NEWS IN BRIEF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1841, 18 June 1918, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF.

War develops new gifts and activities. It now transpires that the organ-builder is the best man for the erection of aeroplanes. Next to him comes the pattern-maker; and the chair-jpakcr in civil life easily surpasses all others in the making of propellers.

When a- French soldier is killed in action his next of kin are not informed by an official telegram, as in England, but are visited either by the Mayor of their “commune” or by a lady deputy, who breaks the news and expresses the thanks of the nation.

A swimming glove has been invented by a man .in Honolulu. The glove is webbed, and makes a veritable duck’s foot out of the human hand. When swimming, the gloved hand is spread out at each backward stroke, and closed each time the hand is drawn forward.

Between the steel helmet used by the troops and its lining of felt and wadding are fixed a number of rubber studs, which take up the shock of a blow. The wadding comes next to the head, so that in case of penetration and a resulting scalp wound it acts as a dressing.

A bullet failed to penetrate the skull of a nine-year-old Negro girl at Atlanta, Doctors at the hospital extracted the bullet, which was embedded in the forehead and was smashed perfectly flat. The girl was able to return to her home immediately after the operation.

Looking for work, in England when the war is over, is the peculiar situation of the “German National League of Clerks.” Through their journal they discuss the problem, and declare that when the war is over they won’t work for the same salary they used to get before the war. An elephant’s trunk possesses more muscles than the entire body of any other animal. It is calculated that they number 40,000. The whole of a man’s body only contains 527.