NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1832, 28 May 1918, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

There are nearly 26,000,000 widows in India.

Fourpenny-bits have not been issued since 1856.

The upkeep of a lifeboat costs about £7O a year. The Victoria Cross was instituted on January 29th, 1856. A full-grown eagle can dispose of two young lambs at a meal. Wood-pigeons do more harm to crops in Britain than any other birds.

One hundred thousand tons of apples are grown on British soil every year.

Efforts are being made to start sugar beet growing on a large scale in Ireland.

African elephants cost from £l,200 to £1,400; an Indian elephant o.bout £I,OOO.

People who live in the Sciliy Isles are forty-two miles from the neai’est railway station.

The pearl is the only gem that does not require the lapidary’s art to bring out its beauty. A railway engine usually traverses about one million miles before it is worn out.

Thirty-three thousand letters are dealt with by the Ministry of Pensions In England every day. Cheltenham, England, has nine mineral springs, which produce four different kinds of water.

With one exception, all babies born in St, Albans Workhouse Infirmary (Eng.) last year were boys*

It is contrary to Jewish usage to employ an organ or other musical instrument in a synagogue.

The length of the sole of the foot should be equal to one-sixth of the height of a perfectly-formed man. The largest window in Britain is the east window in York Cathedral. It is 75ft. high and 32ft, wide. As a sign of his friendship, the Pope has sent the King of Bavaria a diamond-studded medallion of the Madonna.

A Latin book, with a nmrginal note said to have been written by Queen Elizabeth, was sold at Christie’s for £165.

In Italy a Government tax —a special stamp—must be affixed to all restaurant or cafe bills amounting to more than lOd. It is claimed that rice flour applied will stop bleeding from a wound as effectually as almost any known styptic; mix lint thoroughly with the rice Hour, and apply it as a compress.