -to be used for wrapping goods. From the twelfth to the fifteenth century small mirrors, canned in the pocket or attached to the girdle, were regarded ns indispensable adjuncts to ladies’ toilets. The pockr et mirror was a circular plaque of polished metal fixed in a shallow 7 box and covered with a lid. ■ Letters are now delivered by women in Paris, Wearing trim', blue uniforms and glazed straw hats with the French tri-colour ribbon, the first women letter-caniers made their appearance on the streets of Paris recently. They are paid about 6s a day, with extra allowance for the high cost of living.