NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1755, 22 November 1917, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Brum 11., the Easton (London) collecting dog, has died, and it is stated that during his official life he raised £2,000 for charitable purposes. A record of the R.F.C. during the war is being compiled, aiul out of over 700 officers who have died, the compilers have biographies of about 600, About 60,000 tons of fish of all descriptions were imported into England and the Netherlands during the first six months of this year. On the 1912 figures Ireland had the lowest birth-rate, the highest death-rate, and the lowest marriage rate, compared with England and Wales and Scotland. The Gotha type of biplane is 78ft. wide, 40ft. long, has two Mercedes engines with a total of 520 h.p., and two propellers at the rear. It can carry 8001 b. of explosives. On what was previously waste land at Sunderland (England) the allotment yield is proving so good that it is calculated that £15,000 worth of foodstuffs will be raised. At many of the camps in France crests of British regiments have been artistically laid out in stones and coloured glass. Some of the designs ore §off. in circumference. There are about 600 organisations of scientists In the world for studying X-rays, and a Dutch leader in the science is trying to combine them in one international body. The number and cost of old age pensions in Ireland is extraordinarily high, duo to the emigration of the younger generation, thus leaving a disproportionate number of old people. In 75 years an oak contains a ton of timber, in 150 years eight tons, but the poplar increases three times faster than the oak. In 13 years, while the oiik increases 5-J in. in girth, the larch increases 33 in. Aconite, or monkshood, is a perennial weed. The root has been mistaken for horseradish, with fatal results. It should be destroyed wherever found by cutting below the surface as soon as a leaf shows above it. The Chinese community of HongKong recently held a meeting at which a resolution was passed advocating a voluntary contribution to the British Imperial Treasury of £200,000 annually, as long as the war lasts.